Chapter 02
“You came back injured again? It’s truly unfortunate that I can’t properly confine you.”
As soon as I opened the mansion door and stepped inside, I ran into someone Lana Demierd absolutely hated.
Right. If this body was supposed to be given a life full of happiness, then it clearly wasn’t a vessel meant for my chain of bad luck.
I hunched my shoulders as if I were the original Lana, acting intimidated by my older adopted sister.
‘What a total control freak.’
Thanks to Lana’s memories, I understood.
The Demierd ducal family had a hereditary ability passed down through generations, but Lana—an extra who wasn’t important to the story—had no ability at all.
Because of Lana’s lack of power, the Demierd couple felt complicated emotions. They went to an orphanage for sponsorship, where they met my adopted sister, Ever.
She had deep green eyes that looked like a dense jungle trapped in black hair.
Ever had leadership skills strong enough to control her peers and a confident attitude that immediately captured the couple’s attention.
On top of that, even though she came from the slums, she possessed an ability that could stop a target’s movement.
Because of all this, the Demierd parents were almost enchanted into adopting her.
They tried to justify it in front of five-year-old Lana, saying it wasn’t because they were ashamed of their powerless only daughter.
But I already knew.
There had even been talk that Ever would inherit the family head position and Lana would receive half the inheritance.
It was obvious someone would soon argue that an adopted daughter shouldn’t inherit the ducal house.
But the Demierd couple were soft-hearted people. Even with their biological daughter right there, they struggled to make decisions.
Now I understood why Lana had no engagement despite being from a ducal family.
After marriage, she would naturally take her husband’s surname.
So Lana probably rejected all marriage proposals late into her twenties, determined not to hand the family head position to Ever.
Even if Lana was timid, she would still recognize someone like Ever as a rival.
“I need to get treated… I’ll go inside.”
I glanced at Ever carefully, then quickly ran up the stairs. Fortunately, she didn’t stop me.
Once I entered my room, my personal maid Susan rushed over to check my wound.
“I’ll call the physician right away.”
“Can’t you just apply medicine? Isn’t this small enough to heal on its own?”
I thought young bodies usually healed quickly.
Susan shook her head firmly and left to call the physician.
Left alone, I slowly crawled onto the bed.
“Tch. Annoying.”
Thinking of Ever, I shook my head.
What’s the big deal about having an ability?
Fine. Since I’ve possessed this body, I’ll just count it as Lana gaining an ability too.
If another person’s soul entered this world, wasn’t that already an incredible ability?
I’ve got one too, you know? I can predict baseball game results—my choices always fail anyway.
Even after possession, Lana still had no ability.
Powerless. A future unemployed noble to be discarded by her family. And me, the possessor, also without any special ability.
I sighed quietly and turned my head.
“…At least this body is slightly prettier than Ever’s.”
I lifted strands of silver-tinted purple hair.
Even with dust on it, the color didn’t lose its beauty.
The harmless green eyes and delicate facial features were definitely more presentable than my previous face.
Probably not Harriet’s type, which is why they never became involved despite growing up together.
The heroine of this story, Selene, had dazzling features, shining blonde hair, and pink eyes that looked like they belonged on a poster.
Now I could understand Harriet.
Eating a pepperoncino-heavy tomato soup… and thinking someone actually prefers plain rice water over that.
Just then, the door opened and two sets of footsteps approached.
“Miss, I brought the physician.”
It was Susan and the doctor.
When he saw my condition, he flinched and stepped back.
“Why are you so shocked? I’m not that badly injured.”
“You’re usually so neat and clean, Miss, so I was surprised.”
“Oh… well, I guess that makes sense.”
With trembling hands, he removed the thorn fragments and muttered a spell for healing.
Afterwards, he handed Susan a medicine bottle and left, instructing me to apply it after bathing.
“Is this ointment?”
“Yes. It’s very good for healing wounds. It’s made by crushing Huddica leaves.”
It sounded like an antibiotic-like medicine that also promotes skin regeneration.
Since I needed a bath anyway, I washed up with Susan’s help.
