TTMC 01

Chapter : 1

When I opened my eyes, something felt different from usual.

A strange feeling—familiar, yet unfamiliar.

Lying on the bed, I blinked and muttered quietly,

‘No way… did something amazing like that happen to me too?’

My heart pounded.

I had read romance fantasy novels every single day. So I knew very well the cliché opening—waking up and finding yourself inside a novel.

A large ceiling, a soft blanket, and a wide room filled with sunlight. Even my body felt light, like it was mine and yet not mine.

If my guess was right, I had entered a novel. Or… could I even say that?

This body was mine, and yet not mine. It felt like the original “me” still existed too.

Maybe it was more accurate to say that, all of a sudden, someone else’s memories had seeped into me.

Memories from birth, from age one, two… the past came flooding in like waves.

Elle Natasia. That was my name.

The reason I could notice this so quickly was probably because, since I was born, I had always seen another life in my dreams. But now that it had actually happened, it was quite confusing.

First of all, I wasn’t even sure if the “me” from before had truly existed.

Even though it was me, having two sets of memories didn’t feel very good.

‘How should I even explain this…’

I looked at my hands and let out a sigh.

There was no denying it—this was a completely different world from where I had been.

“But it feels familiar.”

I stared at the mirror. As expected, a girl with red hair was standing there. Even with dye, it would be hard to achieve such a beautiful shade of red.

“Pretty!”

It felt a bit awkward to say it myself, but I was quite pretty.

Ah… it’s a bit embarrassing to say that out loud.

Like I said earlier, I was very confused right now. But even so, being surprised by my appearance couldn’t be helped.

I looked about five years old at most.

Thankfully, I seemed past the age of speaking unclearly. Even so, I gave off a strange kind of atmosphere.

“Ahhh, what is going on…”

When I spoke, my pronunciation was clear.

If I had possessed a childcare novel… I might not have had the mental strength to even open my mouth.

With curious eyes, I kept examining myself from head to toe.

‘You can tell I was raised well.’

Even though I was just a child, I looked like I had grown up without lacking anything.

I stared at my face for a while, then turned away in embarrassment.

“Miss Elle Natasia. Did you wake up?”

Ah, so this was the time I usually woke up. That must be why my body had naturally opened its eyes.

I quickly went toward the bed.

“Come in!”

I erased my awkward expression and greeted them with a bright smile.

With my short legs pattering, I climbed onto the bed and sat down, wriggling a bit as I did.

Just a few days ago, I had been happy, thinking I would live well and comfortably. But now, I sat with my arms crossed, wearing a sour expression.

This overly luxurious place turned out to be the mansion of a wealthy count’s family—the villain’s family in the novel.

No wonder it had felt somewhat neglected. Still, even though I didn’t properly know my father’s face, I didn’t feel particularly upset.

That also meant this body was already used to living like this.

Edgar de Bellua Natasia. My father was a dangerous man to Rion and Zenith.

Because for his own goals, he would push those two into danger.

Edgar was quite self-centered and never swayed by emotions. Even when he did wrong, he never once regretted it.

According to the maid, he changed after my mother died.

So that meant he hadn’t originally been this crazy… but now he had become like this.

But I had no power to stop that unrestrained father who rampaged like a wild horse.

Rehabilitation? That only works on people who can be reasoned with.

If I said the wrong thing, he might cut off my head. And besides, I was just a powerless child.

What use would it be to say anything to a man who didn’t even care about his own daughter?

This wasn’t a warm childcare story where I would be cherished—it was a dark novel that ended in tragedy.

If I dared to stand up to my father, who I couldn’t even properly hold a sword against, my head might really be cut off.

Good heavens.

My head throbbed.

What was the use of having so much money? I would die young without even being able to spend it.

At just five years old, the only thing I could do was act cute and try to please him.

‘No.’

I needed a card to play.

Even if I died, I wanted to grow old and die peacefully.

A miserable death like having my head cut off—I didn’t even want to imagine it.

Was I really supposed to die for something I didn’t even do?

That was too unfair.

‘I need to find the male lead.’

Someone who would stand on my side no matter what my father did.

Whether he finds the female lead later or not, I planned to become his lifesaver and at least beg for my life.

