PSTB 02

~Chapter 2~

No matter how hard I pounded on the door, only my fists ached. Clutching my sore knuckles, I hurled every obscene gesture I could muster at the door.

After venting for a while, I glanced around. It was a small room that felt oddly familiar.

Ah, a gosiwon!

It was just about the size of the cheap boarding house I lived in for six months when I was twenty. At least that place had a bed—this was nothing but a cold stone floor.

“…Damn it. Who am I kidding, this isn’t a gosiwon, it’s a prison.”

The words left my lips, and suddenly the plot of the novel surfaced in my mind.

This was one of the places Etienne owned. Though they called it a monastery, it was little more than a jail.

Especially notorious for imprisoning dark mages who practiced forbidden magic.

Later, Etienne would use them to stage his rebellion.

How meticulous.

Grumbling, I shuffled to the window. I needed to see where I was.

“Don’t they ever clean in here?”

I wiped a thick layer of dust from the windowpane.

Bit by bit, the dust cleared, revealing a stranger’s face staring back at me. My hands froze mid-motion.

A pair of catlike eyes glared from the glass—sharp and fierce, yet carrying an odd hint of innocence.

Above all, those violet eyes shimmered with the mystery of dawn’s first dew.

Drawn as if by a spell, I pressed my palm to the window, aligning my hand with the girl’s reflection.

It was me.

My jaw dropped in disbelief. Two petite front teeth peeked between rosy lips.

Bathed in the newborn sunlight, my skin glowed almost translucent.

My long pink hair—tangled with yellowed leaves—looked as if it belonged to a doll.

“Did I really… possess her?”

On the way here, I’d turned the question over and over, but the answer was clear.

And now, the face in the window proved everything.

I touched my cheek. Silky, soft skin glided beneath my fingers—so smooth, I’d never felt anything like it before.

“Dahlia… Was she always this beautiful?”

I stared down at my delicate hands.

I looked up again and met my own wide, gleaming eyes. Lush lashes fluttered, rising and falling like butterfly wings.

“And now this beauty is me?”

A grin spread across my face.

If you have to get reincarnated, might as well be gorgeous.

I flopped onto a pile of blankets in the corner, sending up a cloud of dust. I didn’t care.

“But what kind of situation is this? I get possessed, and the next moment, I’m locked up? Other people get showered with affection when they transmigrate. Why not me?”

I replayed the events of the day.

“I remember coming home after work… Right, the power went out. Everything in the fridge spoiled…”

A moldy basement room, no electricity, no gas.

Crushing poverty.

I’d worked nonstop since I was old enough, but my parents’ debts only grew. In despair, I’d sprawled out on the cold floor.

My stomach was so empty, hunger had stopped feeling like hunger. I was dying.

“Who would believe someone could starve to death in this day and age?”

I had let out a bitter laugh.

My energy seeped from my body like mist.

It felt like slipping into a deep sleep, or maybe I was growing cold and empty.

With the last flicker of consciousness, I’d made a wish.

“Let me eat beef every day in my next life. Or be incredibly rich. Or a legendary beauty.”

It was a pathetic, desperate prayer.

“So… my wish came true?”

Of the three—

1. Beef every day.

2. Incredibly rich.

3. Legendary beauty.

Did I get stuck with the most useless one…?

Damn it all…

“Move along. Idleness is a sin.”

A priest following behind prodded me in the back with a stick.

What? My body ached from sleeping on stone, but… ah, that’s actually not bad. Just a bit lower, yes, right there!

When I squirmed, the priest eyed me suspiciously.

“Ahem.”

Maybe I took it too far. Okay, time to read the room…

I coughed in embarrassment.

“But where are we going? Is it for a meal?”

“…”

No answer. How rude.

I pouted openly.

I hope it’s food. I hadn’t eaten since yesterday—surely, they’re taking me to eat.

My stomach rumbled, thunderous in the silence. Maybe it was dying of hunger in my past life, but the craving was unbearable.

After a while, we entered an unfamiliar room, sunlit and clean, nothing like the cell from last night.

And there—
was the only familiar face in this world.
My husband. The one who’d locked me away. Etienne.

“Sit.”

He jerked his chin toward the chair opposite him.

In the light, his beauty was even more intimidating.

I dropped my gaze and quickly sat down.

Oh, right. I meant to grab him by the collar as soon as I saw him.

All last night, I’d cursed Etienne before falling asleep.

