Chapter 3

So I started living the life of a rich unemployed person that was only filled with happiness.

“Which one shall I choose?”

I stood in front of a bookshelf while humming. Books that are glistening as if they were waiting to be picked.

‘At least.’

All of the luxurious hardcovers were made from genuine leather. They said that books are food for the soul, and just by looking at them made my heart feel full and satisfied.

After a moment of contemplating, I pulled out a book entitled ‘I promised money and a hundred years’. As I continue to gaze at the study filled with endless row of books.

I can’t help but compare it to a library with all the vast amount of books that it contained; only the name is different…..

‘The next 50 years should be fine.’

Besides, reading history books is enjoyable especially because this is a world inside a novel.

It’s like reading one of those fantasy novels. Magic that is out of this world with enemies that are labeled as myths or legends from where I came from.

Who knew that a novel that I wrote out of a whim would have created such a solid world.

 ‘It feels like seeing a child that you have taken care of grows up and become an adult.’

I think it would be nice to read books for the rest of my life.

No, I wanted to live my whole life reading books. In my past life, I was so busy in facing reality that I didn’t even have time to read books leisurely.

Holding a book in my arms, I went outside the library. As I walked through the hallway, every person that I encountered was flabbergasted while keeping their head down as if they have seen something out of the ordinary.

“Oh, miss!”

“My lady, do you need anything!”

“……”

Seeing the servants shaking like aspen trees, it gave me mixed feelings.

Should I be glad that they won’t bother me because they fear me or should I feel bitter since it feels like their treating me as if I give punishment even in the smallest mistakes even though I wasn’t the one who  did it but the previous owner of the body.

And I’ve known from experience that the friendlier I am to them, the more they’ll to freak out.

In order to change the image of a wicked woman who has decided to live a life full of luxury while also being unemployed, I tried to gently smiled at them, but the result I got was a maid who fainted from excessive fright  with a froth of bubbles coming out her mouth while also showing symptoms of hyperventilation.

‘What a murderous smile….’

I was sullen for a moment and then opened my mouth at the thought that came up to me suddenly.

“Oh, that’s right. Last time, I said—.”

“Hic!”

“…..”

When I spoke to her, the maid quickly drew her breath and crouched in terror, as if she had been given a great deal of stomachache. My hand, which was halfway on reaching to her, was still hanging in the air, unable to find a place to settle on.

“Hyuk! I-I’ll stop being rude!”

“… That’s not it.”

I’m not a wild beast. Feeling hurt, I mumbled in a gloomy mood.

“I just wanted to ask when Lingte’s limited edition book I ordered will arrive.”

“I-I’m really sorry Miss! It will arrive tomorrow morning!”

I don’t know if what transpire can be called a conversation, for the maid kept looking down and refuse to make eye contact while shaking in fear, as if she wants to get away from me as soon as possible.

…..Well, I’ll let you go if you want.

I was afraid that she would pass out, so I stiffly said, trying to harden my expression as much as possible.

“Okay. Thank you.”

When the maid heard those words, her whole body hardened and her nostrils flared like a rabbit.

With an expression as if the world is ending. It made me think of how villainous Ayla was in order for the maids to fear her so much that just by talking to them it made them have that kind of expression.

In the past, I was also a sociable person, but Ayla seems to have gone too far.

Have you been living a life where everybody is your mortal enemy? Well, I’m also the one to blame since I’m the one who wrote the novel.

‘There is no one that can help you nor stand beside you’

Fully isolated, I head to the kitchen brooding over the surging loneliness.

I think I should eat a dessert when I’m feeling depressed. Shall I ask for a chocolate today? I snorted as if I was depressed.

The chef of this mansion has excellent skills quite befitting for the most influential Duke family in the Lethe Empire. It is also perfect for people that has picky taste and were craving for food in modern times.

‘Egg tarts, mille-feuille, cream puffs…’

As I head to the kitchen while thinking of what desserts I should make the chef cook for me.

I will spend the rest of the day holed up in my room accompanied by books while eating my precious desserts. Just like the life I’ve imagined to spend.

‘Ah.’

I smiled like a silly fool with the thought of playing and eating, and then I was snapped back to reality and stopped walking.

It was because, at this very moment, the uncomfortable to greet person No.2 who if possible i wanted to avoid having an encounter with, is currently walking at the opposite side of the hallway

‘Aslan Mertensia.’

He is the heir to the Mertensia family and the brother of Ayla.

The man who has dealings in the palace must have come back early today, is now walking around the mansion in broad daylight.

‘Should I say hello….?’

But my honest feelings were that I didn’t want to pretend.

As I was holding the book in my arms and putting on a bitter look, Aslan found me, and his eyes were glued to me for a moment.

“…..”

“…..”

No, I can’t bum myself like this.

Obsidian-like pupil, completely different from Ayla, stared at me silently. It glistened like the eyes of a black snake. It was so black that its pupils were invisible.

Perhaps that’s why, even though I’m a Korean and was familiar with the combination of black hair and black eyes, and even thought it was a rare young man with a pure appearance, I still have this strong opposing feeling towards him.

Unlike Ayla, who inherited sharp eyes from her father, Aslan resembled his mother, and his eyes were red and droopy, making him have a sad impression.

Of course, his cold eyes, which showed no emotion at all, were taken from his father.

I glued to the wall, trying to sneak away from his line of sight, which somehow seemed tenacious. At the same time, Aslan brushed passed me.

