≈ Chapter 1 ≈
So, this is the story.
Princess Anais of Belfast had her body stolen by a swindler and became the victim.
Then, before she knew it, she got involved with the greatest bachelor on the continent and ended up paying for crimes she had never even committed.
The hand holding the mirror trembled.
“No way.”
“Miss…”
“It’s a lie, isn’t it? Nanny, tell me.”
She wanted to press her lips together. But the pain was too much, and she had no choice but to relax them. In the mirror, her lips were swollen bright red and covered in wounds.
She stared at her reflection, then looked blankly at her nanny because she simply couldn’t believe it.
Her eyes clearly said, Explain this.
But the nanny, who had been with her since the day she was born, looked away awkwardly.
Then she asked hesitantly,
“Do you really not remember anything from this past year?”
“I don’t…”
“Miss…”
“Anais…”
The young lady—Anais—lowered her eyes to the mirror again.
Her whole body shook from the shock.
Because until yesterday, the face she had always seen in the mirror had looked nothing like this.
Anais’s nickname was “The Princess of Belfast.”
Not because she was an actual princess.
She had delicate features, a tall nose, pink lips, fair cheeks, clear green eyes, and beautiful golden hair.
If the words “a princess from a fairy tale” became a real person, she would probably look exactly like Anais Fleur.
Whenever she looked in the mirror, she thought she was so adorable that she would sometimes greet herself with,
“Goodness, hello, pretty girl!”
But the person she was looking at now was nothing like a princess.
“Anaais… ow, ow, ow…”
As Anais opened her pink lips again, she quickly shut them because of the pain.
Dark scabs covered her closed lips.
That wasn’t all.
Her once fair cheeks were swollen bright red.
They were burns.
That’s right.
Instead of looking like a princess, Anais looked like someone whose house had burned down, leaving her with nothing but the clothes on her back.
Of course, the Fleur mansion where she lived was perfectly fine.
Inside that beautiful mansion, only Anais looked like a complete mess.
Thankfully, her eyes were unharmed.
But her long, thick eyelashes had all burned away.
Her eyebrows were completely gone.
And what about the beautiful golden hair she had always been so proud of?
It had been burned into tight curls, chopped off in uneven clumps, and still smelled burnt.
Most of it had crumbled away.
Tears filled her only unharmed feature—her clear green eyes.
“What… what happened to me…?”
It wasn’t because she didn’t know what had happened.
Anais had woken up only thirty minutes ago, and as soon as she did, her faithful nanny had explained everything.
She understood it immediately.
She always pretended to be a little foolish, but in truth, Anais was smart.
But understanding and accepting were two different things.
She simply couldn’t accept the situation she was in.
And who could blame her?
Imagine this.
You go to sleep one night…
Then wake up to find that an entire year has passed.
And on top of that, your perfectly healthy body is now covered in terrible burns.
Ridiculous.
But that was exactly what had happened.
According to Anais’s memories, she had gone to bed last night excited for her upcoming nineteenth birthday.
Because it was going to be wonderful.
Her mother had bought her emerald earrings that matched the color of her eyes.
Her father had promised to buy her a new horse.
And her grandfather…
Goodness.
Since she was turning nineteen, he had prepared nineteen presents for her!
Of course she had gone to sleep happily.
Just imagining what those nineteen gifts could be had filled her with excitement.
But when she woke up this morning, she was completely confused.
Her whole body hurt terribly.
The soft skin on her arms was covered in red wounds, and even her fingertips were shriveled.
The first thing Anais did was call loudly for her nanny.
She believed her nanny, Anne, would surely be able to explain everything.
But instead, the moment Anne saw her, she burst into tears and collapsed onto the floor.
“Miss! Thank goodness! You’re alive!”
Anais was speechless.
Alive?
Today was supposed to be her nineteenth birthday.
Why would someone say something so unlucky?
When she demanded an explanation, her nanny said something even more unbelievable.
“W-What? Today is… sob… your… your twentieth birthday, Miss… And the birthday party that was supposed to be held tomorrow has been canceled.”
Anais could only tremble as she asked again,
“What are you talking about? Everyone’s just teasing Anais, right? You’re all secretly preparing a surprise birthday party to shock me, aren’t you?”
She said that out loud.
But deep down, she already knew.
There was no surprise party.
