Chapter 1

How could life be this easy?

The life of a perfect heroine flowed more smoothly than just peaceful—it was like water running without resistance. Pretending to be a pure noble lady wasn’t all that difficult, surprisingly.

“Elise, please allow me to spend the rest of my life with you.”

Seiden’s voice was gentler than ever. A voice trembling in just the right way, pleasant to the ear. At that voice, I slowly curled up the corners of my drowsy lips.

“I will make you the happiest woman in the kingdom.”

It’s been 24 years since I was reincarnated. The moment I opened my eyes in this world, having finished a past life filled with nothing but misfortune, I knew.

I had been reincarnated as Elise Sihen—the destined heroine who would become the crown princess.

<Kiss Me, Please!>

It was a lovely novel. One I had read countless times after scraping together what little money I had to buy it. That’s why I remembered the plot so clearly.

The love story between a noble lady so pure she bordered on simple, and a kind prince. That was all there was to it.

There were a few hardships, but nothing too serious. Every challenge was easily overcome, and since the serialization ended with a scene the day before the wedding, there were no major twists.

It was a reincarnation more perfect than anything even found in the novel.

“Alright, Seiden… I accept your proposal.”

I believed this was undoubtedly an opportunity granted by the gods. A chance to completely leave behind my miserable past life, to build a new life, to forget that hell and rise again.

To seize that opportunity, I used every method and means at my disposal to follow the original story.

I did my best to become the pure noble lady he would fall in love with. I even took a knife in place of the prince, just as in the original, on the day of my debut into high society.

Of course, knowing the story, I made sure to wear a dress made of thick fabric on purpose—but I couldn’t avoid a scar.

To this day, a glorious scar remains on my right shoulder. A vivid mark that stands out clearly against my white skin.

That’s how far I went to follow the original story—to the point I risked my life to play the role of Elise Sihen.

“I’ve been waiting for you to say those words. To propose to me… all this time. For 24 years.”

I love you enough that even a blade doesn’t scare me. Enough to throw away my life for you.

When I whispered that, he leaned back as if his ears tickled and smiled.

“I feel the same. I’ve been waiting for this day too, Elise.”

As if repaying me for all those years, the male lead Seiden gave me a sweet proposal.

And just like the original story, I accepted him without hesitation.

Hoping that he would turn the rest of my life into a happy ending.

* * *

Only a month after I accepted his proposal, Seiden rushed the wedding forward at an unprecedented pace.

All the nobles and citizens of the kingdom praised him in unison, calling him a lover worthy of being written into the history books. And at the center of that happiness was none other than me.

All of this happened exactly as it did in the original story. He was too busy drowning in love for me, and he didn’t want to waste any time getting to the wedding.

“We’re already like husband and wife, aren’t we, Elise? So let’s not bother with unnecessary things. All we need is each other.”

His gentle words linger in my ears. His voice, soaked with love, felt damp with tenderness.

I loved the way his love couldn’t tolerate meaningless formalities. It made me feel that the happy ending was just within reach.

“Could there be a more perfect couple in the world than us?”

“Of course not.”

We were the main characters of this world, after all.

Before I could even finish my short reply, Seiden kissed my forehead. It was a sweet kiss I could never have dreamed of in my previous life.

As if the 24 years of hardship endured for the sake of a perfect ending had all been a dream.

‘In the name of the saint, I offer a prophecy. The pitiful noble lady will, in the end, be killed by her own family.’

Even if I could prepare myself for the future through the novel, facing it in reality was clearly a different matter.

The villainess disguised as a saint, Rienette, insulted my family without shame. It played out exactly like in the original.

Watching my family suffer—even knowing how to resolve the situation—was more painful than I’d expected.

In the end, just like the original, I borrowed Seiden’s power to deal with the villainess. And now, like a perfect ending, she too was locked away in a tower in the royal palace. In the end, everything had been resolved.

“Tomorrow’s the wedding, so I should get going. I should sleep early tonight. Though, I doubt I’ll be able to sleep from excitement.”

Seiden’s lips curved into the most beautiful smile I’d ever seen. It was a perfect smile, as if he too had waited 25 years for this day.

