Chapter 01
A once-prestigious mansion, now fallen into ruin, where only dust rolls desolately in the absence of servants.
A young noble lady, dressed in an inherited, outdated gown, sat blankly on a worn stool, having her hair styled while staring into the mirror.
The furniture, wallpaper, and interior walls—once considered masterpieces a century ago—had all peeled and decayed over time, left without proper maintenance.
The one tending to her hair wasn’t a maid but the girl’s aunt.
As she fussed over the doll-like, beautiful girl, the aunt continued her nagging.
“Idnia. Today, you will meet His Highness the Crown Prince, your fiancé. This engagement is crucial for our family, which has fallen due to the demons. Make sure His Highness falls head over heels for you. The family’s glory rests solely on you. And, well, my comfortable retirement too.”
The girl called Idnia listened vacantly, nodding like a sleepwalker, before suddenly snapping back to awareness.
“Huh?!”
“Oh my, you startled me! What’s wrong, Idnia?”
“Idnia… me?”
“Yes, you. Idnia. Idnia Kache Betelgeuse. We are the Betelgeuse Ducal House, one of the Elector families of the Holy Eldar Empire, and our ancestor is none other than the Overlord Yurik. You remember, don’t you? Even as a child, you should know our family’s lineage.”
‘Idnia Kache Betelgeuse?’
Staring into the mirror, Idnia realized with shock that she had become a young girl.
‘Idnia… Isn’t that the villainess noble lady from Awakening Maiden Concerto?’
Awakening Maiden Concerto—a once-popular gacha mobile game where players trained saintesses and their allies to fight against demons. In it, Idnia Kache Betelgeuse was the Season 1 antagonist, a villainess noble lady…
‘Oh dear, is this a reincarnation story as the villainess? One of those typical isekai tropes? Who knew this would happen to me. But strangely, I’m oddly calm about it.’
Surprisingly, her mind was at peace. Maybe she’d read too many reincarnation novels.
‘I thought I’d be horrified at the idea of becoming a game character… But now that I think about it, living as an ordinary human on Earth was already tough enough to curse fate.’
Her life on Earth had been far from smooth.
Sure, a civilized world was better than one plagued by disease, famine, war, and monsters—but civilization was still filled with malice that threatened human dignity.
‘In the end, humans have a duty to survive with dignity, making the most of their given circumstances and advantages. Even if that means becoming a game character, nothing really changes.’
If anything, she felt a little excited.
She had the immense advantage of knowing the future through her game knowledge. Plus, the face reflected in the mirror—Idnia’s appearance—was nothing short of stunning. If she used these advantages wisely…
‘But Awakening Maiden Concerto was definitely…’
Idnia dug through her memories. Her mind was foggy. She had played so many games in her past life.
Among them, Awakening Maiden Concerto was infamous for its brutal difficulty.
Idnia was the villainess noble lady doomed to fall in Season 1, burdened with the fatal flaw of being a half-demon. Her half-blood status would eventually be exposed, leading to her downfall as the Season 1 boss. Later, her demonized form would be recycled as a weekly raid boss in subsequent seasons—even lazily palette-swapped for variety.
Recalling the fate awaiting her, Idnia shuddered.
‘No way! At least I’m at the starting point. Hmm… What should I do?’
Just then, a servant approached.
In the vast mansion, there was only one servant left, and his forehead was drenched in sweat.
“Huff… huff… His Highness the Crown Prince has arrived.”
“Oh my, already? Come, Idnia! Time to capture His Highness’s heart!”
“That sounds like an assassination order, Auntie.”
“Eh? Idnia, you—?”
The aunt was taken aback by Idnia’s sudden change in tone.
Originally, Idnia had been trained in etiquette, speaking politely but unable to hide her underlying scorn. It was a defense mechanism—a fallen noble lady belittling others to protect her own fragile pride. Even to her aunt, she had always spoken with thinly veiled hostility.
But this Idnia was different. She had to be.
Unlike a spoiled 10-year-old noble girl, the current Idnia was an adult woman who had weathered life’s storms on Earth.
‘First, I must escape fate. Profiting comes later.’
Steeling herself, Idnia stood up. Her steps, as she strode through the mansion’s grand corridors, felt less like meeting a fiancé and more like marching into battle.
And then…
“Your Highness. I must return this excessive gift—and this excessive engagement. A mere girl like me is unworthy of becoming the Imperial Crown Princess.”
At just ten years old, Idnia Kache Betelgeuse boldly declared the annulment of her engagement to the Crown Prince.
Duke Draken Kache Betelgeuse had succeeded in defeating the Demon King alongside the previous Saintess, Flora—but at a grave cost.
The Duke was slowly dying.
Yet even so, he exuded the sharp, unyielding aura befitting a hero who had felled the Demon King.
“So. I heard you declared the annulment of your engagement to His Highness the Crown Prince. Why?”
“Brother! You have to talk some sense into Idnia! She’s gone mad! Someone must have poisoned her mind! There’s no way a child would dare do something so drastic before His Highness otherwise!”
Augusta flailed dramatically, begging him to intervene.
Given that a mere ten-year-old had annulled her engagement to the Crown Prince’s face, her reaction wasn’t entirely unreasonable.
