The Villainous Noble Who Kept Rewinding After Death: The Story Somehow Changed When I Committed Suicide

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The Villainous Noble Who Kept Rewinding After Death: The Story Somehow Changed When I Committed Suicide

Side Story: Ideals and Reality

This is a special commemorative episode celebrating 4 million page views!

Now, enjoy!

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Deep in the forest of the Kingdom of God Tree, Otinia.

There sat a young elf girl named Shuvina, swinging her legs back and forth on the thick roots of a tree, staring at the sky and letting out another big sigh.

“Ugh. I’m so bored~”

Shuvina muttered her usual complaint, having grown tired of her days without anyone to play with.

“No one wants to play with me, so I’m just way too bored now.”

She was practically rambling, but in a way, it was only natural for her to feel this way. Seven years had already passed since her birth, but due to being an elf, she had no children her age around. Shuvina was the first elf child born in fifty years.

Therefore, the closest person in age was still around fifty years older than her, sadly making them unfit playmates, leaving Shuvina to play alone.

“Playing tag by myself just turned into running, and hide and seek alone feels lonely since no one finds me, and kicking a ball by myself just means it doesn’t come back. Ugh, so boring~. If only Dad and Mom would play with me, but they’re both too busy to bother.”

Due to their long lifespans, elves tend to have muted emotions so as not to go mad over years of living, and this extended to their own children as well.

However, in Shuvina’s parents’ case, they loved and cherished her, but having been raised in a similar manner, they didn’t know how to interact with her. Coupled with their responsibilities ruling over the eastern district of Otinia, they found it hard to carve out time to play.

“If only Ryan and Kyle would come to play, that would be a bit more enjoyable. But they both said they have stuff to do at the castle for a while. Ugh, so boring.”

Ryan and Kyle were the children of the current queen, who was also Shuvina’s mother’s sister. In the Kingdom of God Tree, these two were the closest in age to her.

As prince and princess, they were often busy with important matters, but they would check in on Shuvina when they had some leisure time, and she was quite fond of them.

“Ugh. I guess I’ll head home.”

Shuvina had been pondering what to do for fun that day, but having conquered every possible game, she had nothing left she wanted to do. If anything, by herself, she would get bored quickly, so she quietly made her way home.

As the years went by, when Shuvina turned ten, she finally made a new friend.

“Wow! You’re my contract spirit, huh!!”

It was a dryad spirit she had contracted, who seemed just as overjoyed to finally meet Shuvina, fluttering around her with wide smiles.

“You’re so cute!!”

“Good for you, Shuvi!”

“Congratulations! A plant spirit suits you perfectly!”

“Thank you!!”

On this day, signs indicating Shuvina would be able to contract a spirit appeared, prompting her parents to take the day off work to stay home. They smiled gently as they watched her successfully contract with the dryad.

“Shuvi. Give her a name. That way, the contract will be complete.”

“Got it! Just wait, I’ll give you the perfect name!”

Shuvina said this, thinking for a while, and when she finally came up with a name, she reached out and gently patted the spirit while saying the name aloud.

“Dōna. Your name is Dōna!”

Dōna, now named, seemed to delight in her name, snuggling against Shuvina’s fingers and rubbing against her before happily beginning to dance.

“That’s a nice name.”

“Yeah, it seems she likes it too. From now on, please take care of my daughter, Dōna.”

Shuvina’s mother, Cecile, said this, and hearing it, Dōna, who had been dancing moments before, stopped and turned to face Cecile and Shuvina’s father, Pale, curtsying by pulling up the hem of her cute leaf-made skirt.

“Oh my, not only is she cute, but she also has good manners.”

“Haha, she looks smarter than Shuvi at first glance.”

“Hey! Dad! That’s so rude to me!”

“Haha, just a joke, Shuvi. You’re plenty smart too. So, can you cheer up for me?”

“Hmph! That’ll depend on how you act from now on, old man! By the way, Dōna! Let’s go play! I really wanted a friend to play with!”

With this, Shuvina dashed excitedly outside to play with Dōna, and for a while, the two joyfully ran around in front of the house and played hide and seek.

This moment marked the first encounter between Shuvina and Dōna.

After some time had passed since Shuvina and Dōna had met, the two enjoyed a usual day of fun together.

“Ah, my magic just ran out again…”

However, after around thirty minutes of play.

Dōna vanished as Shuvina’s magic ran out, her summoning becoming unsustainable, as if she’d never been there.

“Ugh. I finally made a friend, but with my current magic, no matter how hard I try, I can barely maintain Dōna’s summoning for forty minutes. I want to play more.”

As a spirit, Dōna could only appear through receiving magic from her summoner, Shuvina, during the summoning process. However, with her current magical capabilities, Shuvina couldn’t maintain that summoning for long, leading to Dōna disappearing quickly.

Thus, while they could fall asleep together, they could never wake up together, and each morning Shuvina felt lonely waking up alone.