After applying the mysterious medicine, I sat on the freshly changed bed.
“Please don’t overexert yourself today. You’ve been through a lot.”
“Ah, but I met Harriet today.”
“Yes.”
“I have some important information from Harriet, and I don’t want to forget it. Can you bring me a sheet of paper?”
Susan looked troubled.
“But Miss, you should really sleep early today. It’s already ten o’clock.”
Ten o’clock? So what.
Normally I’d still be lying in bed scrolling on my phone.
“Please? Just this once?”
If I don’t write down things from the original story while I remember them, it won’t help me in the future.
“You’re going to the imperial palace tomorrow. This banquet is very important, and I’m worried about your head injury too.”
An imperial banquet?
That wasn’t in Lana’s memories.
Just then, I recalled something from her father, the Duke Demierd.
“You’ve been invited to the princess’s birthday banquet next month. Don’t forget. Practice dancing until then.”
Wait, are you serious, Lana Demierd?
Who visits a friend’s house the day before an imperial banquet that takes six hours round trip?
If it’s at the imperial palace, then Harriet would definitely be there too.
Even if it’s before debutante season, it’s still an important social event.
“Can I sleep within an hour? Please?”
“Alright.”
“Just bring what I asked for, and you should go to sleep too, Susan.”
She reluctantly brought me a sheet of paper.
I quickly wrote down everything I remembered in my own style:
“Still before main story start – just before debutante season – Swen Merchant Guild boom – Harriet meets Selene – at debutante, Selene and first prince start hostile relationship – later border conflict – war – various disasters – they all team up and defeat everything – Harriet gets rejected – confirmed second male lead, then marriage”
That should be enough.
I tucked the paper between some books.
Then I crawled into bed.
I was already injured after possessing this body—I just wanted to sleep.
Is the imperial palace different? I’m already tired…
From early morning, I couldn’t relax while getting ready.
Acting like Lana wasn’t difficult.
My thoughts naturally turned into the speech of a noble lady and came out of my mouth.
As long as I wasn’t emotional, I could act properly refined and polite.
Even during breakfast, my etiquette was flawless.
Why did I end up inside Lana’s body of all characters?
I was adapting, but I still had questions.
Lana wasn’t a villain who got executed, nor a tragic heroine who ran away to die.
Can I figure this out?
A soul enters a body, yet I have no ability to investigate.
I decided I would quietly observe Harriet and learn more about Lana’s personality and abilities.
If I kept living like this, I might eventually find clues.
Since this body had a stable future, planning didn’t feel so frightening.
With determination, I finished getting dressed with Susan’s help.
“Miss, you’ll be the most beautiful at the ball.”
“Truly, the most beloved lady in the empire.”
Typical noble flattery.
I ignored it and headed to the imperial banquet hall.
Of course, Ever was there ahead of me.
“You looked awful before. At least you didn’t embarrass the family.”
Thanks to the medicine, the wound on my head had completely healed overnight.
I looked at Ever with wide, innocent eyes and clasped my hands.
“Thank you for worrying about me. Maybe it’s because of your prayers last night?”
“Don’t say ridiculous things. I was just worried because you are the face of the Demierd family, unfortunately.”
Tch. That rude woman.
I lost all desire to talk.
Anyway, even if I marry the second prince, the headship of the Demierd family would go to her.
I didn’t understand why she was so hostile.
There had already been talks of marriage between the Demierd family and the second prince around the debutante period.
The second prince of the empire, Belthanio… he didn’t have much influence in the original story.
Now I was being discussed as a future imperial princess.
A noble lady with good lineage, no scandals, and no ability issues.
And parents who acted as moderates between royalty and nobility.
By conditions alone, I was a decent match for the second prince.
If I got engaged to him, I’d gain more honor than even the Demierd family itself.
Ugh.
I wanted to sincerely tell Ever not to worry about me.
This engagement would break soon anyway.
And then another batch of marriage proposals would be sent out like spam mail.
I wish I could just tell someone.
Because the second prince had a secret only I knew from reading the original story.