But Idnia had no intention of backing down.
Having seen the future through the game, she couldn’t afford to retreat now.
With a composure far beyond her years, she calmly withstood her father’s oppressive aura and explained her stance.
“Father. May I ask a question?
The Holy Eldar Empire’s laws state that the Emperor is elected by the Elector Houses. So why does a Crown Prince exist?”
The Duke inwardly marveled at his daughter’s sharp question.
The girl, who had once cared only for her own status and benefits, was now showing interest in international politics and law.
“As you know, there’s a disparity in national power. Unless something extraordinary happens before Emperor Franz’s passing, the next Emperor will inevitably be from the Calliestra line. By acknowledging this early, we secured immediate concessions from them—including this engagement.
Idnia.
We’ve already paid the price. This engagement is our family’s rightful claim.”
“But binding the Imperial Family with mere honor is impossible. If we wish to restore our house, it’s better to distance ourselves from the Imperial Family and focus on rebuilding our foundations.”
If Idnia became Crown Princess, they would have to maintain the Betelgeuse villa in Dunais—a staggering expense.
Instead, she proposed abandoning that path and returning to Betelgeuse to consolidate their strength.
The Duke was impressed by her insight.
‘For a child to think so deeply… This must be her own reasoning, not someone else’s advice.
I worried she was too quiet, but it seems her thoughts run this deep. Is it… the bloodline?’
Though Idnia’s maturity was unusual for a ten-year-old, the Duke didn’t question it much.
As a member of one of the Empire’s most prestigious families, he had seen his share of prodigies.
“Very well. If this is your own considered choice, I will support you.
Augusta. Proceed with the formal annulment.”
“What?! Brother! What about my stable retirement?!”
“In terms of stability, Idnia’s choice is far safer.
From the Imperial Family’s perspective, assassinating us or framing our entire house for treason would be more advantageous than honoring this engagement.”
“But even so, you’re the hero who defeated the Demon King! Would they really go that far? Besides, you and the Emperor were classmates at the Academy!”
“……”
Like Crown Prince Rudolf, Emperor Franz Calliestra was an agelessly handsome man, wildly popular across the Empire.
But the masses only saw the Emperor’s facade.
The Duke, who had studied with him at the Academy and knew the Emperor’s true nature, remained silent.
“Idnia.”
“Yes, Father.”
“Originally, due to my failing health, I entrusted your guardianship to your aunt in place of your late mother. But since you’ve shown such depth of thought, from now on, make your own choices. I’ll approve them afterward.
Here. I give you the Betelgeuse Signet Ring.”
The Duke, valuing Idnia over his sister Augusta, handed her the family’s symbol of authority.
“Yes, Father. I will strive to meet your expectations.”
With that, Idnia concluded her discussion with the Duke about the future and took her leave.
“Alright! That should’ve dodged the doom flags, right?!”
Though annulling the engagement to the Crown Prince’s face had been a bold move, the backlash was surprisingly mild.
As Idnia had sensed, the engagement itself had been a stretch from the start.
A ruined Elector House clinging to an old promise and the Imperial Family’s honor to secure a Crown Prince’s hand—it had only persisted because the Duke’s failing health had transferred guardianship to Augusta…
By proving she had better judgment than her aunt, Idnia had secured her father’s full support.
‘Now, what next? The original Awakening Maiden Concerto hasn’t even started yet, right?’
The game’s story began when the heroine—a candidate for Saintess—enrolled at the Imperial Academy.
Balancing schoolwork and free-time activities, players raised their stats and survived impending threats. That was the game’s flow.
‘Being Korean, I can’t help but think about getting a head start.
But well… Since I don’t have a status screen or gacha items, I’ll have to go with a free-to-play survival meta.’
Idnia hesitated briefly.
Even in the gacha-heavy Awakening Maiden Concerto, free players had their own survival tactics.
The strategy of extreme efficiency—exploiting the fact that stats couldn’t drop below zero, so players deliberately neglected certain stats to focus on others.
‘If I recall, logging work lowers Charm and Grace, right?’
The part-time job “Logging” increased Stamina and Grit at the cost of Charm, Grace, and social reputation.
But in an otome game, this was practically unthinkable.
With so many male characters to befriend, losing Charm and Grace meant being ignored by most of them. A poor social reputation locked players out of social events, turning them into an unpopular outcast.
And even then, this meta wasn’t sustainable beyond Season 1.
Most free players used it to farm resources early, then treated the resulting character as inheritance fodder for Stamina and Grit-based skills.
‘Ugh…’
Idnia honestly wasn’t thrilled.
She’d already broken off the engagement with the Crown Prince. Did she really need to suffer now? Couldn’t she just live comfortably?
But her spirit was Korean.
Even in a cozy life sim, she’d start by grinding 24/7 to pay off debts first. That same spirit now drove her toward this experiment.
‘I’ve already burned bridges with high society by annulling the engagement in front of the Crown Prince.
I can afford to dump Charm and Grace. Besides, logging earns money, right? With enough capital and effort, Grace can be regained later.’
Resolved, Idnia headed for the logging site.
And six years later…
