At the same time, the wind blew. The bed curtains fluttered. In the midst of it, a beast bathed in moonlight sat.
‘I’m sure it wasn’t that ferocious…’
Despite its blatant growling, it wasn’t scary. It seemed not angry, but a bit frightened.
“I clearly said I don’t like it.”
“I am your home tutor.”
“Nonsense. Get out now.”
At the duke’s cold rebuke, Mrs. Wells calmly retorted, “You seem a bit agitated.”
“Then I’ll leave first.”
Mrs. Wells glanced at Carol. Carol faintly nodded her head.
Being left alone with the man who just threw a teacup was a bit resentful, but what could she do?
‘I can’t be a crybaby from the first day.’
Thud.
Carol licked her lips as she confirmed the door was completely closed.
“Excuse me, Duke?”
“Didn’t you hear me say get out?”
At the Duke’s words, Carol pursed her lips.
“I’m sorry, but there’s a clause that if I don’t work for at least three months, I have to pay a penalty.”
At her completely unscared tone, the Duke asked in disbelief.
“…What?”
She didn’t scream like the other maids, nor did she tremble in fear without saying a word.
As if the Duke was an ordinary person, the home tutor spoke in a calm voice and soon began to persuade the Duke with plausible reasons.
“Anyway, if I get fired, the next person will come.”
“That’s not for you to worry about.”
Despite the Duke’s cold rebuke, Carol did not stop speaking. If she was going to back down like this, she wouldn’t have come here in the first place.
“I need money and I’m tight-lipped.”
“…”
“People who don’t get scared like me are rare.”
“…Tsk.”
Unfortunately, it was all true.
Carol added a final word as if to drive a nail in.
“If you don’t need me, I’ll stay quiet and leave.”
That was the plan from the beginning.
It shouldn’t look like coming to the male lead, the Duke, out of pity or burning with a sense of mission.
Carol’s goal had to be money only.
At least it had to look that way on the outside.
“Ha.”
At Carol’s calm voice, the Duke swallowed a sigh.
His anger quickly cooled at her indifferent attitude, whether he was a monster or a human.
****
The first time she came to her senses as Carol was five years ago, having been born and raised normally in Korea.
When she, who had been suffering from a high fever for a long time, regained consciousness, her family was happy.
[My goodness. You finally woke up.]
At first, she didn’t know it was a novel. It was more accurate to say that she didn’t have the mind to realize it.
Without any time to be flustered, her family all hugged Carol and were happy.
[I thought something big happened!]
[Don’t worry us!]
The first experience of family love was also surprising for a moment.
Every time she moved her shoulders, the feathers fluttered and moved.
[I’m a bird.]
Every time she moved her lips, instead of words, a chirping sound came out. It was hard to get used to the hard beak that hit every time she closed her mouth.
The fact that she was a beastman was terrible.
She couldn’t transform properly and was nothing but a burden to her family.
In this world, beastmen are a rejected tribe.
A long time ago, beastmen and humans had a long war. The war was a victory for humans, and humans completely denied the race of beastmen.
All beastmen were exterminated, cursing the human king who killed the most beastmen in the war.
Beastmen started to build small villages to hide their identities, and some lived among humans so that beastmen would not be isolated.
Most beastmen could freely transform into humans from the time they were born.
However, hybrid beastmen had a very unstable cycle, and unfortunately, Carol was a hybrid beastman.
Hybrid beastmen were also ostracized among beastmen and lived in small groups in the harsh land.
Carol was the same.
Unlike her siblings, she couldn’t transform into a human at will and was nothing but a burden.
‘Besides, I’m not the real daughter.’
She was always anxious about when she would be abandoned, but even that anxiety was embraced by her family.
Because the family loved her devotedly.
Carol’s residence was a place with a few houses in the white snowfield where the snow was pouring.
She had to endure it because she couldn’t run away.
After a little adaptation, she hoped that if this was a dream, she wouldn’t wake up.
Even though poverty chased her like a ghost here, she thought it was better to live as Carol here.
She, who always had unhappiness following her like a price tag, felt happiness for the first time in a strange world.
