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Chapter 1
“Oh, my lovely fiancée!”
As I opened the door to the sitting room, a strange man walked toward me, throwing me a wink.
What is this guy? And what does he mean by fiancée?
Why is he coming so close?
“The time has finally come.”
The time for what…?
I can see the grime on your shirt collar, but surely that’s not the time you mean.
“What do you mean? Could you explain in more detail…?”
“Ah! My apologies. I was so happy that I skipped the explanation.”
The man gave me another overly familiar wink.
“Espin, you know that due to internal conflict over the succession in the Kingdom of Arcadia, I fled to the Lumenia Empire, don’t you?”
Of course I don’t. I only just learned that the owner of this body is named Espin.
It’s been two days since I opened my eyes in this body.
To be precise, 26 hours have passed.
I don’t even know who I am—how would I know about this man’s circumstances?
I don’t know. In situations like this, just smile.
I replied with a vague smile.
“I hear the internal conflict has settled to some extent. So my father, King of Arcadia, plans to officially appoint me as the heir.”
“Official heir?”
Does that mean you’re a prince?
I don’t know what kind of novel I’ve fallen into, but princes are usually guaranteed to be handsome, aren’t they…?
But the man in front of me was painfully ordinary.
Clothes made of fine material, yet ill-fitting.
Leather shoes, badly worn at the soles.
And hair slicked back with some strange oil, making it look greasy.
There was no trace of princely elegance about him.
Well, prince or not—what does it matter to me?
“Congratulations.”
“Now the two of us can return to the kingdom and think only of our happy future.”
“The… two of us…?”
“Yes. Us. We just need to go to the kingdom together. Then Espin will soon become the Queen of Arcadia.”
Thump.
My heart dropped at his words.
Not from the flutter of a romantic proposal, but from the shock of a thunderbolt.
I have to marry this man?
So when he said “fiancée” earlier, he really meant that fiancée?
I couldn’t believe it. No—I didn’t want to.
“Will you leave this prison-like family and come with me to the Kingdom of Arcadia?”
Sebastian raised his eyebrows with an oily expression.
“This prison-like family?”
The maids were unfriendly, sure, but compared to my life as an ordinary citizen in South Korea, it didn’t feel like a prison.
“You told me yourself, Espin. That you wanted to leave this prison-like family.”
“Ah… yes.”
“Then come with me now.”
No. Absolutely not.
The words almost burst out instinctively. Living with rude maids felt far better than following this man.
I’ll say yes for now, then later say I changed my mind.
I nodded vaguely.
“Espin, in Arcadia you will become a queen loved by everyone.”
“Yes. I’m looking forward to it.”
“You should be.”
Sebastian smiled in satisfaction and winked at me again.
That’s not a wink. It’s just his eyelid twitching from magnesium deficiency.
Thinking that, I endured it.
“Hmm… but Espin.”
Suddenly, Sebastian lowered his voice.
“There is one problem.”
“What kind of problem?”
“The internal conflict hasn’t been completely resolved. There may still be those who want my life. If they learn that I’m heading to Arcadia, they will target me…”
He continued, looking worried.
“To deceive them and reach the royal palace safely, I need a false identity.”
“I see.”
Good luck with that.
I nodded absentmindedly, as if it had nothing to do with me.
“So, Espin. Do you think Count Leon could act as the guarantor for my false identity?”
“What? A guarantor?”
That one word made my voice rise sharply without me realizing it.
“As expected. It would be difficult since the Count doesn’t yet know about us.”
Sebastian drooped his head in disappointment.
“My current identity has already been exposed, so without a new one, it’ll be hard to return to the kingdom…”
“Then you should find another way.”
“Well… I did think of another way. Espin, could you perhaps bring me the Count’s seal for a moment?”
“The seal?”
“Just for a moment. I’ll use it to create the new identity and return it immediately.”
“……”
“And if Espin prepares the money I mentioned last time, we can leave right away—for the Kingdom of Arcadia.”
At the sight of his dull eyes and the words seal, I realized it in that instant.
What kind of novel this was—and who the owner of this body was.
<I Was a Commoner, but I’m a Duke’s Daughter?>
A romance fantasy novel in which the female protagonist, who believed herself to be a commoner, discovers she is actually the daughter of a duke and enters the ducal family. Despite being harassed by nobles for being an illegitimate child, she stands strong, becoming entangled in a love triangle between the crown prince and a grand duke.
This world was that novel.
And the owner of this body was Espin Leon.
The half-sibling of the female protagonist, and a friend of the jealous villainess Flaria Ameron—just a passing extra.
The reason I remembered such a minor character so clearly was simple.
Because she was like me.
Espin was infamous in the novel for being a complete pushover.
She fell in love with a man who pretended to be a prince and handed over her family’s seal and money for him.
Unfortunately, the man was a con artist, and Espin became known in high society as a gullible fool.
Even after that, she was scammed several more times, losing much of her family’s wealth, and was eventually cast out, meeting a miserable end.
Getting scammed so naively—that part was just like me.
I remembered how furious I’d been, seeing Espin resemble myself after losing everything to the one friend I trusted.
Come to think of it, even the miserable ending is the same.
Maybe it wasn’t a coincidence that I entered Espin’s body.
Especially since I possessed her at this exact moment—while this man was scamming her.
“Espin? Are you listening to me?”
“Ah, yes.”
He was shaking his leg nervously.
With tells like that, how did he even manage to scam people?
Holding back my laughter, I continued.
“If I bring the seal, will I really become the Queen of Arcadia?”
“Of course. I will make you the happiest woman in the kingdom—no, in the world.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Can you bring it?”
“Yes. I’ll try to get it somehow. For you, Sebastian.”
“Really?”
“Of course.”
“As expected, only you, Espin.”
Sebastian added excitedly,
“Oh, and about the money I mentioned before, as the dowry.”
“How much was it exactly?”
“Fifty thousand litas in imperial currency. Arcadia takes dowries very seriously.”
“Fifty thousand litas?”
“Yes. It’s a large sum. Is it difficult?”
“Of course not. I should prepare it. It’s our wedding dowry.”
Sebastian bit his lip, barely containing his smile of delight.
Jiwoo had that exact same expression.
Back then, I didn’t realize I was being scammed. Now I knew.
The look of a con artist just moments away from success.
And what did Jiwoo say again?
‘Sola, I’ll definitely repay this kindness. I’m so lucky to have a friend like you.’
Those were the last words before Jiwoo disappeared.
“Espin, I’ll repay this kindness twofold—no, threefold.”
Wow. Even the line is the same.
Seems scammers communicate with each other, no matter the world.
People like that need to get scammed themselves at least once.
At that moment, a realization hit me like a blow to the back of the head.
Maybe this was God giving me another chance after my miserable death.
The fact that I, who was betrayed and died unjustly, possessed Espin Leon of all people—perhaps it was fate.
Fine. In this life, I won’t just be the one getting fooled.
This time, I’ll scam the scammers first.
They deserve to know how it feels to be deceived.
