Chapter 5
“Young Lady, you haven’t even had a drop of water all day. Something terrible could happen if you continue like this.”
Myeonghui tried to comfort her in a deeply worried voice, but Nayoung was lost in her own thoughts.
She was trying to figure out one thing: How could she wake up from this dream?
Everything happening to her had to be a dream. Of course, it was far too vivid to feel like one, but the idea of entering a web novel was simply impossible.
Nayoung had tried several things to wake herself up. She had tried going back to sleep. She had even considered climbing onto the roof, thinking that perhaps she would wake up if she dreamed of falling from a great height.
Naturally, Myeonghui and the other household servants had caught her before she could do anything dangerous. She had only managed to reach the edge of the roof before they dragged her back down.
Falling from a high place didn’t wake me up, and neither did sleeping again… Then maybe pouring cold water over myself will wake me up?
Nayoung stared at the window with a haggard expression.
“Myeonghui.”
“Yes, Young Lady?”
“Where do you fetch water from around here?”
“Why are you asking that now?”
Myeonghui asked nervously.
Nayoung gave an awkward smile.
“Who knows? Maybe if I pour cold water over myself, I’ll wake up from this dream…”
“Young Lady! Why are you really acting like this?”
Unable to hold back any longer, Myeonghui raised her voice.
Nayoung flinched and turned toward her. Myeonghui’s eyes were brimming with tears.
Nayoung was taken aback.
“Why… why do you look like you’re about to cry?”
“When did I say I was going to cry?”
As she spoke, Myeonghui roughly wiped her tears away with the end of her sleeve.
“You think I’m acting strangely, don’t you?”
“Yes. You’re acting so strangely that I feel as though I’m the one dreaming right now.”
Nayoung turned around and sat facing Myeonghui.
“Exactly. A dream. I’m dreaming right now.”
“What are you talking about now?”
Myeonghui asked with an expression that suggested she was about to lose her mind from frustration.
“The truth is, I’m not this family’s daughter. I’m Lee Nayoung, an office worker living in South Korea in the year 20XX. And this place is inside a web novel.”
“Young Lady, what on earth did His Lordship order you to do? Why do you keep insisting that you’re not yourself?”
“So… you don’t believe me after all.”
Disappointed, Nayoung started turning away again, but Myeonghui hurriedly grabbed her arm.
“Please don’t do that. Just eat one spoonful of rice. Please!”
Moved by Myeonghui’s desperate plea, Nayoung reluctantly picked up her spoon.
But after eating a few spoonfuls, she suddenly began to feel more energetic.
That’s right. I need to eat if I want to think clearly.
After being confined to the separate residence for three days, Nayoung finally ate a proper meal.
Myeonghui was so happy that she eventually burst into tears.
Perhaps it was a blood sugar spike, but Nayoung suddenly began feeling incredibly sleepy.
No matter how wide she opened her eyes, her heavy eyelids refused to stay up.
Seeing this, Myeonghui spread out the bedding for her.
Nayoung decided to stop fighting it and simply went to sleep.
She had barely slept for several days, so she quickly fell into a deep slumber.
Then, while she was fast asleep, she heard a sound coming from far away.
The sound gradually grew closer until she could clearly make out the words.
“Please help me.”
The desperate voice startled Nayoung awake.
Someone was sitting in front of her.
It was another version of herself, sitting demurely before her. The face was exactly the same as the one she saw in the mirror.
“Lee Eunjeong?”
“Please go to the Northern Empire in my place.”
“Wait a minute! Before that, could you please help me get out of this situation? I need to return to South Korea!”
“I must go to the Northern Empire. It is the only way to save the Seoyeon Kingdom.”
Nayoung frowned.
“Why do I have to go instead of you?”
Eunjeong’s gaze was strangely calm.
“His Majesty’s illness is getting worse. If His Highness the Crown Prince cannot return, the royal authority will be severely weakened. We do not even have the strength to wage a war right now. Only by my going there can peace between our countries be maintained.”
“That’s your problem, Lee Eunjeong.”
“No.”
For the first time, Eunjeong’s voice became firm.
“This is our problem now.”
“How is this our problem?”
“I will help you.”
“How are you supposed to help me when you appear out of nowhere like a ghost…?”
Before Nayoung could finish speaking, Eunjeong’s figure slowly began to fade.
Then a cold sensation seeped into Nayoung’s body.
“Aaaah!”
With a scream, Nayoung abruptly sat up in bed.
Breathing heavily, she looked around the room. When she saw the faint blue light outside the window, she realized it was dawn.
“You want me… to go to the Northern Empire?”
Nayoung muttered, repeating the words Lee Eunjeong had spoken in her dream.
