IPTD 29

I was drowning my sorrows in a bottle after my doctoral thesis was rejected for the final time. When I finally fell asleep… ……I woke up at some kind of wedding. For now, everyone is calling me ‘Renée Celeste.’ It seems like I’ve possessed someone in a romance fantasy novel, but for the life of me, I can’t figure out which one it is……. “Since this is equally uncomfortable for both of us, just live quietly as if you aren’t even there.” The Grand Duke—the husband of the body I possessed—spoke to me. What? Live quietly? That’s exactly what I wanted! In a small, humble cottage, I spent my days bustling about with my unconditional allies, the ‘Ganada Maid Brigade,’ and a transparent(?) dragon I somehow ended up entangled with. Then, one day. On the night of a full moon, my uninvited husband paid me a visit. With a face that was 180 degrees different from his usual self! “I keep thinking about you. The fact that you live in a place like a warehouse, that you keep engaging in hard labor, and even the fact that you eat such poor meals every time… everything. Do you not even realize you’re being persecuted? Why are you so cheerful?” A warehouse? You mean my beautiful forest cottage that could slap Studio Ghibli across the face? Hard labor? I just cleaned because I was bored! Poor meals? Wasn’t that just a healthy diet? ‘All of that was…… persecution?’ I’ve been getting persecuted this whole time?! * * * ‘I’m screwed.’ In the moment I hovered between life and death, I finally remembered the novel I had possessed. And it was one of those trashy endings where the male lead only starts regretting after the terminally ill Grand Duchess actually dies! “Renée!” Just before I lost consciousness. My husband rushed toward me with a desperate expression I had never seen before. Wait, didn’t you hate me?   “Renée. I never gave you permission to leave my side. Even if the end is death…… I will chase you to the very end.”