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* * *

The news of Calix Hamel’s terrorism spread like wildfire, uncontrollable by the media. I sighed as I unfolded the newspaper and read the prominently featured words.

The ending had already been completely reversed. When I pulled back the covers and looked out the window, I could feel that fact very keenly.

The imperial citizens were busy cursing the fleeing traitor and attending to their own affairs. There was a clear difference between the description in the original work, which was filled with a jubilant atmosphere blessing the Crown Prince and Beatrice, and reality. Children everywhere heard the call to come home quickly, echoing like a chant.

How absurd. I weakly murmured the monologue I often uttered when mocking others. Yes, it was quite amusing indeed.

The rapidly spreading news was evident even without reading the newspaper. The news didn’t escape the lips of servants who often came to town. A large headline printed on the front page announced the mass escape of inmates. The paper, detailing the methods of the terrorist attack and various circumstances, conveyed the same facts no matter how many times I read it. In the end, I crumpled it up and threw it to the floor.

“Is it considered a success?”

The originally solid storyline felt unexpectedly twisted at the very end, draining my enthusiasm. After embracing the pillow with a sense of resignation, I eventually threw it far away and lay down on the bed.

It wasn’t to sow regret about my life. I wanted to maintain a position of thorough detachment, and except for my sister, I didn’t care how others turned out. I simply hoped that everything would remain within the range of what I could predict.

If he thought he would see me from the beginning, he should have done so long ago. I was even more annoyed now that I couldn’t understand why he was pleading blindly.

I was only curious about the narratives of other villains while going to see my sister. Even the omitted villains’ lives were worth pitying.

I uttered melancholically, “It’s not like I wanted to do that.”

I realized too early that it couldn’t be done. The world within the book, alone without a single backup, was such a place. It was a world where interference from supporting characters was impossible because all the gears were already meshed together. After possessing it, there was no place for me between the already perfect main characters. Truly nowhere.

I dropped my head as if to bang it and blinked my silently sleepy crimson eyes a couple of times.

The story continued unchanged in its flow. What I changed as a supporting character was only Florencia ‘s sisterly affection, and the people who remained by my side in the end were such people. They were villains who had once been protagonists.

I knew how blind they could be in their loyalty. Even if the other party didn’t want it. I wasn’t so stupid as to not notice the feelings of those who looked at me.

The price of sympathy bestowed because I was different from my father.

Murder.

The word I couldn’t bring myself to say reverberated in my ears like a hallucination. It was only now that I properly realized that he was a villain.

Crime, which I had been exposed to since I was young, continued to repeat itself around me. Had there ever been a time when this fact weighed heavily on me like today?

‘…Then there’s no difference.’

I sighed and ran my fingers through my tangled hair. At the same time, I looked up and stared at the mirror. The reflection was still Margaret Eilish, not the gentle Jung Eunha.

“Anyway, they really don’t give you any leniency for sobriety.”

I grumbled with a forced playful voice.

It’s about time something came out. I knew how quickly Glacies dealt with things. It was easy to see from Florencia ‘s disappearance from high society. If someone dared to insult Florencia Eilish, their family disappeared from high society within four days. Literally vanished. Whether it was due to financial bankruptcy or simply the person’s life, until Beatrice appeared, my sister ruled high society as the queen alongside her associates.

So they won’t delay any longer here.

“I guess he’ll come around tomorrow…”

I muttered idly. There was nothing to do in this secluded room other than wait for news from the guild. If the prince wanted me dead because he had no use for me, he’d have about a 40 percent chance of success.

That’s why I quickly learned to respond to the occasional knock on the door.

“Good afternoon.”

Kestiel said with a gentle smile. He was quite considerate of my penchant for sleeping in, unlike the marquis or the prince.

“Good afternoon.”

I replied, not too sharply. That was the best I could do. Since that day, I had hesitated about how to exactly behave around him.

“Is it meat stew again today?”

I asked. Kestiel just shrugged, neither confirming nor denying, so the room fell silent for a moment.

Even if he was monitoring me at Beatrice’s request, he was still a person. Of course, he was also a politician. Whether I blamed him for his rudeness or let it slide out of loneliness, both were awkward situations that made for an interesting reality.

After a not-so-short silence, Kestiel finally smiled with a somewhat forced tone.

“Unfortunately, there’s no particularly interesting story today.”

“Well, I’d find anything you say interesting.”

I casually threw out, and he nodded in response with a half-smile. Suddenly, his ears reddened as he raised his head. I was about to joke about seeing someone you only saw in prison in your bedroom, but I stopped myself.

No more excuses. Whether it’s Calix, Taylor, or the knight in front of me.

“By the way, have you heard any news, sir?”

I asked, picking up the pillow that caught my eye and straightening it out. Kestiel replied that he had, and I continued with some trivial conversation about whether the prince had scolded him a lot, then waved my hand as if to say, “Anyway, it’s fine.”

His crimson eyes narrowed gracefully. I lifted my head and looked at the knight in front of me, and then thought about other villains I had once taken the time to face.

“A few letters have arrived.”

“Any explanation about who sent them to whom?”

“The Duke, to Lady Beatrice.”

“Ah.”

