Chapter 01
Prologue
“Cough, cough!”
My chest tickled as a fit of coughing burst out. I even felt dizzy.
‘I’m screwed.’
That was the very first thought I had after possessing a character in a novel.
‘Of all roles to possess… why this one.’
I had possessed the role of Laria Rose Lostry from the novel The Empire’s Grand Bargain.
Her pale pink hair, sparkling violet eyes, and delicate features were fairly pleasing.
‘She’s a bit short, but with those round eyes and gentle impression, she almost looks like a puppy.’
But appearance was the only thing going for her. I was a minor supporting character among minor supporting characters—and worse, a terminally ill character destined to die at the age of twenty-one.
‘I died at twenty-one in my previous life, and now I’m fated to die at twenty-one again.’
“Cough, cough!”
I even coughed up blood, forcing me to wipe my mouth with a handkerchief.
“So you’re telling me the direct line of the Lostry family is down to just this sickly daughter?”
I was only fourteen years old now, and this was the funeral of Count and Countess Lostry—my parents.
Once I became aware of my possession, past memories flooded in as naturally as if they were my own.
My father, a womanizer, and my mother, extravagantly wasteful in reaction to him, had died in a carriage accident, leaving behind nothing but massive debt.
“There’s nothing in the count’s estate worth any money? Search everything!”
I had never been happy in the Lostry household.
My parents’ relationship was terrible, and the house was always noisy.
My only older brother had been sent far away to study on the Eastern Continent because my father claimed he was being defiant.
“It’s a funeral—where did all the relatives disappear to?”
“My money! You’re saying the only person I can squeeze my money out of is this pale-faced brat?”
At a funeral attended by neither relatives nor friends, I was being surrounded by debt collectors.
I half-listened to their shouting while repeatedly glancing toward the entrance. Because around now, the person who would take me away was supposed to appear.
In the original story, Laria never knew she was terminally ill until the day she died. Only two people in the world knew the truth.
One was my mother, the Countess of Lostry. And the other was—
“Uh? Th-that person is…”
“Why is Duke Icard here…?”
A man with a tall frame, jet-black hair, and chilling, glowing red eyes strode straight into the chaos.
‘The final boss’s entrance is seriously stylish…’
Even just walking in silence, his oppressive presence was overwhelming.
‘Duke Icard.’
Duke Calaudin Ivan Icard.
He had lived quietly, caring only for his own territory, but after his wife died, he suddenly became obsessed with power.
He was also the shadowy mastermind of the original story, someone who stopped at nothing to seize control of the noble houses and the imperial family.
Because he entered politics late, his influence wasn’t yet overwhelming—but through relentless scheming behind the scenes, he eventually rose to become the head of the noble faction a few years later.
‘He even succeeds in marrying his son to the imperial princess.’
Of course, just when it seemed he had achieved his goals by grasping both the nobility and the imperial family… the female lead, Princess Elani, fell in love not with his son, but with the male lead, shattering his long-cherished plans.
‘The original never explained what his ultimate goal was…’
The author said it would be revealed in a side story, but I only read up to the ending before I possessed this body.
Anyway, with his appearance, the noisy funeral suddenly fell silent.
The debt collectors whispered among themselves, then immediately lined up politely in front of Duke Icard.
‘So this is the power of money and authority!’
I was impressed all over again.
‘It’s not mine, but it’s beautiful… Must be nice to be a final boss.’
Not just anyone could be a final boss. If you had nothing and still called yourself one, you were just a delusional shut-in.
Then Duke Icard walked straight toward me and asked in a gloomy voice,
“Do you have anywhere to go?”
Fearing they might have to take responsibility for me, every relative had avoided the funeral. The count’s estate had already been seized as collateral, and all the servants had fled.
“Uh, no… Cough!”
When I coughed, his eyes narrowed slightly.
I already knew what he was going to say next.
“Then, will you become my son Evan’s wife?”
Even though I knew this was coming, I was still shocked.
To propose so abruptly, without any lead-up. In other words, he was suggesting a child marriage—one of the most extreme forms of political marriage among nobles.
Child marriages weren’t unheard of in noble society. By custom, a child as young as me couldn’t remain long as a mere guest in a noble household. To take responsibility for a child, they had to bind them as family and even grant inheritance rights.
“Matilda was very close with your mother.”
‘Matilda…’
That was the name of Duke Icard’s wife, who had died giving birth to a son.
“If Matilda were alive, she would have wanted to bring you here without question. So I will take you in.”
