Chapter 1
Shadow fell over my head.
Soon, a chilling voice echoed enough to send shivers down my spine.
“I found you.”
Uh-oh.
‘What’s happening right now?’
I woke up to a faint salty smell stimulating my senses. To my surprise, the sight before me was nothing like Busan; it resembled more of a port city akin to Venice.
Though it was somewhat astonishing to witness such a detailed scenery of a place I’ve never been to, I brushed it off as just a dream.
There , a man stared at me with intense eyes amidst a crowd so dense it was hard to distinguish one person from another.
In that moment, my body instinctively urged me to run. To escape immediately.
Before I could fully comprehend that feeling, my legs obeyed instinct and dashed off somewhere, ultimately leading me to the current situation – being dragged by the man with a firm grip.
In no time, the man stopped in a spacious courtyard far from the alley where I had hidden, and he flung me aside abruptly.
“Oof!”
The sudden turn of events was too bewildering.
Who is this man, chasing me so menacingly and treating me so roughly?
‘I haven’t done anything wrong, have I?’
After all, it hadn’t been long since I entered this dream.
I don’t know what relationship exists between me and the man in this dream, but isn’t dragging someone like this a bit too much?
“Is dragging strangers your specialty?”
“Is pretending not to know your specialty?”
Hmm… Is that even a specialty? I truly don’t know you.
But now that I hear what the man is saying, it seems like in this dream, we have some sort of connection.
‘Isn’t the setting and background too detailed for a dream?’
Guess I dream all sorts of dreams in my life.
Soon, the man chuckled softly and approached me. Instinctively, I tried to move back, but there was no space to escape.
Seeing me like this, he knelt down in front of me.
“You have an extraordinary talent for stirring people’s emotions. It took me quite some effort to find you this time.”
“…Excuse me?”
“Did you think I wouldn’t find you hiding in this remote village from the capital?”
I met fierce eyes.
I couldn’t understand at all what this man was saying.
Looking into those purple eyes that seemed almost obsessive, it didn’t feel like we were on normal terms…
“Could he possibly be my ex who still holds a grudge against me?”
Considering his persistence and the way he was chasing me as if to kill me, it seemed possible.
And it was also my hope.
“Because this man, up close, is quite handsome!”
Thanks to him kneeling down, I could examine the man’s face closely.
His silver hair, shining brilliantly in the sunlight, and his mysterious purple eyes, deep and unidentifiable, exuded a strange charm of their own.
At first sight, he was so captivating that he fit my ideal type I had long yearned for. Rather than saying he was handsome, the word “beautiful” suited him better.
“…Why have you been looking for me?”
“Are you asking because you don’t know?”
From the man’s perspective, it might have been a question that didn’t make sense, but really, I knew nothing!
And above all, I wanted to hear the reason directly from the man. If he was my ex, could we reconcile depending on what I did wrong?
As if reading my thoughts, the man in front of me swept his hair back and said,
“Sigh, it doesn’t feel real to face you so closely like this. It was worth searching for you for three years.”
“Oh my, my, my! You’ve been searching for me for not just one or two months, but for, for a whopping 3 years?”
“This is the epitome of a clingy male lead!’’
Finally, it seems like my time to shine has come.
‘’I cautiously asked, forcing the corners of my mouth that kept wanting to turn up to stay down, “Um… may I ask… what your name is?”
It’s common courtesy to at least know the name of an ex who’s been obsessing over you!
But somehow, the man twisted his lips subtly at my question.
Then, he tilted his head slightly to the side and smiled, but that smile seemed like…
“…Is he mocking me?”
Even with my lack of experience in dating, I could tell it was a mocking smile that I couldn’t direct towards my lover.
“It’s amusing to see someone pretending so innocently on our first encounter.”
Realizing too late that the man’s demeanor was starkly different from before, I sensed that something was wrong.
My heart, which had been fluttering with excitement moments ago, now started pounding with inexplicable fear.
“…Ouch.”
Of all times, I felt a sharp pain in my palm.
I raised my hand to check the source of the pain.
My palm was scratched and bleeding from the gravel-covered ground.
Huh, if this is a dream, why does it hurt?
Normally, you’re not supposed to feel pain in dreams. That’s why people ask to be pinched on the cheek or arm when they’re unsure if it’s a dream or not, right?
“…This isn’t a dream? Then what is it? Possession or something?”
At first, my mind swirled with confusion, as if I had just realized it.
As the confusion intensified, the man grabbed my collar. Then, he forcefully opened my eyes and met my gaze head-on.
His eyes resembled those of a predator right before the hunt, sending shivers down my spine.
The fabric around my neck tightened, making it hard to breathe.
“It’s getting difficult to watch your act of pretending to be innocent and naive.”
“……”
“I will arrest you for violating Article 13 of the Imperial Security Law, aimed at preventing social disorder.”
