Translator: Nox

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Chapter 1. Crushed by Self-Inflicted Disaster

"Vivian, I was looking for you because you weren't in your bedroom. What are you doing in a place like this?"

"That's..."

It was a warm afternoon.

Vivian, who had been hiding among the bushes in the garden, looking left and right, creaked her head up.

Her fiancé, Arslan Rezef Astalot, whom she would marry next month, was looking down at her with his arms crossed.

Nearly 2 meters tall, with broad shoulders and a firm chest, and bulging veins on his arms. His physique was threatening enough to remind anyone of a wild beast.

But the corners of his eyes, facing his fiancée, curved beautifully like crescent moons.

"If you wanted to take a walk, you should have called me. It would have been nice to come out together."

"I, I thought you looked too busy..."

"How could I not make time when you want something?"

Arslan walked over, and the sound of gravel crunching under his feet could be heard. That was all, but cold sweat trickled down Vivian's back.

That's right. In fact, she had been caught trying to run away secretly.

"You don't look well. You shouldn't overdo it when you're not feeling well. Let's go inside."

"T, that's difficult."

"Difficult?"

"I think I have to go out because an urgent letter came. Here's the letter..."

But she had fully anticipated this level of difficulty.

Vivian took out Plan B, which she had prepared in advance. It was a letter from her half-sister, who was madly in love with her.

Between her vigorously raised fingers, a brilliant gold envelope gleamed in the sunlight.

For some reason, the Crown Prince's letter was there...

"W, why is this here? I clearly threw it away?!"

"Ah, I see."

Arslan's eyes hardened at the appearance of a letter different from the plan.

She didn't know why this ominous thing was here, but she seemed to know that Arslan's mood had become very uncomfortable.

"Haha, my eyesight has been a little blurry lately."

Vivian smiled awkwardly and slyly hid the Crown Prince's letter behind her back.

But it was already too late. Arslan, who had gone behind her, tore the Crown Prince's letter to shreds.

The ornate gold envelope turned to dust and disappeared.

"Now there will be no problem returning to the bedroom."

"That was a mistake earlier. Here, this is Iris's real letter, right?"

Anyway, the Crown Prince's letter had disappeared. Now that the evidence was gone, Arslan wouldn't be able to do anything more.

Vivian took out her half-sister's letter and smiled confidently.

But what she had not anticipated was that Iris was also just an eyesore to Arslan, who was interfering with his honeymoon with his fiancée.

"You're not thinking of leaving, are you?"

"Why, why are you looking at me like that?"

"You promised to be with me today. I've been waiting for today all along."

As I said before, it was a sunny afternoon. An afternoon when bluebirds chirped and cats lazily napped.

But Vivian couldn't stand it because it was too cold. Arslan's eyes were hitting freezing point, so she couldn't stand it because it was so cold!

"Cough, cough, cough!"

"Vivian...!"

"Ugh, it's nothing. I just think it's a little chilly."

It was the moment when Vivian, staggering from coughing, accidentally leaned into Arslan's chest. The cold air that had been spreading in all directions subsided in the blink of an eye.

Feeling the gentle breeze of spring again, Vivian wept bitterly inside.

'How am I ever going to escape at this rate?!'

Arslan's voice, holding her small waist, cracked low like an excited beast.

"The day we become a real couple is not far away. I can't sleep at all when I think about that day. I'm sure you feel the same way, Vivian."

No?!

Vivian, who couldn't shout it out proudly, just wept bitterly inside.

When she thought back to why she had become like this, it all started with a single, badly written will.

---

[By the time this will is discovered, I will no longer be in this world. It is best for everyone that I leave, so do not look for me or wait for me.

I bequeath all rights to all property and estates that I own to my fiancé, His Highness Arslan.]

The Empire's Second Prince and Grand Duke, Arslan Rezef Astalot, glared at the paper presented to him with an unpleasant expression.

He didn't even read the contents of the will and scanned the signature at the bottom first.

Vivian Eleonora.

It was the name of his fiancée, whom he had chosen for political reasons but eventually came to hate with a passion. Because she had committed all sorts of dirty and cruel atrocities just because she loved him.

The Grand Duke's voice was naturally sarcastic.

