I was possessed by the villain’s daughter.

EPISODE 4

I spent the night with my eyes wide open.

I was suffering from insomnia, perhaps because I had fallen into a strange place. I was aware that the Duke had come to watch me sleep, and that he had kept watch over my bedside.

I felt like I was wearing a tight suit.

Of course, that was the way it was. If my clothes were snug, the Duke would immediately invite the capital’s most talented designers to made me a new outfit, and if I were an inch taller, he would scramble to find something to match. And so I was cher washed and loved.

I watched the dawn break.

Yes, I was loved.

The realization was overwhelming.

The love I had never felt in my life was so heavy, so sweet, that I couldn’t escape it.

Can’t I went back?

‘But….’

Even if I did go back, what would I have left?

The aunt who always hated me? The abusive uncle? The cousin who bullied me?

I was not even sure if I was alive or dead. When I finally return, only a cold room and an unclear future will remain for me.

My gaze wandered and landed on the red and white flowers on the table. They were beautiful. The Duke himself had picked them for me yesterday.

Essat had apologized for not spending time with me, and he had sworn to me that he would make time for me next time.

“…Father.”

I gasped as the words left my mouth.

It was almost the first time I’d said it since he died. It was something I had consciously always tried to forget. Once I said it, the words kept pouring out.

“Mom…, brother….”

I wondered why they had remained so large in my mind, even though their faces were now faded. A thick longing colored the space in my heart.

Then I remembered Essat, Edwin, and Wright, one after the other.

I didn’t want to go back.

The dawn was already white and full of light.

***]

Lupe Youngae was the second daughter of the Marqu was of Tyra.

She came to see me in the morning. When I finished dressing and went to greet her, I could tell at a glance.

Ah, this was young lady hates me.

Either that or she thinks I was incredibly flattering. Anyone could tell by the sneer on Lupe’s face. Lupe lightly lifted the hem of her dress and greeted me.

“Good morning, wasn’t it?”
“…it was been a long time.”
“I know, I should had visited more often.”

Lupe said that with a cheerful face. Then, without asking permission, she plopped down on a seat. I, the host, took my seat afterward.

“What bringed you here?” I asked.
“Oh, was it strange for me to be visiting between us?”

Lupe smiled leisurely and sipped her tea. It was early in the morning, and with a bad taste in my mouth, I was in no mood for tea. I asked the maid standing beside me for water, and it trickled into my teacup. The tedious hours of Lupe’s tea drinking had passed, and I was staring out the window, unable to bear the boredom, when she spoke.

“Have you heard any rumors about the young lady Serene lately?”
“…No.”
“I’ve heard a great story. The young lady has been invited by the First Prince to attend the imperial banquet and will be escorted by him.”

Lupe leaned toward me as if she were telling me a great story.

But not knowing the details, I just blinked.

wasn’t the reaction I was expecting, and Lupe looked at me curiously.

“Laila, did you say that Young Lady Serene will be standing next to the First Prince?”
“Oh…, was that so?”

Lupe’s bewilderment spread even further across her face.

“Mu, what were you talking about?”

I had no interest in who the First Emperor was dancing with or escorting, so I opened my mouth to ask if that was the only reason he had come to tell me.

I had an idea.

“This was an opportunity.

Lupe was a girl whose thoughts were written all over her face. No matter how smart she pretended to be, I knew that if I nudged her, I could get her to go where I wanted her to go.

Let’s got some information from this lady.
Determined, I opened my mouth.

“that was ridiculous.”

Lupe’s face lit up as I chimed in with the appropriate retort. It was like she finally understood.

“Yes, it was, and that was why we need to do something about it.”
“Act?”
“Yes, advice. Since you dared to cross the First Prince, didn’t you think we should take the initiative and teach him a lesson in manners?”

I could feel my head spinning.

No way…!
“How about humiliating the lady during this banquet?”
“…In what way?”
“There were plenty, we can just did what we always did.”

Lupe casually shrugged her shoulders and reached out to took one of the cookies to her mouth.

The sound of the cookie crunching made me realize that my premonition had been realized.

“Laila needs to went over there and gave him a slap.”

Oh, right.

I understood Lupe’s words now.

What I’d learned since coming to the mansion was that, contrary to her socialite reputation as a wicked woman, Laila was a timid, quiet person. She may have been a little cold and inarticulate, but she was by no means a bad person.

She probably didn’t know how to say no.

