How seriously unpredictable. The rose was a sweet move enough. However, having a primrose in her hair clinging onto the curled fronts of her bangs was questionable. 

It meant whoever gave her the letter was to touch her. Really closely too. And it had to be the person that gave her the letter. 

If it had been some pretty man with a sparkling aura and that signature prince smile, Mina would've not minded too much. The letter, however, contrasting to what she was thinking, shot down that thought and caused her to imagine an old, fat man with a cigarette in his mouth and women fanning him for his wealth from each corner. Didn't people sell their daughters off to these kinds of people during this age? Mina's face was drained of all its color and she shivered while thinking about it. 

But this was probably not the charming prince. Yes, it was the fat man whore that Almeria called him! Yes! It was always like those historical novels that she'd read in Korea when she was Mina Lee. 

Mina shot up sharply and ran back in the direction she came from. Her slippers caught dirt and water along the way, turning them from cream white to chocolate brown stains. Still, she made her way back and crawled through the dog door just as the first bell for morning servants rang. 

Ah shit.

They were gonna see that she had left her chamber. Maybe even jumped out of the balcony, since she remembered her balcony sun door was left open. Whatever. 

It wouldn't even matter anymore if she went back on time. She had a wonderful night by herself until that person she imagined slipped in a letter when she slept and probably touched her face. Mina ripped the slippers off her feet. They were getting annoyingly soggy, given the uncomfortable feeling that she had after running a while.

Then the second round of bells rang. It called for the staff of the kitchen to awake and prepare meals. Does Mina's 'family' even finish those meals? Probably not. Who knows what they do with the leftover food. That got her feeling itchy, all that delicious food being most likely wasted. 

Mina had closed all the doors while looking for the garden at night, so there was no way of finding her way back. It was too dark to even see the door designs, and now that would've been helpful. They all were pact with different carvings and gems, all different. How much does this family spend on doors? Mina sighed and pushed open another door, her slippers hanging between her two fingers. She'd still have a bit of time, considering those bells were most likely for the servants, not for the family to wake. They'd probably be politely woken up with maids around them holding their clothes and preparing baths. Mina couldn't imagine Almeria actually waking to the maid's calling. She'd probably scream until they left her to sleep peacefully.

Mina found another hallway lined with portraits of young children. Still walking barefoot, she awkwardly continued on, looking at the paintings slowly. They never had only one kid. There were always two or more. And they were most likely siblings. The thing was, each painting she passed, the children would look as if there was no soul in their eyes. No light. They all had the same plastered face, the same straight lined pink lips, and their heads turned towards the direction they were painted at. It was a little frightening to stare at for a long time. At one point, Mina reached near the end of the hallway, where there were no more large golden frames with paintings. 

The last painting was of two girls. One girl held a rose, her other hand peeling the petals off. The other girl, the younger one, held a sword towards the girl with the rose's neck. It was unsettling, for their heads turned towards Mina. Only the girl with the sword had her head towards Mina. There it was, the same dead eyes. The girl with the rose had her eyes closed. The girl with the sword had the flaming, hot red hair as Almeria, and the girl with a rose looked very much like Mina. 

What was also strange about each of the paintings she passed always had one or more children with softer side of actions such as reading, painting, playing music, anything of the sort. There was always only one child in the painting holding a weapon of the sort, either pointing it at the other children in the drawing or at themselves. Under that painting of what she thought to be Vahlarina and Almeria were their names. So she was right. It was a painting of both of them.

The rest of the hallway was empty, no paintings. It was just empty, the white wall was separated by a half of a roman column. Mina decided to look at the paintings more. They drew her in even with those terrifying eyes. She walked backwards to see a painting diagonal from hers with a young blonde boy with an arrow pulled back, ready to pierce the animal of another boy with darker blonde hair feeding a squirrel. The boy with the arrow had a dead look, again, no light in his eyes, yet he had a determined look on his face. 

At first glance, it looks to be that the boy was pointing the arrow at the squirrel. However, the more Mina stared at it, the more she realized that it was not the squirrel he was aiming at, but his own brother. It didn't really surprise her, since all these paintings always had that one kid with a weapon. Did the artist make it an illusion for the arrow to look like it was pointed at the animal? Under the painting's golden frame was a plaque with the names Richsanson Ver Samarien and Carindon Ver Samarien, Carindon being harshly crossed out, making a dented slice in his name. 

That was her father. Richsanson Ver Samarien. The father coldly murdered his own daughter Vahlarina Ver Samarien with poison. It was simple to comprehend what was depicted in the painting. Richsanson had caused his brother's death in some way. Mina took a few steps in shock and continued retreating back. There was another painting across from her father's. Three kids. Only one was holding a sword. A girl with short, glossy, brown hair and cloudy blue eyes stood confidently in front of her two brothers with blonde hair and the same blue eyes. She had one hand on her hip and the other hand held the sword pointed vertically at them. The two brothers were seated at a table, one of them reading, the other writing. They had a curious look on their faces towards their sister.