"Did you disturb my official hours just to show me a piece of paper?"

"It's not just a piece of paper..."

"Yes, a will. Ha! I guess you're just staging another drama to get my attention. What a great woman. You're testing the limits of my patience every time."

His head throbbed just thinking about the Duchess's viper-like, venomous eyes.

But these absurdities were not far from over.

He had been silent about the Duchess's misdeeds, considering the political relationship, but now he had a legitimate reason to break off the engagement.

'Duchess Eleonora has a hidden illegitimate child. He committed the shame of the nobility.'

Nobles are sensitive to gossip. They enjoy using their tongues like knives to overturn the monotonous daily life that repeats like a treadmill.

The Duke had touched an innocent maid when he was young, and when she became pregnant, he was afraid of being caught by the then-head of the family, so he tortured the maid to the point of death and left her in the mountains.

The maid passed away shortly after giving birth to her daughter. But the child, unaware of these circumstances, is coming to the capital to find her biological father.

After all, there are no eternal secrets in the world.

'If I pull a few strings behind the scenes, Eleonora's social reputation will plummet. It will be easier to break off the engagement.'

Vivian also knew this fact. He had told her directly to her face.

So this suicide attempt must have been a last-ditch effort before being abandoned.

But the Chamberlain's expression looking at Arslan was still dark.

"That, that is... I think it's real this time."

"What do you mean?"

"The Duchess has Consumption."

Arslan's actions, which had been nervously scanning the documents, stopped. The Chamberlain, who had received his master's gaze, quickly continued.

"Hasn't our side been secretly recruiting servants from the Eleonora Family? Among them, the doctor said that when he discovered the Duchess's Consumption symptoms, her condition was already at its peak and there was no way to treat her."

"Are you talking about the hemoptysis she showed at the last banquet?"

"Yes, after hearing from the doctor that night that there was no way to treat her, the Duchess's behavior became somewhat strange. She seemed like a different person."

"Consumption is an incurable disease that even the Imperial Physician cannot cure."

Arslan recalled her face.

To be exact, the emotionless eyes, like dead fish, hidden beneath the ornate mask.

'Who would believe a man who whispers love with such eyes? You coveted power that was nothing more than a facade, and now your ending is just as futile.'

He thought it was a pity, but that was all.

But personal feelings and political situations were separate. His half-brother, Crown Prince Johannes, who was constantly trying to cut his throat, would not miss this opportunity.

If the Duchess really died, he would definitely try to put the blame on him somehow.

For trivial reasons such as not fulfilling his duties as a fiancé or neglecting the Duchess's condition.

"Was there any reaction from the Emperor?"

"His Highness's fiancée is as good as His Majesty's daughter-in-law, so he ordered a thorough investigation into the cause of this tragedy."

"Damn it, find her first. Find her somehow before she breathes her last!"

Arslan's voice, slamming the desk, contained undisguised anger.

She was a tiresome woman who kept holding him back until the very last moment. But now that the situation had become like this, he could never let her die like that.

He had to eliminate all the elements that could be used by the Emperor to find fault with him.

"You must... find her and bring her to me. Even if she's already dead, bring her corpse. I'll have to put on a pathetic play."

"Yes, Master."

He would have to decorate the Duchess's room luxuriously and prepare for the wedding and funeral at the same time.

The Chamberlain bowed deeply, anticipating that he would be busy for the time being.

---

How many days had it been since she wrote her will and secretly escaped from the Duke's residence?

Vivian realized that her situation was not very good.

Well, when was it ever good, but now she was feeling with her whole body that she was really screwed like never before.

'I just left a little early before I died... I don't think wanting to spend the rest of my life in peace is such a deadly sin?!'

Vivian regretted trampling on the original story as she pleased, but it was already too late. A house-sized Black Lion was lurking in front of her.

Piercing golden eyes and a murderous aura that tightened her throat in a terrifying way.

The moment she turned her back and ran away, she would surely be torn to pieces and die.

'Why is Arslan, who should be quietly inheriting my property in the capital, here, and in such a terrifying state!'

Vivian slowly recalled how she had ended up in such a dire situation.

She, who had died in an accident, possessed the hardcore 19+ novel she had been reading until just before, <The Curse of Astaroth>.

