Chapter 1

Prologue. Caught by the Mastermind

—

Two gazes met.

Verkley’s eyes, which had always been cold to everything, peered straight into Eliana’s with a fire behind them.

Eliana couldn’t hide her perplexion at this.

His cold blue eyes had a certain intensity to them.

As if he were a beast looking at his prey.

It was a chilling atmosphere that she had never felt before.

And how strange it was, that gaze.

It was also a look that she had never received before.

Because he was pretending to be blind.

He, who had always treated her sweetly even though he couldn’t see her, now looked at her coldly.

Goosebumps ran down Eliana’s spine.

Behind all the smoke and mirrors, this was the real Verkley.

Eliana couldn’t deny it, this overwhelming imbalance of power.

Whatever thought she had of convincing him to let her go was gone in an instant.

‘If I say just one thing wrong, I’m done for.’

Eliana’s eyes turned to the piece of paper in Verkley’s hand.

It was a note with details about [ The Princess Who’s Blind to the Emperor ] which was a novel that she read in her previous life.

And . . . she was inside that novel right now.

Eliana’s eyes shook. Without realizing it, her mouth was dry and she swallowed repeatedly.

From the moment she came to possess the body of Eliana, she thought she’d have to face this situation one day.

However, she never imagined it would be like this.

Eliana sought him out so that she wouldn’t die.

But now, she wasn’t sure if she’d be able to survive at all.

The novel changed too much. Unexpected characters appeared.

Eliana shivered under his unfamiliar gaze.

It was the first time. While trying to live properly since she was given this new life, it felt as though barbs prickled at her throat every time she breathed.

It was suffocating.

Then, Verkley slowly approached Eliana. One step at a time.

Before she knew it, he stood right in front of her, then he combed his fingers through her hair.

And grabbed her neck.

As if his hand was made of ice, the place he touched immediately became cold.

And that chill from his fingertips slithered straight to her heart.

It was too cold. She had been shivering before he approached her, but now that he touched her, her body grew still.

She’s been caught.

He definitely read that note.

He must have realized that she intentionally sought him out knowing the secret that he kept hidden.

“Since when did you know?” Verkley asked, lifting Eliana’s chin with one hand.

His eyes seemed to devour her entire being right there and then.

There was a strange pang in Eliana’s heart.

It was nauseous, this feeling.

Since when, he asked?

She had a faint smile on as she heard his words.

What was the point of confirming that now?

Seeing Eliana smile, Verkley’s lips twisted into a malicious smirk.

His eyes, which had been so cold all this time, suddenly burned with vehemence.

Those blue eyes looked as if they were on the verge of turning red.

“It’s that look in your eyes again,” he said with a hint of unease.

What did he mean by ‘again’?

Eliana mulled over what he said.

She didn’t think she did anything to unsettle him.

But somehow, the expression on his face said exactly that.

At that moment, Verkley pulled Eliana closer to him roughly.

Eliana didn’t shy away from his gaze.

At that moment, their breaths mingled together. Their lips were a hair’s breadth away, and the slightest move would be enough to join them together.

As his long hair cascaded over her face, it somehow felt like she was about to melt.

Eliana stared straight into Verkley’s eyes, which were already reddening.

There was a clear mark on his eye.

It was the mark of a contract with his soul on the line.

Verkley, who had the power of a devil that only appeared in myths, wanted only one thing.

Revenge on the Empress Dowager.

Throughout this suffocating atmosphere, Eliana held her breath.

Her attention went to Verkley’s hand.

It was a hand that might stab her in the eye, depending on her answer. Or maybe he’d just twist her neck like this.

It was ridiculous to think that she could resist against a devil’s power.

But she couldn’t run away.

No, she shouldn’t even run away.

The moment she turned and exposed her back, she would be killed.

From the moment she decided to seek him out, she already prepared herself.

She was given two rotten ropes from the start anyway.

Go to Hera, the Empress Dowager, who was trying to take advantage of Eliana.

Or go to Verkley, the Emperor who appeared to be vulnerable, even though it was all an act.

Without realizing it, the corners of Eliana’s lips rose to a self pitying smile.

And every time she smiled, Verkley’s face would twist into an unreadable expression.

After reincarnating into this novel, Eliana couldn’t even sleep at night.

