Chapter 7
‘I might have been mistaken. I just need to check if it’s really him!’
So she wandered around for quite some time looking for Edwin, when suddenly, somewhere in the distance, the loud sound of a horn echoed.
“Waaah!”
Immediately after, the cheers of people rang out from afar.
‘Has the tournament already started?’
Lucy hurried toward the direction where the crowd was gathered. And then—she spotted Edwin in the distance, mounted on a horse.
“That’s… really Edwin!”
Even after rubbing her eyes and looking again, it was undeniably the same Edwin from her memories—her fiancé.
As Edwin climbed onto his horse, the woman who had earlier called him “Your Highness” ran up and tied a handkerchief to the hilt of his sword.
Then Edwin, still on horseback, lowered his head slightly and kissed her on the forehead.
“They say Lady Becky, the marquis’s daughter, and the Fourth Prince are engaged—guess it’s true.”
Lucy flinched and turned toward the voice that had come from nearby. Many people had gathered to cheer for the participants of the competition.
“What could the Becky Marquisate possibly gain from taking the Fourth Prince as a son-in-law? I just don’t get it.”
Listening to the conversation of those nearby, Lucy quickly began piecing together the novel’s plot in her mind. What she had only vaguely suspected now seemed certain.
Victory of Becky—the novel—was named after the heroine’s surname.
It was the story of Joanna, the ambitious and bold eldest daughter of the Becky Marquisate, who struggled and fought her way to becoming the Empress of the Empire.
She proposed a contractual marriage to the male lead—an emperor’s illegitimate son who was shunned by society—and eventually made him emperor, living happily ever after with him.
“Then… does that mean I’m the villainess stuck between them…?”
Lucy muttered in a dazed voice, turning around. Only now did everything she’d experienced here start to fit together like pieces of a puzzle.
Baron Diallo had paraded Lucy around at every social gathering to display her in the marriage market.
At some point, Lucy—the one in the novel—had fallen in love with Edwin, the male lead, and the baron had accepted Edwin’s marriage proposal, likely because of the dowry he couldn’t refuse.
But on the wedding day, Edwin had never shown up at the ceremony. Lucy had been left in despair, falling into a slow, lingering illness.
‘And that’s when I just happened to end up in this body?’
After Lucy had “awakened” in this body, the baron had continued sending her to social events, intending to sell her off at a high price somehow.
“In fact, I’m about to be sold to that old duke any day now…”
Lucy let out a hollow laugh, wandering aimlessly.
“Lucy, you really have a wretched fate. And now that Lucy is me? Ha…”
The absurdity of her situation was so overwhelming that she could only mutter to herself.
If things continued as they had in the original story, she would inevitably end up as the duke’s mistress.
“Maybe I should just run away now.”
Muttering under her breath, Lucy came to a conclusion: escape was the best option.
‘There’s no one watching me right now—this is the perfect chance, isn’t it?’
Thinking this, she walked on without direction—until she stopped in her tracks, realizing she was surrounded by nothing but tall grass.
“Huh? Where… am I?”
Everywhere she looked was dense undergrowth and tall trees. The thick canopy blocked the sun, casting deep shadows over the forest.
She turned to head back the way she came—but couldn’t even tell which direction that was.
She was lost in the forest.
‘In the novel, whenever someone got lost during the hunting competition, something always happened…’
A sudden thought struck her—what if, as a mere background villainess, she wandered around here only to end up as target practice?
“I can’t die a pointless death in a place like this!”
Lucy headed downhill.
Just then, the sound of horse hooves came from a distance. She hesitated—should she go toward the sound or run the other way?
‘The dress I’m wearing today is light-colored—they won’t mistake me for game, right?’
Making a quick decision, Lucy ran toward the sound, planning to ask for help.
But soon she saw someone galloping toward her on a white horse—and instantly ducked into the underbrush to hide.
The rider was Edwin.
‘Why him, of all people!’
Meeting him now would do her no good.
Not only had Edwin abandoned her, but as the male lead of this novel’s world, any involvement with him would almost certainly brand her as the villainess and lead her to the executioner’s block.
While she crouched, waiting for the hoofbeats to fade, another set of hoofbeats approached from afar.
Thinking maybe Edwin had passed, she peeked out from between the bushes—and saw him, still on horseback, pulling back his bowstring.
The problem was, someone else was riding toward them from the direction he was aiming at.
‘Wait… isn’t that dangerous?’
Even though the rider was in plain view, Edwin didn’t seem inclined to lower his bow. The approaching man, upon noticing Edwin, tugged on the reins and stopped his horse.
It was at that moment that Edwin released the bowstring. The man’s horse reared violently.
Hiiiii!
Lucy squeezed her eyes shut and ducked back down, her heart pounding at the horse’s panicked cry.
‘Did… did that man just get hit by the arrow?’
Her fear growing, she heard the sound of galloping again—and then silence.
Peeking out cautiously, she saw neither Edwin nor the presumed victim. Only a riderless horse remained, stamping the ground nervously.
Feeling an ominous sense of foreboding, Lucy slowly approached the horse.
“Hey… where’s your owner?”
Of course, no reply came, but Lucy muttered anyway to keep her fear at bay. The horse was standing near the edge of a steep slope.
“Don’t tell me your owner fell down there…”
Her voice trembled as she carefully looked down. It was steep, but not the sheer cliff she had imagined. Leaning over, she spotted the silhouette of a collapsed figure below.
“That’s… that’s a person! Hey—are you okay?”
Without thinking, she grabbed some small branches and slid down the slope.
A small stream flowed past the fallen man, trickling over the rocks.
Ignoring her already-dirty and now-soaked dress, Lucy ran to his side.
“Hey—are you okay?”
The man, likely having tumbled here after taking an arrow to the shoulder, was unconscious. Blood was flowing freely from his shoulder, staining the stream red.
“Please, wake up!”
She shook him, but he didn’t move. Looking around in frustration, she bit her lip when she noticed her own injured right hand.
“I’m sorry. I can only use one hand right now.”
With that, she grabbed the collar of his jacket with her left hand and, gritting her teeth, dragged him out of the water.
Panting, she laid him on the grass beside the stream. Now came the hard part—should she try pulling out the arrow or not?
‘If I leave it, he’ll keep bleeding…’
The sun was already dipping below the treetops. She had to act before darkness fell.
“This… might hurt a little!”
Warning him softly, she yanked the arrow out in one swift motion.
“Ugh!”
“Ah! Y-you’re awake?”
Had she been too rough? The man groaned and writhed in pain.
“Haa… haa… How did I…”
His voice trailed off as if searching his memory.
“Urgh…”
As he tried to lift his head, gritting his teeth, Lucy quickly helped him sit up.
“I’m so glad you’re awake. You had an arrow stuck in your shoulder—I pulled it out. I think you need to stop the bleeding right away…”
But then, as she got a closer look at his face, Lucy froze mid-sentence.
