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chapter 03
“—…Vincent! Dylan!”
“…….”
“Take me with you too! Please? I know I was wrong!”
“…….”
“Brother! Brother Ethan! Sob… I’m scared. Please don’t leave me behind! Somebody save me— Kyaaaaaah—!”
“Hah!”
A sharp scream jolted me awake.
What a disgusting, horrible dream.
I’d suddenly possessed the villainess from a novel, gotten beaten half to death, trapped inside a Gate, abandoned by those damn bastards who never came to save me, died, and then opened my eyes again inside a coffin…
As I tried to recall the fading fragments of the dream, sunlight stabbing into my eyes sent a chill down my spine.
“What time is it? Work—!”
I hurriedly sat up, only to freeze at the unfamiliar sight before me.
Instead of my cramped dorm room, which contained nothing more than a single bed and a tiny desk, a vast space stretched out around me.
A huge bed wide enough for three people to sleep in comfortably, a lace-covered canopy, dazzling ornaments everywhere…
The moment I saw them, it felt as if cold water had been poured over my head.
“…Right. I really did possess someone.”
Haa…
I let out a deep sigh and rubbed my face dryly.
I’d thought it was just some bizarre dream, but everything was real.
Possessing the villainess from a novel.
And of all times, waking up in her body during her own funeral.
‘Isn’t this supposed to happen the other way around?’
Usually, you die and possess the body of someone alive. Who the hell possesses a dead body while still alive?
As soon as I thought that, I realized something was off with my logic.
‘…Or did I die too?’
The miserable thing that happened right before I came here flashed through my mind.
—
“Just hang in there a little longer, Dr. Yoo! We can’t both get swept away and die like dogs, can we? Someone has to get outside and call for rescue!”
“You’re smart, so if you hide somewhere well enough, you’ll be okay.”
—
The very next day after finishing that damned novel, I got caught in a Gate that suddenly opened at the investigation site I was visiting for work.
My memories ended with my biological father’s first adopted son abandoning me and running away.
‘…I probably died.’
If I’d miraculously survived and been rescued, I wouldn’t be here now.
The thought made my mood plummet.
“So what is this? A dead person resurrecting in another dead person’s body? Is this some kind of phase transition or what?”
Damn it, I had no idea.
I’d barely read any possession novels before, so I couldn’t understand the mechanics behind this at all.
More importantly, the biggest issue was the seminar scheduled for next week.
It was finally my chance to shove cure-1 commercialization in my biological father’s face…!
“Don’t tell me Edith entered my body instead? No, no way. A fictional character can’t possibly have a soul… Ugh, I should’ve told Assistant Kim to make more backups beforehand, damn it all…!”
I tugged at my hair in frustration before finally taking a proper look around the room.
“…But where is this? The duke’s estate?”
But Edith hadn’t died in the capital where the duke’s family lived.
I vaguely tried recalling the novel’s plot from memory, since I’d skimmed through most of it.
Click.
Just then, the door suddenly opened.
“L-Lady…?”
A maid carrying a basin hurried inside, only to stop dead when she saw me sitting upright.
Then—
Clang!
“M-Master Butler! Doctor! L-Lady Edith has awakened!”
She dropped the basin and bolted from the room in panic.
A short while later.
The once-empty room was crowded with people the maid had dragged in.
“My lady, could you open your eyes wide for me? Good. Now please open your mouth…”
An elderly man who seemed to be a doctor examined me with somewhat rushed movements.
It hurt a little, but I obediently complied.
After all, this body had technically come back from the dead, so I was curious too.
After taking samples of my blood and hair, the doctor busily rummaged through his medical bag without explaining anything.
‘What is this? A genetic test?’
Were they worried someone had swapped out the corpse and replaced the duke’s daughter with another person?
Well, the person inside had changed, so I felt slightly guilty.
‘But do they even have genetic testing here?’
My curiosity was interrupted by the next person stepping forward.
“My lady, may I examine your body for a moment?”
A young woman standing behind the doctor approached with white light glowing from both her hands.
‘…An awakened one?’
Apparently she wasn’t actually asking for permission, because she touched me before I could answer.
“Ah.”
I frowned in discomfort, but soon my attention shifted to the strange energy pouring from her hands.
Warm light swept through every corner of my body as though searching it.
‘…A healer-type awakened.’
My body suddenly felt lighter, and even my mind seemed clearer.
‘Being born into a rich family really is nice.’
Though I’d been born into a wealthy household myself, I’d never once encountered a healing-type awakened before, so I let out a bitter smile.
‘Still… was Edith’s life better than my childhood at least?’
At the very least, they’d spent a fortune to summon a healer because they were worried about her.
Since most abilities manifested in offensive forms, healer-types were incredibly rare and expensive.
This novel borrowed from a modern setting, so things were probably similar here too.
