Chapter 2

I am now at the crossroads of my life.

“Come on, think clearly.”

Late at night, I sat in front of the desk and fixed my pen.

The lamp on one side moved as if it represented my determination.

To paraphrase my current mood, It was as bad as Hamlet, who was on the hills shouting, “Do you die alone or live alone?” I’d never been so serious in my life.

“Let’s see, how did this novel flow?”

The title of the book is “A Princess’ Märchen,”which began when Tricia, a princess of a marginalized kingdom, was dedicated to the Princess of the Rohatine Empire.

The powerless concubine-born princess Tricia heads to Rohatine at the command of her father, who is the king.

On the surface, it was a means of reconciliation between the two countries that ended the war, but in fact, it was nothing more than a bribe offered by the defeated country.

Waiting for such, Tricia was the object of contempt and persecution of the Empire people.

Tricia continued her hard life as the heroine. One summer night, she met the crown prince while she was strolling and magically fell in love.

Of course, as with any novel, all kinds of hardships and adversity await Tricia.

However, overcoming this is also the main character’s mission.

The big trend of this novel is that Tricia overcame all the crises with the power of love and eventually had a happy ending with the Crown Prince…

But the problem arises right here.

“The Villain Duke Cedric.”

In other words, he’ll be Tricia’s “bringer of obstacle and adversity.”

Duke Cedric appeared in the novel as a powerful family comparable to the imperial family.

On one side, Duchy of Cedric was quoted as, “The royal family who did not inherit the royal blood.”

This means that their power and reputation in Rohatine is great.

Bastian Cedric, the young patriarch, played a major role in making the duchy as the villain.

He is a friend of the emperor’s house, the former duke and his wife died prematurely in an accident and became the duke at an early age.

He had the title of the youngest sword master, as well as a handsome face and generous personality. In other words, he is a perfect man.

…yes, that as far as I can see.

But I am afraid what is inside him is just a madman.

Who in the world is trying to kill his best friend’s lover because he looks like his dead sister?

Bastian is really a psychopath.

He played a solid role as the main villain in the original plot.

Every time he is bored, he would cut his servant’s throat. Kill people, torture the nobles who he do not like, and decisively try to kill the female lead in public.

Even I hesitated to write it all so far.

“…he is gonna kill me.”

Suddenly, my hair on the back of my neck stood up.

“No, no.”

I then stroked my stiff arm and shook my head.

It’s too early to jump to conclusions. There’s no guarantee that I’ll really meet this crazy guy.

I then concentrated on calming down my trembling body and organized the contents.

「Amelia Cedric.」

Under Bastian’s name, she wrote her name and encircled it.

“This woman is the real problem.”

In fact, I didn’t know much about this young lady.

That’s because she is a character who appeared only a few times in the past. I don’t think I even knew her description.

The only thing I know is that she is the youngest one out of the three siblings of Duke Cedric, and when she disappears one day, she awakens Bastian’s true self.

To put it simply, this woman is the figure that the author roughly inserted as the reason for Bastian’s crazy behavior.

“It’s just too weird.”

In the original, Amelia died. That was five years before the heroine appeared.

Shortly after she went missing, Bastian searched the entire empire, but couldn’t find her.

There was also a scene where he finally accepted her death and stopped searching and officially announced Amelia’s death.

“But why is this woman the same as me?”

Rose hair and golden eyes. Yeah, it’s not common up to this point, but let’s say it’s possible. But how can the scar on the right leg be the same? But butterfly-shaped scars are not common, and thus my forehead wrinkled.

“…however, there is no one in this vast empire that she would be alike.”

My shoulders shook and muttered.

“When did Amelia die? Like I am pretty sure there are some cases where there is coincidence and stuff like that I guess.”

I then wrote hypotheses full of instances as if I was being chased by something. By the time the paper was almost covered with black ink, my hand slowly slowed down.

I finally laid my pen and looked down at the scribbled paper.

Duke Cedric, Amelia, missing, dead.

Looking at the letters, I felt a strange sense of difference.

Come to think of it…

Was there a direct scenario of Amelia’s death?

Instinct anxiety swept over me at the moment.

I quickly retracted my memory. There is definitely a scenario where ‘Amelia disappeared,’ but there was no scene where he found her body or held a funeral.

Bastian also ended the search after hearing the captain say she was dead. Though he did search the whole empire, still he couldn’t see a single hair of hers.

In other words, the fact that Amelia died in the story,

“… She wasn’t there in the first place?”

When I thought about it, my blood cooled down.

At the same time, fragmented information passed quickly in my head.

The youngest child of a duchy who went missing a few years ago is the same year as Sophie appeared in the eastern village. We had the same appearance and physical characteristics.

It’s just too strange a coincidence between the two of them disappearing at the same time…

I snapped off my pen unknowingly. The black ink splashed randomly on the paper.

I felt the shocking realization as if I was struck by lightning in the calm night sky.

At the same time, there was a deep sense of frustration.

“This is it.”

I quietly wrapped my head around myself.

“I think I’m right…”

My life is ruined.

Knowing the shocking truth, I naturally didn’t sleep a single wink.

My fate changed from being an Extra to Villainous Duchy’s Young Lady in just a single day. I couldn’t do this even if the sky is indifferent to me.

What have I sinned in my previous life? Did I sell my own country? Did I commit a crime?

I was covering my head all morning, but the answer didn’t come out in the end, and I stayed up all night in front of the desk and went straight to work in the inn.

The next morning, Zera was shocked to see my zombie-like face.

