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Chapter 4
The moment I heard the news that the female protagonist had disappeared, I was suddenly reminded of the very first day I transmigrated into this novel.
That’s right.
I had transmigrated into a novel.
It was something that had happened to me too.
It was a novel I had read a very long time ago, so I had absolutely no idea why I suddenly ended up inside it.
The novel was titled The Cup That Rules Destruction.
It was a fantasy coming-of-age story told mainly from the male protagonist’s point of view.
The male protagonist grew stronger without ever giving in despite countless hardships and oppression.
In the end, he overcame the crisis that threatened both the woman he loved and the entire world, earning a happy ending.
I still remembered closing the book with satisfaction at that perfectly complete happy ending…
Then one day, I woke up as a character named Ariel Rekaisha.
At first, I had no idea what was happening and could only stand there in a daze.
In my hands was a lavish bouquet of flowers, and I was dressed in a sparkling wedding gown.
The place looked like a grand, old-fashioned wedding hall.
When I looked around, people were seated all around me, watching me with eyes full of curiosity.
“So… am I dreaming about getting married right now?”
Did I really want to get married that badly?
I remembered laughing to myself as I thought that.
When I turned my head, a man I assumed to be my husband was standing beside me.
“Wow… he’s handsome…”
I stared at him absentmindedly, as though he had nothing to do with me.
Back then, I honestly thought it was just a dream.
I was so out of it that I was only grateful I hadn’t actually muttered he’s handsome out loud.
Then, without even looking at me and keeping his gaze fixed straight ahead, the man who was about to become my husband suddenly spoke.
“Stop looking at me. Look ahead.”
“…Y-Yes?”
I could guarantee the dumbfounded expression on my face must have been quite a sight.
Still completely dazed, I walked the long aisle until we reached the officiant.
Then, when the officiant spoke our names, I tilted my head in confusion once again.
“I’ve heard those names somewhere before…”
Nothing about the situation made sense.
I simply felt overwhelmed with confusion.
The moment I truly realized something was wrong was when my husband lifted my veil.
More specifically, when the officiant called my name and instructed me to make my eternal vow.
“…Ariel Rekaisha?”
“Huh?”
Since I hadn’t even realized he was calling me, all I could do was ask in return.
To my husband, it probably looked like I hated marrying him so much that I refused to say the vows.
“…Ha.”
Looking down at me, he let out a hollow laugh.
His face even seemed to flush with humiliation.
It was understandable.
The character I had become was nothing more than the daughter of a nouveau riche merchant with no noble lineage—only money.
She was merely a tool created to humiliate the man who had become Crown Prince through a single prophecy.
At the same time, she was his weakness.
Nothing more than one of the trials he would eventually have to overcome before ascending the imperial throne.
In a voice so quiet only I could hear, my husband warned me.
“I know you don’t want this marriage, but at least play along.”
His cold expression practically screamed,
“You think I want this either?”
If that tension had taken physical form, it would have pierced me like the sharpest blade.
Silently, I rolled my eyes.
I had absolutely no idea what he was talking about, but I nodded anyway.
Uh… and then what happened…
“Um… I swear!”
I remembered saying it in a surprisingly bright and energetic voice.
I had no idea what I was swearing to, but I simply did it because I was told to, smiling innocently as I looked up at my husband.
He stared at me in disbelief, lips slightly parted, before eventually giving up and leaning his face toward mine.
Like a true male protagonist, he was more handsome than any sculpture.
His face suddenly came so close that I froze in surprise.
“I’ll only pretend.”
Apparently irritated even by that, he pressed a kiss to my cheek just beside my lips.
Only then did thunderous applause erupt from the guests behind us.
As I listened to the applause, the names the officiant had spoken earlier resurfaced in my mind.
“Wait… aren’t these the names of the protagonist and the woman he married before divorcing in The Cup That Rules Destruction…?”
It had been ages since I read that novel.
Why was I suddenly having such a strange dream?
Still, I smiled to myself.
“Well… at least the male protagonist is ridiculously handsome.”
But even when night fell…
Even when I absentmindedly waited for my husband, who never came to our wedding chamber, rubbing my sleepy eyes over and over…
Even after I eventually gave up, slept soundly, and woke the following morning…
I never returned to my original body.
“…Huh?”
That was the first time I truly panicked.
This isn’t a dream?
Did I really get married yesterday?
One day.
Two days.
A week.
