Chapter 1 (Prologue) of “The Perfect Ending Plan of a Fairy Tale Villainess”
Prologue
“It hurts… Save me… It hurts…”
A thin voice, like a needle piercing my chest.
My head throbbed painfully.
“Again? Please, stop it.”
Someone else wailed inside my head.
I desperately tried to explain.
No, that wasn’t me. I didn’t say that. It wasn’t my will.
But my body wouldn’t move as I wanted it to.
Even then, the voice in my head continued relentlessly.
“Shut up. I said stop it!”
“It hurts… It hurts…”
The moment I realized the voice belonged to a young girl, my eyes snapped open.
“Seoyeon!”
My beloved niece—my sister’s daughter.
I called out her name and quickly turned to my side.
But there was no one next to me.
My sister, my niece—both had vanished without a trace.
I moved my head slightly to look around, and even that small motion made my body ache all over.
I was lying in a bed.
A large bed I had never seen before.
Just moments ago, I had been riding in the car my sister was driving.
“And then…”
I remembered hearing my sister’s scream, and the violent impact as the car flipped.
We had an accident.
“Then… is this a hospital?”
But the bed and surroundings didn’t feel like a hospital at all.
I hurried to sit up.
Or tried to.
“Ahhh!”
A piercing pain made me scream out loud.
A splitting headache overwhelmed me.
I clutched my head with both hands.
It felt like someone was pouring molten metal straight into my skull.
And at the same time, strange memories began to flow in.
Unfamiliar places, unknown people…
Memories that weren’t mine.
A college senior preparing for job interviews, attending countless interviews—that was me.
A girl drenched in jewels, attending every party each night and drinking until blackout—that was me.
A woman who adored her only niece so much she wanted to carry her around every day—that was me.
A person who despised family to the point of not wanting to see them even at home—that was also me.
Two identities existing inside one body.
Both were me.
They clashed fiercely within me.
It was like pouring water and oil into one cup and stirring violently.
The two selves collided fiercely, but didn’t blend.
Neither one could take control of the body, and so my body convulsed.
And then—
“Lady Marcia!”
A maid’s voice called out from beside the bed.
“……!”
The storm of water and oil swirling inside me suddenly stilled.
And like oil floating to the surface, my consciousness slowly emerged.
Ah… In that moment, I understood.
The other me—her name was Marcia Blick, seventeen years old.
I had just possessed her body.
The very fairy tale I had been reading to my niece only moments ago.
I had been in the back seat of the car, reading a fairy tale to Seoyeon.
My sister was driving.
It had been raining heavily.
At that same moment, Marcia’s carriage had an accident as she returned to this mansion in a storm.
I just… knew.
Both accidents occurred at the exact same moment.
When the car crashed, I had been reading a fairy tale to my niece.
It was her favorite book.
She used to giggle and say, “Auntie, read this one,” in her lisping voice, and I would read it to her again and again.
I could recite it perfectly, even with my eyes closed.
And now—I was a character in that fairy tale.
“The wicked older sister who torments the protagonist.”
The book never named the older sister.
But I knew it was her. Me.
“First, I need to confirm this with my own eyes. If this really is the fairy tale…”
The fastest and most certain way would be to go to the basement.
I quickly searched Marcia’s memories.
“How do I get down to the basement?”
Triggered, a memory floated to the surface.
“Ah, right. I need the hidden key.”
Marcia—I—lifted my body from the bed.
“Ugh…”
A groan escaped me.
My body, injured from the carriage accident, ached and creaked.
“Ah, my lady, you should lie down a little longer.”
“Move.”
Marcia shoved aside the maid who tried to stop me.
The maid was thrown to the floor.
‘Whoa, that startled me.’
I quickly withdrew the arm Marcia had moved on her own will.
Luckily, my arm moved according to my own will again.
Our souls had mingled somewhat, but hadn’t completely merged into one.
‘Still, shouldn’t I at least apologize? She was just worried.’
—What’s the problem? She’s just a servant.
Marcia’s displeasure washed over me.
I felt irritated too, and couldn’t bring myself to apologize.
The maid stood up quickly and folded her hands over her apron.
Perhaps she was used to this. She didn’t look particularly surprised.
She bowed her head respectfully.
“Who told you to enter without permission? Get out.”
I cringed, but it was too late.
Marcia’s harsh tone drove the maid out.
The maid obeyed respectfully and soon left the room.
I was alone.
It felt strange to say things I didn’t intend to.
Ugh.
I forced myself out of bed, my legs trembling.
I was in pain as if I had been beaten, but I grit my teeth and moved to the adjoining room.
A private study-slash-receiving room.
Marcia didn’t read, but she kept a bookshelf for decoration.
As in her memory, I carefully pulled out the third book from the bottom shelf of the farthest bookcase.
I reached into the empty space and felt a small handle.
When I pulled it, a click sounded from another compartment— a secret drawer had opened.
Inside were two neatly wrapped keys in a handkerchief.
Keys to the basement.
“…It’s really here.”
It had been years since this key had last been used.
Marcia hadn’t gone down there in a long time.
She was terrified of the basement.
Marcia’s room was on the top floor of the mansion.
Usually, servants lived in attics or upper floors.
But Marcia, the lady of the house, insisted on living in the highest room.
Because it was the farthest from the basement.
So, the descent was endlessly long.
The stairway to the top floor was bare and unlit—cold and dark.
But in this house, a carpet had been laid on the stairs to the lady’s room.
With every step I took, the keys in my pocket jingled.
And my heartbeat quickened with it.
Because of Marcia.
“Do we really have to do this? Isn’t there another way to confirm it? I hate that place!”
Marcia screamed inside my head.
I ignored her and kept descending.
If this really was that fairy tale, I had to confirm it with my own eyes.
The most important thing.
The first basement was just a regular storage room. But past that, down one more flight of stairs, a heavy iron door appeared.
My heart thudded violently.
Cold sweat trickled down my back—Marcia’s fear.
“Hoo…”
I steadied my breath, took out the key, and inserted it into the lock.
A creak sounded as the door opened.
Inside was another door.
In the short hallway between the two doors, whips and rods of various kinds were neatly hung on the walls.
Their handles were blackened, their ends frayed—clear signs of use.
I shuddered and stepped toward the second door. It too opened easily with the key.
It was dark inside, and a foul, bloody stench lingered.
Holding a lamp, I stepped into the room.
In the flickering light, what emerged was a beautifully decorated noble girl’s bedroom.
“Probably untouched for nearly ten years.”
Everything inside was faded and worn.
I stepped carefully, and then—
I felt movement in one corner of the room.
‘…!’
I swallowed hard and pointed the lamp in that direction.
Huddled behind a wooden chair in the corner was a small girl.
She squinted at the light, then her eyes widened when she saw who I was.
“Holy… crap…”
I couldn’t help but gasp.
She was too beautiful to be real.
Silvery hair curled and flowed over her shoulders, emerald eyes like summer leaves under sunlight.
Her features were perfectly arranged, flawless.
But her skin, untouched by sunlight, was deathly pale, and her face, locked in this basement for a lifetime, was filled only with despair.
Her shoulders and arms were dotted with dried bloodstains.
Her face might be the only part of her body that wasn’t wounded.
