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Chapter 01
(1) Personality Shapes Fate!
Personality becomes destiny.
If that saying is true, then it makes sense that Roanne Eleanor Heartwood’s life changed at some point.
“Miss! Miss Roanne has opened her eyes!”
The loud cry of a maid rang in her ears. Roanne blinked in confusion and looked around.
‘What…? I clearly…’
She had originally been living alone in a tiny basement room, barely surviving through exhausting part-time jobs. An orphan abandoned by both parents, she had no one to rely on. Her last memory was of a truck’s blinding headlights rushing terrifyingly close as she walked home from work.
‘The truck… it was really close…’
In the dark night, on that empty road, the truck—perhaps driven by a drowsy driver—didn’t slow down at all. It came charging forward at a frightening speed. Her last memory, as she walked home in exhaustion, was the deafening roar of that truck.
‘At that distance, I should’ve been hit…’
As she sank into thought, several people suddenly rushed into the room along with the maids.
“Roanne!”
“You’re finally awake, Roanne!”
Roanne? Are they calling me?
She slowly looked around. Then she examined the people gathered beside her bed. A soft, comfortable bed. A spacious and pleasant room. It was an environment she could never have imagined in her original life.
And then—
“Do you know how worried your father was?!”
Father? For someone who had no parents, that alone felt unreal.
Roanne—no, the one now inside Roanne’s body—slightly frowned.
‘Let’s see… this situation…’
She observed the middle-aged man looking at her with concern. Dressed in refined, medieval-style clothing, he looked like a noble straight out of a painting.
Behind him stood a woman, around the same age, shedding tears while staring at her. Though she pretended to wipe her tears, her gaze felt strangely sharp, as if assessing her condition.
“Roanne, I was so worried about you too!”
The woman suddenly opened her arms as she spoke.
‘What is this, some kind of act?’
Roanne felt a chill and looked past her, noticing a young man and woman standing quietly behind. They had similar hair color to the woman and somewhat resembled her—likely siblings.
“Big sister, why did you do that?”
“Noona, don’t ever do that again!”
A faint smile formed on Roanne’s lips.
‘Well, look at that.’
A whole family she never had before had suddenly appeared.
***
Roanne Eleanor Heartwood.
She was the eldest daughter of the Heartwood viscount family and the only child of his deceased first wife. Like something out of a fairy tale, she ended up living with a stepmother and her two step-siblings.
Despite her stepmother’s abuse and her step-siblings’ bullying, Roanne endured everything by relying solely on her father’s love.
But that had been nothing more than her illusion.
Eager to get rid of her, the stepmother forced an absurd marriage proposal onto her.
‘And her so-called father probably just listened to the stepmother.’
Lying on the bed, Roanne picked up a piece of fruit from the side table and ate it. Since her body was weak, the maids brought her meals and snacks directly to her room. Quietly observing everything, she organized the situation in her mind.
Alexis Adrian Glister.
The second son of the Glister count family—and its only troublemaker. The man she was arranged to marry.
Unlike his upright elder brother, Alexis had been causing trouble since childhood. He was practically abandoned by his family.
The only thing he had going for him was his bloodline—but as the second son, even that meant little.
Alcohol, violence, women—he indulged in every possible vice. No matter how low a family’s status was, no one would willingly offer their daughter to such a man.
Yet somehow, she had been chosen.
‘I don’t know how they convinced them…’
Her father, Viscount Heartwood, seemed to care for her on the surface—but in truth, he was completely controlled by the stepmother. He was not someone she could rely on.
‘I probably died in that truck accident… so how did I end up here?’
For now, she had to accept that she was Roanne Eleanor Heartwood.
And the moment she fully accepted it, she felt a strange sense of relief—as if the “real Roanne” had completely left this body.
The real Roanne, filled with resentment, abandoned this life without hesitation and departed for the afterlife.
In her place remained someone who desperately wanted to live.
‘It’s not hard to understand.’
After learning about the original Roanne’s situation, she let out a quiet sigh.
The original Roanne had been forced to marry a notorious troublemaker—and she hated it to the core.
At their first meeting, Alexis had arrived completely drunk, covered in blood.
“What? You’re the one marrying me?”
His face was so swollen and battered that his true appearance was unrecognizable. Laughing, he reached out to her.
Roanne fainted on the spot.
Later, when she woke up, she begged her father.
“Please… call off this marriage! Please, father!”
But Viscount Heartwood refused.
The wedding preparations continued against her will.
In the end, the original Roanne tried to elope with her childhood friend.
But even that failed her.
“Sorry, Roanne.”
The man she loved stole all the valuables she had brought—including her late mother’s jewelry—and abandoned her.
“You can just marry into the Glister family and live comfortably anyway.”
Betrayed and left with nothing, Roanne wandered aimlessly before eventually throwing herself into a river.
She survived only by chance and was brought back to the Heartwood estate to recover.
‘For someone raised as a noble lady… it must’ve been unbearable.’
Roanne—the new one—stood up from the bed and walked to the mirror.
Golden-brown hair. Large, bright blue eyes. A pale, fragile face that still showed signs of illness.
“Roanne…”
She placed her hand on the mirror, then gently rested her forehead against its cold surface.
Only an empty shell remained.
“I’ll live on… somehow.”
Even when she had nothing, living alone in a tiny room, she had never given up on life.
Perhaps that strong will was what brought her here.
The original Roanne had thrown away this life.
But she wouldn’t.
No matter where she ended up, she would never give up.
Even small joys—like eating something delicious or enjoying a staff dinner—had made her happy.
Compared to that, this life was pure luxury.
She would never abandon it.
***
“I’ll get married.”
During a quiet and gloomy dinner, Roanne suddenly spoke.
The family, who had been eating in silence, all looked at her in shock.
“Roanne!”
Her stepmother reacted first.
“What a wonderful decision!”
Of course. She had been determined to get rid of her anyway.
It’s hard to win against someone with that kind of obsession.
Besides, she still hadn’t fully adapted to this new life.
Sometimes, it’s wiser to step back first.
Roanne smiled brightly at her stepmother.
