I Became Friends With The Tyrant Through A Fraudulent Contract - Chapter 1
Translator and Editor: Jess and Tea
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Chapter 1
‘Why am I dying?’
“What’s inside Stellarion’s body?”
“I don’t think this is a lethal dose? She has been building up resistance to poison since childhood, so I’m sure she’ll be fine. Let’s try administering more experimental reagents.”
I gasped for breath and opened my eyes to see the two men chattering above me.
Even though I had lost track of time, it felt like at least four months had passed since I became a subject of human experimentation.
They had tied my arms with rope behind my back, as if they were worried that I would swing a sword, and put a gag on my mouth, as if they were afraid that I would chant a magic spell.
The man whose eyes met mine made a strange expression, as if momentarily bewitched.
“It’s… truly fascinating every time I look at those gems…”
“Let’s administer it.”
With those words, I died.
‘I’ve regressed again.’
This was already the fourth time.
In my previous life, I was at the bottom of the power pyramid. Not only had I never received an allowance, but things like shopping and eating out were out of the question in our house.
“You should be grateful you weren’t born in Africa!” Dad would scream every time he was drunk.
I always wanted to say, “Dad, the so-called ‘Third World’ probably lives better than us. Or maybe it’s the same!” But I kept it to myself.
‘I envy them.’ When I was young, I admired those in the glamorous entertainment industry.
They earned a lot of money and were beautiful and popular. Inheriting all kinds of luxury items, real estate, and stocks…
They were at the top of the pyramid.
‘Or at least, they don’t live with the same worries as me.’
I didn’t want to go to school.
–Did you hear about where that person lives? I heard it’s a run-down place, not even a proper house. But even that must be on rent, right?
–She’s always wearing the same clothes.
–She has one outfit alone, I tell you. One outfit.
I didn’t like my friends’ gossip, so I didn’t hang out with them much.
Quiet child–that was my reputation. My only hobby was reading web novels, especially ones that were free if you waited.
I particularly liked villainous characters. I preferred their refreshing and confident personalities rather than the angelic heroines.
‘If I were the one transmigrated into a villainess, I think I would do better.’
Perhaps it was because I had never been confident in real life, or maybe it was due to my long experience working part-time at a convenience store, where I had to smile even in front of difficult customers.
‘At that time, I should have told that person making fun of me for being poor that it was an incredibly rude thing to do.
‘I should have stopped smiling and reported it to the police right away.’
Before going to sleep, I agonized over countless injustices I had suffered.
I should have done this, I should have done that.
But I couldn’t.
One day, I suddenly opened my eyes and found myself in this world.
It wasn’t like I had been in a traffic accident or got struck by lightning, as in most rofan.
I just suddenly transmigrated.
Nevertheless, and perhaps it was because poverty was so sickening, I adapted quickly.
I had seen novels start the same, and as a reader, I was frustrated whenever the main character would cry and make a fuss about her situation.
‘She is a noble; she looks very pretty, and she seems to be from a wealthy family.
‘Can I really live like a villainess?’ I had high expectations.
But life wasn’t that easy.
While I couldn’t tell which novel I was in, if I had to categorize the genre, it was close to those trashy novels full of tragedy.
‘What does that mean? It means the survival bar is in hell.
‘The worst thing is that there are strong characters and villains everywhere.’
In my first life in this world, I was sold as the fourth wife of a mediocre noble, and the first wife poisoned me to death.
It turned out that Catalestra of the Mist, the longtime rival of my family, Stellarion of the Sun, devoured our family and sold me off as a puppet.
‘Ah, the sorrow of the defeated.’
In my second life, I decided I had to become strong, no matter what.
I succeeded in becoming stronger. I sought a hidden master, became their disciple, and received swordsmanship training.
‘But my master was insane.’
He gave me a sword, and he made me kill countless people. There was no room for rebellion.
Although I preserved my family thanks to the regression buff, my mind was in tatters.
‘In the end, I died rebelling against the master, refusing to kill any more people.’
In the third life, I didn’t seek out my master. I preserved the family, and everything seemed to be going smoothly until they discovered I came from Earth.
“”Her body harbors the soul of another world!”
~
The Holy Father recognized my true identity.
After that, hell unfolded.
With a soul from a different world, I was an amusing plaything for the powerful, bored by their ordinary everyday lives.
Numerous kidnappings, imprisonments, brainwashing, torture, and abuse followed.
“I escaped…”
I finally died, marking the beginning of my fourth life.
Even though it was my voice, it sounded unfamiliar.
As always, I went back to the spring when I was 17 years old.
The weather outside the window was remarkably pleasant… And yet, the situation I found myself in was truly regrettable.
“…Miss? Is something the matter?”
I was seated in front of a mirror, and two maids were dressing me.
‘It’ll be troublesome if they find out about my regression.’
I replied nonchalantly, “No, continue.”
Inheriting the characteristics of my family, Stellarion of the Sun, glitter-like golden stardust spread across my abundant silver hair. Some called them fragments of the sun, but I used to call them golden specks.
My eyes–a vivid lazurite blue–inherited from my mother, were like two gems that captivated whoever looked at them.
“Such excessive beauty will ruin her life,” the face that such rumors talked about looked at me from the mirror.
‘Despite the Stellarion being a villainous family, it was because of this appearance that I was forced to drink pheromone extract from a young age in my first life.’
There was a reason why I was sold as the fourth wife of a noble before the regression. Catalestra of the Mist sent me as a spy, but I died due to the first wife’s jealousy.
I closed my eyes for a moment, feeling a hand applying powder to my cheek.
