Chapter 1

– Chapter 1 –

Erin Zahad’s life wasn’t long.

At the age of 10, she married Aiden Leinster, the Duke of Leinster’s heir.

Erin fell for Aiden at first sight, but she constantly acted upon these one-sided feelings and gave him a hard time.

Especially, by following Aiden’s every move.

She tried to get his attention by interrupting his life and his schedules.

When interrupting Aiden’s sword training, she could not hold back her temper and wielded the sword recklessly, resulting in injuring Aiden.

In most of these cases, Erin burst into tears rather than apologizing.

She would blame Aiden for not paying attention to her, and it was also common for Aiden to fall into deeper trouble because of this.

She even harassed Aiden by venting her anger on people around him if something did not go her way.

The more isolated she became within her family, the more she pushed for the elders of Zahad to side with her by acting as a vessel of power, resulting in tremendous pressure on Aiden.

In the end, Aiden Leinster, who couldn’t stand it any longer, demanded a divorce at the age of 20, but Erin never agreed to it.

Rather, she did everything she could to bind him to her completely.

And when Aiden Leinster met his fateful partner, Yulia Charte, and opened his heart, she eventually lost all reason.

It was usual for Erin to bully Yulia, by threatening her life, frightening her and committing other acts of evil.

Nevertheless, when all those evil acts didn’t work on Yulia, she tried to erase Yulia from the world by trying to murder her.

However, her plan also failed, and Erin dies in her attempt to murder Yulia Charte.

This was Erin Zahad’s destined future.

It was a life that could be easily explained in just a few lines.

Aiden Leinster, the male lead of the original novel <How to Protect Your Destiny> is the heir to the most powerful Duke of Leinster, the supreme family who controlled everything in the Empire behind the scenes.

The female lead, Yulia Charte, was orphaned thanks to an accident, and lived in the countryside near the border. She later found out that she was a daughter of a Count family, so she travelled to the capital, where she fell in love with Aiden Leinster.

And Erin Zahad was an obstacle that stood in the way of the main lead’s fated relationship.

Although Erin Zahad was his legal wife, there was no feelings between the two, only family interest that kept the marriage together.

For Aiden, it was nothing more than having married the wrong person.

But for Erin Zahad, Aiden Leinster was her everything

Additionally, Aiden Leinster was her first

love.

Falling in love at first sight, her 10 years of one-sided love turned into an obsession.

She had been desperately trying to get his love for the past 10 years, so she couldn’t accept that she was now discarded for someone else.

So she continued to fight even though she knew there was no chance.

But, the more she struggled, the more the love between the main leads grew.

And I’m that Erin Zahad.’

On the day before my 30th birthday, an accident took my life and I thought that it was the end for me.

But when I opened my eyes, I found out that I had been reincarnated into the latest popular novel <How to Protect Your Destiny> and became Erin Zahad, the male lead’s wife who interfered with the love between the two main leads after their fateful meeting

But it seems that I reincarnated to the time where Erin had yet to get married to Aiden.

A marriage between two strangers that eventually leads to tragedy.

But after becoming that ‘Erin Zahad,’ she quickly made up her mind.

Her decision was simple.

Erin Zahad loved Aiden Leinster to the point it became an obsession, which led to her own death when trying to kill Yulia Charte.

So.

‘If I don’t fall in love with Aiden Leinster, the problems are solved.’

A better option was not to get married altogether, but that was impossible now.

Their marriage had already been decided on between their families, and the 10-year-old boy, who was treated poorly in the family, could do anything about it either.

‘Let’s just get married quietly.’

Instead, when it’s time for Yulia Charte to appear, let’s sign the divorce paper faster than the speed of light.

After that, Erin could leave the country without any regrets, and enjoy the rest of her life abroad.

“Good, good. My plan is perfect.’

Marriage is not a big deal.

I just had to pretend to play house and get

along.

And, of course she shouldn’t know nothing before getting married, so she received education about sex and marital relationships from her nanny.

For someone with the mind of an adult in a child’s body, it was tiresome at times, yet sometimes laughable when she witnessed ridiculous actions.

Her nanny spoke sternly whenever Erin was distracted.

“Even if you don’t need this information right now, you still have to know if you’re going to get along well with the Young Duke. You must concentrate.”

Eventually, Erin had to stop herself from yawning a few times and endure her boring lessons.

The marriage was carried out in a flash.

It was Aiden Leinster and Erin Zahad’s marriage, but it definitely wasn’t the marriage between the two main leads.

Erin’s room was prepared next to Aiden’s room.

And on the first night, she had to sleep in the same room as him.

Even though they had their own separate beds and beddings, this was still part of the marriage tradition.

After changing into her nightwear, Erin wondered where she should sit down and eventually settled in front of the table.

The day before, she had been lectured by her nanny about the things she had to be careful of after marriage, so she resisted the urge to lie down in bed and fall asleep.

Still, I have to do it properly with Aiden.

While the families discussed our marriage over a light supper, he had his head down the whole time. His face was not visible and we couldn’t have a proper conversation the whole day.

‘Of course, he is expressing his dissatisfaction about this marriage.’

If this were the real Erin Zahad, she would have been hurt by it, but I’m not her.

I just felt bad for Aiden and I thought how he was still a child who couldn’t hide his feelings well.

‘Still, we’ll see each other for the next 10 years, so we should at least get along well.’

What can I do to make a good first impression?

