TUVML 05

Chapter 5

I Became Imprinted with the Male Lead Despite Being a Villainess

Although they are now extinct, the bloodline born from the union between a half-beast, half-human race called werewolves in the distant past and human women was the root of the Cassio ducal family.

‘Why are werewolves suddenly coming up? There was no such setting in the original story.’

As Luciana silently listened to Licht’s words, her face hardened like stone.

‘If that’s true, then it means there are parts of the story that I, a reader who read all the way to the ending, don’t know about.’

Overwhelmed by the successive shocks, Luciana even forgot that she had been afraid of Licht and desperately began organizing her thoughts.

‘Come to think of it… before the author passed away, I did see a post on their SNS saying they were preparing a surprising after-story.’

Could that unreleased story have been about the secret of the Cassio ducal family?

A plausible suspicion clouded Luciana’s mind, but believing it was an entirely different matter.

“I expected it, but you really do look suspicious.”

Seeing that Luciana couldn’t easily accept his words, Licht rubbed the space between his eyebrows as if he had a headache.

After all, from the outside, he looked no different from an ordinary human, yet he was claiming to be a descendant of werewolves who had disappeared from history long ago. Who would believe such a thing without hesitation?

‘Especially when that person is a duke of the empire.’

Most non-human races that had vanished into history did not have a particularly good reputation.

However, regardless of all that, there was a clear mark between the two of them that proved they were strongly connected.

No matter how unbelievable it was, how could she deny it any further?

Having finally realized Licht’s true identity, Luciana couldn’t say a single word.

Clip-clop. Clip-clop.

“……”

Sitting inside an outrageously luxurious carriage, Luciana stared blankly into empty space while replaying the conversation she had with Licht that morning.

‘This makes no sense.’

The male lead was a werewolf hybrid.

And as if that wasn’t enough, she had even become his destined partner?

Fortunately, the mark engraved on her wrist was something only the two of them could see.

At least knowing that alone made her feel as if she had been pulled out from the depths of the ocean.

But—

‘The original story… it hasn’t just fallen apart. It has turned into dust.’

Clinging to her last thread of hope, Luciana asked him in detail about the imprint.

Then Licht, whose expression looked as though his mouth was filled with rough sand, spoke in a voice as if he were confessing a horrifying truth.

“Someone who will become your lifelong partner.”

“Those who carry the blood of wolves will come to love the person they choose as their partner regardless of their own will. No matter how fiercely they resist with their strong mentality… the ending is always the same.”

There was no exception.

A devotion that allowed someone to look at only one person for their entire life might sound romantic.

But Licht’s expression showed that he considered it nothing more than a terrible curse.

“Do you understand now what kind of situation you and I are in?”

His coldly thrown words sounded almost like he was asking himself.

“Come to think of it, in the original story, the male lead definitely…”

Near the end of the novel, there was a scene where Licht confessed his heartfelt feelings to Deborah.

“I swear that until the moment these eyes close forever, I will love only you.

My soul has already become bound to you.

Deborah, because you are my one and only love.”

At the time, Luciana had thought it was simply the climax where Licht, who had spent far too long denying his feelings, finally admitted that he had become a slave to love.

But after discovering the secret hidden within the original story, the words she had considered nothing more than a sweet confession now felt much more solemn.

A unique and eternal love.

The subjugation of one’s soul.

“The person it’s directed at has changed now.”

No matter how handsome the male lead was, no matter how much he possessed everything in the world, Luciana had never once wished to stand beside Licht.

The sweet romance that the protagonists were destined to enjoy was waiting for them not far away.

So what was Deborah supposed to do if things ended up like this?

“I don’t want to separate the two of them like this.”

The protagonists who were supposed to have a sweet and loving romance according to the original story were now about to be torn apart overnight.

Even if she had managed to twist the original plot, what was the point?

She had become an even greater villainess than before.

Since becoming Luciana, she had worked so hard to avoid Licht, which made the current situation feel even more absurd.

