Chapter 1

Prologue

“Shunen.”

A clumsily arranged bouquet was thrust in front of me. It looked as if it had been hastily pulled from the ground.

Oh dear. I sighed briefly and looked at the owner of the hand.

Everyone in the room turned their gaze to him.

“I saw flowers blooming in the garden. So I thought I’d bring some.”

“Oh, really… But you said flowers were blooming in the garden?”

“Yes.”

Except for his white skin and red eyes, the man dressed entirely in black, with lightly tied black hair, Nobel, nodded.

‘Flowers in this garden…’

Even just looking out the window, you could see the soil, dead and blackened. In such a garden, it would be a miracle for even weeds to grow, let alone flowers.

I accepted the flowers, caught off guard.

“Thanks, anyway. You made an effort.”

“Thank you.”

Nobel smiled slightly. His pale cheeks turned a reddish hue. He was clearly pleased.

Somehow feeling guilty, I discreetly brushed off the dirt from my hands.

Couldn’t he at least make his lies believable?

Not just Nobel, but anyone in this room was not the type to casually pick flowers from the garden and make a bouquet. Even a one-year-old could tell that. Not to mention that the garden was shrouded in the aura of death.

“You idiot, if you’re going to lie, at least do it properly.”

Nobel frowned fiercely and looked towards the fireplace. The owner of the voice, Isaac, lifted his head from the velvet chair where he had been reading a book. His black eyes beneath his blue hair were revealed.

“Would you believe it if someone said flowers bloomed in this mansion’s garden? That’s a lie too. Shunen is kind to let it slide.”

“Isaac, why don’t you just shut up and leave?”

“I’m giving advice because I feel sorry for my brother who has to carry a heavy decoration on his neck. Why?”

His tone was dismissive, but his expression showed that he was quite amused.

Despite the obvious mockery, Nobel’s face grew more hostile, but Isaac continued to move his mouth, known as the ‘terrifying mouth,’ diligently.

“Obviously, you must have taken them from the Burkrodel family’s mansion, right?”

“Shut up. Shunen, don’t believe a word that bastard says.”

“You vaguely heard somewhere about giving bouquets, but there’s not a single blade of grass in our mansion, and you didn’t think to buy something pretty… Brother, brains are meant to be used.”

“If you say one more word—”

“Shunen. Next time, don’t bother with such excessive consideration and just throw it away.”

Isaac smiled sweetly, his black eyes shining.

“How could I throw it away, when… um. He made it for me.”

“Did you hear that? Just shut up and leave.”

“So, did you expect Shunen to throw it in your face? Now your useless head forgets even things about Shunen, Nobel.”

It was a response showing the peak of sarcasm.

Retilia, who was sitting on a nearby desk, shook her head at the unusual tension between the two. Her dark navy hair, tied high, swayed.

“They’re going to cause trouble.”

“Wow, our brothers… They really get along well today too. Right? Shunen…”

When Hazen, who was resting his head on my lap, mumbled, his sleepy silver-gray eyes appeared through his slightly disheveled red bangs.

And at that moment…

“This is going to be another…”

“Damn apple bastard–!”

Nobel’s shout struck my eardrums.

Bang–!

The chair Isaac was sitting on exploded.

I freaked out and ducked my head, and at the same time, Isaac appeared in front of me, blocking my way with a blue light.

“Can’t you think before you explode things? What if Shunen gets hurt?”

“If you just weld that mouth of yours shut, that would never happen.”

“Raise the ignition point.”

“Can’t you both just stop…?”

I raised my hand in a half-resigned tone.

Honestly, I didn’t expect much, but the two of them started clashing again, as if to show off.

“Wanna fight?”

“Oh, go ahead. At least I can give Shunen something better than the flowers you uprooted!”

Bang bang bang.

The bookshelves in the room began to explode.

‘What a waste of talent…’

I sighed. Please, don’t use your abilities for things like this.

Blue light flashed everywhere as Isaac’s dolls appeared and disappeared repeatedly, and everything where he stayed was losing its shape.

Boom–!

Eventually, when one side of the wall was about to explode, their fight moved outside.

Light flashed in the sky beyond the gaping hole in the wall.

I mumbled absentmindedly to myself.

‘Wow, a new door has appeared.’

Today, the poor wall lost its life again.

Retilia sighed.

“Alright, it’s just those two since Ethan is quiet today.”

She waved her hand in the air. The debris floating in the air began to settle slowly.

Hazen chuckled.

“Oh dear, should we be leaving soon…? Guys.”

“Consider it an extension renovation. Shunen, ignore them and try this macaron. It’s from the place you said was delicious last time…”

Ethan, who had been silently observing, offered me a macaron as if nothing had happened. I sighed as I looked into his calm green eyes beneath his black hair.

“Guys, can’t you at least try to stop them…?”

“They won’t die anyway, Shunen.”

“If they do die, I hope it’s Nobel. Preferably quietly.”

“If they die, I’ll revive them… If Shunen wants to see them, I’ll do that for you.”

An ordinary question with an extraordinary answer. Damn it.

In the end, I gave up on creating a normal situation in any way and laughed hollowly.

