Chapter 02
When Pesha was around nine years old, she fell from a tree and hit her head. That was when she realized that she
was inside a romance fantasy novel.
In the original story, Pesha Rydel was a wicked villainess who bullied the female protagonist, Io Clark.
According to the original story, Pesha and Io were childhood friends of the same age. Pesha had always looked down
on Io in subtle ways, but when Io’s situation improved, Pesha could not overcome her jealousy and began bullying
her relentlessly.
However, the end of a villainess was always merciless.
‘Even after marrying the male lead, she keeps plotting against him and eventually gets killed by him.’
And since she died early in the original story, it meant she did not even live a long life.
She had been born as the daughter of a prestigious ducal family, yet this was how unfairly her life was going to end!
Pesha racked her brain.
‘If her evil deeds are the problem, then can’t I just live a good life?’
Yes. That was all she needed to do.
‘I’ll be kind to Io and become a friendly helper to the male lead instead of a villainess!’
It would be even better if she had no reason to associate with them at all!
The two protagonists would fall madly in love with each other just as they did in the original story, so if she helped their love along, everything would be solved.
Io would live happily, and Pesha would stay far, far away from the original story, live off the wealth of the ducal family, and enjoy a peaceful old age.
It was the perfect plan.
“……That’s what I thought, anyway.”
When she muttered quietly, Duke Rydel shouted at her with a bright red face.
“Are you listening to me or not?! I’ve let you get away with enough, but do you really think your father is a joke?”
Pesha sighed inwardly. Then she twisted her eyebrows and put on a sad expression as she shook her head.
“Of course not, Father. I just thought Count Namoï was far too good for me. Wouldn’t my friend Io be a better match
for him? It might not be too late yet. Even now……”
Smack!
Before she could finish, Pesha’s head jerked to the side after she was slapped.
The cheek struck by his tray-sized hand stung.
Anger surged up from her chest, but Pesha calmly endured it.
“Are you still talking about that? Lady Clark is a precious Purification Mage! Do you really think His Majesty would
marry her off to some commoner bastard?”
Then what about me?
Those words rose all the way to the tip of her tongue, but even if she asked, her father’s answer would be obvious.
Yet contrary to her father’s words, if Io was such a precious Purification Mage, then she had even more reason to marry Owen Namoï.
After all, she was probably the only person capable of purifying the polluted eastern lands.
“Do you feel wronged? Then you should have been born with Purification Magic too!”
Her father spoke as if Purification Magic were nothing more than carrots or potatoes sold at a market, but people
who possessed that power were rare enough to be counted on one hand throughout the entire country.
Because of that, Io’s value had skyrocketed.
Since Io possessed the power of purification, Pesha had naturally assumed that she would marry Owen.
In the original story, Io lived a miserable life without even knowing that she possessed purification powers, and was forced to marry Owen by the emperor’s command.
At first, she was treated poorly because Owen was wary of her and his subordinates were rude to her.
Then, she happened to discover her purification powers and began purifying the polluted territory. As her abilities became recognized, her position gradually improved.
As the relationship between the two progressed dramatically, Owen learned about the wounds Io had suffered and eventually punished Pesha, who had tormented her, without mercy……
No matter how long Pesha had bullied Io or how cunning she had become, there was no way she could escape the
male lead who had conquered the entire eastern region.
‘But I’m the one who is going to marry him? Does this make any sense?’
While her father continued shouting, Pesha kept her head lowered and counted the patterns on the floor with unfocused eyes, lost in thought.
Then her father’s furious voice came down over her head.
“You dared to refuse His Majesty’s command and humiliated me. Your crime is beyond measure. You are forbidden
from leaving the house until your wedding day!”
“F-Father.”
“I don’t want to see you! Get out!”
Her father, furious to the very top of his head, threw Pesha out of his study.
Bang.
She stood silently in front of the closed door before finally letting out a deep sigh.
“This is really bad……”
At this rate, she really was going to have to marry Owen Namoï.
‘He must have made a deal with my father while looking for a duke who had a daughter.’
Her father had probably received part of the land from the Kingdom of Clapton that Owen Namoï had driven out.
It was exactly the same situation as when Io was married off in the original story as if she were being sold.
