CH 1

Well, there was this story.

There was an old man who enters the land of the prince who protects the northern part of the Empire, and he got the prince’s wrath and eventually sacrificed one of his daughters to him.

There were two reasons why he was willing to marry the daughter of a low-ranking nobleman as a Grand Duke. One was to completely escape the restrain of the Emperor, and the second was because he is cursed and has an unpleasant appearance.

Needless to say, no matter how powerful a war hero and a Grand Duke boasting of great power, some noble families would not give up their daughters to him.

In the end, the old man shed tears and sent his eldest daughter to the Grand Duke, and the cheerful and refreshing eldest daughter had an…

… affair with one of the Grand Duke’s knights.

“Well…”

From here on, the story changed from the widely known one.

The eldest daughter, Elijah, who was as talented as she was cheerful, eventually desperately fell in love with one of the Grand Duke’s knights and turned the North upside down.

It turned out that was the reason the old man sent his eldest daughter away. She could not find a marriage partner because there were so many scandals about her with the men in the village. Hence he used the opportunity to clean the rumors up.

However, leaking from the inside, leaking from the outside as well.

In the end, Elijah, who angered the Grand Duke, was beheaded. Worthy of his notoriety, her family was also captured and skinned alive by the Grand Duke’s army in the middle of the night.

Even though the Grand Duke who was wounded turns into a real monster, the main character met true love after all.

Cecil, the beautiful and virtuous female lead, recognized the true virtue of the Grand Duke and bonded body and mind with him. The Grand Duke was released from the terrible curse and eventually returned to his original beautiful appearance.

That was the content of the overall story that I remember.

“... Ah.”

I shook my head and let out a groan.

I did not ask for this kind of nonsense story.

However, what made me even sadder is that it’s not that the story is so terrifying, but because when I woke up, I’m right in the story.

Not even as the heroine, not even as the eldest daughter Elijah. I possessed Bella, who was skinned alive because she is Elijah’s sister.

--

‘Beauty and the Beast of the Night’

It’s embarrassing, but that was the title of the novel I read.

As a famous R-rated novel that heated the industry in its midst, it had a bit of a tiring part in it.

The male protagonist was none other than a beast that conquered the continents and secluded in the Northern part of the Empire alone. Since he was the man with boiling blood in such a place, it may be natural for his instincts to boil over to ‘that way’.

His name was Kiers Valencia Grand Duke.

With a name just like a male protagonist, he was the Emperor’s half-brother. He had a royal bloodline and outstanding abilities. From a young age, he overcame many crises involving death. Once he could raise a sword, he was pushed into the battlefield, but then he gained a reputation instead.

After occupying the whole of Aren in the west and Pelona in the south, he met a turning point in his life in the North, a place that did not allow even a single grass to survive.

Occupying those areas alone was enough for the Emperor’s seat to be bestowed to him, but he was cursed by the Archmage at the end.

“Kiers! Your sins that stained the continent with blood will be replaced by the pain that will never end!”

And by this plausible and ambiguous curse, it meant all curses cast on his face.

Back then, the Grand Duke boasted his immense beauty that one would be captivated even in their dreams once seen. Some even believed that Emperor Casselini removed his half-brother to the battlefield was due to anxiety that his fiancee, Roena, might fell for him.

After all, other people’s unhappiness is my happiness.

The Grand Duke was cursed, and there couldn’t be any better than that news. The Emperor blamed everything on the Grand Duke, saying that he got cursed because of his own deeds.

The Emperor sent him to rule the Northern part of the Empire and to control his mind and body. But in reality, the meaning was one.

Just live there quietly and die.

Then, Kiers became the ruler of the North.

The man who once commanded the entire continent wasted his life hunting and drinking and got married for the first time, but that was caught in a scandal, which plunged him further into despair.

In the process, seven Central Army units were mobilized due to the madness revived by the bloody revenge toward his first wife, Elijah, and her family. But unfortunately, it was only after Elijah's family had become skinless.

"It's driving me crazy..."

Feeling frustrated, I removed a leaf from my hair while washing my face.

All of this was because I had to chop wood instead of my sisters, and after I rolled down the hill, my memories came flooding in like lightning.

My name is Bella.

It's a good name, but considering my situation, it's not good. It's ridiculous.

Instead of my older sisters, who were addicted to luxury and pleasure, I always did the dirty work for the family's welfare. Even today, it was Melanie's job to do the woodwork, but I went instead because she cried that her legs are hurting.

But thanks to that, I hit my head and regained memories of my previous life. So I didn't know if I came into this book after I died or if I fell into it by accident, but what is certain was that I lived in a book.

Bella was also the ex-wife's family who was skinned alive and died.

"Haa.."

No, what kind of life this is.

It was unfair to live the rest of my life as a hogu*.

(*Hogu is Korean slang for a stupid person taken for granted by others)

It was unfair to be caught for life by family members. They were not even a stranger. It's hard to live like that.

The author was certainly inspired by 'Beauty and the Beast'. However, the level of punishment was different thanks to the particular focus on the 19+ rating.

To emphasize the savagery of the male protagonist, there was no way he kills people nicely.

But what did I do wrong?

In fact, my eldest sister was the one having an affair, while I worked really hard until the back of my hands was swollen.

Even so, we were able to keep up the aristocracy front until my second sister, but the trading ship my father invested in was wrecked in the year I was born.

I couldn't even laugh about it. Because my birth brought bad luck, I couldn't even make a protest and lived in despair.

This doesn't mean that all families are evil.

However, my father was distracted, and my eldest sister was overly liberal. Also, my second sister, Melanie, was a self-serving egoist and the youngest, Rose, was still very young.

So, to maintain this family, at least one person had to take on the responsibility, and that was me.

So I got all the bad things?

It's not that I was cursed by the Archmage. It can't be.

I crouched down to the stream nearby to clean my face.

"Wow.."

This beauty.

Unable to hide my overwhelmed heart for a moment, I covered my mouth. Even after I rolled down the hill and was covered with dirt, my reflection on the clear water went beyond the limit of human beings.

Elijah's family was known for their boastworthy outstanding beauty. That was it.

In the book, it was described in one single line. However, it was hard to describe this beauty in a sentence.

With the rich platinum blonde hair that swept up to my waist, I had innocent and enchanting eyes. There, the purple eyes were incomparable to any jewels.

Right now, even I wanted to plunge into the water, not to mention the others.

"..."

However, the 'that was it' part mentioned in the novel was the only true thing.

All I have was this gorgeous and dazzling appearance, and this whole body would be torn into pieces before I could even enjoy it properly.

Is it even possible to have a simple dream of being full by looking at this face?

“Haa..”

I took a deep breath and bit my lip.

That was the life of Bella before rolling down the hill. I had to do something different.

I made a solemn pledge to myself while tying my long hair tightly.

I am not just going to let this face be wasted.