NNDTOTBMM-01

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A deep night where not even a handful of moonlight seeps in.

 

A woman, adjusting the shawl slipping from her shoulders, tightened her grip on the worn lantern. Its dim light was hardly enough to illuminate the darkened hallway, but that didn’t matter.

 

Her destination wasn’t far.

 

Standing before a firmly locked door, right next to the man’s bedroom, she placed a hand over her pounding chest, trying to calm herself.

 

‘Calm down.’

 

She had made sure the man was sound asleep. Hadn’t she even prepared strong liquor just to be certain?

 

All to uncover the secret her lover was so desperately trying to keep from her.

 

Yet, standing before the truth, she couldn’t help but recall a fairy tale she had read vaguely in her childhood.

 

The wife of Bluebeard—who, unable to resist her curiosity, uncovered a dreadful truth.

 

She had once scoffed at that woman’s foolishness. But now, finding herself in the same situation, she thought she might finally understand why that wife had no choice but to open the forbidden door.

 

The faint bitterness that always followed the man’s sweetness had long lingered on her tongue, so much so that she could no longer ignore it. It burned, too painful to swallow down and pretend it wasn’t there.

 

Even knowing that whatever lay beyond the door was no paradise, no utopia—she still had to open it.

 

So, just like the foolish yet honest wife of Bluebeard, she grasped the doorknob and stepped into the forbidden place.

 

Creak.

 

With a chilling sound, the door swung open.

 

Beyond it was an empty room. Not a single piece of furniture—yet the walls were densely covered with something. Something small, no larger than a palm.

 

As she stepped further inside, the lantern’s glow finally reached the walls.

 

In that instant, the woman stopped breathing.

 

[It would be best if you didn’t enter this room. It’s a bit unorganized.]

 

She recalled the time she had once gripped the doorknob to this firmly shut room, and he had casually stopped her with those very words. But she had not forgotten the way his eyes had flickered, unable to fully conceal his unease.

 

Back then, she had brushed it off, assuming it was simply filled with obscene books or remnants of an ex-lover.

 

But now—

 

She stood frozen, forgetting even to blink, as she took in the sight before her.

 

A photograph of ‘Cecilia’ taken during a visit to the temple. A childhood picture of ‘Cecilia’ that had once appeared in a local paper. Biased articles praising ‘Cecilia’ as the saint of this era. And even drawings of ‘Cecilia’ depicting ordinary moments of her life—ones that should not exist.

 

What… is this?

 

The moment she locked eyes with an image of herself, smiling brightly in a white dress, Cecilia instinctively staggered backward.

 

Thud.

 

Her back collided with something solid.

 

Her amber eyes, trembling like a candle in the wind, stiffly lifted upward.

 

“…What are you doing here?”

 

Dark, sunken eyes gazed down at her in silence.

 

“…Rien.”

 

Her clenched fists grew damp with sweat.

 

Was it shock? Anger? Betrayal?

 

Or was it fear?

 

When she finally managed to force out her voice, it was trembling miserably.

 

“What on earth… is all this?”

 

She didn’t scream or hurl curses because, despite everything, she believed that—even if his mind was lacking—the man, kind at heart, must have at least a speck of a justifiable reason.

 

Yet, the one who should have been crying was her—so why was it that he, whose eyes quickly reddened, was the one struggling to form words?

 

“T-That’s why I told you not to come in here…”

 

With just that one sentence, Cecilia’s brows sharply twisted.

 

You should have told me not to go in there, because it was a room filled with my own pictures, the product of your obsessive stalking. You sick bastard.

 

* * *

 

The woman had generally been unlucky.

 

From failing the college entrance exam and enrolling in an unfamiliar major as a fallback, to diligently attending school in an attempt to make up for it—only to find herself as a graduate student before she knew it—and then, just before graduation, suddenly transmigrating into another world.

 

When she first opened her eyes in this new world, she wondered if she had somehow traveled back in time to Europe.

 

Then, realizing that such a thing was impossible according to modern science, she started questioning whether she had finally succumbed to a mental breakdown.

 

After all, she was a graduate student.

 

That was a very plausible reason.

 

However, no matter how long she waited, she never regained her senses through medication or woke up from a long, elaborate dream. If anything, the sense of reality only became more vivid.

 

It was only then that she finally formulated a third hypothesis.

 

‘Could this possibly be that book possession thing?’

 

She had often read web novels where the protagonist transmigrated into a different world. The way these protagonists left reality behind and conquered new worlds had provided immense catharsis for her, worn out from graduate school life.

 

But…

 

‘I never once wished to become the main character of a transmigration novel!’

 

And it wasn’t even at the beginning of graduate school—she had endured all the hardships and struggles, finished her thesis, passed her graduation exams, and even completed her defense. And now, of all times, she was suddenly possessed?!

 

D*mn it, give me my diploma back!

 

She hadn’t been hit by a reincarnation truck, hadn’t fixated on any particular book character, and had never left a comment saying, “I could do better than the protagonist!”

 

This was beyond unfair.

 

She spent three months doing everything she could to escape this situation, unable to let go of the academic journey she had barely extended by just five centimeters before it was completely cut off.

 

Finally, the woman—no, ‘Cecilia Webberdeen’—declared her surrender.

 

‘Whatever happens, happens.’