She was constantly nervous and frightened.

Especially of the man in front of her.

Eliana’s role in this novel was to fall victim to this man, who would brutally murder her.

The reason was simple.

It was because she was Hera’s spy.

That’s why Eliana went to Verkley so she could avoid Hera.

With a strong desire to survive and go against her impending death according to the novel, Eliana sought out the scheming mastermind on her own two feet, despite knowing he would take her life.

Eliana went straight to Verkley after making up her mind.

The terms Hera presented with her proposed contract meant nothing to Eliana anyway.

Power? Honor? When did she ever wish for such things?

All Eliana wanted was to live a long, simple, uncomplicated life.

She wanted to live a life according to heaven’s mandate—a straight-forward life where she wouldn’t get hurt or die young.

She couldn’t have that in her previous life.

When she first opened her eyes in this world, she was relieved that she somehow gained a new life, knowing that her original self had already crossed death’s threshold.

Since coming to terms about her new life here, she realized that she was headed straight to a predetermined fate.

She reincarnated as Eliana Mussieux, a woman destined to die by the hands of this novel’s villain, the Emperor who was a scheming mastermind.

“Have you become mute? Should I twist your neck once so that you’ll talk?”

A chilling voice entered Eliana’s ears.

It felt as though she was being pricked by thorns, but Eliana didn’t show her discomfort.

It didn’t seem like the devil had taken over his body yet, even though his eyes had changed color.

With his hand still on her throat, Eliana spoke calmly to the man who was threatening her.

“If you twist my neck, then I won’t be able to talk, Your Majesty.”

Even though she was trembling, her tone was composed as though there was nothing wrong.

“. . . Even at the brink of death, you still have the gall to talk back. Aren’t you taking this too lightly?”

Didn’t he know that if she didn’t joke in this situation, then it would have been better if her mouth just fell off? She couldn’t do anything about this situation anyway.

Eliana looked straight into the eyes of the man who was about to strangle her.

“It’s because your breath is tickling me, Your Majesty. That’s why I couldn’t speak.”

“. . .”

The killing intent that Verkley had been exuding suddenly disappeared.

Bewildered, he looked at Eliana as if there was something wrong with her head.

After a long pause, he roughly tore his hand away from Eliana’s neck.

As he moved away, there was now some space between them.

Verkley stared at her, with an intense air about him once again, perhaps because he had snapped out of his daze.

Eliana had finally exhaled, but the chill on her skin had not yet abated.

“What? Are you going to say that I’m too far away now and you can’t talk?”

“Not at all, Your Majesty.”

“Then explain at once. Before I decide to kill you.”

It was a direct warning, and the sarcastic smile on his lips was scathing.

Then, Eliana spoke with an unperturbed tone.

“I’m not from this world.”

The truth that had to be revealed anyway.

She had already been caught by the devil, but this was one secret he still didn’t know.

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Chapter 2

1. I reincarnated as a supporting character in a tragic novel*

For the longest time, an eerie, persistent gaze had always followed her.

Right then, she looked out the bus window when she felt the prickly gaze on her, and saw a sunbae** who was riding a red sports car, laughing directly at her.

Just what the hell was wrong with him.

As she stared at him in disgust, his car sped straight into the bus she was riding. In the bus driver’s panic, he swerved sharply to avoid the incoming car.

Screech!

But then, on the other side of the street was a truck rushing straight at the bus.

Bang!

It was chaos.

Something slammed into her chest with incredible force, and she was flung out of her seat like a limp rag doll.

Afterwards, she felt warm liquid trickling down her head.

The only thing she could still see in her fading vision was that bright red sports car.

Everything was a blur and nothing made sense, but that bastard somehow found the gall to laugh derisively at her.

It looked like he wasn’t satisfied with just harassing her all this time. Now, he was even responsible for taking her life.

All this time, she thought he was a good person. He was a sunbae at school who had everything: he went to a good school, he hailed from an affluent family, he was popular and he was good at everything.

Just to win against her, she didn’t know he’d go so far as to pull a stunt like this.

‘Is this the end?’

Her days at university flashed before her eyes.

—

As soon as she entered the room, everyone quieted down.

With her head down and her shoulders hunched, she spoke in a quiet voice.

