Flames devoured the tower.
Beneath a pitch-black sky, the moon hung above as if it had been torn apart by unseen hands. The grand magic array beneath her feet shattered, its ancient runes collapsing into chaos.
—It had failed.
After thousands of years of research, she still could not completely erase the "Black Moon."
Blood slid from her fingertips, staining the broken stone floor. Yet she did not bow her head.
As the strongest archmage the Empire had ever known, she would never allow herself to appear weak.
"So that's it… The missing element was the royal bloodline as a catalyst."
Her voice was calm.
In the next instant, the backlash descended.
Blinding white light swallowed the world.
—
"Your Highness has awakened!"
A soft, trembling voice echoed beside her.
There was no smell of burning.
No violent tremors from rampaging mana.
Only warm blankets and the faint fragrance of flowers.
She slowly opened her eyes.
Above her stretched a ceiling engraved with golden imperial patterns—luxurious, unfamiliar… yet strangely familiar.
"Princess Alicia?"
The maid's face was filled with relief.
Princess?
She tried to lift her hand.
It was far too small.
Pale. Soft. Completely powerless.
Her heart tightened.
With effort, she turned her gaze toward a nearby mirror.
Reflected within it was a young girl with silver hair and violet eyes.
The unmistakable symbol of the Aurelis Imperial Family.
Memories surged like a tidal wave.
The Aurelis Empire.
The Third Imperial Princess.
Alicia von Aurelis.
She remained silent for three seconds.
Then, unnoticed by anyone, the corner of her lips curved slightly upward.
So this was it.
Not death.
Rebirth.
And not just anywhere—
She had been reborn into an era before the Empire's destruction.
She slowly closed her eyes and sensed the mana within her body.
…Almost none.
Like a riverbed long dried.
This five-year-old body could not withstand high-tier magic.
But that did not matter.
More than anyone else, she understood—
Power was not a blessing from the heavens.
It was calculation. Accumulation. Control.
Little by little, she would reclaim the Imperial Throne that once belonged to her.
"Her Highness is smiling… How adorable!"
The maids gathered around her bed, completely unaware.
They did not know.
Within this fragile and innocent shell had awakened a being who once made the entire continent tremble.
—
Three days later, she confirmed the truth.
This was three thousand years after her death.
The Black Moon had not yet descended.
The seal still remained intact.
There was still time.
Night fell over the imperial palace.
Alicia quietly sat up in bed.
Her small fingers moved slowly through the air.
She did not dare directly draw upon mana.
Instead, she began constructing a basic guiding array.
The air trembled faintly.
Tiny particles of light gathered at her fingertips.
Success.
Even with only 0.01-tier mana, she could still reconstruct spell formulas.
Just as she prepared to continue—
Thud.
A faint landing sound came from outside the window.
Alicia's pupils contracted instantly.
That wasn't the wind.
Someone had landed on the balcony.
And—
They carried killing intent.
She calmly dispersed the mana and returned to an innocent expression before slipping back beneath the blankets.
Footsteps approached.
The guards outside the door seemed completely unaware.
Interesting.
An assassin capable of bypassing the palace's defensive arrays?
It seemed—
This life would not be boring.
She closed her eyes, a faint smile forming on her lips.
"Perfect… I'll use you to test my current strength."
—End of Chapter 1