A City Vanished Overnight.
At the hands of an 18-year-old Archmage from humble origins.
“Sir Persson, do you think Lady Reina could still be alive?”
The weather was chilly, transitioning from late autumn to early winter.
The search party, consisting of eight members from the Betugenia Empire, was heading towards the vanished city. The knight at the front, Persson, responded in a subdued voice.
“She couldn’t possibly be.”
The war between the Betuzenia Empire and the Tuntera Empire— a brutal conflict that had lasted for 70 years in the battle for dominance over the continent—had finally ended. The Betuzenia Empire emerged victorious, and it was all thanks to the Archmage Reina Hart, who sacrificed herself.
“She used magic that drains life force. That’s why it was so powerful.”
She had entered the enemy’s camp alone and unleashed a spell so devastating that it obliterated both the enemy army and the city itself. No matter how powerful of an Archmage she was, it was hard to believe she could have survived using such magic.
“You’re right…”
A heavy silence hung over the group of knights. The only sounds that filled the air were the rhythmic pounding of hooves and the icy wind that cut through them like blades.
In the distance, a tiny black dot showed up on the horizon.
Just three days earlier, a magnificent, bustling city had been there.
That had once been Tunchara, the capital of the now-defeated Tuntera Empire, a city renowned for its dazzling civilization. Reina Hart must have perished with it.
The squad’s mission was to confirm whether she had survived, but every knight anticipated her death. What they were about to witness was the noble sacrifice of a hero—one who would be remembered forever in the history of the Betuzenia Empire.
“Lo..Look! Over there!”
The quiet was shattered by a sharp-eyed knight pointing ahead. All the knights turned their gaze toward the spot he indicated.
In the massive crater where the city once stood, a single violet flower bloomed at the edge. As they drew closer, it became clearer.
No, it wasn’t a flower. It was a person standing still, with long, soft lavender hair cascading down to her waist.
“…Lady Reina.”
It was Persson who recognized her first. He had always been by her side on the battlefield, and seeing her familiar figure, he spurred his horse forward and galloped towards her.
“Lady Reina!”
Reina Hart turned around. Her big, silver eyes sparkled like morning dew. Her slightly droopy eyes were framed by thick lashes, and her pale, flawless skin went perfectly with her balanced features.
Her expression was as cold and emotionless as always.
Persson dismounted, coming to stand in front of her. It had been two days since the city vanished. Had she been here the whole time?
“…”
Reina’s eyes flickered as she looked at him.
“Are… are you alright?”
Persson asked, taken aback by her uncertain expression. The Reina he knew never showed emotions, always keeping the same stoic face.
Slowly, Reina parted her lips, hesitating as if unsure whether to speak. Her mouth opened and closed a few times before she finally whispered:
“Am I…”
She muttered to herself, almost as if talking to no one.
“…really Reina?”
Was this… a novel?
Reina Hart, the 18-year-old Archmage.
Ando Hwa, now inside Reina’s body, had no choice but to finally acknowledge the bizarre situation she was in: she had been transported into the very book she had been reading.
☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓
<The Garden of Betuzenia>.
The novel that Andohwa had been reading just before she became possessed.
Oddly, she remembered nothing but her name and the plot of the book. Nothing else seemed to come to mind.
She could recall walking around or eating ice cream—little, insignificant memories from her everyday life. But nothing of importance came back to her, as if someone had deliberately blocked those memories.
There was one other thing she vaguely recalled.
Just before entering the novel, she had agreed to fulfill someone’s request.
_[…Protect it.]_
The memory was too hazy to pinpoint, though.
Andohwa sat down, glaring at the sheet of paper in front of her, pen in hand. She had started making a mind map to try and organize her thoughts, but it had been stuck on her own name, “Andohwa,” for the past 30 minutes.
“I really don’t know anything, do I? And why did it have to be Reina Hart?”
Reina Hart.
A war hero in the Betuzenia Empire who was only ever mentioned by name in the novel. The capital of the male lead’s empire, Tuntera, was destroyed by her magic. Reina herself should have died in the process.
‘Is Reina’s body still alive because I’ve possessed it?’
Ando Hwa recalled the moment when she first opened her eyes in this world.
Lying in a massive sinkhole, staring up at the blue sky, while memories that didn’t belong to her flooded her mind.
For the rest of the day, she had a throbbing headache as the memories flooded back.
By the time it was over, she realized those memories were of Reina Hart’s whole eighteen years of life.
“So… am I supposed to live as Reina now, or what?”
Reina’s memories were clearer than her own.
She could even access Reina’s knowledge of magic and use it without issue.
After using magic to climb out of the sinkhole, Andohwa had seriously questioned whether she was Andohwa or Reina. It wasn’t until a knight—someone she had never seen but somehow recognized—called her name that the truth hit her.
She was in a novel.
The knight captain, Persson, visited the vanished city every year. In front of a giant memorial stone, he would place a bouquet of lavender flowers, just like Reina’s hair, and honor her memory.
This was already the 14th time he had visited her.
As if introducing the characters in the story, a translucent window appeared beside him. It was exactly like what Andohwa had read in [The Garden of Betuzenia].
‘I never thought a book-possession story would be part of my life.’
Andohwa, now living as Reina Hart, found it more natural to be called Reina. She leaned her head back against the chair, her long lavender hair cascading over its curves.