‘I told you it wasn’t me.’

‘What? People saw you arm in arm with an old man, kissing him even.’

All the men in that room snickered and leered at her suggestively. They laughed as they chatted openly in a joking manner, even though what they were talking about wasn’t a joke at all.

She shouldn’t take any of what they’re saying to heart, they’re sincerely complimenting her, they said.

‘You, I heard you tried to seduce Soo-hyuk because of his money, but then you failed. I’m amazed that you can still show your face here.’

‘I heard a rumor that you’d do anything as long as you’re paid. It that true?’

It was humiliating.

The truth was evident to all, but still, they used these rumors as a justification to sexually harass her more.

And those false rumors took a life of their own.

Friends who she thought were close all turned their backs. Harsh rumors followed her like a plague.

She wanted to set it straight.

She shouted countless times. It wasn’t true! It’s all a lie!

But it was all in vain.

As she fought a hopeless battle alone, a person who she never really talked to before stepped up and approached her.

‘I know that this is all Soo-hyuk sunbae’s fault.’

This was the first time she realized how rotten that person really was.

‘You know, I saw him alone in an empty classroom. He was cursing at you and he even said how dare you take first place in the rankings.’

This was after the rumor about her taking money went rampant. The rumors spread out of control too fast, and she did think that he was responsible for this.

She wanted to laugh.

Knowing the cause and reason of those malicious rumors, she didn’t want to bow her head in shame anymore.

With a fire lit up under her, she decided not to let him get away doing as he pleased.

In the next semester, she tenaciously studied and got the highest grades in their department, one subject after another.

The rumors never left, in fact, they grew even more malicious, but she didn’t care anymore.

Until the direct harassment started.

That’s when she knew for sure.

His inferiority complex was worse than she thought. It might have been better if she took a leave of absence instead of forging ahead.

If there was shit in front of her, then she shouldn’t have stepped on it. She should have avoided it.

She realized it too late.

And so, she died in vain

* * *

When she opened her eyes again, she was in a strange room.

Did she miraculously come back to life?

The blanket that covered her body was soft.

Cautiously, she got out of bed.

All the furniture around her looked like antiques, and it was as if she really was in an antique shop. Compared to this luxurious room, her own room paled in comparison by several degrees.

Rather than a hospital, it would be more apt to call this a hotel.

‘I’m pretty sure I was on a bus on my way to my part-time job just now. I was bored on the way, so I was reading a novel that I’ve been following for a year . . .’

She mulled over how she ended up in this place.

‘Right. I remember now. The moment the traffic light changed, the bus overturned while trying to avoid that sports car.’

Then everything went still.

Her surroundings became dark, and she could feel the sharp sensation of her neck breaking.

With some reluctance, she touched the base of her neck. She could bend it and move it without any problems.

She should have died, but somehow she was still breathing.

Then, she saw a yellow thread.

As she lowered her head to take a closer look, more strands entered her vision.

It wasn’t a thread.

It was her hair.

At that moment, she trembled as she gathered her hair in a bunch.

It was blond. It wasn’t supposed to be blond.

She looked around for a mirror, and she found one on a vanity table at one corner of the room. However, as she tried to get up from the bed and run to the mirror, she felt a strong pang in her stomach.

“Urk!”

It felt as though she had been kicked squarely in the stomach.

She crawled to the vanity, groaning as she held her sides.

After struggling to get there, her eyes widened as she looked at her reflection.

She blinked and rubbed her eyes over and over, but nothing changed.

The woman in the mirror was not her. It was a completely different person.

That face wasn’t hers.

‘I always tie my black hair back because it gets in the way . . .’

Her cheeks were supposed to be gaunt, and her pallor should be horrible because of sleep deprivation.

That’s what her appearance should have been like. The reflection that stared back at her was a complete one-eighty from what she looked like in reality.

It was as if honey had been poured over her.

This blond hair, which gently gave way as she combed her fingers through it, reminded her of a gold coin.

Her wavy hair was thick, and her skin was immaculate.

When she opened her lips to mumble to herself, the beautiful woman in the mirror opened her lips as well.

Lemon-colored eyes, which were endowed with thick lashes, trembled at the sight.

“How the hell is this . . .”

She stopped herself mid-sentence.