‘Even if it’s shameless, what can I do? I need to survive first!’

I had no intention of becoming a villain, nor did I want to die without doing anything.

So the one who needed to act was me.

I had to bring the male lead to my side as soon as possible.

“Miss, have you been losing your appetite lately?”

Diria asked worriedly when she saw me picking at my food.

She was my personal maid, the one who helped me grow up well despite my father’s neglect.

She was practically like a nanny, staying with me all day.

Since I didn’t see anyone else, it seemed she was the only one taking care of me.

“Hmm… it’s just that autumn has come already.”

Which meant I would soon turn six…

It was depressing.

The age of being adored for cuteness was ending. It also meant I wouldn’t be able to just laze around doing nothing much longer.

“Miss, sometimes you speak like an adult.”

“That’s because of my immature father.”

Rather than immature… he was closer to a wild beast still running loose.

I clicked my tongue softly and sighed.

Startled, Diria widened her eyes and glanced toward the door.

“Miss, you shouldn’t say things like that.”

“Why? Is he going to kill me?”

Hmph.

With a short snort, I rested my chin on my hand.

If he was the kind of person who would kill his own daughter, just how rotten was he? I had never even seen him, but maybe it was better to keep it that way.

“Still, Miss…”

“Enough! Save the boring talk. Did he even love Mother when he married her?”

I turned my head with a pout. I didn’t want to hear about that troublesome man.

I was curious about my mother, who didn’t remain in my memories.

How did she die? Did she die giving birth to me?

‘I have no memories of Mother. That’s strange.’

Maybe no one had ever told me. But having not even a single fragment of memory felt odd.

“Of course, he loved her very much. You may not understand yet, Miss… but the Count also had a matching mark appear, like fate, and fell in love.”

“Even someone who seems so cold-blooded got a mark?”

Well, that must be why they got married. Still, I wondered what kind of feelings led her to marry such a man.

“Miss… you’ve been quite mischievous lately. Though you were never interested in your father before…”

In this world, when people become adults, a mark appears on their bodies. The matching marks between two people were proof of a partner—a shackle that bound them together for life.

“The mark is really something like a fairy tale.”

A fairy tale, huh…

Maybe Diria thought that way because she didn’t have one.

“If I didn’t get a mark, I might’ve lived alone forever.”

“Pfft—Ah, sorry! Something went down the wrong way.”

Diria hurriedly fixed her expression, but I already understood the meaning behind her laughter.

‘She agrees with me.’

So it wasn’t like he married my mother out of love. Could emotions even exist in this world?

My mood suddenly sank. The more I learned, the less I liked this setting.

“I knew it. He didn’t like Mother, so he neglected me.”

“Umm, it’s more like… it’s fate!”

Diria tried to turn the conversation in a positive direction.

Clapping her hands with a dreamy smile, she clearly had strong fantasies about the mark.

But no matter how I looked at it, it felt like a shackle… Even if I knew about it, I didn’t like the setting.

‘This feels unsettling.’

Well, I wasn’t the protagonist of this novel anyway, so a mark would never appear for me. That was my intuition.

“Good!”

This worked out well for me.

The male lead would fall in love with the female lead anyway, so I didn’t have to worry about anything else.

Since I had read so many novels in my past life, I knew it was best to live quietly.

I had seen countless cases where someone unintentionally took the female lead’s place and twisted the original story.

‘But I’m safe.’

Because I had no intention of doing that.

‘Then wouldn’t it be okay to use Rion? Before Father finds him. I’ll just keep him with me until he becomes an adult.’

In other words, this was my chance.

A chance to help him, find a way to survive, and avoid future complications.

The destruction of my family… my tragic ending where I would die unjustly at a banquet without knowing anything.

So there was only one thing I could do.

Find the male lead, Rion Davies, and come up with a plan.

If I introduced him to Father early and they built some familiarity, maybe things would change a little.

No… it might be safer to just bring him here and keep him by my side without letting them meet.

I had no confidence in persuading that crazy man.

So maybe if I made it so they naturally thought of each other as family, things might improve a bit.

Before someone else took him, I had to get Rion into my hands.