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Chapter 3
“Odette! Are you okay?”
Odette couldn’t answer.
A flood of overwhelming memories swallowed her whole and shook her violently.
In the chaos, like being caught in a storm, she looked out the window.
Mountains and grasslands. A distant lake. Sunlight scattering and sparkling across the water’s surface.
It was all real—no illusion.
Then why!
Why is this the world of a novel?
“The Caged Amelia Dreams of Escape” was an R-rated, dark romance story where Caesar marries Amelia, the daughter of his enemy, and becomes torn between revenge and love.
Because readers understood Caesar’s tragic childhood—losing his family and suffering—they couldn’t bring themselves to hate him even when he repeatedly trampled and tormented Amelia.
Even when pregnant Amelia ran away and Caesar became the ultimate regret-filled obsessive male lead, readers still cheered him on, telling him not to give up.
‘I even commented, telling Caesar to hang in there.’
But she never agreed to become the fake heroine who deceives the male lead!
‘Ugh… if I’d been born as a passing maid, I should’ve just been left alone!’
Tonight was the day the original story began.
Caesar, returning from the battlefield, would tear Amelia’s dress and say his first line:
“So you imagined a romantic first night? The daughter of a beast belongs on all fours. Kneel.”
“Please spare me! I can’t do this. I don’t want a beast-like man! Give me a gentle one!”
In the end, it had come.
The carriage of Caesar Myse stopped in front of the mansion, and Odette looked at the servants with a pale face.
“The master arrived at dawn and has just woken up. I will escort you.”
The butler spoke politely, but his expression clearly warned that he would not hesitate to deal with her if she acted suspiciously.
‘These vile spies!’
During the seven years Caesar was away at war, the butler and several servants had sworn loyalty to Count Anderson.
But now that Caesar had returned, they were likely panicking, afraid their past misdeeds would be exposed.
They were all on edge.
‘They’ll watch me and report every tiny thing to the count.’
If she acted even slightly suspicious, they would immediately report her, and the count would order her execution.
‘So if I want to survive…’
Odette quietly slipped off a jeweled earring and placed it into the butler’s hand.
“Please take care of me.”
“W-why is this…?”
“The diamonds and sapphires are so large I feel my earlobes will stretch. They’re quite expensive, I assume?”
She met the maid chief’s eyes and handed over the other earring as well.
“I hope you’ll share them nicely. And remember—we’re on the same side.”
The butler and maid chief exchanged glances, then smoothly pocketed the earrings.
“Ahem. You must be tired from your journey. Please have some tea.”
So bribery worked this fast!
“I was actually thirsty. Shall we?”
“I’ll prepare it,” Mary said with an unusually bright smile.
Odette drank tea while thinking hard about how to survive meeting Caesar.
‘There’s only one way.’
Her trembling fingers set down the empty teacup.
“Master, Madam has returned from her family home.”
“Let her in.”
The deep voice made her heart drop.
As Odette entered the room, the butler quickly closed the door behind her.
The sound of the door shutting echoed in her mind like a cage snapping closed.
Even without noise, she felt as if she had been thrown into a beast’s enclosure.
But the room was empty.
‘Huh?’
Following a faint, indescribably sweet scent, her head turned on its own.
Through fluttering curtains on the terrace stood a man with broad shoulders and a sharply defined back.
‘So big!’
His body was far larger than she had imagined, yet his waist was narrow enough that the belt of his loose bathrobe hung low.
The exposed calf muscles were extraordinary.
They say a man should have thick calves, and his were—
‘Wait! What am I thinking?!’
Just as she tried to smack her head, Caesar slowly turned toward her.
The moment their eyes met, her heart felt like it stopped.
‘He doesn’t feel human.’
If a god of beauty existed, surely he would look like this.
He looked like a living work of art.
His elegant eyes and straight nose carried noble dignity, while his strong jawline suggested unwavering resolve.
His red lips—so vivid they looked almost sinful—made his beauty dangerously seductive.
If those lips touched skin, what would it feel like?
She shivered without realizing it.
‘So this is what they mean by dangerously beautiful.’
Odette lowered her head and stammered.
“Y-you’ve returned safely…”
“Who are you?”
Caesar cut her off.
Had she already been exposed?
Drip, drip.
Tea from the teapot on the tray trembled and spilled over.
“P-perhaps we should have tea first… while we talk?”
She moved the teapot and cups onto the table without a single mistake, as if she had done this countless times.
Then she lowered her head again.
Footsteps approached.
His scent grew stronger, closer.
Through her lowered gaze, she saw his feet.
Because his bathrobe was loosely tied, she could see his calves and thighs as he walked.
His breath brushed the crown of her head.
‘Why isn’t he stopping?’
When his chest was nearly touching her face, Odette could no longer endure it and collapsed flat onto the floor.
“I-I am the personal maid of Lady Amelia.”
She had thought about this over and over on the way here.
And she had decided this was the only way to survive.
Caesar had only seen Amelia in a veil seven years ago—surely he wouldn’t recognize her stand-in.
That was a mistake.
A man who had spent his entire life planning revenge would never fail to recognize the daughter of his enemy.
He probably had already investigated everything.
So she had to tell the truth and beg to be spared.
“Lady Amelia ran away, so I had no choice but to act as her substitute. Please go and take your revenge on Count Owen Anderson immediately.”
Count Anderson had killed Caesar’s father and his sister.
He had also become Caesar’s guardian only to abuse him and steal the Myse family’s wealth.
And then he sent him off to war to die.
“I know the secret passageways of the Anderson estate. I can draw them for you in detail. If you send assassins, you can take care of him quietly and no one will know.”
“The passage through the storage behind the garden? Or the secret tunnel connected to the stable?”
“H-how do you know that?”
He knew about the secret passages—and still hadn’t killed Count Anderson?
Why?
“How do you know this?”
She couldn’t say she saw it in the novel, so she stammered.
“I… saw it while cleaning. I have good observation skills.”
Unbelievable.
Even she wouldn’t believe it.
Trembling, she pressed herself closer to the floor.
Rustle.
Caesar bent down.
“Head.”
His whisper brushed her ear far too closely.
“P-pardon?”
“Lift it.”
Slowly, Odette raised her head.
Caesar’s sky-blue eyes shimmered mysteriously.
It felt as if invisible threads were wrapping around her entire body, tightening until even breathing became difficult.
“Did you use magic eye drops?”
“Magic eye drops? Those are expensive. I… I’ve never used anything like that.”
“Your hair?”
“H-huh? It’s naturally blonde.”
“I see.”
Caesar seemed satisfied.
A faint smile lifted his red lips.
It was a breathtakingly seductive smile.