‘The goal is… to obtain extraterritorial jurisdiction.’
I didn’t want to die again.
‘Becoming stronger doesn’t really mean much.’
Even if I became powerful, there would always be someone stronger than me. I was already strong enough; did I really have to put in more effort to become even stronger?
I had experienced endless competition in Korea already. Tedious entrance exams and tedious qualifications standards.
Putting in more effort seemed bothersome. However, becoming someone looked down on was equally unpleasant. I didn’t like second place, shamefulness, those above me, or those who ordered me around.
However, this empire was a country with an unusually strong imperial power. Being treated as a part of the aristocracy in a hierarchical society was unavoidable for me, a noblewoman of this empire.
But, could I escape to another country? People were the same everywhere.
‘If I personally hold power, I might end up working myself to death.’
It was tough working part-time in Korea; I couldn’t afford to work until I died here.
Thus, the answer was extraterritorial rights. An autonomous territory where power, money, honor, and even the law couldn’t reach. That’s where I wanted to stand.
‘It’s about time–’
Bang!
The moment I thought that, the door slammed open.
“What are you doing, Sister?!”
Without even a knock, my half-younger sister, Talleseth, entered.
“…You’re still so rude.”
“Still?”
There was a peculiar tone in Talleseth’s voice.
I paused the maids and calmly stood up. The hem of my flowing red dress gracefully touched the floor.
‘You stabbed my servant.’
The abdomens of the two servants guarding outside the door were covered in blood. I looked at the servants coughing up blood, and I turned to Talleseth.
“Don’t you know that even if you leave now, you’ll be late for the viscount’s birthday ball?!” She screamed.
It finally hit me that I had just regressed.
“If the only thing you’re capable of is seducing men, then knock down the viscount or play some fox tricks, but do something to earn your keep!”
It might be awkward for someone aspiring to achieve extraterritoriality to be treated like this by a two years younger half-sister.
Honestly, every member of the “Stellarion of the Sun” family was trash. They committed all sorts of misdeeds.
‘But that’s only from a modern perspective. In this family, it’s considered normal.’
“Don’t pretend to be all that just because you were born with pretty eyes; you’re the trash that’s last in line for the family inheritance!”
Talleseth particularly tormented me, but no one dared to stop her.
Under Stellarion of the Sun, treatment was determined by ranking and succession battles. As a result, there was no love between siblings, and we simply referred to each other as “opponents.”
I was the lowest among my opponents until I turned 17. Notice; none of the servants interfered.
‘If I don’t want the regression to be discovered, I’ll have to go with the story that I’ve hidden my power so far,’ I thought as I watched the shouting Talleseth.
“I’m not going to the party.”
“What?”
“I said–I’m not going.”
It’s true that it was my “mission” but that would change soon enough.
As I spoke calmly, Talleseth froze in place, holding a fan.
“If you go, then go.”
She wasn’t the type of person who would understand even if I spoke clearly.
Talleseth stood stiff for a moment, then burst into laughter.
“Are you crazy? Why would I go to that perverted Viscount’s birthday party? Do you want to die at my hands like your mother and sister? Is that what you’re saying?”
“No? You are the one who’s going to die at my hands, though?”
“What’s with this ant talking back to me? How dare you!!”
Talleseth had mastered the art of assassination and carried poison in the tip of her fan to discreetly kill people. Among the Stellarions, she was particularly cruel.
She killed my mother and older sister…
“Help me, Letiana.”
~
My sister’s voice echoed in my ears like a hallucination.
It couldn’t be helped that the brutality of killing half-blood relatives was directed at other people, but Talleseth took it to an extreme level.
She routinely killed the poor and especially enjoyed abusing animals and children.
She delighted in watching a dog and child cry in pain after combining them into a chimera.
Even the Stellarion’s servants, accustomed to cruelty, often felt nauseated around Talleseth.
Her fan would move dazzlingly when she committed cruel acts. That was why my younger sister, more than anyone else, treasured that fan.
“How did you…”
As the fan–which had never left her hand before–was now in my hand, Talleseth stared at me with a surprised expression.
I replied with a smile.
“If you treat someone else’s servants so recklessly, it’ll come back to haunt you. How does it feel to be on the receiving end this time?”
“W-w-what is this?”
“You still don’t understand the situation?”
Talleseth’s eyes widened, looking hopeless. It was truly a masterpiece. I wanted to see such a gaze at least once in my life.
My father, the head of the Stellarion family, had 18 daughters and 25 sons. Among them, I was the weakest, the most fragile–only a pretty face.
Until now.
“How did someone like you, the last in competition, defeat me…?”
Talleseth’s legs lost strength, and she knelt in front of me. I bent to make eye contact with her, as she was struggling to keep from falling down, and spoke.
“I’ve been living by hiding my strength until now.”
“It can’t be…!”
My half-sister, who had been writhing, gradually stiffened as the poison took hold. I confirmed her weakening gaze, even capturing her breath just before death.
When I raised my head, the employees looked at me with surprised expressions while holding their breath in shock.
“Report it to Father. Letiana has killed Talleseth and risen to 9th place in the succession battle.”
I calmly handed Talleseth’s fan to a maid and commanded.
“Ye-yes, Miss.”
The maids hurriedly bowed, and I finally felt at ease.
From now on, I will receive only the treatment that is rightfully mine.
—
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Join our discord to receive the latest update as soon as possible!
Comments for chapter "Chapter 1"
MANGA DISCUSSION
What Are Pilot Novels?
Pilot novels are novels that will only have a few chapters released from our group. We hope that someone else can continue these novels for the enjoyment of everyone!