A month.
No matter how much time passed, I was still Ariel Rekaisha.
Only then did I lock myself inside my room, crying as I desperately wrote down everything I could remember from the novel.
Ariel Rekaisha.
A woman who existed solely as one of the protagonist’s trials.
One day, after suddenly becoming incredibly wealthy, her father bought a noble title to show off—and because of his beloved daughter’s request.
“Father, can’t you buy a noble title? I really want to marry Ian Harmel.”
“Hmm… but even if I buy one, it would only be a barony…”
“That’s fine! Ian already has an older brother, so he won’t inherit the marquisate anyway.”
“I-Is that so?”
“So as long as I’m a noble, that’s enough. Please, Father!”
The very day she became a noble…
The news that a commoner had purchased noble status with money spread throughout the Empire’s aristocracy.
Ariel’s family immediately became an easy target for ridicule.
Eventually, the news reached the Empress herself, who regarded the Crown Prince as a thorn in her side.
Under the pretense of acting as his “mother,” she recommended Ariel as his bride.
And so, the Crown Prince’s future political partner became…
A vulgar young lady from a family that had literally bought its noble status.
In the novel, Blake had always been looked down upon because he was the son of a maid despite being the Crown Prince.
To make matters worse, he was forced to marry a woman whom everyone mocked instead of someone from an ancient, prestigious noble family.
Naturally, he was furious.
Three years passed after their wedding.
Yet the two remained distant and cold toward one another.
Eventually, Ariel reunited with her childhood sweetheart and former fiancé, Ian.
The two eloped together, leaving behind divorce papers.
But before the protagonist even had the chance to punish them…
They were both bitten to death by wild wolves corrupted by demonic energy.
What an utterly ridiculous death!
I had transmigrated into the woman who cheated on the protagonist?
And her ending was getting eaten by wolves?
Seriously?
“I’m not dying like that!”
The moment I came to my senses, I immediately drew a firm line with Ian, who visited me every day wearing the saddest expression imaginable.
“From now on, I’ll only think of you as a friend.”
“Ariel…”
“I’m married to someone else now. So don’t come see me anymore.”
Ian looked deeply hurt, but he accepted it without protest.
Well…
At least on the surface, he did.
He still visited me occasionally under the excuse of being “just friends,” spending most of the time badmouthing Blake.
And then he would always say,
“That bastard wouldn’t tell you he loves you even if he were dying.”
I widened my eyes in surprise.
Not because of what he said.
“You’ll get charged with insulting the imperial family if someone hears you.”
“Let them.”
Even his casual reply was full of thorns.
Yet his eyes remained as warm and gentle as ever, filled only with concern for me.
That was exactly the problem.
Shaking my head, I carefully sipped the steaming tea in front of me before replying,
“Hmm… well, it’s not like I married him without knowing that.”
Ian continued calling my husband “that bastard” and looking at me as though he wanted to run away with me at any moment.
Fortunately, as long as I pretended not to notice, he would soon become dejected and stop.
Maybe that’s why I eventually convinced myself everything was going exactly according to plan.
It had been exactly one year since I became Ariel Rekaisha and quietly lived like a ghost.
It was about time for the real female protagonist to enter the story.
The protagonist’s influence and power had grown enough that he no longer needed to remain trapped in a political marriage with me.
“This is the perfect time to get divorced!”
That was what I believed.
That morning, I quietly wrote out divorce papers and sent them to my husband.
“By tomorrow, he’ll read them, sign them, and officially submit them.”
Once the divorce was finalized, I planned to hide away in my father’s country estate until the original story ended.
I didn’t want anyone to know where I was.
If I wandered around carelessly, I might end up dead.
I had no desire to become involved with Ian again.
I wanted to live.
Thinking about my perfect plan and peaceful future, I smiled brightly at Ian, who was grumbling in front of me.
“Don’t worry. It’ll all work out.”
I swear, I said that while dreaming of a successful divorce and a happy single life.
There wasn’t a single improper thought in my mind.
I genuinely cheered for my husband—the protagonist—from the bottom of my heart.
I wanted everything to go well for him.
I truly hoped he would find happiness.
But…
The words I heard that night weren’t that he had accepted the divorce.
Instead—
“His Highness the Crown Prince… has passed away.”
The husband whom Ian insisted would never say he loved me, even if he were dying…
Had actually died.
On the very day I submitted the divorce papers.