The chandelier’s light from the palace reflected in her silvery eyes as she pondered her next steps.
What was she supposed to do now, in this novel world?
‘Was the thing I was supposed to protect… the ending? Since it’s an unfinished novel?’
The novel had stopped updating right before its conclusion. There had even been rumors that the author had passed away in the comments section of the latest chapter.
If someone had pulled her into the novel and asked her to protect something, the most likely scenario was that she was meant to “protect the ending.”
‘What happened in the last chapters again?’
Reina tried to recall the later parts of the novel. The main villain, the tyrant of the Betuzenia Empire, was killed by the male protagonist, who finally confirmed his feelings for the female protagonist.
“The dragon woke up, and the capital of Tuntera, which Reina had destroyed, was about to return to its original place when the updates stopped.”
Reina gazed out the window at the blue sky.
The capital of the Tuntera Empire said to have been destroyed by the Grand Mage, was actually floating high in the sky, frozen in time.
Reina Hart, the Archmage of the Betuzenia Empire, had sacrificed her life to make that happen. Why had she made such a choice?
Only Reina herself knew the true reason, and it was revealed in the final chapters of the novel.
Deep underground, there was a dragon’s lair that no human knew about.
The Tuntera Empire had built its capital right on top of it.
Hundreds of years later, no one even dreamed that the dragon inside would wake up.
When it finally did, the huge city above ended up crushed by the dragon.
The dragon shook itself off and flew out into the vast sky, tearing apart half the continent and the Tuntera Archipelago in the process.
That was the scene Reina Hart saw in her vision the night before.
In short, the dragon wakes up, shakes itself off, and half the continent is wiped out.
Reina Hart wanted to stop that horrible disaster.
She advised the Emperor of Tuntera to abandon the capital, but of course, he wasn’t going to listen to an enemy like her.
With no other choice, Reina Hart lifted the city above the dragon’s lair into the sky, and died in a sinkhole beneath it.
“It was an early move, but…”
Reina had calculated that the dragon would wake up at this time, but actually, the dragon was supposed to wake up 14 years later—when the original story starts.
Until then, the Tuntera Archipelago would float high in the sky, hidden in thick clouds, frozen in time.
Reina imagined the massive city hovering in the air and started thinking about the original story’s ending again.
“When the Tuntera Archipelago is restored, the male lead, Tiernan, will probably become emperor, right? He’s the only royal who managed to escape from Reina Hart’s magic.”
The last remaining member of the Tuntera royal family, Tiernan Fargan.
While hiding his identity and on the run, he got caught by slavers and spent a few years as a slave.
Eventually, though, he gathered the surviving Tuntera knights and led an army to defeat the Betuzenia Empire.
And the female lead, who was the duke’s daughter from Betuzenia, overthrew her father, who only saw her as a political tool, and took over the family title.
“A happy ending, huh. Definitely a happy ending.”
Reina muttered to herself.
Even if the story got put on hiatus, the plot had already progressed that far—there’s no way it wouldn’t have a happy ending.
The main characters had overcome all sorts of hardships, so all that was left was for them to live happily ever after.
It’s obvious.
So, what am *I* supposed to do to make sure that ending happens?
“…Is there even anything for me to do right now?”
We’re still way before the original story starts.
The main characters are probably off somewhere, living out their childhoods and building up their backstories.
And in the original story, Reina is already dead, so there’s no reason for me to get involved.
If anything, me being alive in Reina Hart’s body is the real wildcard here.
“Hm.”
Reina furrowed her brows and thought for a while before coming to a conclusion.
If my role is to protect the ending, it’s probably best to let things unfold exactly the way I know they will.
So until the original story starts, I’ll avoid interfering in this world as much as possible.
Especially when it comes to the story’s established settings.
“And I’ll just check every now and then to make sure the plot is progressing properly.”
If it looks like the ending might get derailed, I’ll step in and play the role of a helper.
Luckily, Reina had a small rural estate called “Hibei.”
Even though she was originally a commoner, she was granted the title of viscount and that land as a reward for her past accomplishments from the Emperor.
“Guess I’ll just hole up there until the original story kicks off.”
Reina hummed a little tune, feeling excited despite everything.
There had been a grand welcome banquet in her honor as the war hero who miraculously returned alive—it had lasted a full week.
Then, for the past two weeks, she had been stuck in the Imperial Palace, taking part in royal mage training—a promise that previous Reina had made to the Emperor.
Altogether, she’d been stuck in the palace for three weeks straight, and in that time, she’d realized something.
“Being alone is the best.”
Thanks to Reina Hart’s memories, there were no problems with handling noble etiquette or keeping up with the magic classes.
But she could physically feel her energy draining every time she had to interact with people.
“There’s still two more weeks left of this month-long training.”
Reina tapped the armrest of her chair.
Since she had decided to minimize her interference, she couldn’t let her guard down even in the Imperial Palace.
There was a high chance she might run into two key characters from the original story here.
One of them was Duke Asferada, the female lead’s father, and the other was the fourth prince.
“I need to be extra careful around the fourth prince.”
He’s destined to become the main villain of the story, after all.
Right now, he’s probably holed up in some side palace, going through the usual tragic events villains often do.
“But so what?”
What does any of that have to do with me?
That’s just how the story is written.
That’s what Reina thought.
