Chapter 55

Linus, who had left to search for me, returned to the capital, Redamas. At the same time, posters were put up offering a huge reward to anyone who could find Florence Love Lindquist. People seemed shocked that even the Commander of the “Blue Dawn” Knights couldn’t catch the kidnapper.

It seemed the real surprise was that even Linus had failed—that there was something impossible for him to do. Rumors were now circulating about who could have possibly kidnapped his wife from right under his nose.

“He’s such a noisy man. Everything he does causes a stir.”

Laila muttered with a mocking sneer.

“No one will ever know what’s really lurking inside him.”

She looked up at me. It felt like she was trying to gauge whether I was frightened, which only made me feel more defiant. I fiddled with the corner of the poster.

The portrait sketch looked a lot like me.

At the bottom, my features were listed in detail: light brown hair, fair skin, blue eyes, thin build, soft voice, and a presumed limp. The description was plain, yet it made something inside me go cold.

“It’s pretty effective, don’t you think?”

“No. Posters like these just make the target more cautious. As long as you hide the traits listed here, they’ll never catch you.”

Laila added, clearly enjoying herself.

“Look at you now—who would ever think this person is the same as the one on the poster?”

She lifted the wanted poster from my hands and held it next to my face. The Florence in the sketch bore no resemblance to the current me. I changed the subject, feeling slightly annoyed.

“You’re not the only one who has to be careful. You’re a wanted criminal too.”

“More precisely, I’m an escaped convict.”

“Same difference…”

“Who’s going to catch me?”

Laila spoke confidently, which made me feel a little spiteful.

“You never know. Maybe Linus will come after you. He was supposed to end up with you, after all.”

“What!?”

For the first time, Laila was visibly shaken. Her violet eyes trembled uncontrollably. I clarified.

“That’s how it was supposed to be.”

“What do you mean supposed to be?”

“It’s a long story…”

“Like how you already knew all my secrets?”

“Yeah.”

I had explained it simply to Keith before, but Enoch and Laila needed more context. I cleared my throat to prepare myself.

It was going to take a long time.

It really did take a long time.

I had only told Keith that someone had stolen my body, not about the novel itself, so I had to explain as I went, answering their questions along the way.

I confessed everything I knew—the novel where Laila and Linus were the main characters, my role in it, how Jang Hyunji had possessed me, and how everything had twisted from there.

Laila’s face remained unreadable the entire time. Even when she learned that most of what Jang Hyunji enjoyed had originally been meant for her, she seemed completely indifferent.

When I asked if she didn’t feel angry, Laila simply shrugged and said:

“I’ve never envied what that woman had.”

It was something I could never say. Everything Jang Hyunji had experienced was what I had longed for my whole life.

What truly intrigued Laila was the tragic reality of Jang Hyunji’s life. At nineteen, she lost her entire family in a fire, received a large insurance payout, and shortly after treatment for burn injuries, was diagnosed with a terminal illness that left her hospitalized long-term. An empty hospital room no one ever visited, phantom pain that made her feel like her whole body was still burning, and a life slowly being consumed day by day.

When I confirmed that she had originally been destined to fall in love with Linus and live happily ever after, Laila’s face twisted with a tangled mess of emotions. Disgust, annoyance, disbelief, and horror—all at once. It was quite the sight.

“If it weren’t for that woman, I would’ve been with the Commander…”
“Married, with kids, too.”
“Stop. Just stop.”

Laila’s voice trembled. It even cracked toward the end, showing just how shaken she was. I watched her in mild fascination. Though we hadn’t grown close enough to call it familiarity, it wasn’t every day I saw the cold and ruthless Laila Green’s expression falter like this.

“What the hell kind of person would I have to be for that to happen to me?”
“I don’t really know, either…”

Looking back now, the ending written for the novel’s version of me wasn’t so bad. No family or fiancé remained—just like now. If that story had played out as intended, Linus wouldn’t be hunting me. I briefly imagined being free if Linus were to fall for Laila instead, but quickly dismissed the thought.

