"Is it my mistake that I fell in love with you?
Is it my fault that you fell in love with someone else?
You're the one who never took me seriously as your fiancée…
You're the one who didn't break off the engagement, even though you didn't care for me…
You're the one who went through the motions of engagement ceremonies, all while declaring to the world that you had another lover—someone you'd known for far longer than you ever knew me."
"What are you trying to say?" Yoel asked, his voice icy.
"If only you had rejected me from the start, or at least canceled the engagement, maybe none of this would have happened. Maybe I wouldn't have done what I did. Maybe we wouldn't be standing in this mess."
"So, you're blaming me? Are you saying this is my fault? That you're innocent?"
"I've never claimed to be innocent," she said, her voice firm but tired. "I have an evil heart, I know that. But where do you think this evil came from? Have you forgotten who I was before all of this? Don't you remember me from childhood? I wasn't like this... I wouldn't have hurt anyone.
But look at me now, standing here in front of you, having done terrible things. Can you really say you had no hand in this? That you were completely blameless? Think about how you treated me, how you acted towards me, and you'll see that you're not innocent either."
Yoel stared at the woman who had just taken her last breath. Her lifeless body lay at his feet, her final words still ringing in his ears. He didn't feel much for her, but the weight of what she had said gnawed at him.
His thoughts were interrupted by the arms of his beloved wrapping around him.
"Thank you… thank you for saving me. I was so scared…" She wept against his chest, expecting him to echo her sentiment, to affirm that it had been the fault of that 'evil woman.'
But Yoel said nothing. He just held her in silence.
They left the scene together, leaving behind the body of the so-called villainess. Her family's corpses lay scattered beside her, cold and forgotten. No one noticed the lone soul standing among the dead, gazing down at her own lifeless form.
"Why did I have to transmigrate at this moment?" Rebecca sighed as she looked at the body—her body—that had died before she'd even had the chance to understand this new life she was thrust into.
Should she consider herself lucky to have died at his hands quickly rather than endure the torment that would have awaited her as the villainess? Or was she unlucky, robbed of the chance other transmigrators often had, to change their fate at the last moment?
Confusing, wasn't it?
Ah… Rebecca. Her real name, both in her original world and here, in this world where she had only just transmigrated a few minutes ago.
She had a good life back in her real world—a successful career as a renowned fashion designer, her talent recognized through several awards. But she'd grown tired of the monotony, so she quit her job and set off on a journey to experience life. She traveled, ate exotic foods, and made new friends, reveling in the joy of it all.
It was fun. She lived freely, indulging in adventures, tasting exotic cuisines, and exploring corners of the world she'd only dreamed of. There were hardships along the way, of course—rough roads, unpredictable weather, moments of exhaustion—but she welcomed each challenge with a fierce resolve. She knew her own strength, knew she could overcome whatever obstacles came her way. Life was good, and she had no reason to believe it wouldn't stay that way. But fate, fickle as always, had other plans. One misstep during a trekking trip, and suddenly she was falling from an unimaginable height. Time slowed, and the vastness of the fall engulfed her. The wind roared in her ears, and her stomach twisted in a sickening free-fall. She could feel the terror building, the cold sweat of impending doom. When she hit the ground, pain exploded through her body, sharp and all-consuming. But mercifully, it only lasted a few seconds before everything went dark. The world around her faded, and all that remained was the heavy, suffocating silence of death.
When she opened her eyes again, she wasn't in her world. She was standing in front of a man and woman, pain stabbing through her chest. Stabbed… She had been stabbed! (o_O) !
━Σ(ﾟДﾟ|||)━
She realized then—she'd transmigrated. Like one of those novels she'd read, she had entered a story, taking over the body of a character. And from the memories flooding her mind, she quickly understood who she was: an 'evil' character. In stories like these, the villainess either dies tragically or is tortured relentlessly by the protagonist.
The memories gave her enough to form her next move, her last words. She could see through Yoel now, a man who wanted both power and love, hurting countless innocents to get them. The body she had taken over had been just another victim in his cruel game.
She had known he would kill her, and when he finally drove his sword into her chest, it was what she had expected from a heartless man like him—someone who wanted it all and was willing to destroy anything that stood in his way.
But Rebecca refused to let him walk away without guilt. So, she had said what she could, using the body's memories, knowing that she might not survive. She pitied characters like the one she inhabited—people used and discarded by the protagonists.
Rebecca didn't know if her words would leave any mark on him, but she had to try. She couldn't just die, given this second chance, without doing something.
And now… now she was a soul. Floating among corpses, trapped in a world she didn't recognize, without any clue of what to do next.
As she stood among the bodies, a dark void opened up before her, a massive black shadow emerged, gripping her tightly before hurling her into a dark, gaping void.
"Wait, wait, at least tell me what is…?!" she tried to shout, but before the words left her lips, she lost consciousness again.
"Mom! Mom!!
Mom, please wake up… Mom!!"
Rebecca opened her eyes in confusion. A young boy, sobbing uncontrollably, was shaking her, desperate for her to wake. The moment her eyes fluttered open, he threw his arms around her, his tears soaking into her clothes.
"I'm sorry, Mom… It's because of me, it's all because of me…"
Rebecca blinked, trying to make sense of what was happening. She had transmigrated… and died… and now she had transmigrated again? How many times could she be thrown into different lives in one day?
And this time, it seemed, she was someone's mother.
A single mother? That's what it looked like.
Rebecca, an unmarried woman who had never dealt with children before, was now staring at a tearful boy calling her "Mom."
"Mom?" the boy asked again, his voice full of sadness.
"Mom?" Rebecca repeated back, still in disbelief.