Prologue.
The Great Lust Demon Disaster
“Demons have appeared! Don’t panic—stay calm and respond accordingly!”
The area outside the window erupted into chaos in an instant.
It was because demons had suddenly appeared at the outing, which had already been lively enough.
I wanted to shout, “Someone here has already been attacked by a demon too! Help us!” but I couldn’t even part my lips.
The man I had spent every day guarding against ever since realizing I had possessed a short-lived extra from the novel I’d read was completely stealing away my breath.
Each time our tongues intertwined, our saliva mixed together shamelessly.
Whenever his rough hands—hardened from years of wielding a sword—caressed my body, it felt as though my stomach was boiling with heat.
“Mm…”
Unable to swallow the helpless moan that escaped my lips, I looked up at the man before me.
The First Prince of the Empire.
The final villain of the original novel—
Damian Ivelrn.
Ordinarily, he was a man who obsessively maintained strict celibacy in order to eliminate any scandal that might stand in the way of becoming Crown Prince.
But at this moment, his mind had been completely dominated by a Lust Demon—a demon that possessed human bodies and satisfied its own desires through them.
Calling it a Lust Demon makes it sound fancy, but it’s basically just a perverted demon that makes people unbearably horny.
Still, I wasn’t in any position to pity Damian.
I, too, had been exposed to the demonic energy the demon emitted, and my body continued to burn with desire against my own will.
Every single cell in my body grew languid, begging for even stronger stimulation.
As if answering those pleas, Damian clenched the hem of my dress.
The veins on the back of his beautiful hand bulged blue, as though he were desperately suppressing his own desires.
“Levy Heron.”
His voice was far lazier than usual.
Gone was his cold, piercing gaze.
Instead, his crimson eyes were clouded with intoxication, as though enchanted by something.
The moment I heard my name leave his lips, the last remnants of my reason flew away as well.
With blurred vision, I stared directly into his eyes.
His low voice, thick with restrained heat, was so seductive that the word itself couldn’t possibly describe it.
His flushed eyes.
Those sweet crimson irises.
His high, perfectly sculpted nose.
The beautifully shaped lips beneath it.
There probably wasn’t a single woman in this world capable of rejecting Damian.
Unless…
She became completely intoxicated by the fact that the very first woman chosen by the obsessively celibate prince happened to be herself.
If only I’d subdued that demon more decisively when I first encountered it… Damian never would have fallen victim to the Lust Demon.
Judging from the look in his eyes—and from this dangerously intimate position—
The first prey chosen by the Lust Demon possessing Damian…
Was me.
Only moments ago, that fact had filled me with despair.
But now, my own reason was slowly melting away, and I couldn’t help thinking that perhaps sharing my body with him wouldn’t be so terrible.
Besides…
According to what I’d learned, the original owner of a possessed body remembered nothing that happened while the demon controlled it.
Once the demon satisfied its desires, it would remain dormant for quite some time afterward.
Through the opening of his half-undone shirt, broad, well-defined chest muscles were exposed.
If it was Damian…
Surely he would be able to satisfy my own uncontrollable desires as well.
I gave a small nod, silently granting my consent.
Then I quietly watched him draw closer…
Before gently closing my eyes.
…So this is how I end up entangled with the final villain.
Since possessing this body, every effort I had made flashed before my eyes like scenes from a dream.
Chapter 1. I Reincarnated into an R-Rated Tragic Romance Fantasy
It happened about a month ago that I reincarnated into the discontinued R-19 novel <The Saintess Who Awakened in Prison>.
…Am I dead?
At first, waking up in another world felt absurd beyond belief.
Of course, my previous life hadn’t exactly been a happy one.
I had no family.
No one precious to me.
I was poor.
Having grown up in an orphanage, I’d known from the start that survival meant gritting my teeth and working harder than everyone else.
Still…
There had been satisfaction in slowly building a better life for myself.
After finally making it into university through sheer determination, I worked countless part-time jobs to repay my student loans—
Until I collapsed from overwork.
When I opened my eyes again…
I was here.
It saddened me that the life I’d fought so hard to improve had ended so suddenly.
But before long, I stopped dwelling on my previous life.
No matter how many times I looked around…
No matter how many days passed…
There was no denying I’d arrived in another world.
Maybe all those novels I’d read about people dying from overwork and waking up in fantasy worlds had become a sort of indirect experience.
My mind adapted surprisingly quickly.
First, I need to figure out where I am… and who I am.
Pretending to be bedridden with a severe fever, I remained confined to my room while gathering information from the maids who came to check on me.
Playing the patient wasn’t difficult.
The condition of the body I’d possessed was so terrible that it genuinely felt as though the original owner had been destined to die soon anyway.
