Chapter 1
I remembered my past life when I was twelve years old.
It happened after I fell during a tree-climbing contest with my brother.
To think this world was inside a novel.
And on top of that, my brother was the male lead!
Honestly, maybe because I saw his face every day, I’d never really thought of him as handsome?
At first, it didn’t faze me much.
Even if this place was the novel I’d read in my previous life, I wasn’t the protagonist.
What did I care about my brother’s love life?
But then, on the day my brother brought home a friend he’d met at the academy during break.
“Brother, who’s this handsome guy?”
That’s when I suddenly recalled my fate from the original story, which I’d forgotten all about.
“Delly, say hello. This is Alferen Ainluk, the young duke of Ainluk.”
“I’m Alferen Ainluk.”
The boy who introduced himself so straightforwardly was the epitome of pure, innocent beauty—it was hard to believe he was the sub-male lead from the original, burdened with keywords like heartbreak, longing, and regret.
His dazzling silver hair seemed to hold the moonlight itself, paired with porcelain-pale skin.
His blue eyes, as if embedded with stars, gleamed with a cold light like a winter lake.
If he had nothing to do with me, I might have just lost myself in admiring his looks…
But the problem was that this guy was the reason my life would be ruined.
<Will First Love Come True?> was a story about a love triangle that unfolded when my own brother, Adrian, and Alferen both fell for the same woman.
Torn between love and friendship, the two made different choices.
Adrian chose love, while Alferen chose friendship.
As a result, Alferen ended up marrying his fiancée, the villainess who was also the third princess. The issue was that in the original, I had a one-sided crush on Alferen.
‘Well, with a face like that, it’s no wonder someone would fall at first sight.’
I stared at Alferen standing there expressionless in front of me, my mind in turmoil.
In the original, I was a stalker who fell for Alferen at first sight and chased after him relentlessly.
And not in a cute way—I lurked in the shadows, making things awkward for him.
Since I was his best friend’s little sister, he couldn’t just brush me off, which must have made me an even bigger headache.
Well, up to that point, it was something I could fix just by not acting like a stalker.
The real problem was that the villainess poisoned her husband, Alferen, and pinned the entire crime on me.
As a result, I was imprisoned in Kirpican Prison for murder and ended my own life after only a few days.
It became one of the triggers for Adrian’s awakening, overwhelmed by the grief of losing his sister and his friend at the same time.
‘In the end, I’m just an extra.’
Now that I was actually in the shoes of a side character from the novel, a wave of injustice washed over me.
Kirpican Prison, of all places.
That was a facility reserved for the most heinous criminals.
And it was infamous—no one who went in ever came out alive!
To end up in prison for a crime I didn’t commit—that’s truly unfair!
But I couldn’t exactly monitor when the villainess would poison Alferen, and how was I supposed to interfere in a married couple’s affairs?
Yeah, a married couple’s affairs…
Wait a minute.
Come to think of it, they aren’t married yet, are they?
A spark of hope flashed through my mind, and I fixed Alferen with a burning gaze.
That’s when Adrian muttered with a sulky expression.
“Anyway, our Delly has never once called me handsome…”
“Well, that’s because you’re ugly.”
Is that really important right now?
Your little sister is about to end up locked in prison and dead!
“That’s harsh.”
Adrian pulled a sad face and grumbled, but it didn’t bother me much.
Right now, I was far more worried about my own life.
If I can’t prevent the poisoning, then I just need to prevent the marriage altogether.
After all, if he doesn’t marry the villainess, it’ll be hard for her to even attempt the poisoning!
Am I some kind of genius or what?
Having found a way to survive, I started diligently brainwashing Alferen every time I met him from then on.
“Hello, Ren oppa! The weather’s absolutely wonderful today!”
“It’s raining outside…”
“Ah? Why do I feel so good even though it’s raining? It must be because I saw you, oppa! Anyway, do you happen to like the color red?”
