Chapter 1
I Quit Being the Heroine of a Regret Story
The sound of hurried footsteps echoed loudly through the hallway.
I was running as fast as I could, my worn-out dress fluttering behind me. I knew I probably looked ridiculous, but I couldn’t hold it in anymore.
“What’s wrong with her?”
“Leave her alone. She must’ve gone crazy.”
Yeah! That’s exactly the kind of thing I couldn’t stand anymore!
How could servants talk like that to the young lady they were supposed to serve?
Well… in this damn world, they could.
Bang!
I threw the door open and rushed into the garden.
The bright, sunny weather suddenly turned gloomy.
Drip.
Drip, drip.
Rain began falling directly onto me.
“Why is it only raining on me? Why only me?!”
I glared at the sky as if I wanted to bite it apart before clutching the back of my neck.
My name is Giselle Florette.
This whole terrible mess started about two weeks ago.
Two weeks earlier…
‘I was working my usual part-time job, dealing with another nightmare customer. After finishing my shift, I got so frustrated that I decided to empty a bottle of liquor.’
When I finally woke up from my hangover…
I was here.
Inside the Florette estate.
The moment I opened my eyes inside the moldy storage closet they called “my room” and threw off the damp blanket covering me, all the memories of my previous life flooded into my mind.
“My previous life… I was actually the heroine of the romance fantasy regret novel, Will You Regret It After I Die? ?”
The very first thought that crossed my mind was…
“I’m screwed.”
Let me explain just how frustrating Will You Regret It After I Die? was.
I, the heroine, lost both my biological parentsâthe great mage Count Sehera and my motherâto mysterious circumstances. After that, I was taken in by the Florette Count’s family as an adopted child.
The only person who truly cared about me, Count Florette, left on a long voyage.
While he was away, his younger sister, Lady Mariposa, became my guardian…
‘And from then on, my life became one endless nightmare.’
Lady Mariposa bullied me every single day.
Then Male Lead No. 1 and Male Lead No. 2âboth complete pieces of trashâshowed up and ruined my life even further.
“One pretended to be my friend just to use me. The other pretended to love me while using me. They were both absolute garbage.”
To make matters worse, high society spread rumors that I was playing both men at the same time, giving me the nickname “Everyone’s Lover.”
You’d think no one person should have to suffer that much.
But apparently, that was just the destiny of a heroine in a regret story.
Back then, I even left a comment with other readers complaining about how ridiculous the story was.
“I feel so bad for Giselle… The male leads are all insane, she doesn’t even have a single loyal maid, and even the servants talk down to her. She’s supposed to be a noble, but everyone just keeps abusing her without any real reason until she dies. This makes no sense…”
The author’s reply came immediately.
“That’s Giselle’s protagonist buff~⥔
No matter how I looked at it, the author clearly didn’t know what the word “buff” meant, so I couldn’t stop myself from replying.
“A protagonist buff is supposed to be something good. What Giselle has is just a debuff.”
The author answered again.
“Ah~ Haha, don’t worry! If Giselle starts acting differently, her protagonist buff will disappear!”
“…? But Giselle already died. The novel is over. How is she supposed to act differently?”
“If you don’t like the story, you’re free to stop reading. Thanks.”
That trashy author…
Grinding my teeth as the cold rain soaked my body, I suddenly froze.
‘Huh? That last comment… wasn’t there something important in it…?’
My eyes widened.
‘The author said… if Giselleâthat is, if Iâstart acting differently… then this ridiculous protagonist “buff”… no, this debuff… disappears?’
I quickly looked behind me.
Just as I expected.
Several maids were standing inside the mansion, laughing at how pathetic I looked.
As I slowly walked toward them, a rock that hadn’t been there a moment ago suddenly jutted out of the ground.
“Ahhh! M-My knee!”
I crashed face-first onto the ground.
Laughter rained down on me.
“Falling over like that takes talent.”
“I’m just so delicate that I trip all the time! I need a gentleman to catch me! Boo hoo!”
“Hahaha. Is that how Giselle became ‘Everyone’s Lover’?”
Still lying in the rain, I slowly clenched my fist.
Then I looked at the maids.
“Hey.”
“…”
“Are you idiots? Instead of whispering behind my back, you’re insulting me loudly enough for me to hear.”
“W-What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
Maybe they were shocked because I had always lowered my head and silently accepted everything.
For once, I was glaring back at them.
None of them knew what to say.
“Whatever.”
“I’m done.”
“I quit being the heroine of a regret story!”
“W-What are you talking about?”
“Why is everyone such a pain in my ass? Get lost! I’m done with all of this!”
“Eek!”
I scooped up a handful of dirt and threw it at them.
A few moments later…
Drip…
…Drip.
The rain began to fade.
A beam of sunlight broke through the gray clouds above my head.
At that moment, I felt the invisible pressure weighing me down loosen ever so slightly.
The maids looked at me with confused expressions.
Unlike before, they didn’t continue mocking me.
Only then did I let out a relieved sigh.
‘So that’s how it works.’
‘If I stop following the original story… then this so-called protagonist buffâthis debuffâdisappears.’
Then all I had to do was behave as differently as possible from the pitiful, tragic heroine.
In that case…
I should cause chaos in the most outrageous way imaginable.
“I’ll legally make every one of these bastards regret messing with me.”
Just as I smiled like a devil, already thinking of ways to punish both this family and the trashy male leads…
Someone shouted my name.
“Giselle Florette!”
It was Lady Mariposa, the woman who had tormented me throughout my life in the Florette estate.
Looking at her bright red hair and green eyes, I suddenly remembered the farewell letter my past self had written.
I think I was still very young.
One day, I wrote Lady Mariposa a letter filled with all the affection I had for her.
My little hands hurt from writing it so carefully.
Do you know where I found that letter the next day?
In the trash.
When I nervously asked where my letter had gone, she casually said she’d thrown it away.
After that… I never poured my heart into another gift again.
I was too afraid it would just be thrown away.
Let me tell you something else.
I always wanted to become someone useful.
Because Lady Mariposa told me every single day…
“Giselle, don’t be a burden. Since our family adopted you, you should at least earn your keep.”
“…Yes. I’ll work hard. I-I heard my real father was… the Great Mage…”
“So what? You didn’t inherit even one percent of his talent.”
“…”
“Everyone laughs at you. But there is one thing you’re good atâcleaning like a maid.”
Her eyes were so cold that I couldn’t bring myself to tell her the truth.
Yes, I was slow and clumsy.
But I thought I’d discovered a hidden talent for magic.
I had an incredible amount of mana.
‘Oh…’
‘Found my first perfect target for revenge.’
The corner of my lips curled upward.
Immediately, Lady Mariposa barked at me.
“Get your filthy body off the ground this instant!”
“Huh?”
“Today is the day we announce your engagement to Baron Milpianne. I already told you that.”
‘Baron Milpianne? Isn’t he an old man at least thirty years older than me?’
Come to think of it…
Today was that day.
‘After my engagement to that old creep was announced… my life went downhill at terrifying speed.’
I brushed my hair back as though shaking off the mold clinging to me and smiled brightly.
“Ah, sure. I’ll get ready right away.”
“I’m really looking forward to it.”
A miserable life as the abused heroine of a regret romance fantasy?
I didn’t care anymore.
I’d throw that role away along with everything else…
And carve my own path straight through the field of thorns ahead.