Even the voice wasn’t right. It had no resemblance to how it should have sounded.

A perfect stranger was posing as herself in the mirror before her.

Right then, she felt a piercing throb in her stomach again, which caused her to double over. Every time she moved, a tingling pain followed.

She lifted her chemise-style nightgown to see the damage, then her face hardened.

“What is this?”

She grimaced.

Her abdomen was full of bruises, seemingly from having been kicked by someone. Immediately, she paled at the sight.

‘Who did this . . .’

The entire situation left her with more questions than answers.

While trying to calm down and collect her thoughts, the door swung open as someone walked in.

“Oh my, you’ve awoken.”

She turned her head to see the owner of this unfamiliar voice, but then, thinking that she saw something strange, her eyes narrowed.

It’s because the woman’s clothes were very unusual—she was wearing a white lace apron over a black dress.

It was like a medieval maid uniform.

Then her eyes turned to the woman’s hair.

It was an impressive dark green color that she didn’t think anyone could achieve with normal hair dye.

As she stared without saying anything, the woman sighed deeply and reached down to where she was on the floor.

“Excuse me, but— Do you know who I am?”

“What?”

“Where is this place? Is this a hospital, ma’am? Am I dead?”

The woman’s face gradually turned aghast. But then, she quickly recovered and scolded the blonde with a stern voice.

“Miss Eliana, what are you going on about? Who died? Why are you talking so formally?”

“Pardon?”

After hearing the woman say all this with a straight face, the blonde flinched.

She asked again, this time pulling on the woman’s arm, not caring about propriety.

“What did you say?”

“It’s just that . . . You keep saying something about being dead,” the woman replied, her face sullen. It looked like the woman thought she was angry.

‘No, no, what did you just say? You said something else!’

The blonde shook her head and repeated, “No, you said something before that.”

“Miss Eliana?”

“. . . Eliana? What?”

She pulled on the woman’s arm again, her eyes expressing her incredulity as she asked. Placing her hand on the blonde’s, the woman looked a little sad as she replied.

“But Miss, your name is Eliana Mussieux. How else should I call you? Do you not like your name anymore?”

“No way.”

The moment she heard the name ‘Eliana Mussieux,’ her hand dropped to her side and the shock was evident on her face.

In the meantime, the woman helped her back to the bed, but even after lying back down, she still couldn’t accept the situation.

‘Eliana’ gathered her hair in a fist and scrutinized the blond strands.

The name that the woman uttered was all too familiar.

In this unfamiliar place, it was the only familiar thing.

She looked up and stared blankly at nothing in particular like a terminally ill patient.

At the back of her mind all this time, no wonder she thought it was striking.

Blond hair, slim stature, porcelain skin.

A small face with immaculate features, unforgettable lemon-colored eyes.

Everything pointed to one person. Or rather, one character.

Eliana Mussieux.

This world was inside a novel.

* * *

It’s been a day since she came here.

She told herself that she might go back to reality once she woke up again.

But morning came without fail and, when she opened her eyes, she was still ‘Eliana Mussieux’.

“Uuuuuuugh!”

Frustrated, she flailed under the covers.

‘I just died for nothing, but then I’m going to die again because this character’s gonna kick the bucket anytime now!’

Never once did it cross her mind that she’d be reincarnated as a character in a book she was reading.

She raised her head and stared at nothing in particular, her gaze full of resentment.

—

* [ 피폐물 ] is loosely translated as ‘tragedy’ or ‘tragic novel,’ but to be more precise, it’s a novel genre where the female protagonist is driven to madness due to various circumstances, such as obsessive love interest/s, abusive relationships (filial, romantic or otherwise), disadvantageous social environments for women (especially in premodern times), etc.

** Sunbae \= senior or upperclassman at school or work.

Chapter 3

‘Is there no such thing as an afterlife?’

Why was it that, right after dying, she just had to possess a body that was already destined to die?

Eliana didn’t want to acknowledge her situation.

It would have been fair if she had been given a real chance to live since, after all, she was given a second life.

She had been killed unjustly during the springtime of her youth, but she couldn’t believe she was set to die young yet again.

It was maddening to know that she’d become Eliana.

Eliana Mussieux.

She was the only child of Count Mussieux, and she was a minor villain under the command of Empress Dowager Hera.

