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Chapter 02………………………………………….
“Marquis House of Steine…?”
At Rubelia’s words, the man looked at her with a surprised expression.
That was understandable. Even he knew about Rubelia, the only daughter of the Marquis House of Steine. He was usually indifferent to rumors, but there were limits—people talked, whether he wanted to hear it or not.
And those rumors were mostly unpleasant.
That a noble lady shamelessly followed men around.
That her personality was absolutely terrible.
That she viciously bullied the duke’s daughter because she hated her so much.
In truth, there wasn’t a single good rumor about Rubelia. Other noble ladies weren’t pleased when she attended their balls or tea parties either. Yet no one could openly refuse her, because of her status.
She was the cherished only daughter of a marquis who had the Emperor’s trust.
A man who was otherwise so cold and rational became endlessly doting when it came to his daughter.
And yet, none of those rumors matched the Rubelia standing here now.
It would have been more believable if she had been rumored to be a strange woman instead.
“May I ask your name? I’ll be sure to repay you for helping me today.”
She hadn’t intended to exchange names so casually on a first meeting, but since she had received help, it felt proper to at least know his name.
Besides, now that she knew it, it also meant: please don’t pretend you don’t know me when I need help again.
“…Zerden.”
The man answered reluctantly, as though he hadn’t expected her to ask.
“Zerden? That name feels familiar somehow.”
Rubelia tilted her head.
Not exactly… but what was it? Right, it was the same name as that person.
In the original story, Rubelia—the villainess—poisoned the heroine, the duke’s daughter, causing her to nearly die. She was then arrested on charges of attempted murder and eventually sentenced to death after strong protests from the two ducal houses.
At that time, someone approached Rubelia’s father and made a proposal: save his daughter, and in return, help him with his rebellion.
That person was Zerden Heshirkan, the only Grand Duke of the Empire. He was the emperor’s nephew and a potential heir to the throne, which made him the target of constant imperial surveillance.
The marquis, loyal to the emperor, could not accept the grand duke’s hand—no matter how precious his daughter’s life was.
Thus, he rejected the only offer that could have saved her.
After losing his daughter, the marquis fell into deep guilt and shut himself away from the world.
But his misfortune did not end there.
Before the rebellion even began, the grand duke took revenge for the rejection and annihilated the marquis house entirely.
Later, the grand duke himself failed in his rebellion and was killed.
“Wow, that’s interesting. It’s exactly the same name as the Grand Duke.”
Rubelia looked impressed. Then her gaze shifted to Zerden.
“Huh?”
Her eyes widened as she noticed something.
“That’s a rather amusing thing to say.”
“…W-well, no, right? It couldn’t possibly be the Grand Duke himself. I mean, black hair and black eyes aren’t common, but they’re not unheard of either, right?”
She desperately tried to deny reality.
…But actually, they kind of were.
At least in the capital.
And even less so a man with both black hair and black eyes named Zerden…
“You didn’t approach me knowing who I am, did you?”
“…No. Not at all. Absolutely not.”
Rubelia firmly denied it. If she had known, she never would have grabbed him!
What an absurd coincidence this was.
She had tried to avoid the original male and female leads, only to end up grabbing the Grand Duke for help.
It felt like someone was deliberately trying to get her killed.
Just then.
From deep within the quiet alley, she heard footsteps.
For a moment, she tensed, wondering if it was Aria or Hasedian, but relaxed when she saw the figures wearing knight uniforms.
“Your Grace, we’ve apprehended the criminal.”
“Good. I was starting to wonder if you were completely useless. I was considering replacing your eyes with decorations instead.”
Zerden spoke coldly, his gaze sweeping over the knights. His presence alone was enough to pressure them into tension.
“But who is that young lady…?”
The knights looked at Rubelia with confusion.
There was no way a noble lady would brazenly cling to Zerden.
If they knew what happened to those women who fell for his appearance, they would understand.
Their fate was always the same.
Erasure from high society.
“She is the Steine marquis’s daughter.”
Zerden said indifferently, glancing at her.
The knights only grew more confused.
Why was Rubelia with Zerden?
Everyone in the capital knew she used to follow Duke Carciel of the three great ducal houses.
“I’m done here. Escort the young lady back to her estate.”
Normally, Zerden would have ignored her and gone his own way—but today, he chose to show consideration.
For some reason, he felt a strange sense of familiarity and goodwill toward her.
And somewhere deep inside, a voice insisted he must not let her go.
But he ignored it.
Simply staying by her side like this was already an unusual kindness for him.
He had at least received some help from her.
“Well then, I’ll be going. Thank you for today.”
Even if he was the villain in the original story, he had helped her—so Rubelia politely said goodbye.
As she passed him under the knights’ escort, something caught her eye.
It was a divine mark only she could see.
It faintly rested on Zerden’s neck.
That “divine mark” was the very thing that had ruined her once peaceful, comfortable life.
It had already been three months since she had possessed this body.
Rubelia Steine was a villainess in a novel whose title she couldn’t even remember.
A cliché story: she falls for the male lead, bullies the heroine, and ultimately tries to kill her, only to be executed.
That part she could handle. As long as she didn’t bully the heroine or chase the male lead, everything should have been fine.
But nothing in this world goes as planned.
The heroine and male lead, who originally hated her, changed.
Because of something called the “hand of God.”
Apparently, the god’s original intention was simply to make them favor her so they could become her allies.
But due to divine interference, that simple goodwill became distorted.
It twisted into something extreme—almost pathological.
A blind, fanatic level of devotion.
At least they behaved normally around others.
But when it came to her, they acted like complete psychos.
Because of that, both the heroine and male lead had become ticking time bombs rather than blessings.
And both of them bore that same divine mark.
They stalked her constantly, committing absurd acts.
Like stealing a royal tiara because they thought it suited her.
Or Aria—begging to be bullied while clinging to her dress so tightly it nearly tore.
When she tried to pull away, Aria lost balance and fell down the stairs.
Unfortunately, another noble lady saw it and it nearly became an attempted murder case.
Only Aria insisting it was her own mistake saved her.
Yesterday, Hasedian suddenly appeared and gifted her a forbidden flower from outside the palace, something strictly prohibited.
He destroyed all traces of it so she wouldn’t be caught—otherwise she would have been sent to prison again.
Then Aria, in her own way, brought a family heirloom and told her she could break it freely.
The more she thought about it, the more endless their misconduct seemed.
“Help, my foot.”
Even if it was help, it only seemed like it would help send her toward the execution ending she was trying to avoid.
Then something else came to mind.
Ever since she first possessed this body, the god she had neither seen nor heard from suddenly appeared in her dream last night.
And spoke nonsense again.
—
“Child of destiny, find him.”
“He is your destined partner. You are connected to him. Although I cannot tell you everything due to restrictions, you are the only one in this world who could find and read the book of your original life. Find the distortions and corrections, and fulfill your original fate.”
“Lastly, I have granted you special abilities for your sake. You will naturally realize them when you meet him.”
—
At the time, she dismissed it without even considering it worth listening to.
She didn’t even understand what it meant.
But in truth, it was just the setup for yet another devastating blow.