“How dare he send me to a place like this? That treacherous bastard. It serves him right if he gets executed later. He deserves it!”

But faced with his breathtaking face, last night’s anger melted away like snow in the sun.

…Well. I mean, the wife did cheat and steal his fortune. Of course he’d be furious, right?

And now, he’d come to fetch me. I wasn’t swooning over his looks, just being logical.

Yes, I should be the bigger person. They say lovers’ quarrels are never permanent.

In the presence of a handsome man, I discovered a newfound patience.

If everyone were this beautiful, the world would be a happier, more forgiving place. I found it impossible to stay angry.

Perhaps as a reward for my grace, a group of priests soon arrived, their arms laden with dishes.

“Are you hungry?”
Etienne leaned his chin on his hand, gazing steadily at me.

I nodded so fast my head might as well have buzzed.

Soon the table was filled. The fragrance was dizzying.

Steaming stew, fresh fruit, pancakes dripping with syrup—

So many unfamiliar foods, each calling to me.

Wow. This was all for me? I nearly tackled him last night, but he turned out to be so generous. A handsome man with a good heart.

Eagerly, I grabbed a fork and knife. What to eat first? My eyes darted hungrily.

The obvious choice—

The perfectly grilled steak!

It was the very thing I’d longed for in my last, dying moment.

I’d never once tasted real steak.

At best, I’d fished out scraps of beef from bland seaweed soup at school.

Even that tasted like heaven. So what must a real steak be like?

It had become my greatest, simplest wish.

Surely, it would taste divine.

I swallowed hard.

If I’ve been reincarnated, let it not be for beauty alone. Let me eat beef, too. I deserve this after starving to death.

For now, it was just me and the steak. Even Etienne’s stunning face faded into the background. What good is beauty if you can’t eat?

I cut into the steak, juice pooling on the plate with every clumsy slice.

Oh yes. This is it.

I speared a generous piece and popped it in my mouth.

The moment I chewed, fireworks burst before my eyes.

Flavors enveloped my tongue and my jaw moved faster and faster. Bliss fluttered my eyelashes.

Incredible.

I knew, then and there.

I had crossed worlds for this steak. You are my destiny.

We were partners, bound by fate.

Even if I could go back, I would wish the same again. I stabbed my fork into a second piece.

“Dahlia.”

A voice close by startled me. I looked up.

Etienne had moved near, leaning casually against the table, gazing down at me.

Sunlight poured over his neatly combed hair. Maybe it was the happiness from the food, or maybe he truly was just that handsome—I found myself mesmerized by the noble line of his nose.

His gentle, yet chilly voice snapped me out of it.

“Where are the things you stole from me?”

I choked, coughing in surprise.

So direct—!

I racked my brain for details from The Obsessed Crown Prince.

Dahlia had stolen from him more than once.

The gems scattered on the floor last night were only a fraction—
The real valuables were secrets, things that could be used against him, things that could never be exposed.

After fleeing the monastery, Dahlia would hand them all over to Veseth. Among them, evidence of treason that would cost Etienne his life.

So it was a matter of life and death for him.

I know, but…

“…I don’t know.”

It wasn’t rebellion. I truly didn’t know. I wracked my brain, but nothing came.

The novel never said where the villainess hid the goods!

Etienne’s expression went cold. His hand rose.

Was he about to hit me? Was he a violent husband after all? You bastard—!

I squeezed my eyes shut. But instead of pain, the crash of broken dishes rang in my ears.

What—was that an earthquake?

I opened my eyes a crack. The salad, once piled with chopped fruit, lay scattered on the floor.

“…”

I looked at Etienne. He smiled serenely.

“Where are they?”

His hand moved to another dish, the one holding stew.

With another crash, it too hit the floor. My heart fell with it.

Some people starve to death, while others throw food away—!

I remembered something I once heard:

“If you want to anger a Korean, mess with their food.”

I was truly furious now.

His hand, unhesitating, reached for the last plate—my steak. I grabbed it with both hands, desperate.

“Not my steak. Anything but this…”

I’d just met my destiny—
Would I be parted from it so soon?

The taste still lingered on my tongue.

“Let go.”

His command was glacial.

Hmph. You think I’ll back down? I’ve died of hunger before. No one is more serious about food than I am.

I clutched the plate tighter and glared up at him. He laughed, as if amused, and took my wrist with one hand.