ESMLT 01

Chapter  1

Prologue

Bang—!

Suddenly, the cabin door shattered and four men stormed inside.

With the light at their backs, the men gave off an eerie, mysterious aura, dressed in strange clothes.

Before I could even realize it was a dream, my eyes met the man with red hair.

My body lost its strength and trembled uncontrollably. Gasping for breath, I rubbed my palms together desperately.

“I-I’m sorry. I just wanted to live.”

“You wanted to live? You think the rest of us didn’t?”

Then, a man in a robe pushed past him and lowered his hood.

When he raised his palm, a massive magic circle spread as if to devour me.

“This woman is Hayton’s younger sister, right?”

Murderous intent flashed in his eyes as he looked down at me.

“I’ll tear her limbs apart and bury them all over the continent.”

At that moment, another man with his hands clasped behind his back stepped forward.

Leaning in, he smelled faintly of bitter tea leaves.

“Kill her right away? Isn’t death far too merciful?”

The man leaning against the doorframe, glaring at me, added coldly:

“Even this very moment—knowing that she’s still breathing is unbearable.”

All four of them stared at me with disgust.

I was terrified.

Each breath I took felt like their killing intent was slicing through my lungs.

And just as the giant magic circle shone and swallowed me whole—

“Haah!”

I jolted awake, eyes wide open, sitting bolt upright.

Panting, I hastily touched my neck and limbs to make sure they were still attached.

Then, an eerie shiver ran down my spine, and I looked around.

A lavish, spacious bedroom spread out before me—like the set of a European medieval drama.

“What? I clearly fell asleep in my apartment after work.”

Was this kidnapping? Or still just a dream?

I cautiously swung my legs off the bed and set my feet on the floor.

The cold, dustless wood met my soles, and a dress brushed down to my shins.

Slipping into a pair of slippers by the bed, I stepped into the corridor.

The maids in uniforms gasped in shock at the sight of me and ran off to call someone.

“Redria!”

Just then, a middle-aged woman climbing the grand staircase rushed to me, skirts flying, and embraced me.

I just blinked in blank confusion.

“What the hell is going on?”

Rolling my eyes about, I caught sight of a beautiful girl in the wall mirror.

And she was making the exact face I must have been making.

My heart pounded wildly as I struggled to remain calm.

“No way…?”

Smack!

I slapped my cheek.

It hurt.

Not a dream.

The middle-aged woman, startled, cupped my cheek with her thin hands. The heat and sting spreading across my skin made it undeniable.

“What on earth is wrong, Redria? First you threw yourself into the pond to avoid attending the prayer gathering, and now you’re slapping yourself as soon as you wake.”

Redria? Prayer gathering?

Blinking blankly, I suddenly grabbed my head as a realization struck me.

“Aaagh!”

I had possessed someone.

And of all things, inside an apocalypse romance-fantasy novel.

Swish—!

When the maid opened the curtains, sunlight poured onto the bed.

I sat slumped against the headboard, still dazed.

“Did you not sleep well again, my lady?”

The maid—whose face I didn’t even recognize—watched me anxiously.

I didn’t even have the energy to answer. I just waved her away.

She left, promising to bring breakfast.

With hollow eyes, I scanned the room.

Once again, I had woken up in this old-fashioned, overly large bedroom.

It was so big the air itself felt chilly.

“Sigh…”

With despair, I pressed my hot, weary eyes with both hands.

I’d lived a fairly decent life.

Maybe I couldn’t claim I’d earned heaven, but at least with the clean hands my parents gave me, I’d committed no crimes.

So why—of all bodies to possess—did it have to be this one?

Why was I plagued by nightmares every single night?

Anger welled up, and I ruffled my hair irritably.

Possession.

For some, it’s a sweet dream.

But for me, it felt like being hit out of nowhere by bird droppings while walking down the street.

The worst part was—the novel I had landed in was The Saintess’ Salvation, which I had reluctantly read on a friend’s recommendation.