The middle-aged nanny answered painfully,
“I’m sorry, Miss…”
“Don’t apologize, Nanny!”
Her words were mixed with tears.
“Explain it to me! What happened to my face? And… am I really twenty years old?”
“But Miss… even I don’t really…”
Now tears filled the nanny’s eyes as well.
Anais frowned.
A sharp pain struck her face immediately.
Unbelievable.
It hurt so much that she couldn’t even frown.
But there was something even more unbelievable.
“Miss. The day before yesterday, you were struck by lightning at Belfast Harbor.”
She thought she had already reached her limit for surprises.
She hadn’t.
Anais’s mouth fell open.
“Lightning?”
“Yes…”
“Anais was struck by lightning?”
“I’m afraid so, Miss.”
“At the harbor?”
“Our poor Miss… they say when someone suffers too much, even their mind becomes sick…”
The nanny took out a handkerchief and wiped away her tears.
She had clearly decided that Anais had lost her mind as well.
Anais desperately forced herself to think.
She had to know.
If this wasn’t someone’s terrible prank…
Then why had this happened?
“Ah.”
Suddenly, something came to mind.
Anais threw the mirror onto the bed and frantically searched beneath her pillow.
Her hands were wrapped in bandages, but she didn’t care.
“Miss!”
Her nanny hurried over to stop her.
But Anais was faster.
She found what she had been looking for.
She pulled it out immediately.
Anais’s diary.
A heart-shaped diary covered in pink velvet, decorated with tiny pearls, and locked with a little key.
Her precious friend.
She had even named it “Charlotte♡” once upon a time.
Now, however, she treated it as an embarrassing memory whenever anyone mentioned it.
“The key… the key…”
She searched under the pillow again.
It wasn’t there.
Like a madwoman, Anais shook the pillow.
Only after half the goose feathers had flown out of the expensive pillow did the key finally fall out.
Her eyes red from panic, she unlocked the diary and opened it.
Her nanny tried to help several times.
But unlike her usual self, Anais pushed her hands away every time.
Then she searched for the last sentence she remembered writing.
<I really can’t wait for my nineteenth birthday! Eek!>
But it wasn’t the last sentence anymore.
<I really can’t wait for my nineteenth birthday! Eek!>
Someone had carelessly crossed out the cheerful sentence with rough lines.
And below it…
<Well then.>
<What a shame.>
Written in handwriting she had never seen before.
<Looks like your nineteenth birthday present is me.>
…
Below that, even more writing continued.
<Anais Fleur? Nineteen years old (I think). Blonde. No fiancé. Not in the Empire. Not the North either. Which novel is this? Possession story. Seems rich.>
<Count’s family. Two noble titles. Eldest daughter. Nicknamed the Princess.>
<Not princess syndrome?>
<Thought her head was full of flowers, but after reading the diary, maybe not.>
Anais had never seen this handwriting before.
But strangely…
She could read every word.
<Is this a webtoon?>
<Looks like one of the later possession stories. Thirty-two possessors already. (Is the author insane?)>
<Seems like this is a world where you die if people find out you’re a possessor.>
“……”
Anais slowly raised her head.
Her eyes met the nanny, who was desperately wishing she could wipe away the tears streaming down Anais’s cheeks.
Anais opened her mouth.
“Nanny.”
“Miss!”
“Anais…”
“Yes!”
“Anais is going to faint for a moment…”
She collapsed on the spot.
“Miss!” the nanny screamed.
“Oh my goodness! A doctor! Hurry and bring a doctor!”
The maids who had been peeking outside the room all rushed away in panic.
“Miss!”
Her mind became hazy.
This has to be a dream.
When I wake up again…
Wait.
Anais suddenly opened her eyes.
“Miss!”
Thinking she had regained consciousness, her nanny looked overjoyed.
With a serious expression that completely didn’t suit someone who had just fainted, Anais said,
“Nanny. I have a favor to ask.”
“Yes?”
“Never read my diary.”
“W-What? Miss!”
“Then Anais is going to faint again…”
She closed her eyes once more.
“Miss! Miss!”
Her nanny’s cries slowly faded into the distance.
Ignoring them, Anais muttered to herself.
This is a dream.
It’s a dream.
When I wake up, everything will be back to normal.
It has to be.
As if that would ever happen.
