Episode 2
Why did the Marquisate of Hagen accept an engagement that offered nothing but loss?
It was not long after a banquet where she had overindulged in champagne that Eliza was forced to recall that faded question.
Eliza Waluer was kidnapped. The reason was absurd.
It was because a man, who had tried to seduce her for a physical encounter, held a grudge after being rejected and intended to take her by force.
‘It hurts…….’
By the time she regained consciousness, tears were flowing endlessly.
Behind the blindfold, her vision was pitch black. A sticky pain spread from the back of her neck throughout her entire head.
Only then did she remember being struck on the back of the neck while resisting the man who was dragging her away.
“Mmph……!”
She tried to scream in anger, but only stifled sounds leaked out through the gag in her mouth.
Nevertheless, she struggled regardless.
The back of her head that had been struck and her wrists tied behind her back were all tingling, but more than that, the deepest part of her chest—her invisible heart—hurt the most.
It was because of the unbelievable truth she had learned when she collapsed.
‘No, it can’t be! Why would Hagen…….’
In the darkness, Eliza had a very strange dream. That dream was of her past life.
In her past life, she was an orphan in Korea who lived her whole life as an underdog, jumping from one part-time job to another until she died of overwork.
And she was reincarnated into the world of a novel she had read the day before she died. As Eliza Waluer, the childhood friend destined to be a sacrifice for the awakening of the second male lead, Leopold Hagen.
“Mmph…… Hmmmph…….”
Her jolting movements stopped, and a painful cry leaked out.
The fact that she had been an orphan in her past life was not particularly surprising.
Even in this life where she had parents, she had lived her entire life being neglected. Perhaps she was born to live in such a position from the very beginning.
However, she could not help but feel despair at the fact that Eliza’s only friend was the cause of her own death.
‘You didn’t have to give them back. Memories like these…….’
The original Eliza Waluer is offered as a sacrifice for black magic by the Marquis family of Hagen.
Eliza was destined to die with her chest torn open and her heart pulled out while still alive.
The culprit was none other than…….
“I’m here, Eli.”
The father of this man, who was now removing her blindfold and smiling beautifully.
The motive for the murder was to awaken Leopold Hagen’s ‘power.’
“My, your face is a mess.”
“Leopold, Leopold. Leo…….”
“……Oh. It seems you were quite sorrowful, Eli.”
As soon as her mouth and hands were freed, Eliza pulled him by the collar and buried her face in his chest.
Surprised by a reaction more generous than expected, Leopold’s eyes widened before he wrapped his arms around her shoulders.
He felt a faint scent of her body as he inhaled. A fragrance like tear-soaked petals calmed him as it always did. The blood that had been boiling from the fight began to settle.
“How could you……. You, how could you……”
However, a louder cry burst out from Eliza instead.
‘That novel’ was a story about a woman who received love from many. A Ducal family, who had been hiding the fact that they lost their daughter as a child, adopts a fake to fill that empty space.
But the protagonist, who was thought to be a fake, is actually the Duke’s real bloodline, and with her loveliness, she captivates not only her family but everyone, suffering through the courtship of various men.
Among those key figures was Leopold Hagen.
“I’ve found this power cursed my whole life, but thinking about it now, I think it’s a relief. Because I can protect you.”
The Leopold Hagen in the novel displayed a lunatic streak fitting for a male lead in a dark, obsessive story.
He frequently dealt with those who touched the female lead in secret and was often described smiling while covered in blood.
The foundation of his power was black magic. To awaken that power, Eliza was brutally murdered by the Marquis of Hagen.
Recalling that fact, Eliza felt goosebumps and pushed him away, but because her strength was frail, it only created a small distance.
“What happened?”
“Because our Lady Eli happened to be kidnapped.”
“……You should have handled it more cleanly.”
“Well. I was in a bit of a hurry.”
Eliza’s trembling gaze scanned the surroundings.
Seeing the man who had been turned into a bloody pulp and tossed onto the floor, she almost vomited.
Leopold patted the shoulder of the girl who looked confused.
“What about a thank you?”
