Chapter 05 …

The Villain’s Future Is Visible, and It’s Making Me Uneasy

As if today were the last day of the world, people drank, ate, danced, staggered around, and vomited.

Where the soldiers had gathered, filthy curses flew through the air along with cups of alcohol.

Outside, even the servants and maids had forgotten their duties, gathering in groups and dancing wildly.

As darkness deepened, the castle descended into complete chaos.

At the large dining table where I sat, everyone was busy trying to curry favor with the lord.

Watching the atmosphere, I periodically dabbed my forehead with a handkerchief. Seeing me wiping sweat and constantly fanning myself, someone asked with concern,

“Madam. Are you feeling unwell?”

I shook my head as though it was nothing.

“I’m fine. I just felt a little dizzy. I’ve been feeling chilled since this morning…”

The red-haired woman who had been glaring at me all evening seized the opportunity and spoke in a worried voice.

“Your face is so pale it looks like you might collapse at any moment. Wouldn’t it be better if Madam went up to rest first? Don’t you think so, my lord?”

With frightening eyes, she shot a look at the lord while seeking his agreement.

As the others nodded in agreement, the lord looked at me suspiciously.

After clearing his throat once, he gently took my hand.

“My wife seems to have overexerted herself today. Since everyone is worried, it would be best if you went upstairs and rested.”

In other words, he was telling me to hurry up to my room and stop ruining the mood.

I had spent the entire day anxiously waiting for him to say exactly that.

I answered immediately.

Of course, in the frailest voice possible.

“Then I shall retire first. Please don’t worry about me and enjoy yourselves.”

The moment I returned to my room, I moved without a second to spare.

I changed into the worn clothes I had prepared in advance, grabbed the pouch containing my escape funds, and hid pillows beneath the blanket in the shape of a person.

And I carefully packed the most important item of all—Jaden Kirkrum’s letter.

Since I had rehearsed this process hundreds of times in my head, my body moved quickly like a machine.

If I find Jaden and seek refuge with him, perhaps the tragic ending will change.

All I had to do now was step outside the vortex of the original story and live peacefully.

Like someone who wasn’t even an extra—

Like a person who had never existed in this novel from the beginning.

My heart felt as though it would burst, but my mind was colder and clearer than ever.

After pulling a gray robe deeply over my head, I left the room.

There were a few close calls where I nearly bumped into people, but everyone was so drunk and there were so many outsiders around that nobody recognized me.

After surviving several breathless moments of danger, I finally reached the stable.

I finally made it!

Pulling back my hood to cool my sweat-soaked face, I steadied my breathing.

There wasn’t much time, so without resting, I hurried into the stable and led out a brown horse.

“There, there. Good horse. Let’s escape this den together.”

Then I sensed someone in the darkness.

Footsteps crunching over gravel steadily approached.

“Who’s there… Madam?”

At the voice that unmistakably recognized me even in the pitch-black darkness, I froze solid.

Ah, damn it.

It was Tony, Rosalyn’s husband and the gardener.

Perhaps he had come to comfort the injured stable keeper, because he was carrying a large bottle of liquor in one hand.

I had never imagined anyone would come all the way out here in the middle of the night. This place was usually deserted.

Without acknowledging him, I quickly mounted the horse.

The lord’s wife was dressed suspiciously and leading a horse out of the stable.

What excuse could possibly work in this situation?

“Madam!”

The moment I spurred the horse into a full sprint toward the forest, he finally seemed to realize something was wrong.

He dropped the bottle and staggered backward.

Then, just like me, he ran at full speed toward the brightly lit areas where people were gathered.

Without looking back once, I raced madly through the dark forest.

The woods were thick with fog, as though ghosts might emerge at any moment, yet I felt no fear.

Branches scratched my arms and the horse stumbled over rocks again and again, but I clung tightly to its back as though it were my final lifeline.

Please… please… just a little farther!

How long had I been running?

When I turned my head, the castle looked quite small in the distance.

By now, I should have heard signs of people coming after me, even from far away.

Maybe the gardener pretended not to see me? Yes. Maybe. If the lord found out he let me escape, he could be punished.

Entertaining that hopeful thought, I stopped the horse for a moment.

Only the sound of wind slicing through the forest echoed around me.

The silence was so complete that it made me uneasy.

Then—

What is that?

I narrowed my eyes and stared at the castle.

Around the castle grounds, white smoke billowed upward like rising mist.

Looking more carefully, I saw flames beginning to shoot into the black sky.

The instant I witnessed that scene, a terrible premonition pierced through my body.

No way! No. That can’t be!

There was no way Grand Duke Shiraz could already know that Lord Willinger had sent a pledge of loyalty to General Marcus.

