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chapter 01
“Investigate the House of Selredian.”
Bring back evidence of rebellion.
That was the meaning behind the secret imperial order.
As soon as the Emperor finished speaking, Cassian dropped to one knee and bowed.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
As the Emperor’s loyal sword, he moved immediately.
Coincidentally, it was the very day that the Selredian duchy’s young lady was to be married to Viscount Hetyus.
Cassian suspected they might be using the wedding as a cover to exchange secret signals, so he hurriedly rode out.
However—
“Ugh!”
The moment he arrived at the western forest, Cassian and the knights with him frowned.
Blood was everywhere.
People and horses alike were drenched in it.
The scene was so horrific that there was hardly a single intact corpse to be found.
“Are they all dead?”
Cassian muttered quietly in disbelief at the unexpected sight.
Just then—
“Sir! There’s a survivor here!”
One of the knights discovered a fallen woman.
“This person is…”
The face was familiar.
Someone he recognized, though they had never exchanged words.
Evelyn Selredian.
The younger sister of the current Duke of Selredian and the emerald of high society.
Raised in luxury and renowned for her jewel-like beauty, she was often called the Queen of the North.
As if proving that title, her long green hair flowed like grass covered in morning dew.
Her pale skin, as white as finely ground sugar, looked even more colorless than usual.
Though she was now disheveled and exhausted, her extraordinary beauty remained impossible to hide.
There were wounds scattered across her body, but somehow they only heightened the tragic elegance she exuded.
A bride in a pure white wedding dress suffering such a disaster on her way to meet her groom.
Had she accumulated many enemies?
While Cassian was lost in thought, Evelyn’s eyelids twitched.
Hearing her faint groan, he quickly supported her upper body with one arm.
As the distance between them closed, a floral scent brushed past his nose.
For a split second, Cassian’s expression hardened.
But he quickly regained his composure and checked her condition as if nothing had happened.
Evelyn, who had been frowning as though trapped in a nightmare, let out a weak breath and slowly opened her eyes.
Then—
“You son of a bitch.”
With those words, she lost consciousness again.
“…”
Silence fell over the scene.
Cassian’s face stiffened, and the knights stood awkwardly, unable to say anything.
The Emperor’s hound.
That was the nickname people in the North used to mock Cassian.
But she had gone beyond calling him a hound.
She had called him a son of a bitch.
“Should I just throw her away?”
The arm supporting Evelyn tightened.
It looked as though he might toss her onto the ground at any moment.
Fortunately, that never happened.
“You can’t! No matter what, she’s still a lady!”
A brown-haired man who had just arrived hurriedly stopped him.
It was Hans, Cassian’s aide.
“You want me to show chivalry to a lady who just called me a son of a bitch?”
“You never know… She might help with the investigation.”
“Investigate the House of Selredian.”
Hans’s words reminded Cassian of the Emperor’s order, causing him to frown.
Unable to refute the logic, he clicked his tongue and reluctantly picked Evelyn up.
“What an irritating woman.”
* * *
I transmigrated.
Into a romance fantasy novel.
The problem was—
I had no idea which romance fantasy novel.
Don’t call me an idiot.
That hurts.
In my defense, I had read way too many of them.
Fine, to be honest, I skimmed through most of them.
Anyway, putting that aside—
To explain my situation:
While working as an intern, I got pressured by my boss into driving somewhere. Then a speeding cargo truck slammed into me, sending me straight onto the express route to the afterlife.
“Huh?”
I had been certain I was dead.
But when I opened my eyes, I had become a beautiful woman in a white dress.
“My lady, which earrings would you like to wear? Since it’s your wedding, should I bring the diamonds?”
“The ceremony will be held at the temple, so sapphire accents might look lovely!”
The woman reflected in the mirror was unbelievably beautiful.
If a spirit of summer had taken human form, she would probably look like this.
She had the kind of appearance that could easily belong to a novel’s heroine.
I was admiring my reflection when—
“They’ll arrive soon!”
“There’s no time, my lady!”
“We must hurry!”
The maids helping me dress heard a knight’s report, grabbed my hand, and rushed out without warning.
Before I knew it, I was following them outside.
Strangely, the surroundings felt far too empty.
“Why is nobody here?”
“Because you requested to travel separately, my lady!”
“I did?”
“Yes! We don’t have time for this. Please get in!”
The maids practically shoved me into a carriage.
Before I could ask why, the coachman whipped the horses forward.
Knights clad in armor escorted the carriage while exchanging cryptic remarks.
Only after twenty minutes did the carriage finally slow down.
What exactly is going on?
Wasn’t I supposed to be going to meet the groom?
Why did it feel like someone was chasing us?
This should have been a happy occasion, yet an unsettling feeling crept over me.
The maids sitting across from me kept glancing nervously out the window.
“Looks like we lost them, right?”
“I think so. Ah, my lady, there should be a rest stop a little farther ahead.”
“Mm. But who exactly did we lose?”
“Them, obviously! You’re acting strangely today, my lady.”
“You’re not feeling sick, are you?”
As suspicious gazes turned toward me, I forced an awkward smile and avoided their eyes.
“…Maybe I’m just tired.”
It would have helped if I knew anything.
But strangely, I couldn’t remember a single thing about the original owner of this body.
With a sigh of frustration—
“My lady! Are you feeling unwell?”
“Should we stop and rest for a bit?”
The maids became visibly anxious.
“I’m fine. How much farther is the temple?”
“About two more hours.”
“Should I ask the coachman to stop?”
“No. More importantly, my groom is…”
“Ah, Lord Het—”
BOOM!
“Ugh!”
“My lady, are you alright?”
“What was that?!”
Without warning, the carriage lurched violently.
Thrown off balance, I slammed my shoulder against the wall and cried out.
“Assassins!”
“Protect the young lady!”
Urgent shouts erupted outside.
Peering through the window, I saw masked assassins attacking the knights.
The knights fought desperately to defend the carriage, but one after another fell beneath merciless blades.
The maids grabbed my hand and dragged me out of the carriage.
We tried to flee as far as possible from the assassins, but—
“Found her! The duke’s daughter is here!”
A chilling blade pressed against my neck.
Am I really going to die?
Being transmigrated into a novel I couldn’t even remember was bad enough.
But dying less than three hours after arriving?
“Wait! Let me go! Let me go!”
Reality finally hit me, and I desperately tried to escape.
It was useless.
After killing the maids, the assassins shackled my hands with heavy iron restraints and pointed their swords at me.
“This is the end.”
And just as death stood before me—
BOOM!
A mysterious mass of light wrapped around my body.
Then a massive explosion erupted.
