~Chapter 5~
From the moment I was adopted, I never drew a single easy breath.
I studied desperately, cramming myself with refinement, only to be mocked by my brother for my rough edges, and beaten by my mother whenever I displeased her. My father could never remember my name, always asking, “What was it again?”
In my memories, I only ever wanted to be a daughter of worth. I studied until my fingers bled, hungering for recognition.
But only after I suffered unbearable discrimination did I finally accept the truth.
I meant nothing to them.
I cut off all support from my family, put myself through medical school on scholarships, and, with my professor’s help, entered graduate school in pharmacology. Researching medicine, I finally felt like I was becoming someone of value. I spent my assistant’s stipend on daily living, and, when melancholy overtook me, I read novels.
The most memorable was a 19+ romance fantasy called The Downfall of Nina.
Nina, striving to escape her family with her beloved, is captured and forced to endure torment at the hands of the men of her house.
I gravitated to such grim stories because the heroines suffered even more than I did; it made me feel better by comparison. It was a petty comfort, but I excused it—because it was only fiction.
When I entered the workforce, praised as a prodigious researcher and building a stable career, my birth mother came looking for me.
I had never once met her since being adopted and growing to adulthood.
“May I visit from time to time?”
Her reddened eyes lingered in my mind, so I agreed. Though I’d earned a reputation as cold and ruthless, I could not bring myself to refuse. We maintained that tenuous relationship, her visits becoming a quiet thread in my life.
She told me she was raising my younger brother herself.
And what about me?
The thought stung, but I gave no sign.
One night, as she stayed in my small apartment, she mentioned my brother’s tuition for studying abroad. I thought little of it.
But when she stole my bankbook for his sake, my mind went blank. I chased her down as she hurried across the street, grabbing her by the wrist.
“Wasn’t it enough that you abandoned me? Why isn’t that enough for you? Why do you have to steal from me now?”
“Mi… Mira, why are you like this?”
I was her own child. Even if you love your children differently, isn’t pain still pain?
Her face crumpled with confusion as she pushed me away and ran.
It was a car that stopped her.
A tremendous crash.
My body was thrown, my mind drifting.
And in that fading haze, I thought,
What is family, anyway?
I should have just lived for myself, for my own desires and talents, without ever letting them rule my life.
That was the end of Yoon Mira.
“Ah—!”
The first thing that met Camilla as she woke was confusion. She stared dazedly at her small hands, lying in bed with a splint on her ankle.
The image of the woman dying in her dream lingered—yet here she was, alive.
What was that?
The word “past life” flickered through her mind. Shaking her head, Camilla was forced to admit it.
What she saw in her dream was her previous life. But now—
I am Camilla… the Mowin family’s illegitimate child.
Mowin, Ares, Nina…
Camilla mouthed the familiar names and suddenly stiffened.
Wasn’t the Mowin family the one from The Downfall of Nina?
The infamous, shadow-draped house from that 19+ romance novel.
Could this really be the world inside that book?
The Mowins in the story were a family of monstrous criminals, their true name, Glamis, ruling the underworld from the shadows.
The Everetts were not only sworn enemies, but the only knights who knew Mowin’s true face and sought to destroy them.
Nina, the heroine, tries to flee with her beloved, Drake Everett, only for him to be killed and her imprisoned, subjected to countless men.
And “Camilla”—the illegitimate daughter—was the villainess who brewed poisons to torment Nina.
Though she never concocted a poison strong enough to kill, she made Nina suffer in every other way…
She supplied everything needed for that sordid story.
And when she overstepped and tormented Nina, she was killed by the very men who desired Nina for themselves.
How revolting!
In her past life, the woman wasted her talents and died a fool.
And now, must she die as an expendable villainess, tormenting Nina?
I refuse to live that way.
Yoon Mira’s soul, forever longing for a mother’s love and never receiving it, awakened inside Camilla.
In the novel, Camilla was always an outcast, never granted the family name.