Judging by the size of the room and the furnishings… this is a noble household?
If I was going to survive with such a frail body, I sincerely hoped this wasn’t a family that earned its living through physical labor.
A merchant family…
A prestigious house of magicians…
Anything but a family of knights.
Unfortunately…
Every piece of information I gathered while lying quietly in bed was utterly despair-inducing.
The Ivelrn Empire.
House Heron.
Lady Levy.
And buried deep within this body’s memories, like an incurable trauma—
The nickname:
“The Defective One of House Heron.”
Praying I was wrong, I walked toward the large mirror decorated with carved lions.
The moment I saw the beautiful, cat-like woman reflected there…
I knew exactly who I was.
Soft platinum-blonde hair.
Deep pink eyes.
Long eyelashes capable of captivating anyone.
A sensuous figure with elegant curves.
Why… of all people… did I have to possess the extra from the knightly House Heron who dies young after failing to seduce the male lead?
Over the following days, the original owner’s memories gradually blended with my own, making it easier to accept this world as reality.
I’d completely forgotten this novel after the author abandoned it midway through serialization…
<The Saintess Who Awakened in Prison> had been one of the worst romance fantasy novels I’d ever read back when I first got into the genre.
Honestly, it wasn’t surprising that the author ran away after abandoning all the plot threads they’d created.
The novel’s official tagline had been:
“A dark R-19 romance fantasy.”
Except…
To build up that so-called “darkness,” the story remained nothing but misery for the first hundred chapters.
Readers frequently left comments like:
“Is this actually a martial arts novel? Where’s the romance? Why does everyone just keep dying?”
That was how bad it was.
Unfortunately…
The point where I’d reincarnated was right in the middle of that endless tragedy.
Just before the original story truly began.
The Empire’s nobles were fiercely fighting over the succession to the throne, leaving no room whatsoever for romance.
There were two imperial princes.
The First Prince—
The obsessive secondary male lead and ultimate villain who would eventually imprison the heroine and use her as nothing more than a battery for divine power—
His name was…
Damian Ivelrn.
In front of everyone else, he acted like the perfect, benevolent future emperor.
In reality…
His personality had serious issues.
In the original story, his younger half-brother, Prince Fried, ultimately won the battle for succession.
Unable to accept defeat, Damian launched a rebellion.
And this body—
Levy Heron, the so-called defective daughter of House Heron—
Along with her entire family…
Was wiped out while trying to suppress that rebellion.
The head of House Heron was away on a mission at the border.
The only person remaining in the capital was his sickly, spoiled only daughter, who had inherited the blessing of the First Generation and possessed the power of the Lion Divine Beast.
Yet her only concern was securing a place beside the Second Prince, Fried.
Naturally, she lacked the ability to unite the knights and lead them to victory.
After that…
The novel briefly mentioned that Levy Heron died a meaningless death due to her incompetence and various other reasons.
…Seriously? Of all the people I could possess, it had to be an extra who dies such a pathetic death?
I looked at the calendar.
Damian’s rebellion would occur roughly three years from now.
Fortunately, I still had time.
Perhaps this was one of the perks of reincarnation.
Enough time to change the course of the story.
First of all, I need to avoid getting involved with Damian—the villain—or the original male lead, who doesn’t even glance at me. And I need to strengthen this ridiculously weak body.
If possible…
I’d also bring the original male and female leads together much sooner.
After that…
I needed to prevent the incident that would eventually kill my father—
Elbert Heron, the Empire’s greatest knight.
Even if the rebellion still happened…
As long as Count Heron remained in the capital, neither I nor the knights of House Heron would be massacred.
And if I still have time after all that… I’ll find myself a decent man and enjoy a proper romance.
It would be such a waste for someone as beautiful as this body to die young after foolishly chasing only the male lead.
As I carefully organized everything I needed to do and recalled every detail I remembered from the novel—
Knock. Knock.
“Levy, it’s your uncle. I heard you’re feeling much better. If you’re up for it, why don’t we have a nice family dinner together?”
The voice beyond the door was warm and gentle.
Warm enough that a lonely nineteen-year-old girl—whose mother had died years ago and whose father was away—might mistake it for a ray of hope.
But that only applied to the spoiled, ignorant Levy Heron from the original story.
“Yes, Uncle. I’ll be right out.”
I carefully hid my reluctance as I answered.
A parasite.
A man who had long ago been expelled from the family after repeated business failures and countless scandals involving women, only to sneak back into the estate once his niece was left alone.
Before long, he would gamble away the family’s wealth and plunge House Heron into a devastating financial crisis.
I already knew.
Uncle Aaron was the very first obstacle I needed to remove if I wanted to change Levy Heron’s fate.