The distance alone made it impossible.

Did I remember the original story wrong? I’m sure it said the clear autumn sky was covered by a flock of crows and the castle became a giant tomb.

My thoughts became a tangled mess.

As I stared at the castle glowing bright as day from the flames, I suddenly came to my senses.

Does that even matter right now? I need to run!

Just as I tightened my grip on the reins and turned the horse around—

Black walls seemed to block my path.

“Aah!”

They had appeared like ghosts without a sound.

My heart nearly jumped out of my throat.

The cold wind-like noise I had heard earlier must have been the sound of them approaching me.

* * *

My pitiful plan failed just as success was within reach.

Surrounded by soldiers in black uniforms like a rabbit trapped by hunters, there was no escape route for me.

These men were on an entirely different level from the crude soldiers Lord Willinger commanded.

They were much larger, their weapons were terrifying, and they didn’t waste their breath on vulgar curses.

Instead, they looked as though they would cut someone down without hesitation for disobeying an order.

Afraid I might disappear without a trace if I resisted, I obediently allowed myself to be taken.

When I returned to the castle after my brief escape, the sight was horrific.

Is this what hell looks like?

Corpses lay scattered everywhere.

Buildings had become piles of ash.

“Ugh!”

Even while being dragged along, I saw familiar faces among the dead and quickly turned my eyes away in horror.

The red-haired woman was there too, collapsed on the ground with blood staining her chest.

Just moments ago they had all been alive.

The castle that had felt like a festival had become a graveyard.

Caw! Caw!

A flock of crows circled overhead.

Thinking that I would soon join the dead beneath them, my body stiffened.

My legs felt as heavy as though iron chains were wrapped around them.

Had I endured all of that suffering only for this?

No matter how desperately I tried to avoid it, perhaps a fate destined for death could never be changed.

Why was I never allowed to live an ordinary, peaceful life?

Not in reality.

Not inside a book.

In other romance fantasy stories, people transmigrated into princesses or daughters of prestigious families all the time.

But me?

In my previous life, I had been a lonely person with no family.

And in the novel, I was destined for a gruesome death.

Feeling both pitiful and wronged, all the emotions I had suppressed until now surged upward.

As I was dragged deeper into the hall, I spotted the lord’s back.

He was lying flat before someone, as though he had become one with the floor.

“We’ve brought the woman.”

The soldiers roughly forced me to my knees.

Unable to lift my head, all I could see was the lord’s pathetic back and the lower body of someone sitting casually with crossed legs in a chair.

Those long, powerful legs clad in black leather boots undoubtedly belonged to Grand Duke Shiraz.

I wanted to see his face, but the soldiers standing nearby frightened me too much to try.

The lord looked back at me and suddenly started screaming like a madman while pointing his finger.

“It’s her! She encouraged me! She persuaded me to betray the Grand Duke! I was completely deceived! She must be executed, Your Grace!”

I stared at him in disbelief.

You insane bastard!

How could someone tell such shameless lies with a human face?

Curses erupted in my mind.

“Trying to save herself by running away like a rat? Look, Your Grace! Just look at the state she’s in after being caught while fleeing!”

It seemed he had decided to pin everything on me.

I watched in astonishment as the lord raged like a rabid dog.

If they spared him, he looked ready to become the Grand Duke’s dog and lick his boots.

Watching his pathetic display, I couldn’t help but laugh bitterly.

No wonder all the people of this territory died and the castle ended up like this. That idiot was their lord.

I was about to curse him aloud, but my own situation wasn’t much better.

A sigh escaped instead.

Right now, I looked exactly like a woman who had abandoned her husband and subjects and tried to flee alone.

I think I finally understand why Garnet took her own life in the original story.

Seeing this unbearable scene with my own eyes, perhaps Garnet’s decision had been understandable.

“Husband orders his wife to die in his place, while the wife secretly runs away to save herself.”

A low, sinister voice echoed through the hall.

Though it sounded like a casual remark, it carried clearly to every corner.

The owner of the voice rose from his seat.

The lord immediately flattened himself against the floor again.

“Y-Your Grace! If you would only spare me, I will continue to serve you loyally—”

A sharp sound cut through the air.

Then the lord’s head rolled across the floor.

His severed head, eyes bulging wide, tumbled all the way to my feet.

“Hhk!”

My breath stopped.

At that moment, I suddenly remembered something.

Grand Duke Shiraz hated hearing people beg for their lives.

In the original story, those who pleaded to be spared were always the first to die.

Not that staying silent guaranteed survival.

But sly, cowardly people were always killed first.

Dragging a sword dripping with blood, he began walking toward me.

His spotless black boots gradually filled my narrow field of vision.