If she was to survive in this fearsome house, she could not live as before.
Especially now—
“The Baroness has been considering discarding you for your utter uselessness.”
If the nanny’s words were true, this was dire indeed.
In the novel, no one ever left this house alive—not on their own two feet, nor by being expelled.
All who learned the family’s secrets left as corpses.
There was never a chance to escape, not with her old, naïve self.
First, I need to prove my usefulness, and then wait for the right time to run.
The door opened, and Nina came in carrying a water jug and towel.
Nina’s eyes grew huge at the sight of Camilla sitting up. With a face on the verge of tears, she ran to her side.
“Sister, are you all right? I heard you were hurt. I’m sorry about yesterday. Please, don’t be in pain…”
Camilla stared blankly at the sniffling Nina.
She’s so young.
Far too young and gentle to be the heroine of such a ruinous story.
Her feelings twisted inside her, but she clenched her fists. With her own troubles pressing, she had no time to pity Nina.
Yoon Mira’s rationality echoed coldly from within.
“What happened to me?”
“Ares said you fell down the stairs.”
Ares—the wretch who pushed her—must have feigned ignorance.
“That’s odd… for falling down stairs…”
As Camilla tried to put her foot to the floor, pain shot through her ankle, and she collapsed.
“Sister!”
No, this won’t do.
The wretched family hadn’t even bothered with proper treatment. Nina helped her sit, then held out the water jug.
“Drink this! It’s an herbal tonic—I brought it for you. If you drink it, you won’t hurt anymore!”
Camilla, bemused, sniffed the drink and clamped her nose shut.
This is…
“Nina, take it away.”
The dizzying scent. Poppy—an opiate. Pain-killing, but as dangerous as any drug.
There’s not even a single ingredient to neutralize its toxicity.
“But… but the doctor said this would help! Mother used it too when she was sick!”
At the mention of the Baroness, Camilla’s eyes widened.
Could it be…?
She already knew this world’s medicine was crude, but not to this extent.
And the medicinal herbs here were even more potent than those from her previous life.
Everything I learned from my mother… this is it.
Her ticket to survival—to not be discarded, but to bide her time until she could run.
“Nina, I’ve actually always known a lot about herbs. I’m good at making medicine, too.”
“Really?”
“If I just add a few more ingredients, I could make something much better. Would you help me gather them?”
Nina’s eyes shone as she nodded, promising to fetch every herb Camilla mentioned and dashing off toward the greenhouse.
A small smile curled on Camilla’s lips.
Unlike the Camilla who merely swallowed poisons, Yoon Mira knew how to blend herbs and create remedies. She had learned well—even from the mother who abandoned her.
If I use that knowledge…
Just then, the door banged open.
Expecting Nina, Camilla found Yuli instead, storming in with a bucket of water.
Splash!
Yuli drenched her.
“What did you do to the young lady yesterday?!”
Water dripping, Yuli jabbed her finger.
“I got in trouble too because of you! Hurry up and go beg the nanny for forgiveness! Stumbling on the stairs without any care—how useless!”
What would Yoon Mira have done in times like this?
Camilla studied Yuli, who was still ranting.
“Come closer.”
Unsettled by Camilla’s uncharacteristically icy face, Yuli hesitated, but pressed on, ready to humiliate her.
“Really, you’re just a—!”
Though her body still ached, Camilla knew what she had to do first.
Smack!
Yuli’s cheek snapped to one side, her eyes wide as saucers.
“W-what…?”
“I’ll return those words to you.”
Smack!
The other cheek.
Yuli stared, speechless.
“You’re just a maid.”
Smack!
“W-wait…”
“And you dare speak so to your mistress?”
Smack!
“What do you think you’re doing?”
Yuli stared, stunned, cradling her burning cheeks.
Yoon Mira had never lost a battle of nerves to anyone outside her family.
Camilla crossed her arms and glared down with newfound authority.
