Prologue

“Hey, look over there. Over there.”

A young nobleman said arrogantly.

“Isn’t that woman the half-wit young lady?”

The half-wit young lady, Erne.

The laughingstock of the entire Empire, rumored to be obsessed with men, extravagant, and even illiterate.

To make matters worse, she was a mixed-blood descendant of a foreign race.

Someone who should have kept her head bowed and walked in the shadows was now…

“Does she really think she can sit right in the center of the balcony seats at the most prestigious café in high society?”

She was sitting in front of a café table, lazily fanning herself with a bored expression.

“She’s pretty, just like I heard. At that level, she’s worth taking along for a little fun before throwing her away, don’t you think?”

“Forget it. She’s still half a noble, at least.”

“Just wait. I heard that if a man is even a little nice to her, she goes completely crazy over him.”

His friend’s warning went unheard as he approached her with a sly smile.

“How could a young lady from such a prestigious family be walking around all alone? Did you perhaps come out to seduce a man?”

Erne, the half-wit young lady, stared at him.

“Yes. I’m looking for my ideal man.”

“What kind of man are you looking for?”

“A man who will accompany me all the way to our burial together.”

“B-Burial… together?”

“I mean a man who will be buried alive with me in my grave if I die first. That’s what they call joint burial, isn’t it?”

“……”

“A man who would feel as though his arms and legs were breaking if even a little bit of my skin were torn. A man who would die of lovesickness after following me if anything happened to me.”

“……”

“If you know such a devoted man, could you introduce me to him? Or are you planning to nominate yourself?”

Her blood was mixed with that of the foreign Snow Clan.

Her skin was as white as snow, a characteristic of the Snow Clan, and her mysterious violet eyes stood out vividly.

She was…

Beautiful, but a little frightening.

“I’ve mistaken you for someone else. I left an oil lantern burning at home, so I should get going.”

This isn’t what I heard!

For some reason, the young nobleman fled while trembling from an inexplicable chill.

‘Ha. All sorts of little minnows are coming after me.’

Snap!

Erne folded her fan.

“Did you say you mistook me for someone else?”

He was both right and wrong.

Because the person inside this body was not the half-wit young lady, Erne.

It was the infamous villainess, Erquana.

She muttered,

“Where am I supposed to find a man like that? Damn mission.”

And among candidates this ridiculous…

What on earth was she supposed to do?

Erne looked into the air. A status window had appeared before her.

[Find true love!]

Special Mission – Imprinting

Penalty – Death resulting in the complete annihilation of the soul…

The mission window refused to disappear, making it a miserable afternoon.

She swallowed a sigh.

‘I’d rather refuse this ridiculous resurrection if this is what comes with it.’

This entire story began one month ago, at a funeral.

From the day the villainess, Erquana, awakened inside the body of this half-wit young lady.

Chapter 1

These days, a joke like this is popular throughout the Empire.

Q: What is the one thing you should absolutely never do at a funeral?

A: Come back to life.

The reason was none other than the half-wit, Erne.

It was because of the bizarre incident that occurred at her funeral.

One month ago.

Rustle.

Someone was moving above her head.

<It’s strange that none of her family members attended the funeral. Such a young lady died, too.>

The woman continued speaking.

<She’s also famous for wearing those bizarre pink dresses to every banquet. And apparently, whenever she saw a handsome man, she would send him a love letter.>

<Ah, I’ve heard that rumor too. Apparently, this girl had barely become an adult and was already going to some strange establishments where men worked.>

<Tsk, tsk. No matter how much of a disgrace she was to her family… It’s still tragic that she died so young. A heart attack, too…>

Muffled voices echoed above her head.

For a grim reaper, they were surprisingly chatty.

‘What’s this smell of incense?’

It felt exactly like she was lying inside a coffin.

Just as she had that thought, something fragrant came tumbling down onto her face.

‘How unlucky. They’re hitting my face with funeral flowers. Don’t they know the saying that you shouldn’t hit someone even with flowers?’

The strong scent of lilies stung her nose.

‘And Erne…? It sounds similar, but my name isn’t Erne. It’s Erquana.’

The leader of a secret organization that had terrified the entire Empire.

Crimson Erquana.

Her companions usually shortened her name to Er.

‘But why am I lying here?’

Er did her best to lift her eyelids.

But it wasn’t easy.

‘Did I take some kind of paralysis drug?’

Then the voices began again.

This time, they were much clearer.

“Judging by the atmosphere… The Medina family is a prestigious household, so it seems everyone came here reluctantly. The atmosphere in the capital is terrible these days. Besides, is the Medina family really the same Medina family it used to be? They may be one of the Empire’s Ten Great Noble Families in name, but…”

“It’s normally our duty as priests to stay up all night in front of the coffin, singing…”

“But if everyone leaves, we can leave work early too. This is practically a dream.”

“The half-wit young lady’s miserable life worked out nicely for us.”

Only then did Er realize what was happening.

These people were professional priests assigned to funerals and other rites.

‘But you’re openly planning to slack off? Did you study common sense by correspondence?’

Suddenly, she felt an overwhelming urge to file a complaint.

Good.

She had finally managed to furrow her brow slightly.

Then Er put all her strength into moving her toes.

“Did the coffin just move?”

“No way. Ah, finally, someone has come to offer a flower.”

