WDTD 01

I never expected something like that. I thought it was completely impossible.

I wasn’t even the heroine, and my husband, Demon Craig, wasn’t the male lead either.

We were villainous supporting characters—a wicked husband and wife.

And Demon perfectly embodied everything people imagined when they heard the word “villain.”

An incarnation of vengeance. Cold-blooded. A man who spoke nothing but hurtful words whenever he opened his mouth. Someone who used people like chess pieces. A selfish man devoid of mercy or consideration. He preferred black leather clothing and usually moved around at night, and so on.

Clarissa, the original owner of this body, loved the bad man Demon so deeply that she took the blame for murder in his place and died for him.

Good grief. Throwing away your life for love? She had to be insane.

That was what I thought while reading the original novel.

But after possessing Clarissa, I came to understand her feelings a little.

Demon really was a sexy villain. He was such a breathtakingly handsome man that he looked like he had stepped out of a magazine pictorial. On top of that, he was rich.

Still, I couldn’t keep living with a villain husband when my life might end up in danger.

I quickly came to my senses and decided to get divorced.

Of course, Demon didn’t immediately agree to my request. He claimed it would interfere with his revenge plans.

But he never showed any possessiveness toward me, nor any obsession. He never begged for forgiveness or promised to treat me better in the future.

After plenty of bickering, the long-awaited day of our divorce finally arrived.

Since I was going to receive a rather generous settlement, I hummed cheerfully as I headed toward the drawing room.

Demon, who had arrived first, was staring blankly into space before slowly turning his gaze toward me. The moment our eyes met, my body stiffened.

‘Why is he looking at me like that?’

His eyes were unfamiliar. As though he were seeing me for the first time, he scanned me from head to toe, and soon his golden eyes trembled violently.

‘Is he furious?’

But it looked different from the countless angry expressions I had seen from him before.

Feeling uneasy, I sat down and immediately pulled out the divorce papers.

“Wouldn’t it be better if you stamped them first?”

Without answering, Demon simply stared at me while breathing heavily.

‘What’s wrong with him? He’s terrifying…’

I hurriedly took out the family seal.

“I suppose I should do it first. Let’s not turn this into some ridiculous battle over who signs first.”

I neatly spread out the divorce papers and moved the seal toward my signature.

At that moment, Demon suddenly reached out, snatched the papers away, and ripped them cleanly in half.

“Demon! W-What are you doing?!”

“Wife.”

“Hiiik! W-Why are you c-calling me… l-like that…?”

I couldn’t even finish my sentence as shock overwhelmed me.

His eyes went beyond desperation—they were utterly frantic. His molten gold eyes burned with obsessive determination, as if he would use any means necessary to keep me from leaving.

“I cannot agree to this divorce. You are the savior of my life.”

Why was a man who treated his wife worse than a doormat suddenly speaking politely to me? And why was he taking back the divorce all of a sudden?!

“You think I’ll obediently back down just because you changed your mind now? Miranda! Bring the glue. It seems we’ll have to stick the divorce papers back together.”

“I will not divorce you.”

“That’s just what you think. Leave this house immediately like we agreed! That was the deal!”

My face turned bright red as I shouted in fury.

Yet Demon paid no attention to my anger as he rose from his chair and walked toward me.

Then, right in front of me, he collapsed to his knees and bowed his head.

“I’m sorry. I’m truly… sorry, Clarissa.”

“Y-You’ve gone insane.”

“You may insult me more harshly if you wish. You may even strike me, and I will not avoid it. Just… please allow me to remain your husband.”

His trembling voice was filled with devastating regret and remorse.

Never having imagined such a thing would happen, I glared at Demon while clutching the hem of my dress.

He took my hand and buried his face in it.

Soon his shoulders trembled, and the back of my hand became damp.

Hot tears streamed from Demon’s eyes and dripped onto the floor.

I thought I was going crazy.

I had been nothing more than an ordinary fantasy romance reader.

After growing tired of novels involving possession and regression, I switched genres entirely and started reading fantasy stories without any reincarnation or time-reversal elements.

The Duke’s Seventh Son was a growth story about Ian, an illegitimate child who became a holy knight and saved the empire from evil.

Even though there was almost no romance in the plot, many female readers like me loved it because of one reason:

The sexy villain, Demon.

But as the story progressed, this tragic villain committed increasingly vicious acts until he became exhausting in his cruelty.

Naturally, many fans turned their backs on Demon.

But I remained one of his loyal supporters.

As someone who lived a hard life, working two part-time jobs every day after growing up in an orphanage, Demon was practically my idol.

Demon, who inherited supernatural abilities from his biological father, Count Rochen, and learned magic from his adoptive father, Baron Craig, was strong and decisive.

Watching him mercilessly eliminate anyone who tried to obstruct his revenge gave me a strange sense of catharsis.

