Chapter 1
The grand chandelier lit up the imperial banquet hall, and the nobles, gathered in small groups, were engrossed in their own conversations.
But the main topic wasn’t today’s engagement reception’s male lead, the Fourth Prince Edwin.
It was Lucy Diallo — merely the daughter of an insignificant baron, yet a woman whose exceptional beauty made her the subject of gossip wherever she went.
And today, she had attended the banquet as the partner of Duke Vallon — who already had a legal wife. For nobles who loved nothing more than idle talk, there could hardly be a better target.
“So the rumor was true that Lucy Diallo was becoming Duke Vallon’s mistress. No wonder she hasn’t been showing up at social events lately.”
“Flirting with men like that… and in the end, she got the position she wanted.”
“Oh, I feel so sorry for the duchess. She must be heartbroken.”
A noblewoman, hiding her mouth behind a fan, clicked her tongue in feigned sympathy.
“I once sent a proposal to the Diallo family and got rejected. Guess the baron knew what he was doing.”
Hearing this, other young noblemen nearby joined in.
“You too? I tried several times, sent letters, even visited, but she wouldn’t give me the time of day.”
“To think that beauty is now beyond our reach — what a tragedy!”
“You never know. She’s been abandoned once before — on her wedding day, no less! Hahaha!”
Pushing through the sneers and whispers, Lucy anxiously scanned her surroundings as she crossed the banquet hall.
Just a bit further. If she could make it through those doors, she would finally escape the original story.
“Lucy!”
She was only a few steps from the exit when someone grabbed her arm.
“Lucy, I need to talk to you!”
It was none other than Fourth Prince Edwin — the male lead of this novel and today’s engagement party host.
With a desperate expression, he pulled her around to face him.
“Let go! I have nothing left to say to Your Highness.”
“Lucy, I can’t let you go to that duke! Just hear me out — I want to clear up the misunderstanding!”
Lucy was dumbfounded by his shamelessness.
“A misunderstanding? I have no idea what you mean.”
“I… That is… I…”
Edwin faltered, lips parting as if he was struggling to choose his words.
“Please let go. People are watching.”
At that, he glanced around and finally released her arm. Indeed, a few nobles nearby were already sneaking glances in their direction.
“Let’s not talk here. Come out to the terrace.”
“No. Say what you have to say here.”
Her firm refusal made Edwin run a hand over his face and sigh.
“Lucy… before you lost your memory, we’d been in love for a long time. I had my reasons… I was going to come for you!”
For a moment, Lucy doubted her own ears. The anger she had been holding back surged once more.
Trembling, she glanced at the exit, then clenched her fists.
Just a few steps to freedom.
She took a deep breath, grabbed a champagne glass from a passing servant’s tray, and without hesitation, flung it in Edwin’s face.
Splash!
“You bastard — no, you son of a dog!”
The champagne hit his face with a crisp, satisfying sound.
The first curse she had ever spoken out loud felt far more satisfying than she’d expected, and the corner of her lips curled into a smirk.
If not for the risk to her life, she would have gladly slapped him across the face.
I have no desire to lose my head for the crime of insulting a royal.
This was the gamble of a lifetime. Even now, her eyes kept drifting toward the exit.
The old Lucy would never have imagined doing something so reckless — but right now, she was burning with rage.
The brutal memories of everything she had suffered because of this man after possessing this body flashed before her eyes like a panorama.
“L-Lucy! What the hell are you doing?!”
Wiping his face in shock, Edwin frantically brushed the champagne off his clothes.
“Don’t pretend you don’t know! You think I wouldn’t find out? That it was you who humiliated me and abandoned me on our wedding day?”
Edwin froze mid-motion, eyes widening.
“And now, after getting engaged to another woman, you stand here telling me it’s all a misunderstanding? Or worse — asking me to become your mistress while your future bride stands over there?!”
Finally losing her grip on reason, Lucy’s voice rang out sharp and clear. Edwin’s eyes wavered, as if struck by an unseen blow.
In the novel she remembered, there had been a so-called villainess — abandoned by her groom on her wedding day, sold off to an old duke.
In that story, the male lead had claimed he was disgusted by her scandalous conduct and vowed never to see her again.
“You think I didn’t know? About you meeting all those men and making a fool of me?”
“Edwin! What are you talking about? Fool you? Other men? That’s nonsense!”
Tears welled up in her large eyes, and Edwin’s hand twitched as if he wanted to reach for her — but he clenched it into a fist.
“I won’t be fooled by that innocent face again!”
“Edwin, please — just listen to me! I can explain everything… please…”
Sobbing, she sank to the floor, but Edwin turned away coldly. Once he stepped off that terrace, a new life awaited him.
Lucy bit her lip, recalling the events of the novel she had read.
Looking at the man before her, she couldn’t shake the suspicion that she herself was now that so-called scandalous villainess.
“My lady, I look forward to the day I may take you as my wife.”
The old duke pressed a lingering kiss to the back of her hand, his gaze fixed on her face.
Seeing the greed and desire burning in his eyes made Lucy shudder as if bugs were crawling over her skin.
Wife? What on earth is this old man saying?
She froze at his words, stunned.
“F-Father… what is going on?”
She turned to Baron Diallo, standing nearby, her voice trembling.
“My dear, it’s not a dream. The duke has formally sent a proposal for your hand!”
“A proposal? What do you mean—”
Before she could finish, the baron cut her off.
“Our Lucy must be so happy she can hardly speak! Hahaha!”
She was left utterly speechless.
“Then, let’s meet again in a week — on the day of the hunting tournament.”
With that, the duke left. Only then did Lucy round on the baron.
“A proposal? You’re not seriously trying to marry me to that old man, are you?”
“This is how it should be. I nearly sent you to that scoundrel because I was deceived! In the end, he couldn’t keep his promise, so he ran away on your wedding day!”
Ran away?
So he wasn’t dead after all. The baron’s story about him leaving a suicide note was clearly a lie.
“I do not consent to this! This is my life — you have no right to decide it for me!”
She had no idea where her courage came from, but her anger boiled over, sweeping away her reason.
Though she had often talked back to the baron when he treated her worse than a servant, she had never spoken her mind so plainly before.
“What? You—you’ve lost your mind! I wondered why you’d been so obedient lately!”
The baron’s roar hit her like a blow, and before she could react, she was shoved to the floor.
As she lay there, unable to dodge his rough hand, a thought crystallized in her mind: her hunch was right — she had possessed the villainess from that novel.
And seeing the bloated old duke who had just “proposed” only strengthened her conviction.
Curling into herself, she recalled the last memories from her past life —
The sharp wail of an ambulance siren, the familiar pure-white ceiling, and that hospital disinfectant smell she had never been able to get used to.
Fragments of her final moments after collapsing from a long battle with cancer.