Although it was a harsh land, the inside of the house was warm, and although being a beastman was terrible, the parents were considerate and the siblings were affectionate.
She didn’t know.
How much unhappiness that comes after happiness drives people crazy.
When she had just adapted, the coldest weather came. When the sound of the rattling window was full and the collected firewood was reduced, the parents had to go out.
[We’ll go to Cardiff. It will probably take about two days.]
[…Cardiff?]
[Yes.]
After a moment of hesitation at the familiar place name, the parents finished preparing to go out and hugged Carol and the younger siblings in turn.
[Do you have to go?]
[Oh my, Carol is actually throwing a tantrum.]
[That’s right. I really don’t want you to go.]
With the father’s humor, the mother smiled softly and stroked Carol’s head.
[We’ll be back as soon as possible. We’ll buy a gift.]
She couldn’t ask them not to go again.
Because the situation was serious, just because she was anxious, if they didn’t go, it was clear that this winter would be hard to get through.
When the door was opened, the swirling snow poured over the threshold of the house.
[Go in quickly. It’s cold.]
That was the last sight of the parents.
Coming to this world was not a blessing. She learned that fact in a very cruel way.
While adapting to a new life, because she liked her family.
She laughed at her foolishness for not thinking about where this world is for such silly reasons.
The incredibly foolish Caroline Langer.
‘No, it’s Langston now.’
Carol repeated her surname used in the Duke’s Mansion.
She even scammed a Langston surname to stay in the Duke’s Mansion.
She thought that the ostracized beastmen could only live in villages where beastmen gathered because they couldn’t mix with other people.
A few months after the parents left, she was surprised like a person struck by lightning when she inadvertently saw the newspaper on the table.
Flip!
As she turned the article, Carol’s eyes gradually grew bigger.
Carol, who realized that the place she transmigrated into was the novel she read just before she died, bit her tongue and felt like dying.
Arteon Empire.
Cardiff.
Duke Winternox.
The things that had been passed by were now woven into one story.
The novel [The Reason for Pointing a Sword at Your Throat].
The last novel she read.
‘It’s ridiculous.’
Her hands trembled helplessly, and the newspaper fell to the floor.
‘…Sister?’
From then on, Carol began to rummage through her memories like a madman.
As if it could be a solution to the bleak future ahead.
The story began with Edward, who was dissatisfied with staying in the north, revealing his ambition and stepping into the capital’s social circle.
No matter how outstanding a local noble is, it is difficult to overwhelm the nobles of the capital.
The most solid way to establish a position in the capital is to have a close relationship with a family that has taken root in the capital.
And the most effective and quick way is engagement.
So the Duke becomes engaged to the eldest daughter of the Chesworth Earl’s family, Margaret Chesworth.
The Chesworth Earl’s family was a noble family that had produced several priests with divine power and was trusted by both the royal family and the citizens.
It was a very political move, but the beginning of the misfortune was when Margaret began to love Edward sincerely.
Edward leaves due to a curse that suddenly manifests, and Margaret, who has been waiting for a long time, goes to the Duke’s Mansion alone when faced with the prospect of divorce.
[Margaret was a specimen of a naive noble lady. She firmly believed that if she had a heart, she could solve any problem. Foolish.]
And there she stays for a long time and pleads sincerely to Edward.
Although the purpose was a political union, Margaret’s persuasion, who said she fell in love at first sight, was persistent.
In the end, Edward had hope.
So he reveals his sincerity for the first time after turning into a beast.
But the young lady, who only saw good things growing up, is horrified by the fact that her fiancé has turned into a beast.
The love that was believed to be firm was shattered into powder like candy in an instant.
[Kyaaaak!]
[Margaret.]
[Monster! He’s not a human…!]
It is the most furious law to give hope and take it away. The voice burned with anger burned the surroundings mercilessly.
Anger was hot, and the tip of the sword was cold.
[You deceived me.]
The time when she saw the Duke and distorted her expression and screamed was, unfortunately, late at night when the nature of the beast was more highlighted.