Still, I felt conflicted about one thing:

The way he allowed Clarissa to die.

Her death had simply been too tragic and pitiful.

—Clarissa confessed to murdering Duke Racton and poisoned herself. Because the deadly poison spread throughout her body, she died before she could even be executed. Yet the judge still ordered her corpse to be taken to the guillotine, where they severed the head of the already-dead Clarissa.

The comment section had exploded with readers cursing Demon.

‘Demon, you were the one who killed Duke Racton! And you just watched Clarissa die?! What a scumbag villain!’

‘He’s worse than Duke Racton. Author, please kill Demon already.’

‘Clarissa is too pitiful. Don’t even write Demon’s point of view. I don’t want to read it.’

Though conflicted, I still left a comment defending Demon.

‘Did Demon ever promise to love her? Did he ask her to take the blame for him? He was honest from the start! He said, “I’ll use you. I’m marrying you because you’re useful. Don’t expect love from me.” Clarissa died because things spiraled out of control while trying to get his attention!’

My comment received an overwhelming number of dislikes, but I didn’t want to delete it.

“If I were Clarissa, I would’ve seduced Demon, made him give up revenge, and lived happily ever after together.”

And if Demon refused to listen, I could always squeeze a huge alimony payment out of him and divorce him.

I turned off my smartphone and began closing up the convenience store.

I worked at a gamjatang restaurant during the day and at a convenience store at night, but money was always tight.

Back when I lived in a welfare facility after leaving the orphanage, I had at least been able to save money.

“Why is the maintenance fee for this tiny one-room apartment so ridiculously expensive?”

Muttering to myself, I finished cleaning up and stepped outside the convenience store to see whether my replacement had arrived.

At that moment, a blinding light poured down on me, forcing my eyes shut.

When I opened them again, I was standing blankly beneath a dazzling chandelier.

Music echoed faintly in my ears, and nearby I heard someone whispering and laughing softly.

Turning my head, I saw a woman in an extravagant dress glancing at me while fluttering her fan.

‘Where is this? Who am I?’

It was a completely unfamiliar place.

A magnificent hall with towering ceilings painted with angels.

In the center stood a marble fountain, and atop it, a golden angel sprayed water into the air.

“Whoa! What is this? What’s happening?!”

I had only opened the convenience store door to step outside, yet somehow I had ended up in another world!

‘Did the convenience store door just turn into Platform Nine and Three-Quarters from King’s Cross Station or something?’

Feeling dizzy, I waved my arms around until I grabbed onto something beside me.

Clutching tightly at smooth silk fabric to steady myself, I slowly raised my head.

A man with glossy black hair and dazzling golden eyes was glaring at me as though he could see straight through me.

“Let go.”

His low voice struck like ice.

His gaze was so cold and merciless that I unconsciously tightened my grip on his arm.

The man immediately shook me off with obvious disgust.

“I said let go, Clarissa.”

Clarissa?

Had I actually possessed a character from a novel?

As shock swept over me, my vision spun, and Clarissa’s memories rapidly flooded through my mind.

“Demon?”

The unfamiliar language that escaped my lips sounded strangely affectionate and desperate.

“Don’t talk to me. Did you think I came to this party to fool around with you?”

That frigid, rude tone!

Could this really be Demon, the sexy villain I had adored so much?

While Demon frowned at me like he was utterly sick of my existence, I awkwardly formed finger hearts toward him.

Excuse me, I’m actually your fan…

Demon stared at me in disbelief before abruptly turning around and walking away on his own.

“How can even the way he gets angry look so cool?”

A completely different thrill from anything I had imagined while reading the novel swept through my entire body.

It was shocking beyond words.

Demon was an incomparably handsome man, flawless like a beautiful sculpture.

The novel had emphasized his appearance countless times, but no description could fully capture his overwhelming sex appeal and dangerous charm.

Not only was Demon handsome with his black hair and golden eyes, but his physique was incredible as well.

His long limbs and tightly packed muscles created a dangerously seductive silhouette every time he moved.

‘That cold, handsome man is my husband.’

We were already married, I knew the original plot, and winning Demon’s heart didn’t seem especially difficult.

All I had to do was avoid things he hated and do things he liked.

The problem was that the things Demon liked were exactly the sort of things expected from a villain’s wife.

And if I helped Demon using my knowledge of the novel, his destruction would only arrive faster.

Which also meant the day poison would be forced down my throat might come sooner too.

‘I have to find a way. A way for Demon and me to live well together.’

But the more I tried, the more Demon distanced himself from me. He was unbelievably arrogant and twisted, constantly spewing venom every time he opened his mouth.

He didn’t even bother listening when I gave him advice.

“Demon. Forget revenge. Why don’t we just have a child instead?”

In the end, thinking it was my last chance, I decided to cling to Demon and try one final time.