“Why…?”
The white serpent muttered as she looked down at her small hands.
“Why am I… back again?”
Having just awakened moments ago, she had been startled out of her wits.
Because the place where she had opened her eyes was her residence within the imperial palace.
It was not the southern lands, where black snow fell and the cold bit into the bone.
How on earth had she returned to the palace?
Could it be that her father had given her another chance?
Had he picked her up after abandoning her and brought her back here?
But if that were the case, something felt off.
There was not a single black spot on her body.
Just like before her power had manifested, she was completely clean.
To examine herself more closely, the girl spun around on the spot.
As she did, brilliant, multicolored smoke rose, and from within it appeared a tiny baby snake.
The white serpent, now in her beast form, looked at her tail.
Her long, smooth body—like a white rice cake—was spotless, with no black marks anywhere.
Just then—
“Hey! A snake!”
With a loud crash, a boy barged into her quarters.
It was her half-brother, Song Ra, the Second Prince born of the Empress.
The white serpent froze when she saw him.
‘On Brother Song Ra’s forehead…’
There was a dragon’s mark engraved there.
That golden mark was something all dragons who could use “Blessing” possessed.
But Song Ra had lost his mark when he turned ten.
‘Y-you…! What have you done?!’
Because when the white serpent’s power had manifested, she had absorbed a portion of his “Blessing.”
Having lost part of it, the mark never returned to his forehead.
Because of that, she had to endure the Empress and Song Ra’s relentless blame and abuse.
But now the mark was still there…?
If that was the case…
‘Don’t tell me… I’ve returned to the past?’
An unbelievable thought drifted into her mind.
‘If that’s really true…’
Then no matter how Song Ra treated her, she must not react.
As Song Ra grabbed her and bullied her, the white serpent shut her eyes tightly and endured it in silence.
“Ridiculous. Why aren’t you even turning into your human form?”
Unlike before, she didn’t feel like running away, nor did she wish to become a magnificent dragon like him.
If she let herself think like that, “that incident” might happen again.
“Tch.”
“….”
“This is boring. What’s wrong with you today? Did you eat something weird?”
When she showed no reaction at all, Song Ra lost interest and left.
Only after he was gone did the white serpent slowly open her tightly shut eyes.
After confirming the room was empty, she quickly slipped outside through a small hole in the door.
Then she bit down on a weed growing outside and tried using her power.
Sss—
“…!”
Just as she expected, the plant withered as all its life force was drained away.
Her greedy power had already manifested.
Life or death.
Blessing or corruption.
A horrifying ability that devoured everything in existence.
Calming her racing heart, she thought carefully.
‘I must have returned to the past.’
To before her power manifested, before she was used as her father’s tool.
If she had reacted to Song Ra’s bullying just now, the same events as before would have unfolded.
At that thought, she lifted her head and looked at the sky.
Wait.
Was it really so bad if the same thing happened again?
Did she truly have to avoid becoming her father’s tool once more?
Maybe this time she could do better.
If she became more useful, perhaps she wouldn’t be abandoned…
But then she remembered her father’s cold expression as he cast her aside.
The white serpent lowered her head.
‘That’s a foolish thought.’
If she had truly returned to the past, then no matter what she did, the future would not change.
She would still have to obediently absorb the energy from the “owner of the hand” as ordered by her father—
And once that was done, she would be discarded by his merciless hands.
She didn’t want that.
If that was the future waiting for her, she refused to follow it.
Working until she bled from the nose, desperately trying to earn her father’s approval—
Living in constant fear that she would be thrown away once she outlived her usefulness—
She was tired of it all.
‘Then what should I do…?’
At that moment, she recalled something her father had said before her regression.
‘I was planning to throw you into the southern lands soon.’
She later learned that was true because of Song Ra.
Driven mad with anger after losing part of his Blessing, he had shouted at her:
‘If it weren’t for that disgusting power of yours, you would’ve been thrown away soon anyway! Do you understand?!’
‘S-sob… You would’ve been abandoned—if Father had thrown you away just a week earlier…!’
‘He said a week…’
That meant one week from now, the Emperor would abandon her in the southern lands.
After a moment of thought, the white serpent made up her mind.
This time, she would not try to be loved. She would choose to be abandoned.
If the same future awaited her anyway, she didn’t want to remain in this dreadful palace any longer.
Even if she could only live for a single day, she wanted to live outside the palace.
In a place where no one would find her disgusting or impure.
And besides—
‘I want to see it… whatever that was.’
That sphere she had seen at the moment of her death.
She hadn’t seen it clearly, but it had definitely resembled a dragon’s wish-granting orb.
‘If I could see it just once more…’
If she could confirm what it was, she wouldn’t mind dying a little earlier in this life.
But first, she needed to hide her power.
If she was lucky, she might survive there for a few days.
Her power absorbed everything, after all.
Right now, having absorbed nothing, it would take time before her body became completely corrupted.
Even four days would be enough to figure out the nature of that orb.
Of course, it might not appear again…
Still, she wanted to go back there.
Whether it appeared or not, she felt she had to see it with her own eyes.
And if she was even luckier, she might meet beastfolk living in that forsaken land.
If so, she might survive a few more days by relying on their kindness.
‘Though they probably won’t be kind to me…’
Still, anything would be better than living here.
From experience, she already knew there was no place more lonely and sorrowful than the imperial palace.
However, once she decided to leave, one thing weighed on her mind.
‘That hand.’
The hand she had absorbed energy from every single day under the Emperor’s orders.
If she left, what would happen to its owner?
The energy within that person’s body was so strong it could destroy the young serpent’s body and even lead her to death.
If she disappeared…
The white serpent stared blankly at her hands.
There had been a time, brief as it was, when she found comfort in that hand.
Its owner neither spoke nor moved, so she never rejected or pushed the white serpent away.
But at the same time, it made her unbearably sad.
The only one who didn’t reject her in this place was someone lying there as if dead.
That was why she sincerely wished for her to wake up soon.
And even after waking, she hoped she wouldn’t push her away.
But at the same time, she was afraid.
Afraid that once she woke up, the white serpent would lose her usefulness and be discarded.
Afraid that the awakened owner of the hand might shove her away just like her father had…
At that thought, she shook her head fiercely.
‘No.’
If she kept thinking like that, she wouldn’t be able to leave.
And then, just like before, she would be used as her father’s tool and eventually abandoned.
‘I’m sorry… nameless lady.’
Thinking of the young woman’s hand, the white serpent coiled herself with a sorrowful expression.
‘Even if I stay, I’ll soon become useless anyway.’
So please find another way, wake up soon, and recover.
She truly hoped the woman would open her eyes as soon as possible.
After all, it was thanks to holding that hand that she had been able to extend her life, even if only a little.
Even though she had now given that up, the feelings she once had hadn’t disappeared.
The lingering, nostalgic scent from being by her side still seemed to hover at the tip of her nose.
Inside a dimly lit room.
The Emperor lifted the beaded curtain he had let hang and asked,
“How is her condition?”