IBFWTV 01

 Prologue

I couldn’t bring myself to meet his gaze, so I rolled my eyes. Did he know something? There had been several signs.

A cold suspicion that Serden seemed to know my secret. The strange look he gave me, his words and actions that felt like he was testing me.

I swallowed slowly.

My heart pounded. In my mind, I was fiercely calculating how Serden might react.

What if I was found out?

Would I be expelled?

What does he think of me? Will he kill me?

As if aware of my worry, Serden didn’t hesitate. He pinched my cheek. When Serden finally made eye contact, he smiled softly.

The curved eyes and the beautifully formed smile were eerily attractive.

Serden: “It’s about time you revealed your identity.”

Serden whispered low, as if saying it was impossible.

Serden: “Stop pretending. Before I really get angry.”

At those words, my shoulders slumped. What would happen if he actually got angry?

Serden’s pupils flashed coldly.

I only wanted to live. I seemed to have been misunderstood.

I whispered in a very small voice.

Me: “……Will you spare me?”

Serden placed his remaining hand beside me. His face leaning toward me shone pale.

Serden was smiling, as if all of this was nothing but a game.

Perhaps this man had known my secret from the very beginning.

Watching his face get closer, I shut my eyes tightly without realizing it. I could even hear Serden’s breathing.

The heavy, somewhat cold, and suffocating scent of Serden.

I swallowed unconsciously.

Fear mixed with an unidentifiable tension froze my body. I couldn’t discern Serden’s intentions. He had been watching me like a predator waiting for its prey.

Serden’s fingers touched my cheek. It felt hot, as if a mark had been stamped.

Even at this moment, I shamelessly felt my heart race. Even standing in a moment where I might die.

I clutched my dress tightly with trembling fingers. Serden whispered softly to me.

Serden: “Don’t be afraid. That’s why… I want to devour you.”

Words that dropped my heart into an abyss.

Three months ago.

When I first possessed the novel, it was already an irreversible situation.

I had gotten married and was trapped in my room.

I found out about my identity the next day when I heard the maids calling my name.

Maids: “Really, the idiot princess Evelyn became the crown princess. Lucky her. Even a fool should be born a princess.”

The maids sneered like that while tidying my room. They didn’t care whether I was there or not.

I had to hold back a scream while silently watching what they were doing until they left the room.

Idiot Princess Evelyn!

And Crown Princess!

Evelyn had been poisoned by the Spellman Dukes. Evelyn had a high fever when she turned ten, and her brain was damaged. She would live her whole life as if she were five.

So the Duke of Spellman hid his daughter carefully until it was time for her to marry, and then made her the wife of Crown Prince Serden.

This happened while Crown Prince Serden was away at war.

The emperor, bribed handsomely, permitted it, and the empress couldn’t stop it due to her weak family power.

Thus, Evelyn, who became the crown prince’s wife, acted according to the Duke’s instructions.

Duke: “If you obey your father, I’ll give you all this chocolate. It’s all for you, Evelyn.”

The innocent soul of a five-year-old could be swayed by something as trivial as chocolate. So Evelyn brought poisoned cookies to the princess and empress and even ate with them.

Who would suspect a child with the intelligence of a five-year-old?

Evelyn, unusually resistant to poison, survived, but the empress and princess, who took it over time, died.

When Serden learned this later, he turned dark, wiped out the Spellman Dukes,

and imprisoned his fool wife in a palace for life. She survived only because she had the mind of a child.

Serden, in the name of revenge, harassed the families of the male and female protagonists related to the Spellman Dukes.

Eventually, he was struck down by the male protagonist and removed from the throne. Evelyn was executed, labeled a witch.

It was an entertaining read. Devastatingly dark, yet so… erotic.

A novel that offset despair with lust. But now there’s a problem.

I’m not a fool.

Things I learned while staying quietly here this past week.

1. I am not a fool. (Obviously.)
2. The crown prince has not yet returned from war. He will soon.
3. The male protagonist is only six. He’s just learning to write.

There must be a reason I possessed the story at this point. Surely, it wasn’t to die.

I don’t want to be executed as a witch in the far future.

To prevent that, I need to stop the mastermind’s dark turn.

The trigger for Serden’s dark turn is the death of his family. And the tragedy begins when he learns that his foolish wife and several nobles were involved in their deaths.

Then I just need to prevent that, right?

Serden lived with Evelyn his whole life. He imprisoned her but never abandoned her. Because she was his wife.

If you think about it that way, he still gave a home, food, and money to a wife who committed crimes.

He’s basically Buddha. Honestly… generous?

But what if Serden doesn’t go dark and just keeps me in the palace?

I wouldn’t die, and I could live in the palace, spending the money that comes to me and eating meals prepared by others.

Me: “…This is awesome?”

Am I achieving my dream home like this?

Fine. I’ll play the fool from now on.

I’ve been practicing acting my whole life to become an actress. How hard can this be? I went anywhere I was called, whether for one-act plays or theater.

My last memory was getting hit by a speeding car while returning home from theater practice.

So I’m supposed to live here forever. I might as well enjoy the honey.

That afternoon, Serden returned.

The war hero returned, and for the first time, he faced his wife.

I also faced my husband for the first time.

My first impression of Serden: he’s huge. It felt like standing before a giant wall.

And above that, a perfect, handsome face. Clearly sculpted with divine care.

Serden narrowed his eyes when he saw me. Stunningly handsome. His slightly grown hair from six months at war covered the back of his neck.

Between his almost black ash-colored hair, his sunken eyes were revealed whenever he moved.

Long, big, deep blue eyes. Even his smile had a decayed charm dripping like honey.

He sighed and rubbed his chin. After thinking for a while, Serden asked his attending aide.

Serden: “Did a five-year-old like candy?”

His low voice carried a sense of emptiness. The aide answered with a sigh.

Aide: “My nephew loved it.”

Serden: “Really?”

Serden dug into his pocket and pulled out candy. He held it toward me and smiled lazily.

Serden: “Say hello, and I’ll give you this. Hello, handsome man. Try it.”

His eyes twinkled with mischief, but he was clearly angry. Understandable. After six months of hardship at war and returning a hero, and this is the reception he gets?

An unexpected foolish wife.

An unwelcoming emperor and empress.

Nobles only worried about Spellman’s reaction.

Serden was watching me like a predator, gauging my reaction.

He’s testing me. Fine. I expected to be caught here.

I swallowed my tension. Deceiving Serden is the first step. Luckily, I’d played a child before. Studying and analyzing children back then was useful now.

I stood up straight and bowed 90 degrees.

Me: “Hello, ugly man!”

I greeted brightly, pretending to know nothing. Serden touched his forehead and burst out laughing.

So, you think handsomeness is everything?

It works. Handsomeness melts even a thousand years of anger.

And Serden fit that description perfectly.

As promised, Serden offered the candy, and I ate it while grinning.

Expectations. I wasn’t called a promising talent in the theater world for nothing.