“Why does it have to be me?”

[Why? Because your magical power is the strongest!]

When I angrily demanded an answer, the dragon chuckled and replied.

[I knew from the moment you were conceived in your mother’s womb. I knew you could be a suitable vessel for me.]

“Then is my parents’ death also because of you?”

[Well…]

The dragon laughed unpleasantly, trailing off.

I gritted my teeth and thought.

‘That dragon bastard, I’ll kill it with my own hands.’

I ran around desperately trying to escape this cursed fate of a doomed villain.

And I found out.

The only way to drive out the dragon parasitizing my body was through the death of its host – me.

Even if I die, the dragon will eventually awaken in the body of one of Shunaibel’s future descendants.

Because the damned first Emperor sealed the dragon in the ‘heart of Shunaibel’!

‘Who would have known that the method of sealing the dragon with God’s help was to offer one’s body.’

Due to the contract between the first Emperor and God, the heart of the Shunaibel imperial family became the sealing place for the dragon for generations.

In other words, as long as the Shunaibel imperial family exists, the dragon will also continue to exist.

And when it encounters magical power strong enough to awaken it, it will try to resurrect by stealing a body. Just like it has awakened in my body now.

At first, I cried and felt wronged.

But later, I changed my mind. If I’m destined to die anyway, let’s go all out!

After all, no one can kill me before the protagonists do, not even myself!

‘They say that because of the dragon residing in my heart, I can’t die unless it’s by the holy sword.’

Although it was a doomed fate, the fact that no one could kill me was a huge advantage.

‘While I’m at it, should I clean up this rotten imperial family?’

The Shunaibel imperial family, which had ruled the continent for a long time, was thoroughly corrupted.

Perhaps that was also a device to give the protagonists a justification for overthrowing the imperial family.

When I turned sixteen, I purged all the direct imperial family members of Shunaibel and became the Emperor myself.

That earned me the infamous ‘Witch of Shunaibel’ title, but I didn’t care. Wasn’t I already the ‘witch who devoured her parents’ from birth?

Now, I was the only remaining seed of calamity in Shunaibel.

I secretly helped the protagonists and slowly waited for my death.

But a variable occurred.

Yuria, the original female protagonist and saint from another world, suddenly returned to her own world!

‘Wait, then who will overthrow the corrupt empire? Who will stop the dragon’s rampage? What about the peace of this world?’

Above all, the biggest problem was the dragon’s rampage.

If this isn’t stopped, the world will be destroyed.

After much deliberation, I finally had to plan my own death.

‘The only way is to kill myself before the dragon bastard goes berserk.’

And my planned death was accomplished by the three heroes who appeared in the original story.

Duke Niel Alpenhayer, the leader of the rebel army, who was my fiancé, but asked to break off the engagement saying he fell in love with the saint.

Pope Yupheon Arne, who had been my sole confidant, but turned his back on me with the appearance of the saint.

Cail Aleret, my knight, the successor of the fallen Hersha clan with ancient dragon blood, the only one who could read the dragon’s energy and pierce my heart.

These three men were also the male protagonists of the original story.

They were suffering because of Yuria’s sudden disappearance, and I took advantage of that by claiming, “I killed Saint Yuria!”

As I intended, the male leads rebelled.

Duke Niel Alpenhayer, allied with the nobles, led the rebel army and surrounded the imperial palace.

Then Pope Yupheon claimed in God’s name that I should be punished, and that became the rallying point for even the common people who feared the tyrant Jella to take to the streets with plows and sickles.

Now, all that was left for me was to die.

‘Everything’s perfect up to this point.’

The flow of the original story was blocked at the last moment.

According to the original story, only Cail could pierce my heart where the dragon resided.

However, even though I went through the trouble of stealing and bringing him the holy sword, Cail showed no intention of killing me.

Things went wrong because Yuria, who was supposed to influence him to side with the rebels, had disappeared.

‘I thought he would go berserk and try to kill me when I said I killed Yuria.’

Despite me already becoming the public enemy of the entire continent, he didn’t budge.

‘This is a problem.’

In the end, I slightly changed my plan.

For the first and last time, I borrowed the dragon’s power to put a shackle on Cail.

It was a binding shackle of an oath that must be kept once spoken.

“Promise me this, Cail. On my twentieth birthday, you will grant me one wish.”

“I will.”

Cail nodded without knowing what I wished for.

The day I met my death five years ago was my twentieth birthday.

I deliberately chose that day for the deed, when the eyes of many people would be gathered.

Cail Aleret’s sword pierced my chest.

At that moment, the last face of Cail I saw was…

‘Terrifying.’

He was glaring at me with extremely resentful eyes, gritting his teeth.

“Jella, you…”

He muttered softly.