The Villain’s Future Is Visible, and It’s Making Me Uneasy

As if today were the last day of the world, people drank, ate, danced, staggered around, and vomited.

Where the soldiers had gathered, filthy curses flew through the air along with cups of alcohol.

Outside, even the servants and maids had forgotten their duties, gathering in groups and dancing wildly.

As darkness deepened, the castle descended into complete chaos.

At the large dining table where I sat, everyone was busy trying to curry favor with the lord.

Watching the atmosphere, I periodically dabbed my forehead with a handkerchief. Seeing me wiping sweat and constantly fanning myself, someone asked with concern,

“Madam. Are you feeling unwell?”

I shook my head as though it was nothing.

“I’m fine. I just felt a little dizzy. I’ve been feeling chilled since this morning…”

The red-haired woman who had been glaring at me all evening seized the opportunity and spoke in a worried voice.

“Your face is so pale it looks like you might collapse at any moment. Wouldn’t it be better if Madam went up to rest first? Don’t you think so, my lord?”

With frightening eyes, she shot a look at the lord while seeking his agreement.

As the others nodded in agreement, the lord looked at me suspiciously.

After clearing his throat once, he gently took my hand.

“My wife seems to have overexerted herself today. Since everyone is worried, it would be best if you went upstairs and rested.”

In other words, he was telling me to hurry up to my room and stop ruining the mood.

I had spent the entire day anxiously waiting for him to say exactly that.

I answered immediately.

Of course, in the frailest voice possible.

“Then I shall retire first. Please don’t worry about me and enjoy yourselves.”

The moment I returned to my room, I moved without a second to spare.

I changed into the worn clothes I had prepared in advance, grabbed the pouch containing my escape funds, and hid pillows beneath the blanket in the shape of a person.

And I carefully packed the most important item of all—Jaden Kirkrum’s letter.

Since I had rehearsed this process hundreds of times in my head, my body moved quickly like a machine.

If I find Jaden and seek refuge with him, perhaps the tragic ending will change.

All I had to do now was step outside the vortex of the original story and live peacefully.

Like someone who wasn’t even an extra—

Like a person who had never existed in this novel from the beginning.

My heart felt as though it would burst, but my mind was colder and clearer than ever.

After pulling a gray robe deeply over my head, I left the room.

There were a few close calls where I nearly bumped into people, but everyone was so drunk and there were so many outsiders around that nobody recognized me.

After surviving several breathless moments of danger, I finally reached the stable.

I finally made it!

Pulling back my hood to cool my sweat-soaked face, I steadied my breathing.

There wasn’t much time, so without resting, I hurried into the stable and led out a brown horse.

“There, there. Good horse. Let’s escape this den together.”

Then I sensed someone in the darkness.

Footsteps crunching over gravel steadily approached.

“Who’s there… Madam?”

At the voice that unmistakably recognized me even in the pitch-black darkness, I froze solid.

Ah, damn it.

It was Tony, Rosalyn’s husband and the gardener.

Perhaps he had come to comfort the injured stable keeper, because he was carrying a large bottle of liquor in one hand.

I had never imagined anyone would come all the way out here in the middle of the night. This place was usually deserted.

Without acknowledging him, I quickly mounted the horse.

The lord’s wife was dressed suspiciously and leading a horse out of the stable.

What excuse could possibly work in this situation?

“Madam!”

The moment I spurred the horse into a full sprint toward the forest, he finally seemed to realize something was wrong.

He dropped the bottle and staggered backward.

Then, just like me, he ran at full speed toward the brightly lit areas where people were gathered.

Without looking back once, I raced madly through the dark forest.

The woods were thick with fog, as though ghosts might emerge at any moment, yet I felt no fear.

Branches scratched my arms and the horse stumbled over rocks again and again, but I clung tightly to its back as though it were my final lifeline.

Please… please… just a little farther!

How long had I been running?

When I turned my head, the castle looked quite small in the distance.

By now, I should have heard signs of people coming after me, even from far away.

Maybe the gardener pretended not to see me? Yes. Maybe. If the lord found out he let me escape, he could be punished.

Entertaining that hopeful thought, I stopped the horse for a moment.

Only the sound of wind slicing through the forest echoed around me.

The silence was so complete that it made me uneasy.

Then—

What is that?

I narrowed my eyes and stared at the castle.

Around the castle grounds, white smoke billowed upward like rising mist.

Looking more carefully, I saw flames beginning to shoot into the black sky.

The instant I witnessed that scene, a terrible premonition pierced through my body.

No way! No. That can’t be!

There was no way Grand Duke Shiraz could already know that Lord Willinger had sent a pledge of loyalty to General Marcus.

