〈001〉
One day, an invitation arrived for me.
“There’s to be a ball at the Winchester Count’s estate.”
As my mother handed me the invitation with a beaming smile, I was once again reminded of the meaning of my existence here.
An extra, meant to decorate the dazzling moments of the main characters.
“I can’t remember the last time the Camellia Mansion opened its doors. Was it the funeral of the late Duchess Winchester? That must’ve been two years ago.”
My mother seemed to be searching her memory, but I had no idea. After all, it had only been less than half a year since I’d possessed the body of an extra in this novel and started acting as her daughter.
“I didn’t expect to wake up and find myself inside a novel.”
I let out a small sigh, careful not to let my mother hear. At first, I was confused and unable to accept the situation. My family, hearing me talk nonsense, thought it was the aftereffect of a carriage accident.
During the days I was forcibly bedridden and receiving care, I was finally able to get a grasp of the situation. I had fallen into a strange world and become the third daughter of the Baron Pomots family.
It was only later that I realized I was inside a novel titled “The Sun of Tantilia.” That realization came later because, at the moment, nothing had happened yet—the protagonists were still in their childhood.
“If I go to the Winchester estate, will I get to see the female lead?”
I thought of the female protagonist, Danielle de Winchester. Like a camellia blooming in the dead of winter, Danielle was gracefully beautiful—but her life was as harsh as that same winter.
She spent her childhood enduring her father’s neglect and her stepmother’s abuse. Then, as soon as she came of age, she was married off like a commodity with a dowry—a marriage that turned out to be a tragedy. Her husband was a complete womanizer, and life in her in-laws’ home was grueling.
At the moment she was about to die because of her husband, the male lead saved her. Even after meeting her true love, her life didn’t get any easier. Her crazy, philandering husband wouldn’t let her go, and the male lead’s noble family strongly opposed their relationship.
“Still, at least she ends up divorcing that scoundrel and gets her happy ending, so that’s something.”
In any case, this was a novel, “The Sun of Tantilia,” and I was an extra. Figuring out my role wasn’t hard.
All I had to do was look in the mirror.
“Brown hair, brown eyes, plain looks—an extra to the core!”
Staring at my reflection, I immediately understood. The slightly high status of being a baron’s daughter, the oddly bland family name Pomots, and the lackluster first name Naeri that sounded like it was made up last-minute—all screamed “extra.”
“Should I buy a new dress?”
“It’s just one ball. Why buy a new dress? I’ll just wear what I have.”
“Still, you never know, right?”
“What don’t I know?”
“Oh, come on! The Count of Winchester is still single! Why else would he open the mansion after all this time and host a ball without even having a hostess? He must be looking for a bride!”
My mother raised her voice, clearly excited.
“He has a child, sure, but there’s no better match in the Empire than the Count of Winchester. His family is excellent, he’s rich, and he’s one of the few Sword Masters in the Empire! Plus, he’s handsome!”
“Why would a count like that want to marry me?”
“…”
At my one sentence, all of my mother’s excitement immediately fizzled out.
“Y-You’re actually pretty if you try!”
“And a rich, handsome count with a noble title would want someone who’s only ‘pretty if she tries’ like me? Really?”
“If only you didn’t take after your father…”
My mother grumbled, clearly still holding on to hope. She and my father looked so alike, people often mistook them for siblings. It made me wonder what difference it made who I resembled. They say people who look alike live well together, and given that they were still a loving couple despite their age difference, it seemed to have worked out fine.
A kind father and mother, a dependable older brother and his wife, a chatty older sister and her quiet husband, a grumbling yet kind younger brother, and adorable nieces and nephews.
The Pomots family, a warm and loving extended family, was the first real family I had ever known as someone who had been an orphan.
“So, do you not want to go?”
“No, I’ll go.”
I shook my head. I had no ambitions of catching the count’s eye and marrying him. I simply wanted to see Danielle.
She wouldn’t be the graceful, delicate, yet strong Danielle I knew just yet. But having read the novel and cheered for her as she kept her hope alive through a living hell and protected her love despite countless hardships, I truly wanted to meet her.
“If I keep living here like this, will I get to see the events of the novel unfold in real life?”
The reality before me still felt slightly surreal.
* * *
“This house is kind of…”
The moment I stepped out of the carriage, the Winchester Count’s estate—also known as the Camellia Mansion—came into view. It was massive and elegant, yet somehow had a desolate air to it. The trees in the garden were well-maintained, but the dried-up pond and the bittersweet vines tangled on the trees in the distance stood out.
It felt like the abandoned mansion had been hastily cleaned and arranged to welcome guests.
The first floor, where the ballroom was located, was brightly lit, but in contrast, all the lights on the second floor were off, adding to the eerie atmosphere.
“I wonder if Danielle will be at the party?”
I mumbled to myself, but the chances were slim. Maybe if it were a tea party for noble ladies or a private dinner with close acquaintances, or a gathering of young heirs and heiresses, she might attend—but this was a major event. Danielle, who hadn’t even had her debutante yet, wouldn’t be allowed to attend.
Besides, in the novel, her stepmother kept delaying the debutante to avoid spending money on her, and ended up lumping it together with her coming-of-age ceremony. It was at that very event that her scoundrel ex-husband laid eyes on her beauty and fell for her.
“Still, she must be somewhere in that house, right?”
Feeling like I was having a personal fan meeting, I stepped into the mansion.
“Oh~ As expected of a wealthy count’s house!”
That was my first thought upon entering the Camellia Hall, where the ball was held. Unlike the hurriedly cleaned-up exterior, the inside of the hall was perfectly decorated.
The grand chandelier and sparkling lights, the orchestra playing elegant music, and the people dressed in extravagant outfits—all blended together to create a truly magnificent ball right before my eyes.
“…”
Yes. It was all there—just not for me. No one spoke to me or acknowledged me. It was as if no one even realized I had arrived.
“Well, that’s what being an extra is like.”
I shrugged, found a servant on my own to take my coat, and went looking for food and drinks.
“Wow~ The food is really good.”
As expected of the wealthy Winchester family, the food was excellent. I wasn’t much of a drinker, but the sweet scent was pleasant. Maybe it tasted even better because my mother had starved me since lunch for the sake of the dress fitting better.
“Did you hear, Baroness?”
“What is it?”
As I was enjoying a private meal in a quiet corner of the ballroom, I overheard a whispered conversation. The two women clearly thought they were speaking in hushed tones to each other and didn’t realize I was nearby.
“Truly, I’m the invisible extra, huh?”
That was something I’d learned over the past two months. Naeri de Pomots, the extra with brown hair and brown eyes, was so plain she practically had no presence. Just like now—if I stood quietly behind a table, no one would even notice I was there.
Funny enough, that was just like how I had been in my previous life. Ranked 12th in class. Never held a leadership role. Studied biology at a second-rate university most people had only vaguely heard of. Just another bespectacled girl—ordinary to the bone.
That was who I originally was.
“The Atley Count’s household tutor has changed again, did you hear?”
Atley Count? That was the family of Danielle’s awful ex-husband.
As soon as I heard that familiar name, the dreamy haze of my past life shattered.
The reality I now faced was that I was Naeri de Pomots, a baron’s daughter wearing a lace-covered dress straight out of a painting, attending a ball hosted by a count.