In an Imperial funeral, it was customary for mourners to place a single flower beside the deceased lying inside the coffin and offer words of remembrance.

Those who died young were especially pitied. Naturally, mourners would line up to offer flowers.

But only one person had come?

‘This isn’t my funeral.’

There was no way anyone would hold Erquana’s funeral according to Imperial customs.

Tap. Tap.

Footsteps approached.

“I was the maid who served this young lady. I came to offer a flower.”

“Yes. Please offer your condolences… We’ll stand a little farther away.”

Someone leaned over the coffin.

“My lady. To be honest, it was so difficult serving someone who wasn’t even a real noble but was picky about absolutely everything. I’ll make sure to take good care of the jewels you hid in your secret hiding places. Thinking that I’ll never have to see the young lady who was always snapping at me again makes me so sad.”

Oh, that was a little much.

She was openly badmouthing the dead!

Er thought from the perspective of a corpse with an omniscient view.

Clatter!

“Oh my! Th-The coffin is moving. Huh?”

Whoosh!

Er sat upright.

The lilies came tumbling down.

At the same time, her long, curly golden hair cascaded around her.

From inside the coffin placed atop the raised platform, Er looked around with vivid violet eyes.

“Where am I?”

Certainly, the last memory from her previous life was…

<Die, you witch!>

She remembered bleeding while surrounded by Imperial knights.

“Oh my goodness!”

“The corpse came back to life!”

“It’s a demon! A demon has appeared!”

The people who had been ignoring the funeral until then suddenly screamed and descended into chaos.

Most of those wearing black but relatively elaborate clothing were nobles.

‘So I’m the corpse of someone named Erne?’

Erne looked down at her hands.

Small, pale hands.

She was obviously in the body of a girl who had only just become an adult.

‘Why is this body so soft and small?’

Right before her death, Erquana had been in her late twenties, with a slender, mature body and a height of 173 centimeters.

“I’m alive.”

Er said while clutching her head.

But no one in the funeral hall, now completely overcome by chaos, was listening to her.

“You priests! Quickly deal with that possessed corpse!”

A noblewoman shouted at the priests.

“W-We are?”

The priests had already backed away from Er, trembling.

“Yes! Isn’t it the priests’ job to purify corpses that died young so they don’t harbor resentment and harm the living?”

Er understood the situation.

‘Right. The Empire has that superstition. People who die young with too much resentment are said to become evil spirits and servants of the Demon God.’

For people in the Empire who feared the Demon God, it was understandable that they would think a resurrected corpse had been possessed by an evil spirit.

‘More importantly… Am I actually an evil spirit…?’

But Er didn’t have time to think any further.

“Stab her! With that purification dagger!”

“We’re just low-ranking priests who handle funeral assignments.”

“Exactly. We’ve never even received exorcism training.”

“Then who’s supposed to do it?”

“Oh, God! Please save our Empire!”

Then someone shouted,

“Wait! She could actually be alive!”

“Say something!”

At that moment, Er’s mind began racing.

‘I’m Erquana, the Empire’s greatest villain and enemy. I don’t know anything about the circumstances of this body’s owner, but what will happen if they discover that I’ve been resurrected?’

Er’s survival instincts, which had kept her alive despite crawling through hell countless times, were practically a supernatural ability.

“So…”

Gulp.

Everyone focused nervously on her words.

Perhaps if she said the wrong thing now, she might once again be killed by the madness of the crowd.

“The truth is… I was just curious, so I tried it.”

“Curious about what?”

One of the female priests frowned deeply.

“I wanted to know what would happen after I died, so I pretended to be dead.”

Er decided to shamelessly play the attention seeker.

“But… your heart had stopped.”

A male priest spoke.

“I took a drug that puts you into a state of suspended animation. Such drugs exist in this world, you know.”

“Why would you do something like that? Does that even make sense?”

“Do you think a funeral is a game?”

“What kind of lunatic does something like this?”

Several people frowned as they spoke.

Er could understand their feelings to some extent.

But she had no choice.

‘I just possessed this body myself. I don’t know what’s going on either.’

And there was no way an excuse like that would work…

“Everyone! Listen to me.”

Er spoke calmly.

“Today, I had the opportunity to see my own funeral in advance. And I learned a valuable lesson.”

Murmurs spread through the crowd.

What lesson? What was she talking about?

Ignoring them, Er spoke firmly.

“When you’re alive, make sure to interview the priests you’ll invite to your funeral in advance. Choosing carefully is the right of every prospective customer.”

“……”

“All of you are prospective customers. Death comes for everyone, after all. With that in mind…”

Er swept her gaze over the trembling priests beside her.

“You priests. You’re not getting paid today. You were gossiping about the dead over her head?”

“……”

“And I’ll be sending a full complaint about your behavior today to the Grand Temple.”

The priests assigned to ceremonies were essentially considered low-ranking positions.

Because of that, one major complaint could deal them a devastating blow. They could end up spending the rest of their lives being sent to rural funerals.

“Wait a moment, customer? Not a corpse?”

“We’re sorry…”

The priests, pale with fear, hurriedly apologized one after another.

But Er merely smirked and rose from her seat.

As Er stood, the murmuring among the crowd grew even louder.

Among them was the young-looking maid who had just spoken ill of her.

“Help me up.”

Er spoke.

The maid instinctively supported her.

‘I don’t know what happened.’

But…

‘I’m alive.’