~Chapter 1~
“You’re really getting on my nerves.”
“Sonod, it’s all my fault. Please, just don’t break off the engagement…”
“Petunia, I hate women who are frustrating.”
“…”
“You’re the most frustrating woman I’ve ever met.”
“Sonod…”
“It’s best if we call off the engagement. I’ll send someone to the Count of Incleldove within the week.”
“Please, Sonod. Please… I won’t interfere with your life anymore, I promise…”
“I’m already sick and tired of you. I don’t want to see your tear-stained face ever again.”
“…”
“What would I do with a woman who’s not even attractive?”
Sonod turned coldly and walked away. Petunia, unaware that everyone in the café was staring at her, could only look helplessly at his back as he left.
Just as he said, a few days later, official documents arrived at the Count’s estate. They were papers from the Duke of Quinton, formally calling off the engagement.
After meeting Sonod, Petunia had already been very sick. But after seeing the documents, she completely broke down. After seeing the documents, she became like a shell of a person.
She stopped eating, cried until she passed out, and repeated that every day.
The Count and Countess could only watch helplessly as their daughter fell apart because of love.
Petunia finally came out of her room after ten whole days.
***
“I thought I told you never to appear in front of me again.”
Sonod spoke in an annoyed tone. I looked around the elegant café known to be a place only nobles visited.
Honestly, I didn’t expect him to show up. I thought he’d ignore my message and say he didn’t want to see me. But surprisingly, he came without a fuss. That was a relief.
“Aren’t your legs tired? You should sit.”
“Hah, you really don’t give up. I thought I made myself clear last time.”
“I don’t want to stay here long either. We’re both uncomfortable, so let’s keep it short. Just cooperate, and let’s finish quickly.”
Frowning, Sonod sat across from me. Just then, the waiter arrived with two cups of coffee I had ordered.
“So, what’s your business?”
Sonod crossed his legs arrogantly. I sat like a proper noblewoman, just like I read in books, and took a sip of espresso.
“Have some coffee.”
I pointed at his cup with my chin.
“I’ll pass.”
“Okay.”
Nice, more for me.
I pulled the cup in front of Sonod toward me. A vein on his forehead twitched.
Slurp.
I made a loud slurping noise as I drank the coffee on purpose. Sonod sneered and finally spoke.
“I clearly warned you not to cling to me. And now, since that didn’t work, are you trying another method?”
“Oh my, what an imagination.”
I put down my cup.
He really thinks the world revolves around him, just because he’s the only heir to the Quinton Duchy.
“I just came because I’ve sorted out my thoughts. And actually, I wanted to say thanks.”
“Do you think that’ll make me change my mind?”
What is this guy even saying?
I looked at Sonod like he was a cockroach. I couldn’t understand why Petunia ever liked this idiot.
In fact, her blind love probably just made him more arrogant.
“You know what? They say delusion is the fastest road to madness.”
“…”
“Thanks to you, I got off that road. But you? I guess you’re still on it.”
“What?”
Sonod slammed the table loudly. People nearby glanced over. For someone raised as a noble, he clearly had no manners.
“How uncivilized. Lower your voice.”
I calmly took another sip of espresso and glanced at him from head to toe. Sonod’s face turned red, and he suddenly stood up.
“You—!”
Splash!
“…!”
The café froze.
Everyone stopped breathing for a moment.
Because I had just thrown espresso in Sonod’s face.
It was quite a scene. The café buzzed as people started whispering. Steam rose from Sonod’s coffee-soaked face. It was quite a sight.
“What do you think you’re doing?!”
He yelled while wiping his face roughly. A few waiters rushed over to help clean him up, but he pushed them away furiously.
“It’s a gift.”
“What?”
“Your face looked like it was melting, like ice cream, so I thought I’d turn it into an affogato. That’s why I chose espresso. Though… the final look? Not very good, right?”
I smiled slightly with one corner of my mouth and stood up. I could hear people around us laughing. It wasn’t full-on revenge, but at least it felt refreshing—like sparkling water.
“You—!”
The sound of a chair dragging followed, and Sonod’s angry voice echoed again.
I looked back at him with a bright smile.
“I kept it short and to the point, just like you asked. Anything else to say?”
“You’re clearly out of your mind after I dumped you—”
“Excuse me? Let’s get the facts straight. We aren’t on casual terms to be saying ‘you’ and ‘me,’ are we?”
“Hah.”
Sonod ran a hand through his thinning hair.
Take care of that hair, buddy. I know you’re going to be bald in the future.
“Oh, I almost forgot the most important part.”
I stepped closer to Sonod.
“Thanks for snapping me out of my delusion.”
“…”
“And thank you for getting out of my life all on your own.”
“…Seems like being dumped really messed you up. You’re completely crazy now.”
He raised his voice again, clearly playing it up for the audience in the café. His exaggerated gestures were laughable.
But I wasn’t foolish enough to fall for such a cheap trick. No point in arguing.
I just shrugged.
His clenched fists showed he didn’t expect that reaction. He looked ridiculous, like a kid throwing a tantrum.
“Still, after all those years together, I think it’s nice to leave one unforgettable memory.”
“You—!”
“As you said, I’ll never appear in front of you again. So make sure you stay out of my sight too. If we meet again, I might just grind that affogato-looking face of yours into a frappuccino.”
Ignoring Sonod’s shouting, I walked away. I even cleaned my ear with my pinky finger as I left. Some dog barking or something.
“What was I even thinking, chasing after a guy who looks like a grasshopper?”
I shook my head and left the café with my guards.
***
“Petunia, you’re back?”
At the front entrance, the Countess—Petunia’s mother—welcomed me warmly.
“Yes. It felt really refreshing to get out for a bit.”
“That’s good to hear.”
Of course, her idea of refreshing was very different from mine.
I gave her an awkward smile and went up to my room on the second floor. After changing into indoor clothes, I dismissed the maids and collapsed onto my bed.
This was the first thing I’d wanted to do since becoming Petunia. It was a tiring day—but a satisfying one.
I rolled over and picked up the calendar on the bedside table. Today marked exactly ten days since I came into Petunia’s body.
Funny how none of my other wishes came true, but the one time I said, “If it were me, I’d have dumped that jerk ages ago!” Someone must have listened to my wish.
When I came to my senses, I had become the female side character in a novel I read a few days ago.
The body I now had was fragile and weak, and I’d been crying like the world had ended. My stomach growled like I hadn’t eaten for days.
I picked up a piece of bread someone had left at the door and gulped it down. But dry, stale bread wasn’t enough to fill me up.
I wanted to run outside and dig up dirt to eat. But I couldn’t just roam freely in a strange house with a stranger’s body.
With a dizzy head from hunger, I spent half the day thinking things through. In the end, I came to one conclusion.
My first words were:
“This can’t be real.”
I tried to deny it—No way. This is impossible. This isn’t happening.
But then I heard someone outside the door saying, “Miss Petunia, please open the door,” and I collapsed on the floor.
It was the moment I realized the unbelievable situation was real.
I had possessed Petunia Incleldove, a side character in the romance-fantasy novel The Beast of the East.
Petunia was the wife of the novel’s main villain, Sonod Quinton.
Although just a supporting role, being the villain’s wife meant she appeared quite frequently.
They were like the Team Rocket of the novel. The two villains always showed up together.
Thanks to the pile of breakup papers on the desk, I could guess the current timeline easily.
Although Sonod and Petunia were always talking about breaking up, this was the only time they seriously tried to call it off.
That’s how I realized this was two years before the original story began.