In short, she was an insignificant extra.

And to add to that, she was an extra who was set to be brutally murdered by the scheming mastermind Verkley.

“This is driving me nuts,” Eliana muttered as she buried herself further under her blankets.

The woman she met yesterday was Eliana’s exclusive maid, Fin, who had been with Eliana since she was a child until she guided her towards Hera.

It’s because her older brother was Hera’s lackey.

As a result of pestering Fin yesterday for details, she managed to confirm that Eliana was currently twenty years old, and that she had been promised to wed Marquis Valkyrie.

Of all things, her fiancé was a man twice her age, and this wasn’t going to be his first marriage.

‘No matter how powerful a Marquis is compared to a Count, isn’t this too much? I’ve never even been in a relationship before, but now they want me to live with an old geezer?’

Eliana punched her pillow furiously.

Fin also said these days, Eliana often mentioned that she wished to die.

Well, it wasn’t surprising that she felt that way. Who in their right mind would willingly want to marry a deplorable cradle robber?

Additionally, it was mentioned in the novel that Eliana grew up unloved by her father. He was a shameless alcoholic who abused Eliana whenever he pleased.

It was no wonder that Eliana’s frame of mind became skewed since she grew up in such an environment.

There was no one on her side except for Fin.

Everybody else thought she was no better than a worthless burden.

Such was Eliana’s miserable reality.

After her father beat her up and knocked her out cold yesterday, Fin was the only one who cared enough to visit her.

‘I need a way to avoid getting sold to that old man.’

Eliana agonized over the novel’s plot line.

The Owen Empire, the setting of this novel, had a terrible social hierarchy.

A person’s standing in society was determined at birth, and noblewomen especially had limited access to the outside world.

And in this rigid society, Eliana was born without any abilities.

If she had a normal father who raised her with love, then she would have had a significantly better life. But alas, her father was Count Mussieux.

He completely isolated and neglected Eliana.

The only time Eliana went outside was during one particular day when she couldn’t stand to endure her father’s abuse anymore.

The one good thing about everything was that Eliana would be able to use her abilities at the age of twenty—abilities that weren’t innate, but acquired.

In the novel, Eliana was delighted to have finally gained the ‘power’ to stand tall and proud in front of others.

And she was so happy to find out about this that she ran straight to her father to let him know.

‘Your daughter became a mage! Even more so, a mage who gained abilities naturally!’

She wanted to know if her father now cared about her.

It was pitiful.

Her father, who despised her for not having any abilities since birth, wouldn’t start loving her just because she gained some power.

Nevertheless, Eliana only wanted a little bit of praise or even just a smidge of interest from him, as she was desperate for any affection after having been locked up for so long.

It wouldn’t be hard to sympathize with her or understand her feelings.

But when she visited the Count with a wide smile on her face, Eliana overheard something. It was like a lightning bolt shot out from a bright blue sky—she overheard her father’s plans to sell her to Marquis Valkyrie.

Eliana’s heart broke to a million pieces that day.

No matter how many times she was beaten black and blue, she always believed that her father would still care about her because she was his only daughter. But from the way he spoke, it was like she was just some livestock he was selling off for some easy money.

After that incident, she lost her will to live. At first, she would only stare blankly at the wall, but at some point, Fin found Eliana holding a sharp object to her own throat, saying that she wanted to leave this world.

‘I’m not going to die in vain like Eliana in the novel.’

She had no desire to stay as a foolish woman who based her life according to the whims of an abusive father who never once looked her way with affection in his eyes.

Furthermore, she didn’t want to become a woman who was easily manipulated by Hera due to her thirst for affection.

She wasn’t starved for love like the original Eliana. In the first place, she had already given up on it.

She wouldn’t be loved by anyone, anyway.

Betrayal.

Death.

Those were the only two things she would receive if she opened her heart again.

As she clutched her bruised abdomen, she recalled her previous life.

‘Back then, I died because of a f*cking psycho. There’s no chance in hell I’d plunge to my own death a second time.’

With a dark expression on her face, she clenched her fists.

First, she had to talk to Fin again.

If Eliana would be killed by Verkley because she was Hera’s pawn, then there was only one solution.

She needed to go to him first.