I turned my head with an almost sigh-like sound.

In the end, they were just ‘created’ characters. That’s what it really was.

The obsessed Duke. The knight with blind devotion. The pitiful assassin who sought the meaning of life. They still couldn’t break free from their character settings. With my head bowed, I asked in a whispering tone.

“Is Lady Rosen still wary of me?”

“…It seems so. She thought you were the reason for the escape.”

The tone of the response carried discomfort. I called for levity. Responding with a comedic tone outwardly.

“Such a shame.”

I recalled how perfectly the characters’ personalities and appearances were reflected. Yes, I am indeed the reason for the escape. And the main culprit of the escape is still the Duke obsessed with me.

Then, who will become the villain now?

My face, which was lazily relaxed, suddenly returned to the expression occasionally hinted at in high society. With dry eyes, I turned to Kestiel and pursed my lips.

“I really don’t know what’s going on. Knowing that Florencia committed murder and caused harm to Beatrice, I wonder if I really have an excessive sense of family.”

The fact that Beatrice hates Florencia now felt palpable without even trying to recall it. So it’s natural for her to doubt whether we’re really blood-related.

If sisterly affection wasn’t appropriate as an excuse to buy time, then it’s a pity. While thinking such thoughts and letting out a chuckle again, Kestiel looked at me with a noticeably darker expression than before.

“If I say something like this, Lady Beatrice might find it amusing. But, my lady, I no longer want to ignore something or take care of someone.”

“…?”

With a slightly, no, very expression of wanting to avoid reality, he narrowed his eyes and said exactly this.

“Florencia Ailis was not as evil as she was known to the world, even in front of me.”

5. The original female lead

…Ah.

A voice filled with confusion escapes through parted lips.

“What did you just say?”

“Young lady.”

Kestiel cuts me off gently and grabs my shoulder. It was almost as if he had exerted all his strength, as it felt like he had applied pressure. I raised my head, and finally realized the squeezing, almost demanding question.

‘Ah.’

“If I were to… say this fact to the court, if I were to abandon Beatrice and my lord, then… would you still…?”

Even if I can’t go back, will you still look back at me?

His green eyes were already firmly set with determination for some decision. I asked.

“Is that possible?”

“It is. I would gladly do so. Then… the ending you mentioned will surely change. That will be enough.”

Wow!

I couldn’t continue speaking, couldn’t properly compose my expression, and didn’t even think about the cough I usually used to avoid speaking.

Emotions were crossing each other. As I rejoiced at the possibility of twisting the original, I buried my face in the knight’s shoulder, ignoring the childish obsession in his eyes. A nameless emotion surged like waves, and I raised just one sentence.

It seems like it could change.

I hope that laughter is hidden behind the voice whispering, “If you can’t leave, then that’s settled.”

Kestiel repeated his pledge to me several times, pleading. That’s how it was until Beatrice, with a face suppressed with anger and anxiety, came to my room herself.

* * *

“…Lord Reload.”

She knocked on the door and softly called the knight’s name. He sighed, detached himself from me with an indifferent face, and remained kneeling while looking down at me, as if asking when this happened.

“Lord Reload?”

I smiled quietly. Opening the door seemed to be my responsibility. Even the basic actions that should have been done by a knight or a maid were left to me, making me realize how much they were neglecting me.

Seeing this, Kestiel also bowed his head, feeling embarrassed. Hesitating as if debating whether he should step forward to open the door, he eventually hesitated, and I raised my head and opened the door myself.

“Good afternoon.”

I offered a quite friendly greeting. Since she didn’t bring the Crown Prince, there was no need for me to make an effort to pretend. Even without experience in high society, this level of smile couldn’t be seen as fake. Beatrice reluctantly replied that it was a good afternoon and maintained silence for a few minutes.

Her recent suspicion-filled blue eyes were apparent. Beatrice looked at Kestiel without saying a word, and he, with a bowed head, belatedly exchanged greetings as if pondering whether he should step forward and open the door.

“I have something to say.”

It was the first words of the female lead. Not knowing whom she had something to say to, whether it was me or the knight, I shrugged my shoulders and sat down on the humble, if not pitiful, chair.

“….”

The room was surprisingly simple. There was only one chair prepared. Beatrice tried to suppress her face twisted with humiliation, but I responded with an indifferent tone, comparing the actress’s facial expressions to those of the villains and expressing my lack of interest.

“I see.”

“…I apologize for unintentionally disturbing Young Lady’s rest due to having something to ask. But really, Miss Iris. I couldn’t bear it.”

Beatrice chose her words more pitifully, her face distorted even more. Whether she was angry, anxious, or something else, her rough, trembling breath made it evident, so in the end, I had to burst into laughter. Along with my laughter, Beatrice poured out what she wanted to say with her peculiar pathos.

“I at least believed in Margaret, in you. Of course, I won’t deny that I doubted, but I didn’t even let go of one hope. But, but…!”

But?

I narrowed my eyes, openly revealing my discomfort. Whether she was angry or something was troubling her, or if her rough, trembling breath was just a show, I eventually burst into a chuckle. Along with my laughter, Beatrice, with renewed pathos, continued her words.