“Not to mention the level of standard.”

A murmur drifted in my ear as he left, was enough to lift my blood pressure. He definitely said this after seeing the book l was holding, “I promised money and a hundred years.”

‘That scumbag.’

If you’re going to go, then just leave quietly, why are you picking a fight with someone who’s not doing anything? You don’t use money? He’s also scribbling under his father, who’s wealthy and rich, and he’s talking as if he’s innocent.

But I couldn’t even retaliate against the word said since I’m playing a position of a fool who squander money through eating and playing. So I just fling my middle finger behind his back.

Well, I heard that some siblings ignore each other as if they were looking at a cow or a chicken, but in a way, is this what normal siblings do?

When I read romance fantasy novels, there are so many little idiotic brothers, but why am I the only one who is stuck with someone like him?

‘The environment of the home is so evil.’

Somehow, my lament started to grow more.

The only people I’ve had a decent conversation over the past month have been the servants. It was because my family ignored me even to the point that they pretend not to see me. Well, it was mostly by

Aslan and his father.

It was because Ayla is hated by her father, the Duke of Mertensia, since she was born.

Eighteen years ago, Margaret, the Duchess of the Mertensia family, died while giving birth to Ayla, which made him think she was a monster for she was the reason why her mother died.

The Duke was called an ironclad substitute, but he was also a rare romanticist who loved his wife dearly. Even now, the fateful love story of the duke and duchess was so famous that it was often a topic among people of high society.

But his love was only limited to Margaret, when it comes to his children he is a cold-hearted man with iron clad standards.

And that’s why Ayla, who was an idiot and only causes accidents, grew up to be thoroughly neglected despite being his own biological daughter, born from his beloved Margaret.

The Duke of Mertensia did not even pay attention to Ayla unless she made an accident that would tarnish her family’s reputation.

Don’t you think it’s weird that the Duke didn’t even realize that his daughter has a change of personality?

Anyway, he probably didn’t have to care about Ayla since he already had a smart and competent successor to succeed the family.

 ‘It was a given scenario that Ayla will be born with a golden spoon but in the end she still acted in a wicked manner. When I realized that, I can’t help but feel I was going to die from loneliness.’

But thanks to the setting of the novel, I achieved my dream of becoming a rich unemployed person, so it was a big advantage in my part.

‘I rather be ignored by everyone rather than them interfering with everything I do. They would have bothered me by now whilst also calling a tutor and being dragged around. If that would have happened, I would surely turn into a wicked woman and maybe have also cause this family downfall or even the collapse of society itself.’

I quickly concluded the result of the self-reasonable meeting adjourned. As a writer, I felt a little sorry for Ayla, but thanks to her, I was satisfied that no one would say a word even if I spent my whole life in the four corners of this room.

***

“Wow, is this heaven?”

I ate desserts that melt gently in my mouth, rolled around in bed, reading a book, while rolling over in pure bliss.

Such a lazy surplus life, I don’t think I’ll get tired of it even for another 50 years.

 “That’s right! Finally, Lingte’s limited edition books will arrive tomorrow!”

Lingte.

He was a wonderfully genius to exist in my creation. When I first read his romance novel, it was as if a new world had opened.

The elegant style, especially the domineering color of the male lead is enough to make my heart beat again. He is a great man who awakened the truth that perfect boyfriends are usually paper boyfriends.

“….Should I kidnap you?””

I muttered with a dark glint in my eyes. I would like to keep him locked up with three meals a day made by a chef of the Imperial Palace, while only letting him write and make books.

It would have never been made possible in my previous life, but it’s different now.

Who am I? Am I not the youngest daughter of the Duke of Mertensia? Kidnapping was, of course, a crime, but finding the identity of a veiled nobleman would be no problem to them.

‘Huh….?’

With such an unspeakable covert ambition, the rays of lights in the hall seem to dim little by little.

For a moment, I thought something dangerous would happen and that everything was just my imagination.

I momentarily paused in surprise and looked up to the sky. Only to see that the sun was slowly being swallowed by darkness.

‘Oh, I heard there’s a total eclipse today.’

That’s why the Duke’s son came home early today. It is prohibited by the Imperial law to wander outside when a solar eclipse occurs.

For a moment, I stared at the scene happening and belatedly closed my eyes. Aah! I heard that staring at an eclipse for a long period of time without protection can cause blindness!

I dropped my gaze as low as I possibly could and recalled what I’ve read in the Imperial newspaper this morning.

The solar eclipse in the \ novel was called Palinguea. I probably thought it’s a plausible name because it would seem like it’s just a normal a solar eclipse when I was in high school.

Anyway, the solar eclipse has historically been known as ominous in any world, and so as the world in this novel.

In particular, the Lethe Empire, which is the background setting of this novel, boasted the world’s most powerful imperial power over the past century, and has endlessly expanded its territory through war.

And now, the peaceful era has come; it became a great empire that’s why it was also called the “Land of the Bright Sun,” because night never descend.

For this reason, the people of the Empire are very afraid of the Palinguea, which obscures the sun, the symbol of the emperor, which was beyond the control of humans.

Above all, the most decisive reason for the people to fear Palinguea was the “The Incident” that took place on the day of the total solar eclipse five centuries ago.

An incident where the worst-ever “Evil Sorcerer Killian” caused an entire kingdom to evaporate overnight.

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