TUWSD 01

When the woman first opened her eyes, the very first thought that came to her was, “I want to die.”
What followed was a strangely familiar sense of self-loathing.

“Not right now, though.”

She slumped against the window seat and stared at her reflection in the glass. What looked back at her was a face completely different from her own.

A plump face dotted with freckles, framed by curly, carrot-colored hair.

Her turquoise eyes were dull and lifeless, revealing just how spiritless the body’s owner had been living.

Straightening her automatically hunched shoulders, stiff from a lifetime of cowering, she leaned her back against the wall.

“So… this really is inside that novel.”

After spending weeks here, she had realized there was no way back to her original world and that this wasn’t a dream. She had no choice but to accept it and keep living.

But there was a major problem.

This world was the very novel she had read before dying—The Saintess’s Wish.

“…Did I transmigrate?”

The Saintess’s Wish was a very ordinary romance fantasy novel.

The heroine, Aria, was unremarkable except for her beauty. One day, she learned she was the Saintess.

Recognized as such, she entered the capital and lived through various trials and events.

“Up to this point, it’s ordinary enough.”

The man mainly connected with Aria was the Crown Prince, Sylvester. Despite being heir to the empire, his position was unstable, and he hid a curse to protect his place.

That curse could only be undone, bit by bit, through contact with Aria.

“Still ordinary… I guess.”

The unusual twist lay with the second male lead, Benjamin Felton.

He was the Duke of the North, but unlike the main lead with black hair, Benjamin had brown hair and played the role of the “gentlemanly nice guy.” He even had green eyes.

Brown hair and green eyes—everyone called that the hallmark of the “kind male lead.” But imagining the powerful Northern Duke with a puppy-like appearance was almost impossible.

Even stranger, he was married.

“Why give the heroine’s romantic interest a wife?”

She thought maybe the author had binge-watched a juicy affair drama before writing. There was no other explanation.

Of course, the novel constantly emphasized that it was a marriage he hadn’t wanted. Muttering to herself, she shook her head.

“…What does any of that matter now?”

She was inside this body now, blending more and more with it. Even if the memories she had inherited were incomplete, she couldn’t change the fact.

Why did she have to end up possessing this body, of all people? She could only sigh over spilled water—even if it hadn’t been spilled by her.

As she sat curled on the window seat, sighing deeply, the maids standing at the edges of the room began to panic and hurriedly spoke up.

“Madam, shall we bring out your favorite food?”

“We also brought in a whole batch of your favorite tea leaves!”

“Y-yes! And the new tea set has just arrived—it’s a limited edition!”

Since she hadn’t stepped out of her room once since possessing this body, everyone had been on edge.

If anything, she was in a better state now.

And of course she was—anyone would be shaken after waking in a strange world and inside a stranger’s body. Who could act composed from the start?

“It’s fine. No—I’m fine.”

“Madam…”

The maids looked at her with tearful eyes.

Ignoring them, she gazed at her hazy reflection in the glass.

Thud. She pressed her forehead against the windowpane, feeling the chill of the glass.

“…Maybe I should get some air.”

The maids, quick to catch even her murmurs, jumped with excitement, afraid she might change her mind.

“That’s a wonderful idea!”

“I’ll prepare your clothes right away!”

“A walk in your favorite dress will surely lift your mood!”

“No, no—she should have a bath first!”

They all scrambled, leaving her no chance to take her words back.

“Why are they all so cautious around me?”

She stood from her seat, her heavy body moving awkwardly.

In the mirror nearby, her reflection looked back at her.

“…”

Before this, she had lain bedridden until the moment of death. Now, just being able to stand on two legs was enough to satisfy her.

“And if I could be healthy too, that would be even better.”

Yet, ever since she entered this body, her mind had been overwhelmed with self-hatred.

As she stared at the mirror, one maid grew pale.

“Should we remove the mirror, Madam?”

“It’s fine.”

It was only a glance at a mirror—why did they look so uneasy?

But she knew the reason.

“Of course.”

Along with this body, she had inherited fragments of the original owner’s memories. This woman had loathed her own appearance.

“That’s why the self-hatred keeps surfacing—it isn’t mine, but hers.”

It was only by reminding herself, again and again, that she wasn’t the true owner of this body that she could escape the waves of self-loathing.

“Honestly, it’s not even that terrible.”

The body had grown soft and plump from staying indoors, yes, but still—average, at worst. Nothing grotesque. The original owner simply couldn’t see it that way.

“Madam, your bath is ready.”

“Would you like us to assist you today?”

“…”

She shook her head and went alone into the bath.

Bathing with attendants was awkward—and luckily, the original owner had disliked it too.

Soaking in the warm water, she murmured,

“…She must have hated showing her body.”

Whatever the case, the rare bath soothed her. The heavy, pessimistic thoughts seemed to wash away, if only a little.

⋆★⋆

The wardrobe was filled almost entirely with dark-colored dresses.

“They all look the same to me.”

Though they looked nearly identical to her, the maids busied themselves picking outfits. For them, a proper dress was essential for a walk outdoors.

In the end, she wore a plain navy gown with little lace or ribbon and stepped outside. Everyone around her was visibly startled.

“No wonder—they said she rarely went outside before, and I haven’t left the room at all since coming here.”

Still, she refused to shrink back.

No—she forced herself not to.

This time, she didn’t head for the secluded back garden, as usual, but toward the grand front garden.

The gardener, surprised to see her, quickly ducked out of sight.

Seen up close instead of from her window, the flowers and greenery were even more dazzling and alive.

“…So this is what it looks like up close.”

“Our master ordered the garden to be arranged so it would be visible from your window, Madam!”

The maid following behind her smiled brightly.

“His Grace?”

“Yes!”

Like a puppy eager for praise, the maid nodded enthusiastically and repeated how much effort had gone into maintaining the garden.

The woman only found it amusing.

“As if.”

She knew very well what her situation was.

While ignoring the maid’s chatter, another set of footsteps approached.

“My lady.”

The breeze swept the garden, making the leaves shiver.

“…”

She turned toward the man standing before her.

“What brings you out here today, Madam?”

“Am I not allowed to come here?”

“That is not what I meant.”

Blink.

Her turquoise eyes reflected the man’s figure.

Hair the warm shade of chestnut, eyes green as summer foliage.

A beautiful man, smiling gently.

“Then what did you mean?”

“I was concerned for you.”

At the word concerned, she scoffed inwardly.

“Yeah, right.”

The man standing before her was Benjamin Felton.

The second male lead of The Saintess’s Wish.

And the body she now possessed was that of Grace Felton—a character never directly shown in the novel.

The second male lead’s wife.

⋆★⋆

Grace Felton—formerly Grace Linden.

The imperial family, unable to further strengthen the Felton Dukedom’s power, had forced the marriage.

Her family was an old but impoverished barony, practically no different from tenant farmers. Normally, she would never have crossed paths with a Duke’s house.

Grace had met Benjamin only three times before marrying him, and shortly afterward, she disappeared from society.

“If that were all, I wouldn’t mind.”

She glanced back at Benjamin, who followed her with a smile every time she turned her head.

Each time, she returned her gaze forward with reluctant annoyance.

This marriage had been forced by the imperial family. Readers often sympathized with Benjamin, seeing him as a victim—

“Married off to an unattractive, useless woman just to prove his loyalty to the crown.”

And according to Grace’s scattered memories, they hadn’t even kissed at their wedding. They didn’t live as husband and wife.

It was nothing more than an arrangement born from political necessity.

If that were all, she could accept living comfortably under the Duke’s roof.

But in the novel, Grace would later die—of a mysterious illness.