Chapter 01
“Melias, you have to stay healthy. Do everything you want… eat everything you want…”
The woman lying in bed had long white hair and pale skin, completely drained of color. Her silver hair, which used to sparkle in the sunlight, now looked dull and lifeless like an old woman’s. Her once-deep red eyes were now murky, like muddy water.
Even so, her features stood out. Her big eyes, long dark lashes, sharp nose, and perfectly shaped lips—Leuke’s face was as beautiful as a finely crafted doll’s, even in her sick and withered state.
Leuke Warren.
Though she lay in bed now, her beauty had been known far and wide throughout her life. In contrast, her life had been incredibly miserable.
Leuke had been married off for a dowry to Bertington, who treated her cruelly. His hobby seemed to be tormenting young women until they broke, like a child hurting helpless animals—only worse.
He would make her room freezing cold or unbearably hot, release snakes, put bitter herbs in her food, or keep her awake for days just to watch how she reacted.
If he didn’t get the reaction he wanted, he’d beat her. But Leuke, who had spent her whole life enduring hardship, never even cried out properly.
She was afraid her younger sister Melias would hear. Afraid that Melias would rush in with her fierce green eyes, trying to protect her and end up hurt instead. Even though she knew it would break Melias’s heart, Leuke endured everything in silence.
But no matter how much she tried to protect her, the sisters couldn’t escape the toll Bertington’s abuse took on their bodies and minds.
Leuke’s illness got worse and worse, until she could no longer get out of bed.
“Why would you say that? We should do everything together. How can I do anything alone?”
“It’s cold…”
As Leuke closed her eyes, her weak hand slipped out of Melias’s grasp.
“Sister, sister! Leuke! Leuke Warren! Wake up!”
Melias shook Leuke’s limp body. Her face was slightly frowning even in death, and that broke Melias’s heart even more.
“No, no, this can’t be happening! Sister!”
Melias collapsed on top of Leuke and cried. For three days, she didn’t eat or drink, staying by her sister’s side.
A week later, the two sisters were found dead, still holding hands. It had only been ten months since Leuke had married Bertington.
****
“Seriously, what the heck! This is so unfair!”
I was lying in bed reading a novel and started hitting the mattress in frustration.
When the Red Flower Blooms had become my one and only joy lately. It’s about a country shepherd girl who somehow gets involved with both a northern duke and the crown prince, getting caught in a web of palace politics. The two very different male leads end up competing for her love. The sisters Leuke and Melias were just side characters.
The plot wasn’t completely unreasonable. Bertington, the real villain, was connected to everything. Leuke’s death was probably meant to be the start of the main heroine’s rise, where she and the male leads would work together to take down the bad guys.
But still… STILL!
“Couldn’t they have given her even a little bit of happiness!?”
Leuke was my favorite character, even if she wasn’t a main one. She was too precious to be thrown away by some loser villain like Bertington.
Leuke was beautiful and kind like an angel, but also strong-willed. She had a soft, girlish side too, and I found myself wishing so badly for her to be happy.
The sisters had lost their parents at a young age and were raised by their aunt.
The aunt hadn’t wanted to take them in. She spent their inheritance on her husband’s business and begrudged even a crumb of bread going into their mouths. When Leuke was only nine, she had to watch carefully just to eat an extra piece of bread.
Once, when Leuke reached her small hand toward the bread at the center of the table, her aunt slapped it away.
“Why are you girls eating so much! You’ll get fat!”
Leuke quietly endured it all, even as her cousins Amy and Sophie got to eat all the meat they wanted from the stew. She consoled her younger sister instead.
Reading about Leuke’s past made me furious. That cruel aunt probably would’ve let Leuke starve to death if not for her good looks and potential dowry value.
But even in such a terrible situation, Leuke always protected Melias. Even when she was hungry herself, she gave food to her little sister. She even got punished for standing up to their aunt for Melias’s sake.
Leuke never got angry—except when it came to Melias. For her sister, she would do anything.
She even agreed to marry Bertington the moment she became an adult, all for Melias’s sake.
She didn’t want her sister to be sold off like her. She wanted Melias to be free to choose her own future. That was her reason for sacrificing herself.
“It might not be easy living with Bertington. But I can at least protect Melias.”
When the chapter revealed Leuke’s thoughts during the wedding, the comment section exploded with readers crying for her. I was one of them, sobbing too.
I don’t have any siblings, so I wondered: Can a sister really love that much? At the same time, I felt jealous of Melias. If I had such a sweet and beautiful sister, maybe life would’ve been less painful.
<Bring Leuke back to life! Or I’ll die too 😭😭 No resurrection chance? Please 😭😭>
I knew writing that wouldn’t bring her back, but I still left the comment and rolled around on my bed in grief.