“Not particularly…”
“Oh! That’s perfect! The fortune-teller I met last time said you’re incompatible with red. Especially women with red hair—you should be careful around them.”
“You believe in that stuff?”
“So, you have to keep hating red from now on, okay?”
“…Sure.”
I deliberately staged encounters to plant prejudices against the villainess.
“Ren oppa, bad women are completely useless. Good women are the best, you know. Especially ones who tell you how handsome you are, praise you, and pamper you. Ah! And don’t even glance at anything red! Especially red hair!”
I didn’t hold back on advising him not to waste his life on a bad woman like the villainess.
“You have a wicked fiancée? Come on! Marriage should be with someone you love! Family benefits? You’re doing great without that—what’s there to worry about? Be careful of red hair today, too.”
I especially didn’t forget to advise him not to cling to family obligations, in case he hesitated because of his father’s will or whatever.
In the original story, Alferen valued relationships so much that he was desperate to hide his feelings for the female lead.
Honestly, the female lead’s first love wasn’t my brother—it was Alferen.
If Alferen hadn’t married the princess just to preserve his friendship, he would’ve become the main male lead.
It might end up interfering with my brother’s romance, but what can I do?
I’m more precious to myself than my brother is!
And so, amid this thorough plan, Operation: Get Alferen to Break Off the Engagement began.
* * *
Eight years passed.
Unfortunately, despite my persistent brainwashing efforts, Alferen didn’t cancel the engagement.
No, seriously, why?
He doesn’t even like Nanael, so why won’t he break it off!
At this rate, the third princess, who’s the same age as me, will have her debutante this year and marry Alferen the next.
After that, Alferen is fated to be poisoned by the third princess.
And then, in the end, I’ll get the prison ending!
Sigh, this won’t do.
It seemed like I needed some drastic measures.
But I can’t exactly drag the female lead over from another country…
At that moment, Adrian, who was playing with a ball, casually asked,
“Deli, your debutante is coming up soon—anything you want?”
“Nope.”
“Come on, don’t be like that. Tell me. This oppa will get you anything!”
I looked at Adrian with bleary eyes as he boasted.
Compared to his old thunderbolt-bug-like days, he’d become somewhat more dignified, but in my eyes, he was still no different from a hairy monkey.
Thinking about how that immature oppa wouldn’t hesitate to act all affectionate toward the female lead made my stomach churn a bit.
Just then, my gaze suddenly met Alferen’s.
He paused from reading his book and lightly asked,
“Deli, got something to say?”
Alferen called me by my affectionate nickname in a warm tone.
If the original Rodellia had heard that, she might’ve fainted from excitement.
Unlike in the original, I’d become quite close and casual with him.
It was the result of stopping those creepy, behind-the-scenes pining behaviors like Rodellia did.
“I do have something I want from you, Ren oppa…”
“What is it?”
“A letter of engagement annulment.”
“…That again? Haha.”
Alferen chuckled softly, brushing it off as a joke.
It was always like this.
What am I supposed to do about that stubbornness that doesn’t budge even from my passionate speeches (disguised as engagement-breaking campaigns)?
Normally, with this much sincerity, even the heavens would be moved and grant it, right?
“I’m serious. You know it too, oppa. How willful the third princess is. Rumors say she’s even killed people. And I told you, didn’t I? You’re incompatible with red!”
“But your hair color is in the red family too. It was even redder when you were little—does that mean I should avoid you as well?”
“What?”
“I wouldn’t like that.”
Alferen lightly tousled my hair and murmured softly.
Was it just my imagination that his blue eyes, staring steadily at me, felt especially ticklish today?
Flustered by the sudden closeness, I yanked my hair away and protested,
“Th-this isn’t red at all, it’s pink! Oppa, you need to get your eyes checked again. If you can’t even tell colors apart, that’s it for you.”
“Is that so.”
Alferen stepped back as if he’d never been close, wearing a relaxed smile.
Then he asked,
“So, who do you think I should marry, then?”