As he reluctantly stepped out into the hallway, a maid waiting outside approached me and spoke.

“A letter has arrived for you, my lady.”

I smiled at her words and nodded.

And with that, the original story was over. The serialization had ended with this very scene—the moment the letter arrived.

“Thank you. Just leave the letter over there, and the rest of you may return to your chambers and rest.”

At my command, the maids quietly withdrew one by one, leaving only two letters behind.

Left alone in the wide, dark room, I felt a sudden chill run down my spine. It’s alright. Now that the original story has ended, everything will be peaceful.

I reassured myself and turned my attention to the letters. A letter arriving the day before the wedding—it was obvious who it was from. Likely my father and younger brother.

As expected, one was from my father. And the other one was…

“Pel…?”

Pel Abrotis, crown prince of the Seran Empire and my childhood friend. The letter was from him.

My surprise at the unexpected letter lasted only a moment. Soon, I carefully opened it.

[ I know why you asked me to leave for the Empire. It must’ve been for your marriage to the prince. ]

Pel, who had stayed in the kingdom since childhood due to imperial succession matters, had recently returned to the Empire at my request.

Asking him to go back had been one of the very few times I deviated from the original story.

In the original, Pel despised me. More precisely, he despised me for choosing Seiden.

Noticing this, Seiden later has Pel assassinated. Even if their relationship had soured, I couldn’t stand by and watch a lover kill his friend.

Though I followed the story, I couldn’t say that all the emotions Pel and I had shared were fake or just acting.

‘The rest of this letter must be filled with resentment and blame…’

Should I keep reading? As the thought crossed my mind, someone suddenly knocked urgently at the door.

I quickly hid Pel’s letter deep in a drawer and locked it in haste.

If Seiden had returned and saw me reading a letter from Pel, he would no doubt be displeased.

In my hurry to hide Pel’s letter, I also ended up putting my father’s letter into the drawer as well. I then hid the key between the books on the shelf.

“Come in.”

Thankfully, it wasn’t Seiden at the door but a maid. She stood there catching her breath, clearly flustered. She opened her mouth several times without speaking, and then suddenly dropped to the floor and spoke.

“His Highness the Prince… on his way back… he was attacked by assassins and is in critical condition. You must go immediately…”

Her disordered words scattered in my mind like leaves in the wind.

What was she saying? How was I supposed to make sense of this?

“What… what happened to Seiden…?”

My voice trembled without meaning to. It wasn’t a performance for the story—it was entirely my own reaction.

“Assassins…”

The maid answered with a voice tinged with tears, stammering,

“He was attacked by assassins… and now he’s in critical condition…”

My mind, which had never once slowed down in all the days since my reincarnation, suddenly felt like a blank sheet of paper.

If someone asked me whether I loved him, I honestly couldn’t say yes.

I had only followed the original story. For my own safety, my happiness, and a perfect life, I had used him—there was no other way to put it.

So perhaps, all of these feelings weren’t for him, but for my own comfort. Maybe I was just afraid that the time I’d spent looking only at him and running toward him all my life would become meaningless.

“I have to go to the prince’s palace. Right now.”

Could it be… was this really how the original story ended? The ending I had so desperately longed for…

But there was no way to know—the novel had stopped serialization. Maybe it had resumed again after my death.

If this was the ending of that lovely novel I had read… then what in the world had I devoted my whole life to?

Dark thoughts completely consumed me. My legs moved without will, yet they felt unbearably heavy.

The princess’s palace where I stayed and Seiden’s prince’s palace weren’t far from each other. Only about a ten-minute walk. And yet, that distance felt endlessly long. I felt powerless.

The fact that I was wearing nothing but a slip—completely unpresentable—didn’t matter to me.

And just as I turned the corner leading to the entrance of the prince’s palace—

A dizzying sensation wrapped around my heart.

“Hurts, doesn’t it, Elise?”

A cold voice. The voice of the woman who had always cursed me. The saintess who had humiliated my family and predicted that they would kill me. Rienette.

The villainess who was supposed to be locked away in the tower was standing before my eyes.

And in her hand, a dagger—already plunged into my heart.