“Haah…”
She threw off the blanket and let out a long sigh.
“This makes no sense.”
Suddenly, she felt resentful toward the king of the Seoyeon Kingdom.
He had already sent his Crown Prince to the Northern Empire as a hostage, yet he was now planning to send a fake princess instead of his own daughter.
If the Northern Empire discovered the truth, it would never let them get away with it.
And now you’re telling me to go there? I’m not even Lee Eunjeong! No. Absolutely not. I’m not going!
Just as she made up her mind, a distant voice echoed in her ears.
“I must go to the Northern Empire.”
Nayoung quickly covered her ears.
It felt as though a ghost were crying in her ears.
That’s what I’m asking! Why are you so determined to go there, Lee Eunjeong?
Nayoung clutched her head and let out another long sigh.
Time passed steadily, and the sky gradually brightened with the pale light of dawn.
“No. This can’t be happening. How is something like this even possible?”
Nayoung muttered, her voice trembling as though she were about to cry.
If she couldn’t escape from this place, what would happen to Lee Nayoung, the woman living in South Korea?
What about her parents and younger sibling?
Most frightening of all, she might have to spend the rest of her life here without ever knowing how the novel ended.
The thought alone made her body tremble.
Is there really no way for me to go back? Is that it?
She had already been terrified after waking up in an unfamiliar place. Now, her fear had doubled.
She couldn’t find a way to return home.
And if she remained here, she would eventually have to go to the Northern Empire.
Actually, the latter had practically already been decided. That was what happened in the novel she had read, and Prince Inyang’s personality suggested that he would force her to go even if she refused.
“Ah… What should I do?”
Nayoung rested her elbows on the small desk and held her head in her hands.
Both as Lee Nayoung from the year 20XX and as Lee Eunjeong, the protagonist of the novel, she thought and thought about what she should do.
At first, she assumed she felt this way simply because she had already read the novel.
But as time passed, emotions began to arise that she couldn’t explain through that reason alone.
Strangely enough, her heart had become much calmer, almost as though Lee Eunjeong had actually entered her body.
Perhaps it was because of the personality the author had given Eunjeong.
Lee Eunjeong was someone who took her responsibilities as a member of the royal family very seriously.
Nayoung opened the mirror case beside the desk and looked at her reflection.
Then she asked quietly,
“Lee Eunjeong, why are you so calm about all this?”
She felt as though it wasn’t Lee Nayoung who was enduring the fear and terror, but Lee Eunjeong, the character from the novel.
“So, does that mean I have to go? I’m not even the real Lee Eunjeong, you know!”
Nayoung muttered bitterly.
Then she closed the mirror case and let out a long sigh.
“Young Lady, are you awake?”
While she was holding her head, overwhelmed by her complicated thoughts, she heard Myeonghui’s voice from outside.
“…Yes.”
“I’ll come in now.”
A moment later, the door opened, and Myeonghui entered carrying a washbasin.
“Oh, my goodness! What happened to your face, Young Lady?”
“Huh?”
Nayoung looked confused and touched her face.
“You seemed to be sleeping so soundly. Did you wake up and stay up all night? The area under your eyes…”
“Ah… I must have dark circles.”
“Dark… circles? What are those?”
“Ah, it’s nothing. Just give me the basin.”
Nayoung waved her hand dismissively and gestured for Myeonghui to hand it over.
After finishing getting ready, Nayoung headed toward the men’s quarters with Myeonghui.
Prince Inyang was staying at home that day instead of going to the palace.
When they arrived in front of the men’s quarters, however, Nayoung hesitated for a long time.
What will happen if I change the plot of the novel? Will things get worse, or will they get better?
Nayoung had no way of knowing.
But one thing was certain.
The author said it would have a happy ending. If I believe that, then following the original story should be the safest option.
Strangely, ever since meeting Lee Eunjeong in her dream, something inside Nayoung had begun to settle down.
She had started to feel a quiet concern for the Seoyeon Kingdom’s struggling royal family and a desire to protect even the fragile peace they still had.
She wasn’t sure whether these feelings belonged to Lee Eunjeong or whether she had simply become emotionally invested in the novel.
Either way, she had already made her decision.
Nayoung took a deep breath.
If I’m going to be dragged there anyway, I might as well go of my own free will. And I’ll try to believe in that happy ending.
She let out a deep sigh and gestured to Myeonghui.
“His Lordship, the Young Lady has arrived.”
“Let her come in.”
Even after hearing the permission, Nayoung took several more deep breaths before finally entering the men’s quarters.
She bowed respectfully to Prince Inyang and sat down in front of the small desk.
“Have you finally made up your mind?”