“Oh, my God, Sophie! What’s wrong with you?”

“…uh, good morning.”

I shook my hand to cover my face that has dark circles incessantly. Zera then strode up.

“Look at you! Your pretty face is badly damaged!”

“But this is…”

“What’s going on here, don’t tell me…”

Zera, who said that so far, said, “Hmmp!” and covered her mouth. Then she carefully lowered her voice.

“Is it about the incident in the laundry session yesterday?”

I glanced at her whispering to me.

The atmosphere in the laundry session yesterday was a scene of chaos and catastrophe.

All the staff looked at me with their mouth open, and some were stunned.

If Zera, who came to her senses late, hadn’t sorted things out, someone would have screamed.

“But I did a good job yesterday. No matter how similar the description is, it makes sense that you are the Duke’s young lady.”

Zera said with a pout. I pulled up the corners of my mouth vaguely, not knowing what kind of expression to make.

That doesn’t make sense, but it does now.

“You don’t have to worry, Sophie. I’ve been telling you that I won’t spread false rumors. Right?”

I glanced at her whispering to me.

The atmosphere of the laundry yesterday was a scene of chaos and catastrophe.

All the staff looked at me with their mouth open, and some were stunned.

If Jera, who came to her senses late, hadn’t sorted things out, someone would have screamed.

“But I did a good job yesterday. No matter how similar the description is, it makes sense to be Gong’s young love.”

Zera said with a pout. I pulled up the corners of my mouth vaguely, not knowing what kind of expression to make.

That doesn’t make sense, but it does.

“Anyway, you don’t have to worry about anything, Sophie. I’ve been telling you that I do not blow up false rumors, right?”

She spoke with reassurance. White hands patted me on the back.

Her conscience stabbed me because her face is filled with confidence and assumption.

Well she is my best friend, so she can keep her mouth shut right?

But what if one day I suddenly found myself being caught like a mouse or a bird?

I took a deep breath after thinking about it for a while.

“…Actually.”

In the end, I came to the conclusion of last night’s conclusion. Of course, I excluded stories about novels and side stories.

As my story went on, so did Zera’s eyes.

Soon afterwards, Zera looked at me with a completely frightened look on her face.

“…so that could really be you?”

“For now. You’re the only one who knows this.”

“Oh, my God. Then, don’t you have to go to the capital? Oh, no. Should I use honorifics from now on…?”

“Honestly, please don’t.”

When I begged her, Zera scratched her nose, saying, “I only want to try it once.”

“Being part of the Duchy of Cedric is already a great thing. It’s the best family in the Empire. Don’t you really want to go?”

Her words kept my mouth shut. Last night I realized another fact.

Five years ago, Amelia came to this village on her own, and she was hiding even though she knew her brother was looking for her.

I don’t know why, but the conclusion was simple.

In other words, she ran away.

“I like it here. I’m not leaving.”

I am now a fugitive and will die if I get caught.

In terms of the novel flow, it is still before Bastian went completely crazy. It was then after he saw the heroine who looks like Amelia that he was so distracted by then.

According to the original novel, there is still about a year left until the two meet.

What does Bastian have to do with his youngest sister?

Of course, there is no answer, so I quickly gave up thinking about it.

It is still unchangeable that he is a psychopath in one way or another.

If I go back to this situation where I don’t know how crazy he is, I wouldn’t have known that he would imprison me, instead of the heroine this time.

I don’t have a crown prince to save me.

Zera, who was staring at me for a while, covered my cheeks with her hands and murmured.

“Oh this is a big deal, by the way. The knights have already stopped by our neighboring village.”

“That fast?”

“Yes, they’ll definitely reach this town by tomorrow.”

My face turned white. He’s already that close?

“No…”

I’m devastated. I shouldn’t be caught. Should I just ran away now?

When I was panicking, I heard a groan saying ““Jera was staring at me. just now”

“Why, what’s wrong?”

“…Sophie.”

She called me in a soft voice.

“You really are…”

“Huh?”

”

“You like my town, don’t you? I’m a little touched right now. It’s because you don’t want to leave our town! You cutie!”

Her eyes glistened as she hugged me tightly and removed it immediately.

“Sophie, trust me! Give me 5,000 gold, I won’t open my mouth, even say your secret!”

Her expression of holding my shoulder tightly was full of determination.

“What kind of advantage do I get to the Duke who is in the capital? You’re my friend Sophie!”

“…really?”

“Well, whatever your original status is, if you don’t like it, then I don’t want it too.”

My nose wrinkled because of her determination. What the? Why are you suddenly saying touching nothings?

I then hugged Zera filled with tears.

“Zera!”

“Yes, yes, Sophie. I love you, too.”

I thought in Zera’s arms. I don’t envy a million good friends.

The Duke won’t find me anyway if the original version is the same. And in a while, he’ll admit my death.

So I just have to enjoy a peaceful daily life right now.

Sometimes I would go out to the lake, have a cold beer after work, what a beautiful life it is.

I promised to spend the rest of my life with my true friend Zera.

…until the next day some knights came in front of my house.

“Sophie, is that right?”

“Who are you?”

“I’m from the capital.”

“What?”

At the front, the driver bowed his head.

“The woman I saw at the entrance to the village this morning asked me to visit this house.”

Then he stuck out a piece of paper.

「Sorry, Sophie. They gave me 6,000 gold. Come to think of it, you look better in the capital. So, have a great life in the capital okay?

-The person you love the most, Zera. 」

She lost her friend to 6,000 gold.