“No way. I’m not giving up like this! If I increase my magic capacity, I should be able to keep Dōna summoned longer. Plus, if I get out of this country, I might meet other friends like the heroes in fairy tales! For that, I need to work hard on many things now!”

Recently, Shuvina’s goal had become akin to that of a hero from tales among the elves: to travel to various places, meet many people, and deepen friendships through shared struggles and joys.

Well, she’s saying a lot of things that sound good, but basically, she just wants new friends.

After that, while summoning Dōna until her magic ran out, she also sought to increase her total magic capacity. Moreover, she started training under an elf who used to be an adventurer to learn how to use bows and daggers and the basics of being an adventurer. In the blink of an eye, two years flew by, and the day came to leave the kingdom.

“Alright, Shuvi. If you ever have questions, always listen to what Dōna says. And don’t get friendly with anyone who shows negative reactions to her.”

“Geez, Mom! How many times do I have to hear that? I get it, so it’s fine!”

“Sigh. I’m saying it often because it’s not fine.”

“Haha. But isn’t that okay? Sure, Shuvi’s a bit airheaded and has some quirks, but she knows how to judge people. Plus, if something happens, Dōna will help you out.”

“Those quirks and airheadedness are what’s got me worried.”

As you can tell from these two’s conversation, when Shuvina first said she wanted to travel alone, both of her parents opposed her.

However, when she expressed her heartfelt desire to make friends, and surprisingly received validation for her potential as an adventurer from her mentor, an elf, they began to seriously consider it rather than just flatly deny it.

The icing on the cake was Dōna’s presence. Though she was an intermediate spirit, she possessed considerable self-awareness. While she couldn’t verbally communicate, her speed of thought and knowledge rivaled those of many high-level spirits.

Consequently, after watching Shuvina and Dōna for a while, her parents determined that with Dōna, she would be safe and, suppressing their worries, allowed her to embark on her journey.

“Alright, I’m off!!”

“Make sure to eat well!! Also, you eat a lot, so think carefully about your spending!!”

“Okay!!”

Thus, Shuvina finally set off on her journey, her heart swelling with the hopes of making new friends while being seen off by her parents.

By the way, the last words from Cecile didn’t reach Shuvina, who was already mostly focused on her new friends, leading to the regrettable outcome she had feared: collapsing from hunger by the roadside.

And now, returning to the Kingdom of God Tree after a long time, having defeated the Hydra and realizing that her parents loved her, she resolved to set forth again with Lewis, but soon found herself entangled in a confusing situation.

“Fiera’s Three-Step Cooking”

“Huh?”

Three days after leaving the Kingdom of God Tree.

While getting ready to camp and intending to prepare dinner, out of nowhere, Fiera suddenly announced her so-called “three-step cooking.”

“What’s up? Shuvi?”

“What’s ‘what’s up’? Can you start by explaining the situation? What’s with the sudden change, Fiera?”

“Hmm. Today, I thought I would cook. But just cooking seemed boring, so I thought I would explain while doing it. And that’s how we got here.”

Fiera concluded her confident explanation, but while it’s admirable she wanted to cook, Shuvina was confused about what she meant by cooking as boring.

But more importantly, it was the fundamental issue that Fiera claimed she was going to cook.

“Really, are you the one cooking, Fiera?”

“Yeah, leave it to me.”

For anyone hearing Fiera’s words for the first time, they would surely be delighted at the thought of a beautiful girl’s cooking, but strangely enough, Shuvina’s face turned even paler as she glanced toward someone who might be able to help.

“Don’t look at me. I already tried to stop this, and this is the result.”

“You’ve got to be kidding…”

Even Lewis, who had been her last hope, said it was impossible today. Shuvina fell to her hands and knees, feeling like the world was ending. Yet Fiera paid no mind to her panic and started the cooking preparations.

By the way, Dōna seemed so thrilled to be able to talk that she was chatting with Lewis and laughing joyously.

“Okay, let’s start cooking. First step, prepare the meat. El, give me the meat.”

“No, preparing the ingredients is the first step. Here, wyvern meat.”

As Lewis said this, he took the wyvern meat out of storage and placed it on a plate before handing it to Fiera, who then moved on to the next step while holding it.

“Second step. Cook the meat. El, use magic to cook it just right.”

“Again with me? That’s practically my job now. Sigh…”

This time, Lewis muttered in disbelief, cutting the meat into two and expertly cooking it with fire magic to match Fiera’s and Shuvina’s tastes.

“Mm. Thanks, El. Just how I like it.”

“Not too thrilled about that.”

“Wait a second, Fiera, you’re not doing anything at all!”

“Yeah. I’ll handle the finishing touches, so leave it to me.”

In response to Shuvina’s words, Fiera asserted this, finally plating the meat into three dishes and handing a plate to Lewis and Shuvina each.

“Behold, meat bringing out its natural flavor.”

“Hold on a second, saying the flavor is all natural sounds fancy, but it’s just unseasoned grilled meat!!”

