First A Reincarnation, Now A Time Travel I

Seraphine had no idea what heaven felt or looked like.

But now, she realized that it was probably more mundane than she thought. After dying from a sea of ravening fire, she was expecting that she would never wake up again. Even if she did wake up, it should be the world of the afterlife that would be greeting her –

Not the fresh smell of eggs and bacon in the morning.

"Wake up, sleepyhead!"

"Gyahhhh…!"

And Seraphine woke up.

She found herself bolting straight out of a bed and screaming on top of her lungs. Her heart is beating so fast that she immediately realizes that she is still alive. She thought for sure that she would eat ashes or inhale smoke when she screeched, but instead, she felt quite fine.

"How unsightly – our ever graceful Sera shouting like that with a very bad bed hair on and all…" teased the person who woke her up while feigning disappointment.

"For the first time, you look kinda ugly."

With a shell-shocked expression, Seraphine turns to her side to find a young boy around the age of ten with unkempt light brown hair and a pair of golden yellow orbs.

For a second there, she thought that god had revealed himself to her in the form of this ecstatic bubble of energy. He appears to be the upbeat and easygoing one, especially with how he keeps grinning from ear to ear – a small mischievous glint dancing in his gaze all the while.

"H-H-Huh...? W-What's happening…?" Seraphine wondered out loud, feeling a sense of deja vu all of the sudden.

"W-Who… W-Who are you-"

Then, she cut herself off.

As soon as she realized why she felt like something similar to this had already happened before, she came to a pause. For some reason, she can't find it in herself to ask this stranger before her. It might only lead to more questions than answers. What's more, even he himself appears confused – probably at how strange she is acting right now.

With a worry-stricken expression, he then leans down and inches his face closer to hers.

"Seriously, Sera… What's wrong with you? You look kinda sick…" he trailed off before putting his hand over her forehead, much to her surprise.

"You don't seem to have a fever, though."

"I-I'm not sick. D-Don't worry."

While she says that timidly, the young boy blushes fiercely at the realization that their faces are so close right now. He then hastily pulls away and sheepishly averts his gaze, though he fails to get rid of the shade of pink on his cheeks.

"T-That's good, then..." he stuttered a little as he turned around and headed for the door.

"You should get up now. The Headmistress is going to be calling for us soon."

"Huh? Headmistress…?" she blurted out in confusion before trying to call for him again.

"W-Wait, you…! Y-You… Ummm…"

"What the…?! Who are you calling 'you', ugly girl…?!" he bolted out, annoyed by how she seemed to be treating him like a stranger.

"It's Clement, you idiot! Geez… We've been living together since we're babies. How could you forget my name like that?"

As he proceeded to take his leave, she just continued sitting there with a dumbfounded look on her face. Eventually, her eyes grow a little wider and her mouth gapes. She then slowly lowers her head before burying her face in her hands and heaving a deep sigh.

"Just what is happening this time?"

That's when she realizes that her hands are smaller than usual, making her freeze and gasp in complete shock.

---

Seraphine is almost certain by now. Fate is messing with her.

When she went around the unfamiliar place where she found herself in after supposedly dying, she discovered that she came back to being a child. She remained as Seraphine, but she travelled back in time – probably for the same reason why she became Seraphine in the first place.

Regardless of what is the cause for this inexplicable phenomenon, it will all just boil down to the fact that she is now living her third life.

'The hell is up with me…?! Why do I keep getting revived like this…?' Seraphine brooded as she flopped down on a boulder of rock near the field of her new home, slumping with a heavy sigh.

'This time, I had woken up in the orphanage where Seraphine grew up before getting adopted by the Count. This is all just… Ughhhh… Just what was going on?'

Now that she has been spoiled by her second life, technically letting her know what kind of terrible future is waiting ahead of her, she is not sure if she feels grateful for getting a third chance or not.

'No, this is not a matter of chances. I'm just sick of it - of almost everything. I could even barely face myself with all that had happened. I'm so lost. Things are becoming pointless. I don't know what to do anymore.'

At this point, she is already tired of getting a broken heart and ending up abandoned all the time. That emotion overpowers the gratitude and relief that she should be feeling now. In all honesty, what she truly wants here is to rest already. Everything had been too much for her. She was weak to begin with. It's already clear by now that she doesn't have what it takes to lead yet another lifetime.

Seraphine does not want to be led on by new chances and fresh beginnings anymore.

Sure, she also loathed all the people who caused her death, but rather than deadly vengeance, what she felt the most was self-pity and despair. She really had quite the bad luck. After struggling so hard to earn love, she turned out to be the one who would ruin it all herself. Everything ended up to be meaningless.

'As long as I have this power, no one can ever love me genuinely,' Seraphine continued to agonize over while hugging her knees and moping some more