 

In the middle of a garden filled with the scent of blooming flowers, Cecilia crumpled up the papers listing her failed Plan A, B, and C and slumped into a wrought-iron chair.

 

As she blankly stared up at the dazzlingly clear sky, oblivious to her own predicament, a cautious voice interrupted her thoughts.

 

“Um, my lady. Would you like some tea?”

 

Her maid, Melanie, who had her curly hair tied up high, was carefully gauging her mood.

 

“An Ame—no, peppermint tea would be nice.”

 

‘What kind of world is this that doesn’t even have iced Americanos?’

 

She felt a sudden surge of frustration at this wretched world where even the drinks were disappointing. But even so, Cecilia tried her best to think positively.

 

At least it wasn’t some sci-fi novel filled with grotesque creatures. There was only one sun, a day was still 24 hours long, and humans reigned supreme as the apex predators of the ecosystem.

 

Whether these people were truly Homo sapiens like her or just a bipedal species that happened to resemble humans was unclear…

 

Who knew? Maybe if she just drifted along like this, one day, a godlike higher-dimensional being would say, “Oops, my mistake!” and send her back to her original world. Or maybe a doctor would wake her up, saying, “You’ve finally come out of your coma!” and welcome her back to 21st-century society.

 

‘Besides, whether it’s graduation or transmigration, the important thing is—I escaped graduate school!’

 

Goodbye, miserable grad school life. Goodbye, even more miserable professors. Farewell to repetitive experiments and manual data entry—she was leaving the world of academia behind for good.

 

Cecilia let out a laugh, like someone who had completely lost it, and resolved to cast away all her lingering worries and regrets.

 

‘Alright then, onto Plan D.’

 

She pressed her pen firmly against the remaining blank sheet and wrote:

 

<Since things have come to this, I’ll enjoy myself until I find a way back.>

 

For example—romance. Or romance. Or perhaps… romance.

 

If this really was a book transmigration, then regardless of her original role, she was effectively a main character now.

 

‘Even if Cecilia was just a passing extra before, the moment someone transmigrated into her, she became a lead.’

 

And judging by the fact that she was a marquis’s daughter, this world was most likely a romance fantasy. That meant the plot wouldn’t progress without romance.

 

‘In other words, I have to start dating!’

 

It was absolutely not because she felt lonely, or to satisfy her personal desires, nor was it to resolve the regret of not having met a man during her long graduate school life.

 

However, even in this final plan, there was one major obstacle.

 

‘You need a partner to be in a relationship.’

 

“There’s no way I’d meet someone decent in this backwater place…”

 

She was just about to crumple up and discard Plan D.

 

A tickling sensation at her ankle made Cecilia flinch and look down.

 

“A cat?”

 

A bundle of pure white fur—no, a cat—was flicking its fluffy tail near her feet.

 

‘I never heard of a cat being kept in the garden.’

 

Besides, the marquis’ garden wasn’t designed for stray cats to wander in easily. Even at a glance, its well-groomed fur and the gold necklace around its neck suggested that it wasn’t a stray cat to begin with.

 

“Where on earth did you come from?”

 

Cecilia, who had always preferred cats over dogs, cautiously reached out her hand.

 

However, before her fingers could even touch the collar, the cat lowered its stance slightly—just like a hunter—and then leaped onto Cecilia’s arm before landing gracefully.

 

“What the—?!”

 

Before she could react, it was already over.

 

Cecilia looked down in shock at the small thief who had just robbed her of her sapphire bracelet.

 

The cat, its pupils narrowed sharply, was holding the sparkling bracelet in its mouth.

 

‘I’ve heard the term “thieving cat” before, but I never thought I’d actually meet one that steals for real.’

 

This otherworldly place was proving to be truly terrifying.

 

But whether or not it understood her distress, the cat simply flicked its tail and turned away.

 

“Wait!”

 

Cecilia hastily got to her feet and followed the cat, which was leaving the scene at a leisurely pace.

 

Neither too fast nor too slow, the cat moved forward, and Cecilia, without thinking, trailed after it.

 

Leaving the stone path, crossing the garden at random, and passing a large broadleaf tree, she soon spotted the outer wall of the mansion.

 

The cat paused for a moment, glancing back at her, then slipped through a perfectly round hole at the base of the wall.

 

‘Was there always a hole like this here?’

 

The hole, seemingly carved out intentionally, was just big enough for a small person to squeeze through.

 

‘This feels just like that girl chasing the white rabbit in Wonderland.’

 

Though unlike Wonderland, she wouldn’t fall endlessly or find any cakes that made her grow larger on the other side.

 

Pushing aside her idle thoughts, Cecilia willingly crouched down. More than a sense of adventure, it was the price of the stolen bracelet that kept her from giving up and turning back.

 

Well, it wasn’t as if that was the only expensive piece of jewelry “Cecilia” owned.

 

Even after all this time, she had never been able to let go of the habits and memories from her past life as an impoverished commoner.

 

With difficulty, she squeezed through the hole.

 

“Wow, guess it was a good thing I cut back on macarons.”

 

She dusted off the dirt and grass clinging to her dress and straightened her back—

 

Only to come face-to-face with a towering figure draped in a pitch-black robe, instead of a rabbit with a pocket watch.

 

* * *

TL/N: ANOTHER NEW ROMANCE FANTASY NOVEL, HOPE Y’ALL LIKE IT!

 

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