‘Oh no, this won’t do! What if someone with sharp ears overhears this?’

I pulled his sword to pierce my heart so that Cail wouldn’t hesitate any longer.

At that moment, Cail’s eyes widened and trembled.

“I will…”

Cail shed tears while gritting his teeth.

“Never forgive you.”

Yes, don’t forgive.

I tried to answer with a smile, but my lips wouldn’t part.

My weakened body collapsed into Cail’s arms.

[Aaaargh! Jella Shunaibel! You crazy woman!]

The soul of the dragon parasitizing my heart screamed.

My consciousness gradually faded, and soon after, my eyes closed.

That’s how I died.

Or so I thought.

‘But why am I still breathing?’

Until I opened my eyes again in the body of an unfamiliar woman five years later.

***

I suddenly opened my eyes in a dark, old room.

‘Why am I alive?’

I reached out to feel my chest.

There was no pain where Cail’s holy sword had pierced through.

‘How is this possible…’

My mind was blank.

Looking around, various drugs and flasks were scattered on the desk.

An unfamiliar scent of medicinal herbs stung my nose.

Black hair peeked out from beneath the robe that covered me to the top of my head.

“Black…”

I stared at it with bewildered eyes.

My hair was originally a deep purple.

“I think I know what this is…”

The memories of my past life, having read tens of thousands of web novels across all genres and keywords, told me.

That I had been reincarnated again.

“I need to find a mirror!”

Just as I was about to jump up,

Bang bang bang!

There was a knocking sound from outside.

“Jella!”

“…!”

My eyes widened.

Wasn’t I reincarnated again? How do they know my name?

“Jella Irene!”

Huh? Listening carefully, the name they were calling me sounded strange.

‘My name isn’t Jella Irene, it’s Jella Shunaibel.’

I decided to go outside first. If I didn’t, it seemed like that old wooden door would break.

‘That madman is going to break the door!’

The wooden floor creaked with each step I took.

It was the first time I experienced such poverty, having lived luxuriously in the imperial palace my whole life.

Creeeeak.

As I opened the door, an incredibly fierce-looking man was glaring at me.

“You incompetent and lazy fool! The sun’s been up for how long, and you’re still holed up in here without even lighting a fire?”

“…”

I kept my mouth shut, unable to answer for a moment.

It was the first time someone had looked me straight in the eye and raised their voice at me like this.

Everyone used to tremble in fear at the mere mention of the tyrant Jella’s name.

“Master Tenes is looking for you. More importantly, when will the medicine I asked for be ready?”

“Medicine…?”

“Yes, the medicine.”

“Why are you asking me about that?”

The man responded as if he had heard the most absurd thing in the world.

“Well, because you’re the apothecary we hired, of course.”

‘Apothecary? I’m an apothecary?’

My eyes suddenly lit up.

I wasn’t sure exactly what was going on, but it seemed I had died and been reincarnated again!

And not as some terrible villain who would destroy the world, but as a very ordinary and humble apothecary!

“Hey, you!”

I grabbed the man’s arm and leaned towards him.

As I did so, the robe I was wearing slipped down, revealing my face.

“Uh, um?”

The man stuttered, flustered, and took a step back.

“Did you say I’m an apothecary?”

I asked, shaking the man’s body.

“A-ahem! Y-yes!”

The man, whose face had turned bright red for some reason, cleared his throat and answered.

“You’re saying I’m really an apothecary? A normal apothecary…”

As I muttered, feeling somewhat happy and excited, the man carefully corrected my words.

“Ah, well… not a normal apothecary, but an incompetent and gloomy quack apothecary. One who can’t even make a proper fever reducer…”

“…!”

A look of shock crossed my face.

‘He says I’m incompetent?’

It was a shocking statement to me, who had been far from incompetent my entire life.

‘But it’s okay. I’ve been reincarnated into this incompetent body.’

I released the man’s arm and lifted my chin.

“Fine. What medicine did you request?”

The man glanced at me cautiously and answered obediently.

“Poison…”

“Poison? Why do you need that?”

“Well, it’s needed for killing…”

Whack!

The man’s body fell straight backward.

In an instant, I straddled the fallen man and glared at him with wide eyes.

“Aaagh! P-please… spare me!”

“Kill? Who are you trying to kill, and why? Are you eliminating villains?”

“No, eliminating villains would be a big problem… we are the villains…”

“What?”

My voice rose at his mumbling.

“Speak clearly. We are what?”

“W-we are members of the underworld, belonging to the great underworld leader, Master Tenes…”

My mouth gaped open at the man’s tearful response.

I… I…!

I, who should have been just an ordinary apothecary…!

To think that I’m a villain employed by the underworld…!

‘After saving the world, why am I a villain again?’