When I woke, the face staring back at me was a stranger's—a tiny face framed by soft pink hair and vivid green eyes. It wasn't mine. And yet, somehow, it was. Confusion surged like a storm within me as I scanned the unfamiliar room. The walls were painted in muted tones, adorned with regal patterns, and the air smelled faintly of lavender. Around me stood peculiar people, their faces glowing with relief and joy, their smiles foreign and unfamiliar. To them, I was something precious. To me, they were strangers.
A man in his late thirties, with jet-black hair and piercing green eyes, approached my crib with a commanding presence. His face was stoic, betraying no emotion. He picked me up gently but with practiced precision, as though holding a fragile object rather than his own child. His voice was calm yet authoritative as he said, "Elara Nyx—that will be your name." The words hung heavy in the air, sealing my identity in this world. Without lingering, he carefully placed me back into the crib, turned, and left the room with long, deliberate strides.
The silence was soon broken by the hushed whispers of maids lingering nearby. Their words were too soft to catch, but their tone was unmistakable—nervous tension, as though they feared the walls might betray their gossip. Their presence felt oppressive, like shadows lurking in a corner, waiting for judgment to fall.
Yet none of that compared to the weight of my own realization. I hadn't just awakened in a strange place—I had been reborn. I wasn't Elara Nyx. I was Ji Eung, an SS-rank hunter renowned for my unrivaled marksmanship. My life had been one of battles—facing creatures so monstrous they defied imagination. My name carried the weight of legends and whispered fear. I had fought until my final breath in a clash against a beast that should never have existed, meeting my demise at its merciless claws.
And now… I was alive again, but as an infant trapped in a fragile, helpless body. My mind buzzed with fragments of my former life, shards of memories that felt all too vivid and yet painfully distant. Questions swirled around me in an unrelenting chaos. Why was I reborn? What was I meant to do here? Was this life a punishment? A reward? A test?
Lying in the crib, unable to act, I found myself clinging to one unsettling truth—the name "Elara Nyx." There was something about that name, something that gnawed at the edges of my thoughts like an insistent echo. I repeated it to myself, rolling it over and over in my mind, desperately searching for the connection.
And then, like a bolt of lightning, it struck me. I am Elara Nyx—the villainess of the tragic romance novel Echo of Eternity. Memories of the story flooded my mind, unraveling with brutal clarity.
The heroine, Iris Veylin, was a baron's kind-hearted daughter, admired for her beauty and grace. Her charm captivated the Crown Prince—Elara's fiancé. Iris was the embodiment of everything pure and good, while Elara was everything cold and cruel. Consumed by jealousy, Elara plotted Iris's downfall, attempting to poison her in desperation to reclaim the prince's love. Her obsession spiraled into madness, igniting a chain of betrayal and destruction that led to her inevitable doom.
Elara's older brother, Ace, was her opposite in every way. Noble-hearted and brave, he too had fallen for Iris and sought to protect her at all costs. When he uncovered Elara's sinister plans, he turned against his own sister. In the end, her schemes backfired, her ambitions shattered, and her jealousy sealed her fate. She died unloved, alone, and despised—a villainess of tragedy.
And now… I am her. Trapped in the body of a woman doomed to follow this merciless path.
But no. If I've been given a second chance, I refuse to follow the same path. I will not become the villainess destined for ruin. This world may see me as Elara Nyx, but I am still Ji Eung—a hunter, a survivor, a fighter.
When Elara was born, she was despised by everyone. Her birth had claimed her mother's life, casting a shadow of tragedy over her existence. Her brother, Ace, harbored a deep resentment toward her, unable to forgive the life that had replaced their mother's. Their father, Duke Nyx, ignored her entirely, refusing to look at her for fear of the memories she stirred. The maids whispered cruel words behind closed doors, calling her cursed, a bringer of misfortune.
But I won't let their hatred define me. If fate has given me the opportunity to rewrite my story, I'll do whatever it takes to change it. I'll wield my mana, hone my skills, and defy the laws of this world if I must. I won't be the villainess they expect. I'll forge my own path one where I don't just survive, but rise.