The story began when vapor from a virus seeped into the sacred graveyard, reviving skeletons.

From then on, the holy grounds became an isolated zombie zone, cut off from the Empire.

The four male leads, trapped inside, fought endless battles with zombies, teetering between life and death while forging bonds of brotherhood.

And just when their minds and spirits were on the verge of collapse—the Saintess appeared to purify the undead. By the final act, the story reached its tragic “everyone dies together” ending.

“Fine, that part had nothing to do with me.”

The real problem was that I had become the lady who ran off with survival rations after being trapped with the male leads—none other than the sister of Hayton Arios, the man who caused the zombie outbreak.

And worse yet, I was the narrative device meant to die after being hunted down, fueling the male leads’ rage.

“I’m Redria? Of all people, Redria?!”

On my first day here, I was so shocked I tried jumping out the window.

I’d heard somewhere that after death, one might return to their original body.

“My lady! You’ve already thrown yourself into the pond to avoid the prayer meeting, and now this! Please come to your senses!”

“If you’re going to die, kill me first!”

Servants and the count’s family restrained me, of course.

…And truthfully, it was only the second floor. I’d probably just break my legs, not die.

After that, I tried planning an escape.

But escaping as a noblewoman wasn’t as easy as in novels.

The jewelry—my only means of funding—was managed by the maids, and no matter how I disguised myself, people somehow always recognized me.

“Where are you going, my lady?”

Because of my earlier suicide attempt, the staff’s surveillance was strict. I was caught sneaking out windows, caught hiding in the cellar.

Eventually, with no ties to my past life and no hope of fleeing, I gave up and shut myself away.

But then came the nightmares.

Every night, the same terrifying dream.

It wasn’t just the grim future ahead—it was that I couldn’t sleep, and I felt like I was losing my mind.

I buried my face in my hands.

“If only someone would just knock me unconscious…”

Only after possessing someone did I realize how precious sleep was.

Each passing day blurred into meaninglessness. I couldn’t even tell what I ate, wore, or did.

In truth, my botched suicide and failed escapes all happened in a daze from lack of sleep.

“Sigh…”

As another sleepless morning dragged on, my weary eyes caught the calendar on the nightstand.

It had now been exactly a week since my possession.

“I wonder if my aunt is okay.”

At sixteen, I’d lost my mother and moved in with my aunt.

She cherished me like her own daughter, but… well, we all know. You can never truly become the “real” child.

A stone that rolls in can’t displace the one already lodged. So, at twenty, I moved out, borrowing a deposit from her.

From high school on, I drifted through a string of events, and without dreams, I lived as a part-timer into my mid-twenties.

“The day I got possessed was the same day she usually brought me side dishes…”

I sighed lightly, blinking my dry eyes, and picked up the calendar.

“How long until the prayer gathering again?”

Counting the days, there were exactly 30 left.

“Thirty days, huh…”

Drowsy and unfocused, I retraced the original story.

“What was Redria’s end again?”

Now that I thought of it, this was the first time I consciously tried to recall the nightmare.

Until now, I’d always avoided thinking about it.

In the dream, trembling in fear, I was engulfed by the light of the magic circle.

In a blink, blood spurted like a fountain. Without even a scream, my limbs were severed.

The memory chilled me to the bone, jolting me fully awake.

“That’s right. It wasn’t just a nightmare.”

It was Redria’s actual fate in the novel.

And Redria was me.

The nightmare was my future.

If things continued as written, I would either die as in the book, become trapped in the zombie zone, or even if I barely survived, end up executed because of Hayton.

“…Wait. Should I really be wasting time like this?”

The realization hit me, and I slapped my cheeks twice, sharp and loud.

Rubbing the sting, I widened my eyes.

“Get it together. Maybe I can’t return to my old body, but I sure as hell won’t die here.”

My life was still my life.

“So… how can I survive?”

With an exhausted mind, I racked my brain furiously.