“……I have something to say, something to ask. Leopold.”
“Why are you so serious? Don’t worry. The investigation of the mastermind is finished. Everything has been handled so there will be no future trouble.”
Leopold gently pushed Eliza’s back and led her outside.
Eliza wanted to ask something, but her voice was trapped in a surge of emotion and could not come out; only her lips flickered.
‘Was that why you stayed close to me?’
She wanted to believe it wasn’t just that. But one thing was certain.
As long as this was a world for romance, Leopold would betray her.
Once he falls in love with the female lead.
* * *
“It’s your birthday? Ah. Are you ten years old this year?”
“I am eight years old.”
“Are you only that old yet? Fine. If there is something you want, tell the butler…… Oh my, Helreos! You’re already good at using a knife!”
The Count and Countess of Waluer abandoned even their estate and came up to the capital to live a luxurious life.
Conscious of the eyes of others, they did bring their young daughter to the capital as well, but that was as far as it went.
Giving birth to her and raising her was enough. They had no intention of caring for a girl any more than that.
“What are you doing standing there blankly? Sit down. We have finished our meal, so eat on your own and go upstairs.”
“Mother, Father, I’m sleepy.”
“Yes, let’s go. My son.”
Eliza grew up neglected her entire life amidst her parents’ favoritism toward their only son, Helreos.
On her eighth birthday, while swallowing cold soup at the table where she was left alone, Eliza thought:
I am not needed by my family.
She had already realized at that age the truth that life is a solitary journey.
“Cough, cough…….”
So, even at this moment when a fever had risen, Eliza skillfully hugged a self-warmed hot water bag and curled her body.
Perhaps due to the shocking realization, her whole body was aching.
Scratchy breaths scraped her throat as they flowed out.
‘At this rate, I’ll be better in three days…….’
Eliza’s meals, ignored by the head of the house, had long since become meager.
Even if bold individuals made off with the young lady’s food, the reaction of the Count and his wife was like this, so Eliza had long since stopped tilling on them.
“You came to me for such a trivial matter? My time is very precious, Eliza. It is not to be taken by something like your meal.”
“What do you intend to do by being greedy for food, Lady? You must take etiquette lessons again.”
The food provided by a few highly sympathetic maids was insufficient for a growing girl to grow up healthy.
As a result, Eliza became prone to fevers.
She was used to the feeling of fireballs burning and flowing through every vein in her body.
What felt strange today was the fact that there was no sign of the presence that used to visit her sickbed every time.
“Haa……”
Eliza hated her own wrists that looked like they would break, and her pale, white skin tone entirely.
Leopold, who knew that fact well, used to visit her sickroom without fail to tease the sick Eliza.
“You truly have a talent for making people worried.”
“If you’re going to talk nonsense, leave.”
“To kick out a guest who came to visit the sick like this? Count Waluer would be sad if he knew.”
Eliza was now suspicious of that obnoxious kindness, as he used to place a wet towel on her forehead even while smirking.
She didn’t think that all of it was insincere.
But she wondered if even a little bit of deception was contained in those times. Her mind only became more complicatedly entangled.
‘I have to check.’
Even with her aching body, Eliza struggled and racked her brain.
She intended to visit the Marquisate of Hagen as soon as she recovered. It wasn’t that she was crazy, but to confirm if this place really was the world inside the novel.
Eliza hoped that everything was just her own delusion.
But, if it were truly confirmed that they were plotting black magic…….
Nothing would ever be the same as before.
☆☆☆
‘I hoped it wasn’t true.’
The Marquisate of Hagen was unbelievably defenseless regarding the point that they had secretly dabbled in black magic.
To be precise, it was closer to a lack of vigilance toward Eliza.
The adults Eliza had relied on instead of the parents from whom she received no affection were the Marquis and Marchioness of Hagen.
The Hagen couple knew that fact better than anyone else.
“It was real…….”
Thanks to that, Eliza had entered the secret room quite easily.
Though she had frequented the Marquis’s residence countless times over eight years, it was a space she hadn’t even known existed.
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