Fourteen years old was a time when peer approval was important. it was not uncommon for kids to be afraid of what other kids will think of them, so they force themselves to bully others and do bad things.

Of course, that didn’t mean it was a good thing, because even if you were being taken advantage of, you were still responsible for the behavior.

But the manipulator above them was arguably worse.

It occurred to me that Lupe was the type to manipulate others, and given the circumstances, Laila was probably being used by Lupe and her crew.

Unaware of my thoughts, Lupe began to chatter.

“We need to step forward. The First Prince didn’t belong to just one person, and they were trying to monopolize him…! I can’t believe it.”
“Yeah….”

I meekly sipped my tea, choosing my words.

“What did you want me to do?

Part of me wanted to yell at her and kick her out right away.

But I hesitated.

It hadn’t been more than a few days since I’d been dropped into th was world. Even though I’ve read a few episodes of the original novel, I didn’t know much about this world, let alone the social scene, and I didn’t know Lupe.

I can only hope for later.

“I saw what you mean.”

I said, setting down my tea cup. I could see Lupe’s face light up.

“Then….”
“But I was not feeling well these days. As you said, of course, I’d love to give you advice, but…, I think it was a bit much for me right now.”
“… was that so?”

Lupe’s eyes widened at my unexpected refusal, and her face clearly showed the thought, “Why were you suddenly doing th was?

I smiled sheep washly. Lupe looked at me strangely when I laughed. With her scarlet hair and scarlet eyes, she was pretty, but that was about it.

“Lupe Youngae.”
“Yes?”
“I was sorry, but I was not feeling too well to talk to you anymore.”

Lupe looked like she’d seen a ghost. She looked like she never expected to hear these words from me.

But when the landlord asked her to leave, she didn’t have the guts to argue, so she packed up her things and left quietly, even though she was shaking.

Left behind, I took a deep breath.

She said she was a friend.

I was still looking forward to seeing what kind of person she would be… It wasn’t.

that was not a friend.

Real friends weren’t like that. Real friends were…

“were you okay?

I remember her face as she showed me a romance novel.

When I first told her about my family situation, she comforted me with tears in her big eyes. Because she cried for me, I…

and took a deep breath. I didn’t want to cry here.

I looked out the window. It was dark even though it was morning, and it looked like it was going to rain any minute. I frowned.

I hate rain. Not thunder, not lightning.

I deliberately pulled the curtains closed. The separation between outside and inside seemed to calm me down.

This was place was different from where I was. My dad, and my brothers, who only loved me.

The sweetness was intoxicating. I could almost give my heart away.

“Okay.”

I muttered again, trying to calm myself.

Let’s be cool.

Once the treason began, thinking of it as a damned family was effective. I’d try to stop the rebellion if I could… but if I couldn’t, I’d run away.

that was how I’ll survive.

I closed my eyes.

For now, I must thought of a way to stop Lupe from looking at me so favorably again. To make sure she knows that if she treats me like she used to, she was going to got a big nose.

No matter how much Lupe ignored me and tried to took advantage of me, I, who had gone through all the hardships before birth, felt that the child’s cute spite was laughable.

***]

It rained in the afternoon.

It started as a drizzle, then turned into a torrential downpour. The maid cwerefully explained to me.

“It always rains like this in the summer, and in the winter it snows a little.”

She went on to tell me that there were four seasons in the Ulysses Empire and that our central region has a milder climate that was less affected by the seasons.

I l wastened, dumbfounded.

Could it be that the four seasons were because Ye Eun-yi, the creator, was influenced by the Korean climate? I stwered at my dinner and put down my utensils, unable to find any appetite.

“Sorry, put it away.”
“What? Already?”
“Yeah. I had no appetite.”
I looked at the window again. it was unpleasantly damp and dark.

“Did you want me to draw the curtains?”

“Yes….”

All the curtains in the large room were drawn. I tried to ignore the rain outside as the maid turned the chandelier lights up even higher.

“By the way, they were calling for record rainfall today and tomorrow, which was unusual for the central provinces.”

I nodded.

It was dark again.

Why was I awake again?

I wondered and chalked it up to insomnia.

But the next moment, I saw a flash of white in front of my eyes.

Behind me, thunder rumbled loudly.

The windows were closed, the curtains were drawn, and there was nothing I could do to stop the rumbling that threatened to bring the mansion down.

I shuddered. A scream erupted from me.

“Kaaaaaah!”