TESWKM 1

chapter 1

Thud.
A black spear, forged with dark magic, pierced straight through my heart.
The shock made dark red blood surge from my mouth.
“Ah… so this is how I die in the end.”

I had possessed a being fated for a brutal death ending, struggling desperately to avoid that conclusion—but in the end, I ended up saving the man I loved and dying in his place.

“Theor… run…”
Blood filled my mouth, making it impossible to speak.
My breath grew shallow, and my vision dimmed.

Yet, amidst it all, Perioze unnie’s voice calling my name, crying out, reached me with strange clarity.

“Ellie! Stay awake! Ellie! No!”

“Unnie…”

When I first possessed this body, my plan had been simple: only charm the unnie who could kill me, enjoy a peaceful life with no brutal ending, and avoid any danger.

Perioze, the charismatic and well-justified villainess of the original story, had always been my favorite. I had hoped to become close to her, avoid the brutal ending, and live happily with my favorite character.

“But… why did it turn out like this?”

It was probably because I ended up falling for an entirely unexpected man.

Theor.

At first, I was drawn to him simply because he was the only being with a darkness attribute, much like my own black magic.
Just as dark magic had been scorned as evil in my original world, here too, the darkness attribute—opposite to light—was shunned as a corrupt power.

I had only cared because of that similarity, but before I knew it, I had fallen in love with him.

Through my blurred vision, I saw my tear-streaked favorite, Perioze unnie, and Theor, whose face had frozen in shock, staring at me.

“So in the end… I can’t even protect my favorite, the one I wanted to save… and it ends like this?”

As my consciousness sank into the dark abyss, I prayed one last, desperate prayer:

“Please… let it end with me alone. Unnie, Theor… let no one else die…”

And soon, all the light in my world vanished.
At that moment, my world should have ended.

I possessed someone else.

I was now inside the novel I had read before I died: [Caroline’s Lover].

Crack!
Pain shot through me like lightning, and stars exploded in front of my eyes.

Before I could even process it, the scene in my sideways vision was entirely unfamiliar:
People adorned in extravagant dresses, tuxedo-like suits, and sparkling jewels.
They all looked young—either just adults or not yet—and their faces turned toward me.

Then:

“Do you dare think you, young lady, have the right to block my way?”

A cold yet elegant, strangely captivating voice echoed in my ears.

I turned instinctively, and filling my vision was a woman with dazzling red hair and ruby-like eyes.

“…Huh?”

Even though I had never seen her before, she felt incredibly familiar. I couldn’t look away, when another woman’s voice spoke beside me:

“Please stop, Lady Perioze!”

She had emerald eyes clear as crystal and snow-white hair.

“Huh?”

Her face also seemed familiar, even though I had never seen her before.

I quickly pieced the situation together.

Familiar face… new clothes and surroundings… and Perioze… gasp!

My eyes nearly popped out.

What the hell?! Who am I looking at? No… no way! Is this my favorite, Lady Perioze McKenzie, the ultimate villainess of the novel?!

My heart pounded like it would explode.

“Whoa!”

A sound, half exclamation and half scream, escaped my mouth.
Suddenly, every gaze in the room fell on me.

I understood the situation clearly: I was now in the world of [Caroline’s Lover], the novel I had read before dying.
Of course—I had just died.

In truth, I had been the strongest dark mage in the nation of Odelon.
Though my magic, which used human souls as materials, had earned me scorn, I had lived an unjust life—until a foolish misstep on the stairs caused my death.

To clarify, in modern society, magic that uses human souls doesn’t exist—and shouldn’t.
Before possession, my introduction would have been: “I was born with dark magic, could use it, and was outstanding among others, so I ended up dying as the representative.”

Anyway, it was clear I had possessed a body inside the novel my roommate had recommended, Caroline’s Lover.
Why? Because the person who had just slapped my cheek mercilessly was none other than my favorite and the strongest villainess in the novel: Perioze McKenzie.

Her pale skin, fiery hair that seemed alive—she was breathtakingly beautiful and powerful.

“Lady Caroline, are you daring to tell me to stop? The daughter of a baron dares speak to a princess?”

“It’s not that! You slapped my innocent friend, Ellinea!”

“Gah…!”

The exclamation that escaped my mouth drew everyone’s attention to me.

Ellinea? Even in possession…!

Ellinea Brenscia—someone who had been brutally killed by Perioze’s assassin in the early part of the story.

I tried hard to control the expression twisting across my face.

This was a romance fantasy novel where Caroline, born with a light attribute, alongside others with different attributes, fought monsters and villains to save the empire while also experiencing love, jealousy, and romance.
It had been hugely popular in the dorm, and I had become engrossed after my roommate recommended it.
Of course, my attention was entirely on the villainess, Perioze.
While everyone cried, “Poor Caroline!” I had always cheered, “Villainess unnie is the best!”

So seeing my favorite alive and standing right in front of me was enough to make me scream that weird, excited noise.

“What… what?”
“Ellinea, are you okay?!”

Not okay at all—but somehow okay.
To possess a character about to be killed by my favorite and have that favorite standing right in front of me—it was strange enough to make me grateful to the gods for surviving, and yet furious all at once.

“Then don’t block my path, young lady.”

Seeing the villainess unnie bristle like a cat, I made a decision:

I’m going to change the original story.

I would change the story to avoid my brutal death ending, prevent the villainess unnie’s tragic end, and become her closest friend—laughing, chatting, and playing with my favorite every day.

Without thinking, I acted instinctively like my pre-possession self.
I grabbed Perioze’s hands and shouted,

“You’re my favorite, unnie!”

In conclusion, I ended up being treated like a child with a cracked head after being slapped.
The tea party I had interrupted ended immediately.
The unnamed extra, a baroness hosting the party, glared at me and Caroline, but there was nothing she could do.
Who would have thought that I, after dying and possessing another body, would wake up at the exact moment I was being slapped by my favorite unnie?

On the way home in the carriage, I excitedly shouted, “Oh, I love carriages!” while recalling the original story.

Being quite sharp, I remembered the novel vividly:

In this world, all nobles have an attribute. Fire, wind, water, and earth are common; light and darkness are rare—sometimes only one per generation, or not at all.

This generation had Caroline with light, Northern Duke Theor with darkness, and the crown prince secretly with light.
The prince’s attribute was secret because the empire’s theocratic authority and royal authority were closely intertwined.

All nobles had attributes…

“…Wait?! I don’t have one!”

I blurted out.
Damn it. Ellinea Brenscia had no attribute.
The Brenscia family had bought their baron title with money earned from port businesses, so in a world where only nobles had abilities, she often faced scorn and judgment.
Caroline, kind-hearted, had befriended her.

I realized I had not only been possessed into a body about to be killed by my favorite unnie, but also into a completely ordinary human without any attribute. I felt a pang of unfairness.

Then, I instinctively tried using dark magic—and it flowed from the fingers of the body I possessed. My eyes widened.

“Hey! I can use dark magic?!”

Inside the carriage, I created a basic dark magic ability: a mana hole.
A mana hole is a defensive spell forming in front of the caster, absorbing attacks like a shield.
Attacks coming directly at the caster get pulled into the hole, but attacks from the side or behind are unaffected—making it somewhat limited.

Buzz.
A black hole appeared in front of me.
It worked.

“So… even without an attribute, I can still survive just fine, huh?”

…Probably.