The distance alone made it impossible.

Did I remember the original story wrong? I’m sure it said the clear autumn sky was covered by a flock of crows and the castle became a giant tomb.

My thoughts became a tangled mess.

As I stared at the castle glowing bright as day from the flames, I suddenly came to my senses.

Does that even matter right now? I need to run!

Just as I tightened my grip on the reins and turned the horse around—

Black walls seemed to block my path.

“Aah!”

They had appeared like ghosts without a sound.

My heart nearly jumped out of my throat.

The cold wind-like noise I had heard earlier must have been the sound of them approaching me.

* * *

My pitiful plan failed just as success was within reach.

Surrounded by soldiers in black uniforms like a rabbit trapped by hunters, there was no escape route for me.

These men were on an entirely different level from the crude soldiers Lord Willinger commanded.

They were much larger, their weapons were terrifying, and they didn’t waste their breath on vulgar curses.

Instead, they looked as though they would cut someone down without hesitation for disobeying an order.

Afraid I might disappear without a trace if I resisted, I obediently allowed myself to be taken.

When I returned to the castle after my brief escape, the sight was horrific.

Is this what hell looks like?

Corpses lay scattered everywhere.

Buildings had become piles of ash.

“Ugh!”

Even while being dragged along, I saw familiar faces among the dead and quickly turned my eyes away in horror.

The red-haired woman was there too, collapsed on the ground with blood staining her chest.

Just moments ago they had all been alive.

The castle that had felt like a festival had become a graveyard.

Caw! Caw!

A flock of crows circled overhead.

Thinking that I would soon join the dead beneath them, my body stiffened.

My legs felt as heavy as though iron chains were wrapped around them.

Had I endured all of that suffering only for this?

No matter how desperately I tried to avoid it, perhaps a fate destined for death could never be changed.

Why was I never allowed to live an ordinary, peaceful life?

Not in reality.

Not inside a book.

In other romance fantasy stories, people transmigrated into princesses or daughters of prestigious families all the time.

But me?

In my previous life, I had been a lonely person with no family.

And in the novel, I was destined for a gruesome death.

Feeling both pitiful and wronged, all the emotions I had suppressed until now surged upward.

As I was dragged deeper into the hall, I spotted the lord’s back.

He was lying flat before someone, as though he had become one with the floor.

“We’ve brought the woman.”

The soldiers roughly forced me to my knees.

Unable to lift my head, all I could see was the lord’s pathetic back and the lower body of someone sitting casually with crossed legs in a chair.

Those long, powerful legs clad in black leather boots undoubtedly belonged to Grand Duke Shiraz.

I wanted to see his face, but the soldiers standing nearby frightened me too much to try.

The lord looked back at me and suddenly started screaming like a madman while pointing his finger.

“It’s her! She encouraged me! She persuaded me to betray the Grand Duke! I was completely deceived! She must be executed, Your Grace!”

I stared at him in disbelief.

You insane bastard!

How could someone tell such shameless lies with a human face?

Curses erupted in my mind.

“Trying to save herself by running away like a rat? Look, Your Grace! Just look at the state she’s in after being caught while fleeing!”

It seemed he had decided to pin everything on me.

I watched in astonishment as the lord raged like a rabid dog.

If they spared him, he looked ready to become the Grand Duke’s dog and lick his boots.

Watching his pathetic display, I couldn’t help but laugh bitterly.

No wonder all the people of this territory died and the castle ended up like this. That idiot was their lord.

I was about to curse him aloud, but my own situation wasn’t much better.

A sigh escaped instead.

Right now, I looked exactly like a woman who had abandoned her husband and subjects and tried to flee alone.

I think I finally understand why Garnet took her own life in the original story.

Seeing this unbearable scene with my own eyes, perhaps Garnet’s decision had been understandable.

“Husband orders his wife to die in his place, while the wife secretly runs away to save herself.”

A low, sinister voice echoed through the hall.

Though it sounded like a casual remark, it carried clearly to every corner.

The owner of the voice rose from his seat.

The lord immediately flattened himself against the floor again.

“Y-Your Grace! If you would only spare me, I will continue to serve you loyally—”

A sharp sound cut through the air.

Then the lord’s head rolled across the floor.

His severed head, eyes bulging wide, tumbled all the way to my feet.

“Hhk!”

My breath stopped.

At that moment, I suddenly remembered something.

Grand Duke Shiraz hated hearing people beg for their lives.

In the original story, those who pleaded to be spared were always the first to die.

Not that staying silent guaranteed survival.

But sly, cowardly people were always killed first.

Dragging a sword dripping with blood, he began walking toward me.

His spotless black boots gradually filled my narrow field of vision.