MTL - Joy of Life - ~ four

Every family has that one person who is born as a sacrifice. For her family, that person was Selene Vale, who was to become a spare for her younger twin siblings success.Due to her innate shy and kind nature, she was not able to connect to her family every since she was young. So, despite her rich background, Selene Vale never felt like a part of the family and was often regarded as the 'First spare' or even 'defective'. That did not change even when the world fell and Apocalypses happened.Selene Vale's first life ended trying to protect her twin siblings, the only people who had yet to abandon her. That was her end......but it wasn't.Due to her sacrifice, Selene Vale awakened her system and innate power and was given another chance at life and survival. And this time, she vowed to free her siblings from their parent's cruel influence. If she was able to do that, then she would be happy with that.But unfortunately, that was not all she did. She also ended up attracting the attention of the big-boss of the Apocalypse, the only L-ranked hunter and the hope of humanity....and also, a long time friend she would rather forget about.

A thousand years ago, the Great Calamity struck Earth. Countless rifts tore through reality, opening portals between the Demon Realm and the Human World. Overrun by monsters, humanity was on the brink of extinction. But at its darkest hour, something miraculous happened—those who died returned, awakening strange new powers that allowed them to fight back.Vale knew that story well. Maybe that's why he wasn't surprised when he heard the voice of the system speak to him.[ Congratulations! You have died. ][ Your First Trial of Death begins now. ]What truly shocked him, however, was the question burning in his mind:“Who would dare to assassinate the Second Prince of Verythmia?”

System: You are the only human who meets the binding requirements of this system, please bind with me!

Cairn is a prince who is already tired of ruling. Faced with an imminent coronation and an overbearing father, he wants nothing more than to drown his responsibilities in cheap liquor and poor decisions. With the help of his sister, he hatches a plan to escape the clutches of the throne once and for all. It all goes terribly wrong, and Cairn finds his priorities shifting in the face of unimaginable tragedy. The change of heart comes too late, however, and Cairn dies. He reawakens to find himself transported ten years in the past. He immediately begins to plan for the future, only to discover his killer has somehow followed him. To succeed, Cairn must unite the kingdom and discover the motivation of his killer, using as many tries as it takes. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++I exhausted pretty much every time loop story ever written and decided to write my own. You'll see a few similarities here between this story and some existing stories, at least initially. There's a lot of inspiration drawn from both MoL and Re:Zero, though in terms of pathos and darkness, this story leans more towards the latter. Be warned, it is something of a slow burn. The main character will grow and become powerful, but a theme of this story is that power comes slowly and often at great cost.