“That’s wrong. For some reason, when I plate it, it somehow has flavor. Just try it.”

“Is that so? Wait…?”

Despite thinking it was a ridiculous claim, Lewis and Shuvina sampled the prepared meat and could indeed taste something nice.

Well, that flavor was a chaotic mix of various tastes that could even be described as terrible, but many flavors were undeniably present.

“See?”

“‘See’ doesn’t cut it. What’s going on here?”

“I don’t know. When I cook, it magically gets flavor.”

“This is downright mysterious. It didn’t even feel like magic, how did this even happen?”

Even Lewis, who had experienced numerous returns from death and various life lessons, couldn’t grasp the strange dish made by Fiera and could only express his astonishment.

“Oh, by the way, we skipped the third step, didn’t we? What was the third step?”

“Hmm. It’s that I can’t move around freely while cooking.”

“If that’s what you call a step, then just give up cooking altogether.”

“Not a chance. I love cooking!”

Shuvina’s last line held a lot of truth, but Fiera seemed to genuinely enjoy cooking, childishly insisting on it.

Meanwhile, Dōna, upon watching Fiera start cooking, seemed to suddenly recall the first time she and Shuvina shared a meal together and vanished without a trace.

Afterward, when Shuvina and the others finished washing their dishes and preparing for bed, they quickly fell asleep in anticipation of the next day.

However, Shuvina awoke during the night and carefully stepped out of the tent without waking Fiera, summoning Dōna once more to marvel at the massive expanse of stars filling the sky.

“What’s up, Shuvi~?”

“Sorry for waking you up. I just wanted to chat with Dōna again since it’s been a while.”

“I see~. It’s all good!”

In the past, Shuvina and Dōna spent much more time together, but with new important people like Lewis and Fiera appearing in Shuvina’s life, the time they shared alone had diminished.

Moreover, Dōna had only recently been able to speak. Though they always communicated through the connection of their contract, they had rarely spoken to each other in words.

The two reminisced about their time from when they had just contracted up to the present, laughing heartily, bickering a bit, and then laughing once more, enjoying their alone time.

Initially, Shuvina had set off on her journey simply wanting friends, but she found love, gained friends who were rivals and beloved companions, and even began having conversations with her dear long-time friend.

Admittedly, the comrades she envisioned didn’t match up exactly. Her goal to make many friends had yet to be achieved, but despite having fewer friends, she felt a connection stronger than just friendship in her current relationships, which made Shuvina feel satisfied.

“Shuvi. Are you happy now?”

“Yes! I’m so happy!!”

“I’m glad! Dōna’s super happy too right now!”

After chatting for a long while, when Dōna asked this final question, Shuvina smiled brightly much like the innocent joy she showed when first meeting Dōna and their contract, which caused Dōna to comfort her with a happy laugh.

Spirits don’t show themselves until their contractors reach an appropriate age; nevertheless, they silently watch over and support their contractors from the moment they are born.

And like other spirits, Dōna had watched over Shuvina since her birth.

She saw the times Shuvina held back tears after falling while playing, and the moments when she acted up looking for attention, only to be scolded by her mother, Cecile.

Additionally, she witnessed how lonely Shuvina felt when there was no one to play with, and sometimes even heard her express her sadness out loud as she cried alone.

That’s why when Shuvina summoned her for the first time, Dōna felt an overwhelming happiness and was overjoyed when she was given a name.

They spent delightful moments together, playing and later sleeping side by side, and during their travels, Dōna did everything she could to protect Shuvina so she wouldn’t be deceived by strange humans.

Well, it should be noted that her hatred for humans played a part in this, but still, she never wanted to see pure-hearted Shuvina get hurt, and thus she stubbornly maintained her protective demeanor.

Thanks to Dōna’s unwavering vigilance, Shuvina ultimately encountered the best companions, Lewis and Fiera, resulting in many more smiles for her.

However, this was true for Dōna as well; she also enjoyed her time with Lewis and Fiera, and thus started to laugh just as often as Shuvina.

Still, the one Dōna treasured most, both in the past and present and for the future, was Shuvina. Should Lewis or Fiera ever attempt to harm Shuvina in any way, she would not forgive them.

In this way, though Shuvina’s ideal didn’t quite match her current reality, she found happiness in this moment with Lewis, Fiera, and Dōna, far excelling any ideal she had ever imagined.

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And thus, this chapter celebrating 4 million page views comes to a close!

This time, we explored the first meeting between Shuvina and Dōna that readers requested, and mixed it with the three-step cooking routine I suddenly thought of late at night!

Additionally, we received requests from readers for Sephiria’s observations on Shudo, Sonia’s observations on Lewis, a deeper dive into Iris, and stories of Lewis’s past companions. I aim to write these in the main story or at another opportunity!

Thank you very much to everyone who answered my sudden question!

Now, as planned, we’re entering a new chapter next time, so I look forward to continuing this story with you all!!!

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