It was when I decided to plaster a smile on my face, remembering that he held my life in the palm of his hand for the near future.

The door opened and Aiden came in.

His timing was so perfect that I laughed, until our eyes met.

I’m screwed. A good first impression is out of the question.

She slowly lowered the corners of her mouth but……

At that moment, Erin suddenly had an itchy feeling in her throat and had an urge to laugh.

Truthfully, she thought the original Erin Zahad was stupid.

Even though she had gotten married to him at such a young age, she had never succeeded in gaining his attention even after 10 years, so she should have just given up. I couldn’t understand her foolishness.

However…… the moment I saw Aiden Leinster’s face, everything made sense.

I understood why Erin Zahad did such ridiculous things.

She couldn’t give up in a situation where everything seemed to be doomed.

‘He’s really handsome.’

It was the type of face that could easily make you sell your soul to the devil.

His blonde hair was so dazzling it seemed to have all the light of the entire world, while his face also seemed to be otherworldly.

How can a human being look like this?

It was an unbelievable appearance to look at.

It wouldn’t be too strange if it all disappeared like a mirage the moment you touch it.

“…… You’re so handsome.”

Erin muttered blankly. She didn’t even know her thoughts had been said aloud.

As she was looking at him, she didn’t even notice that she had made eye contact with Aiden.

She didn’t even realise that his expression had changed.

After noticing Aiden’s expression a bit late, Erin came to her senses.

‘Did I just made a mistake?’

I can’t believe he’s so handsome.

The illusion that Erin was chasing unrelentlessly in the original story was unfolding in front of her now.

‘I got screwed up from the start huh.’

Still, Erin smiled brightly and waved at Aiden.

“Hello?”

Aiden ignored her greeting with a blank face.

That was hard. Not cute.

After all, Aiden’s expression only seemed to show his dissatisfaction towards this marriage, which had happened against his will.

In the original story, Aiden Leinster viewed Erin Zahad as if she was a bug, because of her unwavering obsession of love towards him.

So I thought it would be okay if I didn’t follow in her footsteps……

‘But he already hates me though?’

Even from a glance, I could tell Aiden has his guard up and was very alert.

“We’re finally getting to know each other. Why don’t we have a conversation?”

‘Why don’t we talk to clear up the misunderstanding and get along well with each other? I’m not so interested in you at all.’

Erin expressed her desire to talk to him by pointing towards the seat opposite her, gesturing for him to sit down and chat with her.

But Aiden walked past the spot, and headed towards the two beds that had been prepared for them, going for the one next to the wall.

Aiden took a seat on the edge of the bed and looked at Erin expressionlessly.

“Don’t touch me.”

“Do not pay attention to me and just go to sleep.”

‘I don’t want to talk to you, so just go to sleep.’

Aiden’s words were naturally interpetated by Erin and she almost laughed.

‘Oh my, you hate me already. But I didn’t want to touch you either. Why are you acting like this?’

Erin rolled her eyes and turned her head to settle on the empty bed.

Aiden turned in the direction of the wall and did not move.

It seemed like he finally fell asleep after quite some time.

Then, there was only silence in the room.

Erin stared at the ceiling, lying on her bed, with her eyes wide open.

From the very first meeting, Aiden already thought ill of her, which wasn’t in her plans.

It’s probably a bad sign.

I haven’t done anything yet, but this is how he treats me.

To get along well with him, I thought I had to be reserved and polite.

……Whatever. Let’s sleep first and think about it later.’

Erin thought her first night would just end like that.

‘I can’t sleep.’

It’s been a while since Aiden had stopped moving and fell asleep next to her, but Erin was still wide awake.

At this rate, I think I’ll stay awake all night.

After several failed attempts to sleep, Erin concluded that she wouldn’t be able to fall asleep tonight and sat up from her bed.

But there was nothing else I could do in a room that was already prepared beforehand. There was only some tea and dessert on the table so I ate them while gazing at the night sky through the window.

‘Time is running out. I’m already bored to death.

The image of Aiden’s back could be reflected in Erin’s eyes, who was thinking about what she could do to pass the time.

She could still remember the first time she saw him, when he had opened the door to their room earlier and came in.

“Since this is an arranged marriage, we’re probably going to separate when we’re 20. But I still can’t believe my husband is such a handsome man.’

She was excited about this fact even though she knew what would happen from the original story.

Slowly.

She approached him carefully.

Based on today’s interaction, I don’t think I’ll be able to meet you properly from now on. So this means that this moment is the only way I can see your handsome face.

“I’m going to look at you as much as I can tonight.”

‘Look at that smooth skin. I wish I could touch it even once.

He didn’t have just one or two eye-catching features, though.

When he is awake, he’s always frowning but his innocent face while he was asleep was the most attractive.

Oh my goodness, saying that ‘sleeping children are incredibly cute’, works in this world too.

She only meant to glimpse at him for just a moment, but she continued watching him sleep as if she was entranced.

She had seen him up close and realized just how handsome he is.

So this is the reason why the original Erin couldn’t give up on him.

In the original story, Erin Zahad tried to act a little pitiful to attract Aiden.

But if I’m friendly with him and befriend him, I’ll be able to see this gorgeous face almost everyday!

Before I ended up watching him until morning, I stopped thinking and returned to bed.

“…..U………..”

A broken voice behind her let out a soft groan.

It was Aiden’s voice.

– To Be Continued –