****
[Team Lead, have you seen this?]
I was still drowning in sadness over my favorite character’s death when my phone buzzed. I rubbed my face hard with my hands.
No time to be stuck in a novel. Ugh, the entertainment industry really never lets up.
“Rapper Lil Choon-sung targets girl group Rosegun’s Bia… Posted a few hours ago. What the heck? Why is he up posting at 2 AM?”
Rosegun was the girl group I’d helped create with my senior coworker. We’d left a big entertainment company to go independent, and they were our first idol project. The company was small, but luckily the girls became popular. Still, this kind of drama was all too common in our line of work.
Now that I was dealing with real-life problems, Leuke’s death didn’t even seem like a big deal anymore. Ugh, my head hurt.
[He’s probably using them for clout, but the content is really bad. We should take legal action. Is Bia okay?]
[Yeah, she just kind of brushed it off, thankfully.]
[That’s a relief.]
We had to start contacting people and say the accusations weren’t true. Release a warning statement, talk to the legal team and my boss.
And on top of all that, we had a music video shoot in the morning! So much to do—and the more I thought about it, the sleepier I got.
“Can’t fall asleep now.”
I knew this would happen when I followed my senior and went independent. My title was Content Planning Team Lead, but I had to do almost everything—concerts, merchandise, planning, media, even stage direction sometimes.
But this was still the job I wanted most. Even if I wasn’t the one on stage, I had stories I wanted to tell, joy I wanted to share. Whenever fans figured out the hidden meanings behind our music videos or outfits and felt happy, it made everything worth it.
“It’s just… the work that goes into that… is no joke…”
I couldn’t help it—my eyes kept closing. I really couldn’t sleep, but I was losing the battle. I slapped my cheeks to wake up and sat down at my computer.
****
-Chirp chirp.
I heard birdsong. Sunlight was shining in my face. My eyes shot open, and I sprang up from bed like a spring.
Bed? I thought I fell asleep at my desk!?
“Oh no! What time is it!?”
The sun was shining way too brightly. That was a disaster. Social media was probably blowing up by now. People must be angry that we didn’t protect our artist fast enough.
“You’re awake. It’s 11 AM.”
A voice answered—bored, annoyed, like she was totally used to this.
There’s someone else in my house!?
Did I pass out at a shoot? And wait… it’s already 11!?
“Eleven!? In the morning!?”
“You’ve been unconscious for three whole days. Why are you so surprised?”
I looked around. The room was decorated in an old-fashioned style. And there was a teenage girl in a maid outfit, like something straight out of a comic book.
“Should I get the doctor, miss?”
Mi—Miss!?
“Or would you like to see Lady Leuke? You two can’t be apart for long.”
Her tone was oddly sarcastic. Wait… Leuke?
I jumped up and ran to the mirror. Long black hair. Green eyes.
This wasn’t my face. I looked way younger too—maybe 18?
“How old am I!?”
The maid sighed deeply.
“You’re eighteen this year. I’ll let the madam know and call a physician… though I can’t promise anything.”
“What’s… my name?”
She gave me a long look, as if thinking Yep, she’s gone crazy.
“You’re Melias Warren, miss.”
Me? I’m Melias!? I touched and pinched my face. It hurt. Not a dream.
Was this… a reincarnation into the story!?
“What’s today’s date?”
“June 23rd, Year 249 of the Empire.”
That didn’t help much. I never kept track of the in-story timeline when reading.
“Where’s my sister?”
“In her room.”
The maid’s voice was polite, but clearly annoyed. Since Leuke’s last name hadn’t changed, it must be before she got married. And judging from the summer weather, I had a rough idea of when this was.
“Sophie pushed me, didn’t she? At the lake?”
“I wasn’t there, so I don’t know. I’ll go call Lady Leuke.”
The maid left in a hurry. I could hear someone running back right away.
That moment, I realized—I wasn’t ready to actually see my favorite character’s face in real life. But the footsteps kept coming, like a train about to crash into me.
“Melias!”
The door burst open, and a girl with silver hair and red eyes ran in, eyes teary. The sunlight lit up her face perfectly and…
“An angel. An angel has appeared…”
My heart nearly exploded.
So this is what people mean when they say someone can kill with their looks.
I’d seen hundreds of celebrities and stunning idols up close, but I never wavered—always too busy analyzing their image. But now?
In front of Leuke’s face, my heart was trembling so much I couldn’t control it.
Is that sunlight, or is her face actually glowing? Does she carry her own spotlight? Is she blessed by the sun god!?
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine… as long as I get to see your face, I’m totally fine.”
Leuke’s face, which had been worried, immediately lit up with the brightest smile.
She already looked deadly—but then she smiled on top of it!?
Seriously… my sister is so pretty, I might just die.