‘A lie.’
I blinked and thought to myself. Duke Icard was a man in the midst of expanding his power. There was no way he’d take me in for such sentimental reasons.
According to the original story, he learned of my illness by chance and intended to marry me to his son to make use of my predetermined death.
‘I know the original story inside and out! I can see through your dark intentions—did you really think I’d just go along with it?’
“I’ll pay off all your parents’ debts and guarantee you a life without want.”
“I look forward to your care, Father.”
I answered immediately.
I was that “someone.”
Even knowing the original plot, this was the optimal strategy. I was going to die young anyway—wasn’t it better to live in luxury as the story intended rather than die among debt collectors?
“…Father?”
Duke Icard’s eyes fixed on me with a chilling intensity. Just standing before such a powerful final boss was terrifying for a minor side character like me.
Intimidated, I answered timidly,
“I-I’m sorry. I mean, we’re family now…”
A brief silence followed.
“That’s fine.”
His low, cold voice made everyone tense.
“Let’s go.”
And just like that, I followed Duke Icard.
On the way to the ducal estate, he stopped by the imperial palace and submitted the marriage registration. With that single document, my name became Laria Rose Icard.
‘As expected… there was never going to be a wedding ceremony.’
My husband, Evan—one year younger than me—was at the academy, so I couldn’t even see his face.
Evan was a character in The Empire’s Grand Bargain who barely got a few lines of description. He wasn’t even important enough to be called a sub–male lead. And I was his ex-wife—an even more insignificant existence.
‘With my soul’s potential, I should be starring in a villainess story… but I possessed a body like this.’
Thanks to my unlucky possession, the villainess genre lost a promising talent. Villainesses usually had money—because even doing bad things required money.
But a side character with no money, no health, and no distinguishing traits—what could I possibly do?
‘What a shame. I should’ve possessed a rich, healthy villainess.’
I was immediately assigned a spacious room and a maid at the ducal estate. Sadly, for someone already terminally ill, following the original plot was the best route. Of course, it wasn’t that I didn’t know the cure.
‘The fruit of the Oclasia tree.’
I had an older brother, Fred, five years my senior. He had the same pink hair and violet eyes as me and was studying far away on the Eastern Continent. But exchanges with the Eastern Continent had been cut off for years due to monster infestations.
He only returned after my death. There was a scene where he cried before my grave while revealing the cure.
“Garba Castle Lung Disease is common on the Eastern Continent…
If only you eat ten Oclasia fruits every single day for five years, it’s a curable illness…”
In other words, my disease was considered incurable in the Empire because they didn’t know the treatment—but on the Eastern Continent, it was already a conquered illness. Still, it wasn’t information that helped me much.
‘The Oclasia tree is an extremely rare species. And even if it bears fruit year-round, the fruit is hard to preserve, so it’s even harder to obtain…’
The fruit spoiled almost instantly once it fell from the tree, making it extremely difficult to find on the market.
‘Even if I somehow got one or two… there’s no way I could get ten consistently.’
I had already come to terms with reality. The best ending for me was to laze around comfortably in someone else’s house and die.
‘Let’s aim for the next life. If I possessed once, I can do it twice, right? Please, a rich villainess—please…’
But my thoughts changed when I took a solitary walk through the rear garden near my assigned room.
‘Huh? This is…?’
I stopped in my tracks. In the ducal estate’s garden, as if it were a lie, stood a large number of Oclasia trees, neatly planted and even labeled with pretty signs.
‘Th-this makes no sense. Is this the possessor’s buff?’
It was as if someone had deliberately arranged everything.
‘Is this a god’s revelation telling me to live anew? Or a demon’s temptation telling me to destroy the original story?’
Ha… Possessing me in such a lousy role and then just plopping the cure right in front of me—was this some kind of joke?
“Thank you for the meal.”
Of course it wasn’t a joke—it was an incredibly generous blessing. I clasped my hands together and took a moment to pray in gratitude, whether to the god of possession or the demon of the original story.
“That said…”
Even so, if they thought I’d immediately lose my mind and gobble the fruit down in a frenzy, they were mistaken.
“Just because it’s urgent doesn’t mean I can eat it carelessly.”
I might be easy, but I was the kind of easy person who carefully selected the ten ripest fruits before eating them.
‘Alright, then.’
The plump fruits were only about the size of a thumbnail and fit easily in my mouth—but they were incredibly sweet.
My eyes sparkled as I thought,
‘Perfect. This time, let’s live longer than twenty-one!’