This novel begins in the distant past, when an unnamed hero defeats the demon Astaroth.

Astaroth, who was a Black Lion demon, cast a curse on the hero as he died miserably.

[I will surely be resurrected! I will take the body of your descendant, the descendant of your descendant, a human being who inherits your blood, and use it as a sacrifice for resurrection!]

The hero became the Emperor of the Empire, and strange things began to happen to the Imperial Family.

A prince or princess who was born borrowing the womb of a human being but turned into a Black Lion began to appear. When they died, the curse was passed on like a shackle to other members of the Imperial Family.

Arslan, the male protagonist of this novel, was a prince who had 'artificially' taken on such a curse.

The member of the Imperial Family who should have been cursed was originally the Empire's Crown Prince Johannes. However, the Emperor used Black magic to transfer the curse to Arslan, the Second Prince born to a chambermaid.

Vivian was the fiancée of such a miserable Arslan.

Without knowing the curse that Arslan had taken on, she was obsessed with his appearance and power, and eventually, when he fell in love with her half-sister, the female protagonist, she tried to kill her and was executed. She was a typical villainess.

'It was a great relief that the point in time I possessed was before the female protagonist appeared...'

Vivian possessed the body a month ago, which was the very beginning of the original story. She thought that if she lived quietly as if holding her breath before the events began in earnest, she would be fine.

But nothing in this world goes as planned.

Due to the nature of a villainess who is not given a specific narrative, there was a serious problem that was not revealed on the surface of the novel.

Vivian was dying of Consumption.

The doctor said, 'At most, one year.'

As if to prove those words, her face reflected in the mirror was as pale as a blank sheet of paper, her body was emaciated, and no one in the Duke's family came close to her because they were afraid of her.

Even though the setting was that Consumption in this world was not contagious.

Vivian realized that even the servants were ignoring her. But she decided not to think too hard about it.

'It's better that no one cares about me. It's a pity that I'm living on borrowed time after possessing this body, but I should enjoy the rest of my time.'

Fortunately, she had inherited a huge fortune from her mother, the Duchess, and her maternal family. It was enough money to spend extravagantly for a thousand years.

'If I take only a part of it, I can live a rich life for the rest of my life, so let's run away without looking back.'

She immediately made an escape plan and wrote a will.

[By the time this will is discovered, I will no longer be in this world.]

Because I'm going to launder my identity.

[It is best for everyone that I leave, so do not look for me or wait for me.]

I will spend the rest of my life leisurely at the best resort in the South. Don't bother me by looking for me.

[I bequeath all rights to all property and estates that I own to my fiancé, His Highness Arslan.]

'What's going to happen if I don't follow the original story? Anyway, I can't take all the money with me, so this much is okay.'

If she left, her father, Duke Eleonora, would take over the remaining property, but she somehow didn't like that.

He knew that she was living on borrowed time and was being abused by the servants, but he never came to see her face.

Even if they happened to run into each other while passing by, he would just turn his head as if looking at trash.

'Now it's all done. Let's go.'

It was a bold start to her running away from home, but she took extreme caution for the first few days. She wore the simplest clothes possible and took detours.

But until she crossed the Empire and reached the southern gate, there were no pursuers or obstacles, so Vivian let her guard down.

She returned to her original glamorous attire and caught a carriage. She had been suffering all along, so she wanted to travel comfortably on the mountain road.

Encountering a band of thieves in the midst of all this could be said to be bad luck.

Not for Vivian, but for the thieves.

"How dare you rob my carriage! Are you all so crazy that you want to die as a group?"

"S, save me...!"

The Eleonora Family was a prestigious military family that had been passed down through generations in the Empire, so Vivian also possessed a considerable level of swordsmanship.

Thanks to this, she was able to beat up all the swarming thieves and cut them off on the express train to the afterlife.

But Vivian's ordeal was just beginning.

"Krrr."

Inside the thieves' camp, she lifted a cloth that was covered in a suspicious shape, and a wild beast was lurking inside a huge iron cage.

A huge Black Lion with golden eyes shining brightly between its jet-black fur.

He was definitely the male protagonist, Arslan Rezef Astalot.