~Chapter 1~
Beeeeeep—
The sound, which seemed like it would ring forever, finally stopped.
What followed was a familiar sound—knock knock.
“May I come in?”
So even grim reapers knock before collecting souls these days. How polite.
Yes, please come in, O messenger of hell.
I am ready to pay the price for failing to protect my happiness.
Dain, prepared to be dragged to the afterlife, calmly asked with her eyes still closed:
“What kind of hell will I be sent to?”
“…Excuse me?”
Which is the greater sin—dragging others into misery or abandoning yourself to it?
Dain wanted to believe the latter was lighter, but she wasn’t sure.
“Is my crime severe? How many years will I get?”
“……”
“They say even a village dog can recite poems after three years at the Confucian school. You must’ve been a reaper for a while—any guess? A little tip?”
“…Your crime is very grave indeed.”
Ah. So it’s like that.
As Dain inwardly swallowed her tears at the thunderous response, the voice suddenly snapped:
“You didn’t even touch your dinner! If you’re going to sleep, at least close the window, or you’ll catch a cold. The golden daughter of Count McCurry’s house has to show her future husband that she’s in good health! What, are you going to start coughing the moment you meet the Duke?”
The scolding voice mentioned a name that caught Dain’s ear.
Golden daughter of Count McCurry’s house?
“Riden McCurry?”
Dain’s eyes shot open at her own response.
She sat up in bed and looked around. It was a room in an old-fashioned wooden house.
A middle-aged woman was shutting the window.
“Why are you speaking as if Lady Riden is someone else?”
My name… don’t tell me…
Riden McCurry was the villainess from the novel cover Dain had recently illustrated.
She instinctively reached to the back of her head.
Instead of a dried blood-stained wound, her fingers slipped through long, soft hair.
No way… did I die and enter the novel?!
Riden was the antagonist in “No Problem with the Regretful Male Lead.”
To explain simply: she was the one the male lead was forced to marry due to a family curse, which made her a kind of sedative to calm his violent episodes.
Since she had just read the novel, she remembered everything vividly.
“Hah.”
In the novel, the female lead happens to help the male lead during one of his episodes. Through that, they fall in love.
But due to his family’s situation, he treats her coldly to protect her from misfortune.
Eventually, the male lead is forced into a political marriage with Riden.
The female lead watches his wedding from afar, unable to let go.
The male lead, equally unable to forget her, meets her again and again despite being married.
That’s where he drives both women to madness.
The female lead, because of his cold indifference despite loving her.
Riden, his wife, goes mad thinking the female lead is the reason for their unhappy marriage—and begins to torment her.
Eventually, the female lead leaves him.
Only then does the male lead realize he cannot live without her and confesses everything.
Even if it meant dying from the curse, he begged to stay by her side.
And Riden’s end?
She was cast away after her abuse of the heroine was revealed—scorned by her in-laws and abandoned by her husband.
Dain felt an indescribable mix of emotions.
She had died the day she discovered her husband’s affair and her in-laws’ betrayal.
Now she wakes up in a story where the same fate of scorn and betrayal awaits?
It felt like some sick cosmic joke.
But!
Dain jumped out of bed and ran to the window.
She flung it wide open and took a deep breath.
The evening air of a new world filled her lungs and chest.
Nice to meet you!
This world—the one inside the novel—felt refreshing and full of promise.
She had no lingering attachments to her old life.
She had tried, but there was nothing left to love.
This world, at least, didn’t yet have a wretched mother-in-law or cheating husband.
Sure, that might happen later—but for now, nothing was set in stone.
And Riden was still staying at an inn, which meant the story was still in its early stages.
“You feeling stuffy, milady? Still, I’ll keep the window closed. It’s almost night, and you wouldn’t want evil spirits sneaking in, would you?”
Now that she realized she was inhabiting Riden, she also recognized the woman: the long-time, veteran nanny—Corel.
Dain gave her a warm look and asked,
“Say, Corel. Where’s Lady Hern?”
Corel paused at the question.
“I only saw one dinner prepared—did Lady Hern eat elsewhere?”
In the early part of the novel, the female lead Marie Hern and Riden were on their way to the capital for their debutante ball. They stayed at an inn and shared a room.
But now, Marie was nowhere in sight.
“Lady Hern?”
Corel looked puzzled and responded with something Dain did not expect.
“Milady, Lady Hern returned to her baron family. Don’t you remember?”
Dain was stunned.
The heroine had fled… at the start of the story?
“That’s… not how it’s supposed to go.”
Hours later, Dain sneaked out, having shaken off the nanny. She wandered the dark woods, guided only by a flickering lamp.
Marie, why?!
Tonight, the heroine was supposed to meet the male lead for the first time—after saving his life.
That event would spark their whole story.
But now that the heroine was gone…
Dain had no choice.
I’ll have to save the male lead myself.
Tonight was no ordinary night.
It was known as “Feeding Night”—a night when hungry spirits would consume your soul if you lingered in the dark too long.
To ward them off, people smeared animal blood on their doors.
But Dain marched forward anyway, repeating like a mantra:
Nothing happened to the heroine, so nothing will happen to me either…
She wasn’t afraid of old legends—what terrified her more was the idea of the male lead dying before the story even started.
He must be panicking right now…
With the full moon tonight, it was the worst possible scenario for the male lead.
In the novel, he briefly lost consciousness, only to come to his senses with his favorite dagger in his hand.
The blade, always razor-sharp, was covered in his lieutenant’s still-warm blood.
And the understanding lieutenant, clutching his wounded side, apologized for not stopping him in time.
But the male lead… was not okay.
Yes, he had lost his temper before due to his family’s dark curse.
But tonight was the first time he had blacked out.
Afraid of hurting someone dear, he fled into the forest to isolate himself.
There, he was supposed to run into the heroine, who had also fled Riden’s bullying.
They spent the night talking, and the heroine’s chatter kept him sane.
So where is it…?
The mist began to cling to her skin—she was close.
But still no sign of the male lead.
…!
Suddenly—splash!—a sound of something falling into water.
Dain spun around, holding her lantern high.
A dark lake spread out beneath her feet.
Ripples danced across the water.
“W-who’s there?”
Her voice trembled like a bleating lamb.
As she tried to calm her breath, ripples deepened and then—
A large figure rose from the lake, right in front of her.
Fear gripped her like chains, freezing her in place.
She squinted.
The man emerging from the water was walking toward her.
When he finally stepped into the lantern’s glow, and his face came into view—
Dain gasped.
Beneath the darkness now swept away…
Wet hair clung to his face—and sharp eyes stared right back at her from beneath them.