It was the only way to overcome this adversity.

While she was trying to figure out a way out of this hopeless maze, the blanket over her head was suddenly pulled away from her.

“Let go of me! Don’t touch me!” Eliana yelled, protesting against the maids who yanked her clothes off and put on a new dress on her.

Despite her struggles, the three maids who came in under Count Mussieux’s orders didn’t bat an eyelid, no matter how hard Eliana tried. He was looking for her, they said.

Not only did the Count abuse her, but even the maids didn’t treat her with respect.

The reason she was resisting so hard like this was because she heard that Marquis Valkyrie was here, waiting to meet her.

One of the maids expressed her disapproval.

“Milady, we don’t have time for this. You must not keep the Marquis waiting.”

“I don’t want to! I don’t want to meet him!” Eliana shouted, holding onto anything around her just so the maids couldn’t drag her out of the room.

At that moment, a shadow loomed over her.

Eliana looked up.

In front of her was a haughty woman with her chin raised and her arms crossed.

“The Count said to bring you there, by force if needed. If you keep rebelling, then I have permission to punish you.”

In one fluid motion, the woman flicked the whip in her hand, slicing through the air. Because her attire was different from the other maids, Eliana realized that this woman was the head maid.

She was the one who used to flog Eliana across the back during etiquette lessons in the guise of ‘education’.

Looking up with a baffled expression, Eliana just stared at the maid who confidently said she’d punish her.

‘Come to think of it, the hierarchy even inside the Count’s manor was messed up in the novel.’

Since there was no Countess, the head maid had deluded herself into thinking that she was the madam of the house, and so took it upon herself to discipline everyone.

Even worse, the Count would believe the head maid’s words over Eliana’s.

And since the Count trusted the head maid so much, it was almost like they were actually married.

Soon enough, Eliana grew tired of the struggle and just gave in to the maids. She wouldn’t be able to avoid the meeting anyway, even if she continued fighting against them.

Holding both her arms, the maids hoisted a bright dress over her and embellished her with shiny accessories.

Well, even if she wasn’t dressed extravagantly, she would still look immaculate. The woman in the mirror had a stiff expression on, but she was still very beautiful.

“Hurry up.”

At the head maid’s terse order, Eliana was dragged towards the drawing room where the Count waited.

It was no way to treat a lady, or anyone really, who had blacked out just yesterday.

None of the maids even asked if she was feeling alright.

Every single employee who passed by her spared no interest in her well-being.

They didn’t even greet her properly, even though her rank in this house was directly under the Count.

Had she been treated like this all her life?

Did Eliana have to endure all this since she was young?

Realizing the extent of her pathetic circumstances, she could only scoff in indignation. What she experienced in less than an hour was more ruthless than she predicted.

‘It hasn’t even been a full day yet, but I’m already so frustrated. How did Eliana tolerate all this?’

Right then, she thought that she must escape this estate as soon as possible.

For that to happen, she’d have to endure a bit more and just act as she’s told so that she could run away successfully.

‘Let’s hold it in just once.’

The next time she would see Fin, Eliana would reveal what she was capable of. This way, it’d be easy to meet Hera.

She had no other choice. If she wanted to go to Verkley, then she’d have to go through Hera.

Right now, Verkley was Emperor in name only. It would be safer to meet him through Hera because if Eliana went to him straight away, it would be a surefire way to get killed by the Empress Dowager.

Considering her current situation, there’s really no other way to approach him.

“Count Mussieux, the Young Lady has arrived,” announced the butler after he knocked on the door.

From beyond the wall, the boisterous laughter was cut short, then a cheerful voice beckoned to Eliana.

“Come in.”

As the butler opened the door, two men came into view; a blond middle-aged man and an old gentleman with graying hair.

Because the blond man’s hair was a similar shade to Eliana’s, she immediately recognized him as Count Mussieux.

And, as she could observe, the Count already had a drink or two. His eyes were bleary and his face was flushed.

‘How excited are you that you’re selling your daughter off?”

Eliana stood with a stiff back, not wanting to take a step further, but a maid behind her pushed her in.

The door closed with a dull thud behind her.

Eliana had made up her mind to do as she was told this time, to bear it just one last time since that would be easier.

But the moment she faced these despicable men, her conviction wavered.