‘Wow. It’s a battle of the strongest in the world.

And this was truly a battle of the strongest in the world.

Because the five people in front of me were the ones who destroyed the world in the ‘original work’ after fighting each other.

The five powerful individuals who could decide the fate of the world and the protagonists.

Moreover, they were the ones who would brutally kill me, the one responsible for the death of their ‘savior,’ the original female protagonist.

“Stop messing around and come out?!”

“Didn’t you want to play hide and seek?”

“Ha… Should I just bury them all in the ground?”

“Shunen, don’t you want to go have a drink with me…?”

“Shunen, there’s also grapefruit tart here. How about an éclair?”

…Yes, they are those people. Really.

The five main characters of destruction.

Shuneria Kolhart was the illegitimate child of the Kolhart Dukedom and the younger sister of Saren Kolhart, the savior of the protagonists in the novel ‘Before the Destruction.’

The original novel ‘Before the Destruction’ featured five protagonists who all experienced unfortunate childhoods. Each possessed formidable abilities, but because of those powers, their childhoods were nothing short of miserable, and even after growing up, their hearts remained dry.

The novel originally ended with a destruction ending, fitting its title, where the world was destroyed after the battles of the five.

However, perhaps due to the overwhelming panic of many readers, the author concluded the work and quietly took it down.

‘At least let us re-read it, author…!’

In a situation where re-reading was impossible, one reader, in despair, began to write the story in a new direction. It was a typical example of self-indulgent fan fiction.

Creating a new female protagonist who would heal the five main characters and give and receive plenty of love.

That female protagonist was their ‘savior,’ Saren Kolhart.

The problem arises here.

The author who inserted Saren Kolhart overlooked one fact.

‘All stories should have the aesthetics of suffering.’

It’s human nature to want to see your favorite characters suffer.

The author added a character named Shuneria, eventually writing an ending where Saren sacrifices herself for her. All for the scene where the five cry over the only affection in their lives.

There’s only one reason I’m explaining this in such detail.

“You… damn past self!!”

Because I was both the reader of the original work and the ‘author’ of the second creation.

“Why did it have to be Shuneria?!”

Because I possessed Shuneria’s body, who was bound to be killed by the five, enraged by the loss of Saren.

Damn it.

❖ ❖ ❖

“What are you?”

A sharp voice rang piercingly in my ears.

Eyes of a stunning purple hue—beautiful, if only for their color—glared at me with venomous intensity.

“Why are you coming to the dining room? Didn’t I say I never wanted to see your face?”

“I just wanted to eat…”

“Ha! Someone like you, with me?”

A woman with lustrous black hair sneered.

I opened my mouth, just in case, but closed it again. Is this really happening over food? She muttered disdainfully as our eyes met.

“How dare a lowly thing like you meet my gaze?”

‘…And how noble are you to speak like that?’

Suppressing my inner thoughts that were about to slip out, I turned my gaze aside. The woman looking down at me as if I were beneath her was, surprisingly…

“Saren?”

“Father!”

…Surprisingly, it was Saren Kolhart.

A man with the same black hair and purple eyes as hers entered the dining room. Saren’s expression quickly changed to one of grievance.

The man, the Duke of Kolhart, asked her in a soothing tone.

“What’s the matter? What’s upsetting you?”

“That lowly thing came down to the dining room! And boldly in front of me!”

Oh, dear. Watching that scene, I clicked my tongue. I was so dumbfounded that I couldn’t even laugh.

I vividly remembered the shock I felt when I first woke up in this body, Shuneria’s body.

–How dare you look at me with those eyes. Didn’t I tell you to keep your eyes down?

–What?

–Why are you asking back?

–No, why can’t I look…

I only asked back out of sheer disbelief, but Saren grabbed my hair and threw me, making me roll on the floor.

And the only thought I had was: What is this, give me back my angelic protagonist.

For some reason, Saren, who loved her sister enough to sacrifice herself, had become someone who hated ‘me,’ Shuneria. Even that crazy man who was supposed to be my father.

‘If someone transmigrates to a body, shouldn’t everyone else stay the same?!’

Why was there an added domestic violence setting that wasn’t originally there? I was the author, but there was no one to answer, so I was going crazy.

“–You.”

While I was half-dazed and lamenting, the man who was supposed to be my father called me.

“I told you to eat only in your room. How dare you defy me and make my daughter uncomfortable?”

“Aren’t I your daughter too…”

“What did you just say?”

“Nothing.”

I muttered indifferently.

Honestly, when I first possessed this body, I didn’t know what was going on, so I just put up with it, but now it was more like whatever happens, happens. Not that I didn’t care, though.

I looked at him with cold eyes.

‘If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t even be a Duke, you bastard… You wouldn’t even exist.’

Who added a ducal family that wasn’t originally there? I sighed deeply, muttering words he couldn’t hear.

Perhaps sensing my disdain, he shouted at me.

“How dare you–!”

Slap.

Suddenly, with a stinging sensation, my vision spun. What the hell.

I blinked, trying to grasp the situation. A burning cheek and a turned head. There was only one answer.

‘Did he just hit me?’…