“Amazing.”
At that moment, the woman removed her hands from me and turned around urgently.
“There are no traces of internal or external injuries left in the lady’s body. This really is… practically a miracle.”
She spoke in astonishment to the two men standing some distance from the bed.
I glanced toward them.
One was a middle-aged man with platinum blond hair identical to Edith’s.
The other was a handsome younger man with gleaming silver hair.
Even without introductions, the descriptions from the novel were enough for me to recognize them.
‘Her biological father, the duke… and the adopted son he chose as heir instead of his real daughter.’
Despite hearing that their daughter—or sister—had no abnormalities whatsoever, neither of them looked happy.
Their expressions remained stiff and cold.
‘Isn’t that a little harsh? Your dead daughter just miraculously came back to life…’
Though technically, she hadn’t come back at all.
No one knew where the real Edith had gone.
There was a good chance she was truly dead.
As I frowned slightly, the doctor, who’d been doing something in the corner, suddenly rushed toward the duke.
“No traces of demonic energy have been detected either, Your Grace!”
“……”
“There’s no necrosis in the extremities, and all bodily responses are normal. We can conclude there’s absolutely no demonic contamination. Please, look!”
The doctor handed the duke a glass vial.
Inside the vial that now contained my blood and hair samples, tiny goldfish swam leisurely through shimmering water.
“As Miss Aston said, fortunately the young lady appears perfectly healthy.”
“……”
The duke barely glanced at the vial.
I secretly pursed my lips.
‘What the hell. So it wasn’t a DNA test—it was a demonic energy test?’
Well, obviously genetic testing wouldn’t exist here.
It was a relief they weren’t suspecting me, but the fact they’d checked for demonic contamination instead still irritated me.
If someone was exposed to the black fog—or “demonic energy,” as it was called in the novel—they’d go insane and rot to death.
Meaning you usually didn’t even need a blood test to tell.
Some people would sacrifice entire fortunes trying to save a child contaminated by demonic energy.
Yet instead of celebrating their daughter’s return, these people were checking whether she’d been corrupted.
‘What lovely treatment…’
I’d known Edith was the family’s unwanted child, but experiencing it firsthand left a bitter taste in my mouth.
‘If I was going to possess someone, couldn’t it at least have been the heroine?!’
Why did I have to crawl all the way here just to get treated like baggage?
As I swallowed my irritation, the handsome silver-haired man beside the duke finally spoke.
“They said she was found inside a monster’s jaws. Is that even possible?”
“She remained beside Miss Llewellyn until the incident occurred, so perhaps she was affected by the purifier’s power…”
“Then you’re saying the death declaration was your misdiagnosis.”
“M-Misdiagnosis?!”
The doctor flailed in panic at the cold accusation.
“No, Young Master! I personally confirmed several times that the young lady had stopped breathing!”
“If it wasn’t a misdiagnosis, then explain this situation.”
The man gestured toward me with his chin.
The doctor broke into a cold sweat.
“I-It’s possible the shock was so severe that it caused temporary cardiac arrest…”
“Cardiac arrest lasting more than three days?”
The man scoffed coldly.
“Do you know what people outside are saying right now?”
“W-What…?”
“They’re saying the duke’s daughter was so heavily exposed to demonic energy that she resurrected as a monster.”
“T-That’s absurd…!”
“All the nobles who attended the funeral are causing an uproar, demanding to know whether they’ve been contaminated too. So what exactly should we announce? That it was cardiac arrest, but not a misdiagnosis? What kind of nonsense—”
“That’s enough, Ethan.”
The duke finally interrupted the silver-haired man, who had been relentlessly pressuring the doctor.
“At any rate, it’s fortunate no demonic energy was detected.”
“But Father, the Emperor’s envoy has already arrived—”
“Edith Blake.”
Cutting Ethan off, the duke suddenly called my name.
I lifted my head and met his gaze after silently piecing together the situation from their conversation.
“What were you thinking, taking the purifier to the Gate outbreak site?”
“……”
“Do you have any idea how many people suffered because of your actions?”
I simply blinked.
No matter how unwanted a child she was, I hadn’t expected him to start blaming her the moment she came back from the dead.
‘Okay, so the purifier must be the heroine. And apparently the nobles at the funeral caused trouble.’
So what was I supposed to do about it?
It wasn’t even my fault.
Even if the real Edith had been here, it’s not like she could’ve predicted this would happen.
“You only have one life, and you don’t even possess abilities. What possessed you to do something so reckless?!”
“……”
“And if the purifier had died, how were you planning to take responsibility for that—!”
The duke’s voice grew harsher with mounting anger, until suddenly he frowned.
“…Why are you just staring blankly at me without answering?”
Because I had nothing to say.
But obviously I couldn’t say that, so I threw out the only cliché excuse I knew.
“Excuse me… but who are you?”