The only difference was that Io had been replaced by Pesha.
She had tried her best to live a good life, only to end up becoming an obstacle standing in the way of the male lead and female lead’s love.
She had already grown distant from Io as they grew older, and if she interfered with their love as well, there was no telling what kind of consequences would come her way.
But no matter how much she thought about it, she could not come up with a way to avoid this marriage.
Maybe she could secretly run away in the middle of the night or find a reliable ally……
‘But who am I supposed to hide behind to escape the strongest person in the world?’
Pesha kicked the innocent wall.
“Ouch!”
Only her foot hurt.
“If he were just a little weaker, I’d look for someone even stronger.”
That man’s absurdly overpowered abilities made it difficult even to find another ally.
He drove away an entire kingdom’s army? He wiped out foreign tribes? What kind of general was this? Did he know some kind of teleportation technique?
At this rate, he might even ride down on a leaf.
“Haa……”
Pesha grabbed her hair.
“Isn’t there some way……”
As she muttered to herself, someone approached her.
“What are you doing?”
The voice, filled with mockery, was familiar.
Pesha turned her head weakly.
Her younger brother, Jeremy, was looking down at her with an intentionally arrogant posture.
“What are you doing in Father’s study?”
Her mood had already been ruined by being scolded by her father, and now meeting Jeremy, who looked so much like him, made her feel even worse.
“……”
She ignored him without answering and tried to walk past him, but Jeremy grabbed her forearm with considerable force.
“Did you forget that I told you not to wander around the main house without permission?”
His tone was as provocative as ever.
“Who do you think you are to dare set foot here?”
Her head began to throb.
Ever since she realized she had possessed this body, she had lived more kindly than anyone.
For example, when she was young, Pesha had shown great talent in herbal medicine and once received an opportunity to study abroad in a duchy where medicine was highly advanced.
The problem was that around that same time, Jeremy had begun showing an interest in swordsmanship.
Her father had made it painfully obvious that he would rather invest in the son who would inherit the family than in his daughter, so the rare opportunity to study abroad was given to Jeremy instead.
‘If you were going to take my opportunity away, you should have at least studied hard.’
After only two years of studying abroad, Jeremy returned home on his own, claiming that he had become bored with swordsmanship.
Her father, who had placed great expectations on Jeremy, was disappointed by what happened, and that disappointment eventually fell on Pesha.
Her younger brother, who had previously treated her with nothing more than ordinary indifference, began to keep her in check.
He had naturally assumed that he would inherit the family simply because he was the son. But when he noticed that his father’s attitude was not what he had expected, he became anxious that his share of the inheritance might instead go to Pesha.
Pesha had no intention whatsoever of fighting over the succession, but whenever she saw Jeremy openly trying to crush her, her competitive spirit naturally rose.
Now that Pesha was being married off as if she were being sold, Jeremy was probably celebrating inwardly. He continued provoking her as if he had no intention of giving her even the slightest opening.
“Ah, I get it. You begged Father to cancel the marriage, didn’t you? Of course, he probably gave you a good scolding.”
He was slightly off the mark, but he was not entirely wrong.
“Don’t you have anything better to do? Go do your own work.”
Even though she answered coldly, Jeremy did not care in the slightest.
“How dare you be so arrogant…… When I inherit the family soon, do you really think someone like you will even be able to make a sound?”
They had raised him without ever making him experience hardship, constantly indulging him since childhood, and as a result, his arrogance had reached the heavens.
Every word he said was so irritating that she wanted to punch him, but she soon gave up on the thought.
If the emperor had already announced the marriage directly to Owen Namoï’s face after he returned victorious, then there was no turning back now.
Even for the sake of the adults’ reputations, this marriage had become impossible to cancel.
When water had already been spilled, she needed to find a way to clean it up. Blaming others would not change anything.
‘But I really can’t stand how full of himself he is.’
Pesha crossed her arms, gave a small smirk, and said,
“Really? But I’m going to become Count Namoï’s wife, so I don’t care about this family that you’re going to ruin anymore.”
“What?”
“Isn’t that right? The Namoï family will continue rising steadily after this marriage because it will strengthen His
Majesty’s trust in them…… Hmm, but I have absolutely no expectations for the House of Rydel after you become the duke.”