“What? Arrest? Why? I haven’t done anything wrong!”
I struggled to free myself from the man’s grip, a man I had never seen before, who said I had to go to a prison I had never been to.
But his hand was as firm as tree roots deep in the ground, not budging an inch.
I didn’t want to go to any prison, wherever this place was. I didn’t even want romance to unfold in a prison.
It would be dark, disgusting, smelly, and probably full of bugs!
Desperately, I tried to remember lines I’d heard in various dramas and blurted out, “It’s illegal to detain someone without stating the reason!”
“Ha.”
I wasn’t sure if the laws applied here or not, but judging by the man’s cynical laugh, I might not be wrong.
As I mustered up courage, the man retorted, “Illegal?”
“Yes, illegal!”
“Do you have the right to say such a thing?”
…Who am I?
I blinked, waiting for him to continue speaking.
Perhaps sensing my confusion, the man spoke with genuine disbelief, “Witch, Leana Montrose.”
…Witch?
Crazy, why was that name coming up here?
A shiver ran down my spine.
That name belonged to the villainess in the 19+ rated trashy novel I read before going to bed yesterday, “The Knight’s Circumstances.”
“M- me, a witch?”
“Just that alone is reason enough for detention.”
The name of a witch, Leana?
Madness. Why was that name popping up here?
A shiver ran down my spine.
That name belonged to the villainess in the 19+ rated trashy novel I read before going to bed yesterday, “The Knight’s Circumstances.”
“M- me, a witch?”
“Just that alone is reason enough for detention.”
“Could it be, could it really be that I’ve been possessed?”
Despair engulfed me.
If it’s true that I’ve been possessed by a villainess, then I’ll meet a tragic end in the climax.
…No, I refuse. I won’t meet a gruesome end like the villainesses in novels! I want a happy life!
As much as I wished to cancel this possession, I knew it was impossible, having spent so much time as a romance novel reader.
The only relief was knowing which novel I’d been possessed by.
“If I’ve been possessed by a villainess, then the first person I should avoid is… the male lead, Eugene Willen, right?”
A sharp sensation pierced through my head.
Across from me, there was a man with shining silver hair and purple eyes.
The man I faced right now seemed almost exactly like the male lead from the novel… could it be?
“Nah, there can’t be only one man with silver hair and purple eyes in this novel, right?”
If this man really was the male lead, it would spell disaster.
Though the original male lead’s personality was soft as tofu, he would completely change when it came to his duties.
During public matters, his soft demeanor would vanish, leaving behind only a rational and ruthless leader.
With all my heart, I hoped this man wasn’t the male lead.
“…Eugene Willen?”
The corner of the man’s mouth, still holding onto my collar, twitched slightly.
“So, you’ve finally decided to stop pretending you’ve lost your memory.”
This jerk wasn’t my ex-boyfriend, but the one who had come to strangle me…
I realized that the sense of impending doom I felt moments ago was real.
The development of my possessed life had taken a disastrous turn from the very beginning.
“But… wasn’t there a scene where Leana gets chased by the male lead?”
Surely, in the first appearance of the male lead, it was Letitia, her twin sister, who was being chased…
Wait a minute.
“Could it be that I’ve been possessed by Letitia instead of Leana…?”
As if to prove my deduction, my hair swaying in the mountain breeze was a shade of pink. Leana’s hair was black.
But if this was the case, wouldn’t things be even worse? Letitia would be killed by Eugene as soon as she appeared!
In order to save my life, I had to find a way to escape from Eugene right now.
If I couldn’t run away, I wouldn’t be able to avoid death.
“Of course, if I can convince them that I’m not Leana…”
But I couldn’t think of any way to convince them.
Even if I told them the truth, that I’m not Leana but her twin sister, they probably wouldn’t believe me.
Yet, I couldn’t just stand here and let things happen as they were.
“Okay, could you just hear me out for a moment?”
“I won’t listen because your guilt is clear without any room for excuse,” came the sharp, resolute voice.
As expected, it was a stern response.
“No, I’m not trying to excuse myself! I’m going to defend myself! Anyone can defend themselves, right?”
Yushen shut his mouth and looked down at me with a pitiful gaze.
Then, he released my collar and crossed his arms, raising one eyebrow skeptically.
It seemed like he was subtly implying for me to give it a shot at defending myself.
Without missing the chance, I spoke up.
“The Leana you’re looking for isn’t me.”
At my words, a scoff accompanied by a tongue-click was heard.
Probably because it’s something criminals say all the time? Well, if you think about it, it’s the first thing criminals usually say when confronted…
But I’m different from those scoundrels! Seriously, I’m not her. I just happen to have a similar face!
“You say you’re not her? Then why are you harboring a fugitive right now!”
I had intended to gradually persuade him, but Yusen’s displeased reaction made me blurt out my words in frustration.
Oh, this isn’t going well…