That man, who once said he couldn’t even sleep without Jang Hyunji, was unlikely to fall for someone else now. Besides, pushing a man like that onto someone who offered to help me felt wrong—even thinking about it filled me with guilt.

Eventually, Laila regained her composure and muttered:

“I may have low standards, but even I don’t have terrible taste.”
“…He is the kind of guy you could fall for if you didn’t know him well.”

I thought I heard Enoch chuckle softly nearby. I didn’t dare look in his direction. He knew everything about my stupid teenage crushes and how much of a fool I’d once been.

Laila scoffed in disbelief.

“He never even seemed human to me.”
“….”
“Although… when he was with his wife…”

She trailed off. Her face twisted like she’d just bitten into a lump of salt in her bread. She was clearly picturing herself in Florence’s place. I could understand the feeling. I had imagined the same before.

Before my body was stolen, I dreamed. After it was taken, I felt relieved.

“Come to think of it, the Commander used to act really coy around his wife. If he’d tried to deceive her, it might’ve worked…”
“Right. Unlike Jang Hyunji, you didn’t know what kind of person he really was.”
“I must’ve been blind.”

‘Laila Green’ never knew what he was doing behind her back. After all, perfect love stories didn’t need such details.

‘Strange… Laila Green has sharp instincts. Could she really have been that clueless?’

If I hadn’t gotten to know her, I might’ve believed it. Or maybe if she had been powerless, like me. But Laila wasn’t weak. She wasn’t dull. She wasn’t stupid.

Maybe it’s just human nature—to turn a blind eye to the flaws of the person you love.
Or maybe she already knew, and tolerated it, because she understood what Linus would become without her.
In that story, Laila was his only restraint.
The mere fear that Laila Green might hate him was the only thing that made that terrifying man tremble.

The more I thought about it, the more absurd it seemed. That monster of a man—a legendary romantic in someone else’s story?

“I never imagined I’d be thankful to that woman. I was the one stuck cleaning up all the garbage.”
“Well said! That’s the perfect way to put it!”

Keith burst into laughter. I exchanged glances with Enoch before looking down.

Because originally, I was the garbage collector. And I’d clung to that trash in fear someone else might take it from me.

“So what you’re saying is… I lost my place to that trash?”
“How did you even know Linus was trash?”

Laila looked at me with surprised eyes. I wondered if I’d said something strange. Instinctively, I looked at Keith.

“I mean, he has a great reputation. Unlike me…”
“True. It wouldn’t be fair if I was the only one spilling my secrets. I thought you already heard it all from him.”
“Do I look like someone who blabs other people’s business?”
“Honestly? Yeah, you kind of do.”

Laila’s remark was harsh, but not inaccurate. Keith did look like someone careless, and he joked around too much. But thinking back, Keith rarely talked about himself. Until I met up with Enoch again, I didn’t even know his name.

Even though he was my partner-in-crime, and I trusted him deeply, he was surprisingly cautious and full of secrets. He never really explained his cousin relationship with Enoch either.

“I didn’t say anything. Honestly, it felt like if I opened my mouth, I’d disappear without a trace.”
“What could a prisoner possibly do?”
“What’s the point of a prison you can escape anytime?”
“Either way, no one’s going to cut off your tongue for a few careless words.”
“How generous of you…”

Keith clicked his tongue. Laila looked at me again and said:

“That woman let my friend die.”
“…You mean she killed them?”
“She could’ve saved them. She just didn’t.
They said if it wasn’t for protecting her, my friend wouldn’t have been hurt at all.
He died a stupid death, trying to protect her.”

“That friend was special to me.
You’d be angry too if someone treated what you cherished like garbage, wouldn’t you?”

“You don’t need to explain it to me, Laila.
If that’s how you feel, then it’s valid.”

I wasn’t in a position to judge whether Laila’s revenge was justified or excessive. No one was. Revenge is never truly justified. Neither is murderous intent. To hate someone so much you want to kill them—that has nothing to do with logic or justice. It’s something you do because you can’t survive otherwise.

Laila paused and looked at me. Then she changed the subject.