If she had known that one tiny mistake would lead to this, she would never have drunk even a single drop of alcohol no matter what happened.

“Ha… what am I supposed to do?”

Luciana felt despair as well.

A male lead who was destined to love her helplessly while leaving the heroine behind was not someone she welcomed either.

How had things ended up this way?

The cause was obviously the mistake she made while drunk, but that did not make the situation any less confusing.

If things had continued according to the original story, Deborah and Licht would have naturally ended up together.

But because of an unexpected accident, everything had gone wrong, and now she had been caught in the trap called “imprinting”—a secret she had never known about—and was forced to twist the original story.

“Wasn’t Licht supposed to have spent the entire day with Deborah that day?”

The original story never mentioned the male lead being drunk.

It wasn’t written in the novel, but in reality, had something like this happened…?

Her thoughts continued to spiral.

A ‘partner’ who would spend a ‘lifetime’ together.

That was something Luciana never could have imagined being meant for her.

“Is there any way to return to before the imprint happened?”

Why had the author hidden such an enormous secret until the very end?

A pointless resentment repeatedly surfaced and faded away.

While Luciana looked as though she might collapse at any moment, the carriage wheels that knew nothing about her turmoil continued rolling smoothly before finally coming to a gentle stop.

“We have arrived at the mansion.”

Before Luciana could even gather herself, the coachman’s polite voice announcing their arrival reached her ears.

Swoosh.

“Lucy!”

After getting down with the escort’s assistance, Luciana looked toward the familiar figure approaching after spotting her from afar.

“Brother…?”

The handsome man, who possessed the Leslie family’s characteristic pink hair and their mother’s sky-blue eyes, was the young marquis who had been born seven years before Luciana.

Unlike Luciana, who resembled their father, Lorraine had inherited more of their mother, the marchioness’s, blood.

Therefore, despite being siblings, aside from their hair color and long limbs, the two did not resemble each other much.

“It’s cold today. Were you taking a walk?”

Although Licht had already confirmed that the mark engraved on her wrist could not be seen by others, Luciana immediately pulled her sleeve down as much as possible when Lorraine approached and gave an awkward smile.

“I just… happened to be out.”

Lorraine had rushed over the moment he saw the unfamiliar carriage, and only after confirming that Luciana was safe did he smile in relief.

“You’re only coming back now?”

“Uh… yes, well… it just happened…”

At Lorraine’s mention of her absence from the previous night, Luciana’s face grew hot for no reason.

Not returning from the night ball meant that she had spent the night searching for a brief romance, like a butterfly gently fluttering its wings.

The wording sounded grand, but simply put, it meant she had spent a pleasant time with a lover for one night.

Since this was one of the empire’s common social customs, Lorraine did not make a fuss when Luciana returned only after the morning sun had risen high.

‘Tsk. The carriage is slightly below Lucy’s standards, but it’s still pretty luxurious.’

However, despite his calm attitude toward welcoming Luciana, his eyes—unable to hide his true feelings—were busy examining the carriage that had brought his younger sister with a hawk-like gaze.

The luxurious four-wheeled carriage, made with the finest wood and crafted without sparing even gold, was a high-quality item that even Lorraine, who had extremely strict standards when it came to Luciana, acknowledged.

However, there was no family crest anywhere on the carriage.

This was closer to a polite indication that their relationship would not develop into something deeper and would remain nothing more than a one-night affair.

‘How dare he…’

While criticizing the poor taste of the person who failed to recognize Luciana’s charm, Lorraine also felt relieved that no strange man had become attached to his precious younger sister.

‘Just who was the bastard that spent the night with our Lucy…?’

For a moment, Lorraine became curious about the identity of the mysterious man.

However, questioning her about it would have been excessive interference, even if it came from his affection for Luciana, so he forced himself to hold back.

“Um, Brother. By any chance, are Mother and Father…?”

Luciana, who had been glancing at Lorraine because he had been unusually quiet, cautiously asked about their parents.

“They were actually waiting for you to return.”