Under the painting again, were their names. Seraphina Ver Samarien, Blairson Ver Samarien, and Christon Ver Samarien. Seraphina's name was the only one that wasn't scratched out. Mina was struck once again. The young girl with a yellow lace dress killed her brothers. It was like this for all paintings. One name remained, all the other names were scratched out. 

Mina ran back to her own painting. Almeria held a sword to Vahlarina's neck. Vahlarina was going to die. Just like the pattern. She was going to die. Was she incapable? There has got to be something between all these children that had been assassinated. Were they incapable? But Mina also had to think rationally. Just because the names had been crossed out does not mean that they all had been murdered. If all the children with the crossed out names had been murdered, it would've been obvious already. It didn't seem like all of them were murdered though, there was no way without causing a stir with the public.

Mina had been standing there too long. Way too long. She didn't feel anything within her looking at these paintings. It was fictional after all. But that fiction had become reality. And she realized as long as she wasn't in the presence of her sister and stopped taking the medication that was given to her at night, she would survive. It was that easy. Mina snickered to herself. Oh, how stupid were all those female leads in those web novels she had read with her school mates! And she had called them all naive and always waiting for the male lead to show up.

If she were to live, she'd mess with the entire plot of Joo-Young's story. But so what? No, she wasn't going to become like those leads who try to keep everything intact, every detail flowing with the story. She'd run away and invent the toothbrush or something and become rich. (There were no toothbrushes in Joo-Young's book. They had to use a certain kind of powdered wash to clean their mouths. Even with that, it still wasn't clean. This had caused Mina to scrub her teeth with a towel everyday with the powder.)

But running away, she'd meet the male lead by accident because that's how every web novel she had read went. They'd run away, and by coincidence, they would meet. And then he falls in love with the regressor and the regressor would slowly accept him, thinking that he was still in love with the female lead of the original novel. No! How stupid are they to think the story would stay the same? Once they had one interaction with the prince of the novel, the entire original story is gone and that man will fall for the girl that regressed. Then the original female lead would become a villainess or she’d marry another man. 

Actually...she could run away but hide. But then again, she would be leaving the luxury of this castle. But if she stayed, she'd die. It was a death to death situation. Or she could just kill herself and hope she'd have a second chance in a better body, maybe as a peasant begging for a bit of corn on the street.  No, she cannot. It is already a blessing to have another life...but sacrifices can be made. Maybe not to herself, but if she found a way to kill Almeria. 

In the original book by Joo-Young, Vahlarina's father poisoned his own daughter to death because she was weak and incapable of doing even the smallest things. Vahlarina could only read, she couldn't sing, she couldn't dance, she couldn't sew, let alone even fight. Now thinking about it, Mina realized that maybe Lady V. was actually lame and a weakling. Maybe it was understandable why her father wanted her gone, because at least Almeria could use a sword. 

She was still in that hallway pondering. Mina continued her train of thought, pacing back and forth. She walked from one end of the hallway and back. She did this over five times, and the hallway was quite long. Her slippers had dried by now and the brown stains from the dirt had hardened. She was still, in fact, walking barefoot.

But this was not some Korean that was skilless and parentless that regressed. She didn't quit everything and started drinking until Joo-Young died. And it has only been three months since she's done anything, so she'd still know how to at least paint and...no Mina probably remembers how to do everything. 

And there were plenty of simple objects that weren't invented that could make her a filthy rich right now. Thank the heavens now that she was selected to become a weak, un-useful princess that can do absolutely nothing. The reactions to 'Vahlarina' perfecting everything was enough to make Mina drool. Those reactions by everyone would be ever so priceless. Imagine what everyone would think if she sat down mysteriously at the dark of midnight with the moon ripping through the curtains and the wind blowing them as she played Torrent Étude while the staff curiously walked by the room, wondering who's playing. And to their shock, it would be Vahlarina! The useless, sickly, incapable of anything princess. 

Mina, too lost in her thoughts, began giggling quietly. Not noticing, someone tapped her back, causing her to slowly turn around, her smile fading from her face and her giggling stilled as her head turned. 

Her 'father' stood behind her, leaning down a bit. His long, blonde hair had been tied back, and he no longer had that tired gaze. He was wearing something actually formal, rather than just a blanket that covered his entire body like a cloak. He had an actual cape this time, only it was clasped on one side of his body. His suit was a cream white color with light designs and buttons. 

"My daughter, Vahlarina, what might be the cause of your presence here?"