Chapter 113

Hyunji was in the fire.

The suffocating heat, skin stinging beyond hot, the smell burning into her nose, and her mother’s wrist clutching her ankle.

She had always wanted to run away. Hyunji believed that if she ran, everything would be solved. She set fire because she hated seeing her pathetic parents. She broke mirrors because she hated seeing her crushed face. She escaped to another world because she hated reality. And when her hair was grabbed and she was dragged back to reality, it was so horrible she escaped again.

A world prepared for me. A family who loved my changed self. The most brilliant man who loved only me. A me who could do anything…

“Was that happiness just a dream, just an illusion?”

Florence, even with the same conditions, had been unhappy. Nobody loved her. And when Hyunji saw the family and Linus love her instead, she thought:

“You were unhappy because it was you. Your life was prepared for me. Everything was for me, and because I’m the protagonist, I can enjoy it all. My misfortune existed only for this moment.”

Some said it was unfair. Who in the world is only ever loved? Impossible. They could say the world that had been so hard for Florence couldn’t possibly be so favorable only to Hyunji. But Hyunji thought it was because Florence lived wrongly, while she lived well and earned it.

She was wrong.

“Ha, haha, ahah…”

There was no such thing as a protagonist. Hyunji was not the protagonist of this world either.

The Seymour family had abused their youngest daughter. Grace, the eldest, was jealous of the sister born much later, and after their mother’s death, twisted the grieving family against her. The youngest, who grew up away, became the target of their vented anger. By the time she vaguely realized something was wrong, it was too late. Their hatred and self-hatred only snowballed. Then Florence changed.

Hyunji had believed she was loved because she was different from Florence. But it was a mistake. The Seymour family only needed her to not be Florence. Because she had the same blood, because she didn’t criticize the past, because she was really “an ignorant stranger,” she could fit in.

She thought they loved her. She thought they cherished her. But Marquis Seymour, who had once hugged her saying, “My beloved daughter,” coldly pushed her away when she returned.

He said there was no point continuing a meaningless play, that they had their own burdens.

It was all acting. They had only pretended to go along with Hyunji’s clumsy lies of memory loss.

Grace looked at her like a barking little dog wagging its tail. So did Marquis Seymour. They only spoiled her because she had tricks and because she managed to seize a brilliant man, making her somewhat useful to their house.

To Marquis Seymour, his only daughter was Grace. He even resented Hyunji, as though it were her fault Florence’s body had been taken, causing Grace’s downfall. Hyunji was also a victim, who had done nothing.

And Linus?

Fated love? The only woman?

Linus’s obsessive madness, his control and confinement, his possessiveness—none of it lasted even three months. While acting like she was his only woman, he touched the maid when she was gone. When her looks changed, he showed disgust. When she became powerless, he treated her like worthless trash.

Linus only wanted a shining, valuable, special woman.

A 6-class mage with two great spirits.
A beautiful face, a perfect body, a noble rank even if slightly lower.
A strong woman he couldn’t perfectly control with his own power.
A soul from another world who came into his arms.

Someone unique, who might slip away at any moment, beautiful and strong.

That was why he loved her. Why he tried to possess her.

If not, he would not love her.

“That’s not my Florence yet.”

He said she wasn’t his Florence. Helen said she wasn’t whole yet. Hyunji had been betrayed by the person she trusted most in the mansion, and the man she loved most in the world—both at once.

This world had seemed like a dream.

But in truth, it was no different from her original world.

People were just people. Nothing was truly fated. Everyone had their reasons to welcome Hyunji. She wasn’t loved for herself. She was only convenient to use at that time.

“This world isn’t a novel… it’s just another reality.”

And Hyunji could no longer run away. In her old world, her body was surely dead. No matter how much she hated this world, it was better than going back. So what now? She curled up in bed, thinking and thinking.

What now? What should she do?

She hated Linus. Hated him bitterly. Even with eyes closed, she saw the two of them tangled together. The sounds of Helen’s wet thighs slapping against Linus’s wouldn’t stop. They were probably still holding each other now. Linus never tired through the night—so until morning, they would not part.

Leaving her alone.

“Isn’t this wrong?”

Why must only I be dropped and left suffering?

It was Linus who lied.
It was Linus who promised love.
It was Linus who said I must return no matter what.

Hyunji had come back because Linus told her to.

She had thought she must return by any means because that’s what he said.

If not for his pressure, Hyunji might have given up when Florence pushed her out.

“It wasn’t only my fault. Linus is wrong too. He deceived me.”

Hyunji hadn’t wanted Florence’s body in the first place—it just happened. She couldn’t say how, but wasn’t it also Florence’s fault for leaving an opening?

Laila had said Florence’s body and soul were unfortunately misaligned.

Who caused that?

Hyunji felt wronged.

If Florence had been normal, Hyunji would never have entered her body.

If Florence had lived well with her family, Hyunji wouldn’t have mistaken Seymour’s treatment as love for herself.

If Florence had gotten along with Linus, Hyunji wouldn’t have mistaken his kindness to her as love.

“Yes, it wasn’t only my fault!”

Then whose fault was her misfortune?

Florence, who “lent” her body?
The Seymour family, who abused the youngest daughter and sold her off?
Linus, who neglected his fiancée then tried to own her once he found she had a rare soul?

All were guilty. But the most guilty was Linus.

Linus had told Hyunji he loved her. Whispered again and again that he loved only her.

But it was all lies. Hyunji had been deceived. She had simply believed Linus’s lies.

“Lies are evil, Linus.”

Linus had often threatened: if she cheated, he would kill her. He had sweetly whispered it.

“Me too.”

Hyunji’s breathing grew calm. Her expression became peaceful.