Chapter 1
“The Duke is not here right now.”
The man spoke in a calm, refined voice.
What should she say in response? Should she honestly say she hadn’t come to see the Duke, but him instead?
While she hesitated, the man lifted a long, pale finger and adjusted his glasses.
The round frames rested lightly on the sharp bridge of his nose, giving him a strangely languid air.
A cool gaze, sky-blue eyes that looked as if they had been painted from the clearest heavens, a sharply defined nose, and lips tinted like freshly drawn inked lines.
His features were perfectly balanced—strikingly handsome, but more than just “handsome.” “Sharp” or “intellectual” would have been more fitting words.
Long blond hair neatly tied down and a shirt buttoned all the way up to his neck added to the impression of a man who seemed almost devoid of human desire.
In short, he looked like the textbook image of an elegant elite. Or, put another way…
‘…my type.’
Karin stood there, dazed, openly admiring his appearance.
The man let out a sigh as if already tired of her presence, then spoke in a strictly businesslike tone.
“Let me repeat myself in case you didn’t hear me. Duke Lucas is not at the residence.”
There was no emotion in his clipped voice. He seemed firmly convinced that the woman in front of him had no connection to him—and never would.
“I didn’t mean that…” she muttered weakly.
The man straightened his neck slightly, looking down at her as if asking what she even wanted. His merciless gaze made her throat tighten and her words vanish.
Ignoring the cold stare from her “ultimate favorite character,” Karin desperately tried to think.
Why had she come here again?
Her memories rewound rapidly.
Earlier that day
“Who is this?”
Earlier that morning, she had looked into the mirror and seen a woman glaring back at her—long, curly red hair, cat-like features, and bright green eyes.
At first, she had been confused. But when a maid in uniform called her “Lady Karin,” everything clicked.
She had possessed the world of “I Just Want Love Even If I’m a Clumsy Noble Lady!”
It was a popular romance fantasy novel she had followed daily on a web platform.
Though written by an amateur, it had strong storytelling and a solid early plot, earning a loyal fanbase.
And as someone who devoured romance fantasy novels, she had been one of its regular readers.
Every day at midnight, she would check the site to see if a new chapter had been uploaded.
It was the only small joy she had during her lonely job-seeking life.
Sometimes she even muttered, “I wish I could just fall into a book like this…”
She never imagined it would actually happen.
And not as the heroine.
Not even as a side character.
But as the villainess.
Karin—the obsessive antagonist who chased after the male lead, Duke Lucas, and met a miserable end.
Anyone else might have panicked, screaming about why they had become the villainess.
But she didn’t have the luxury of that.
Because her favorite character’s life now depended on her.
It was unfair, yes. She had lived decently enough to consider herself kind. Why become the villainess of all people?
But this wasn’t the time to complain.
Not when her favorite character’s survival was at stake.
“I’ll save him. No matter what.”
It felt like fate. A mission assigned to her by the universe.
As if the gods had taken pity on her niche tastes and intervened personally.
“Lady, are you feeling unwell?”
A young maid trembled as she watched Karin clench her fists and grit her teeth.
Karin understood why the girl was afraid.
Karin was a villainess designed to be hated.
She bullied servants, caused harm to others, and committed countless misdeeds too numerous to list.
But her most infamous obsession was Duke Lucas.
It wasn’t a cute or innocent crush—it was closer to stalking.
Following him everywhere, spying on him, predicting his routes, pretending to “accidentally” meet him, and even standing guard so other women couldn’t approach him.
Naturally, the Duke despised her.
Just hearing her name made him recoil.
Rejected, Karin’s obsession turned into rage.
At the same time, the female lead appeared, and Karin’s jealousy spiraled into madness.
Her actions became increasingly extreme as the story progressed.
In the comments section, readers constantly cursed her:
“She needs to be removed already.”
“I’m waiting for her downfall.”
“Honestly, I think her obsession with the Duke is kind of believable…”
“It’s weird, but I get why she’s like that. The Duke is too perfect.”
And indeed, Duke Lucas was perfect.
He had everything a male lead in a romance fantasy needed—looks, power, wealth, and an icy personality reserved only for the heroine.
Readers adored him.
When he confessed to the heroine, the comment section exploded.
When he protected her from Karin, readers celebrated his justice.
And so, everyone looked forward to the couple’s happy ending.
Everyone except one person.
Sohyun.
Sohyun had no interest in the Duke.
Even if someone gave her his wealth and power on a truck, she wouldn’t look twice.
Then why had she read the story so diligently?
Because of one man.
The Duke’s aide—Arkenas, or Arken for short.
He was a bespectacled, intellectual-looking man who mediated between Karin and the Duke.
He was a talented scholar, the top graduate of the kingdom’s academy.
But unlike what one might expect, he wasn’t a noble-born genius.
He was an orphan from a commoner background who had clawed his way up through sheer effort.
He was intelligent, but physically weak—often described as collapsing from overwork.
And that fragile, pale image was exactly Sohyun’s type.
A refined, polite, sickly-looking intellectual man?
Perfect.
He spoke formally, always polite, always composed.
But after Karin’s downfall, his appearances gradually decreased.
Eventually, after the Duke and heroine’s romance began, he disappeared entirely from the story.
Even in the epilogue, where the Duke reminisced about everyone he had met…
Everyone was mentioned.
Except Arken.
Sohyun had been furious.
She even checked comments, only to find that no one else had noticed his absence.
When she posted about it, people replied:
“Who’s that?”
“He was never in the epilogue.”
“You’re probably confusing him with another character.”
That line felt like a dagger.
So she did the only thing she could—she messaged the author.
“Hello, I really enjoyed your story, but I think Arken was missing from the epilogue…”
She added, almost desperately:
“Did he resign and leave the kingdom or something?”
The reply came in five minutes.
Sohyun opened it, heart pounding.
And in that moment, something inside her snapped loose.
