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Chapter : 01
Prologue
I am Baek Ju-ah, a civil servant belonging to the Kingdom of Possession.
There was one thing I learned while watching the countless masterminds lurking within possessed worlds.
Even villains have their reasons.
“Hm, so Putt had a past like that? His father was the problem.”
Some were born kind but turned dark because of the environment they grew up in.
“In that situation, I would’ve gone crazy too.”
Others were twisted after struggling endlessly against cruel fates.
Anyway, everyone had their own reasons.
But—
“Grand Duke Fersen!”
Kaise Knox Fersen.
“Please spare us! My son was merely deceived by baseless rumors!”
The man inside the monitor shattered that rule completely.
“S-Someone told him there was a dragon’s heart hidden inside Grand Duke Fersen’s castle! He only became curious about its power—he had no other intentions!”
“If you act this way, Your Majesty, it pains me as well.”
Contrary to his words, the man’s expression remained as emotionless as ever.
“Who was it?”
“T-That is…!”
The king might not compare to the Elvenard Empire, but he was still the ruler of a nation.
And yet that very king was clinging desperately to the feet of a young grand duke, begging for mercy.
“Neither I nor my son know! It’s the truth! Someone sent a secret letter to the prince!”
“……”
“Please spare my son! He was foolish enough to act on that letter. Can’t you simply treat it as a childish prank?”
But that was all.
The king’s excuses could continue no longer.
“G-Grand Duke!”
A cold sword blade had been pointed directly beneath his chin.
“You’d better answer properly now.”
Fersen bent slightly at the waist as he looked down at the king, his gaze bored.
Even the mask-like smile had vanished.
“If you don’t want to see your son thrown to the dragons as dinner.”
And the moment those words—almost like a spell—were spoken—
“Ugh…!”
The king began trembling violently.
His breathing grew ragged, as though something inside him was forcing its way out.
“Urgh! H-His Majesty! The Emperor commanded it! His Majesty ordered my son to search the Grand Duke’s castle—kgh!”
Only after vomiting out those words did the king collapse.
His pupils were unfocused, as though he had been possessed.
“I knew it. His Majesty likes me far too much. What a troublesome thing.”
Only then did Fersen smile, as though he had finally received the answer he wanted.
Dark black hair.
Blue eyes cold as shards of glass.
His appearance was restrained and ascetic, yet dazzlingly beautiful at the same time.
“Well, I suppose that makes sense. Unless one possesses a dragon’s heart, it’s difficult to be as perfect as I am.”
Seriously, what rotten luck.
And yet no one could deny those words.
Not within that world.
And not outside of it either.
“Your Grace, what shall we do with this one?”
The unconscious king lay sprawled across the floor.
A man standing beside Fersen asked after confirming the sight.
“Send him back to the Emperor just like this.”
Fersen’s answer was simple.
“Tell His Majesty that we captured the intruder who infiltrated the Grand Duke’s castle last night. And that he should be more careful himself.”
He didn’t even spare a glance for something that had already lost its usefulness.
“You never know, after all. Next time, perhaps His Majesty’s imperial palace will be breached just as easily.”
From the outside, there could hardly exist a prettier smile than that one.
“What do you think his reason is?”
“Hm?”
At that moment, Suhyeok, who had been watching beside me, asked.
“Doesn’t he seem crazier every time you see him? He’s rich, talented, ridiculously handsome… so what exactly made him snap like that?”
That was right.
That man, Kaise Knox Fersen, was the final villain of Everyone Is Afraid of Me.
In other words, the main culprit who turned this novel into an utterly miserable tragedy.
But no one knew the reason why.
“Don’t even try to understand him.”
That was why I used to call Fersen this:
“He’s just irredeemable trash.”
And yet.
“Why are you doing this to me?”
“Hm?”
“No, seriously—I don’t understand.”
Who could’ve imagined that one day I would ask him that exact question myself?
“There has to be some reason you’re treating me this way.”
And not just anyone—
But that Fersen.
“A reason?”
The man still wore that beautiful smile.
Right in front of my eyes.
“Well.”
Looking at him, everything suddenly felt unreal.
He’s unnecessarily handsome.
Right. That kind of appearance only belonged to fictional characters.
For a human being to possess a face and body like that was practically excessive.
“Maybe because I’m ‘irredeemable trash’?”
“……!”
The amusement flickering in those blue eyes lasted only a moment.
“You don’t remember? That’s disappointing.”
Fersen reached a hand toward me.
Is this bastard about to snap my neck?
“You called me that yourself.”
But instead, his fingers merely brushed lightly through my hair before pulling away.
“Ah, though sometimes you also called me a ‘twisted stalker bastard.’”
Fine. Sure. Let’s say it was just coincidence that I, once a civil servant of the Kingdom of Possession, ended up possessing the body of an extra imperial princess.
But—
How much does he know about me?
And more importantly…
How does he know all of this?
How does he know the things I said back when I worked at the Kingdom of Possession?
“You seem curious about how much I know about you.”
As though he had read my thoughts, Fersen spoke.
“I know everything.”
It was the playful smile of a young boy.
“I’ve been…”
But then—
“I’ve been watching you for a very long time.”
And the voice that absolutely could not have been joking told me one thing clearly.
I was completely screwed.
