Prologue
“I swear to God, there will be no divorce.”
I spoke with a sneer, staring at the entangled couple. One of them was a face I knew well—the Count Ikarus, husband of the woman whose body I now possessed.
They stood frozen, as if time itself had stopped upon seeing me.
My eyes scanned them without moving my head. The woman, barely covered with a blanket, was unfamiliar—but not entirely unrecognizable.
Among the clothes scattered on the floor, one item clearly belonged to the mansion’s maids. The woman the Count had pulled into bed was one of the housemaids.
‘I shouldn’t have opened the door so suddenly.’
I regretted entering this room—my room, the Countess’s bedroom.
Not only had I witnessed their bodies tangled on the new white sheets I had changed just days ago, but I had also overheard their lewd conversation.
“You’re no different from the Countess now.”
“Then can I use this room too?”
“Of course. Isn’t this room too modest for our indecent lady?”
“I love it! I’ll just need to tweak it a little to match my taste!”
I knew how wives usually reacted when they caught their husbands cheating. In dramas, movies, and gossip, they would scream, throw things, or drag someone by the hair.
But I didn’t do any of that.
“Get off my bed,” I said, curling the corner of my lips upward.
Two pairs of trembling eyes stared at me.
I thought about ordering the servants to drive them out, but I didn’t want anyone else to see them like this. Well, they probably already knew—but I didn’t need to confirm it for them.
I commanded them sharply, “Right now.”
Had it been any other room, I might’ve simply closed the door and walked away. But this was the Countess’s room. The bed they were in belonged to the Countess.
Right now, I was the Countess. So at least for now, it was mine.
To say I wasn’t angry would be a lie. I was furious that the sheets I had changed myself were now stained with the bodily fluids of strangers.
Normally, the butler kept the bedroom key, locking it whenever I went out. This room was strictly private. Even the Count wasn’t supposed to enter without permission.
There was no way I could simply walk away from this.
‘As if going out today wasn’t exhausting enough!’
Still, instead of yelling and cursing, I just wanted to stretch my legs and relax.
But not here—definitely not in the room where the Count and his mistress had rolled around. First, I had to throw them out. Then I’d rest in another room.
Their conversation still echoed in my ears. Changing someone else’s room on a whim? I never planned to get divorced in the first place. In a world I didn’t belong to, where I had no allies, changing everything on a gamble was just foolish.
I sighed at the pair who still hadn’t moved. The maid stayed frozen under the blanket.
‘She must be mortified.’
Without taking my eyes off them, I turned to the nervous maid behind me and ordered:
“Since the Count seems unable to move, go fetch the servants.”
“Y-Yes, ma’am?”
“Now.”
Fortunately, she understood and hurried down the stairs.
If they didn’t want to be publicly humiliated, they’d move now.
I finally turned away from the scene.
I needed tea. After witnessing that mess, my body and mind both felt worn out.
“M-My lady!”
The mistress cried out desperately. I didn’t look back. I was too tired.
When I first possessed this body, I thought I had gone insane. I woke up in a strange place, and a woman in a gaudy dress was leaning over me.
“My lady, are you all right? You said you felt dizzy and wouldn’t wake up even when I called you.”
My lady? I had never been called that in my life. Before I could even question it, I realized I was in a completely unfamiliar room with unfamiliar faces—everything like a stage play.
“Where… am I?”
“In a carriage, my lady.”
A carriage? I hadn’t been in one since a school field trip to an amusement park.
For a moment, I truly believed I had lost my mind. I clutched my head and feigned pain to snap myself out of it.
“Ahh, my head…”
“My lady! Dale, we must return to the mansion right away!”
As the carriage sped back, I desperately tried to understand the situation.
I slapped myself several times. I told myself: this must be an ambulance, and the woman must be a paramedic.
But no matter how much I denied it, the truth remained.
This was a carriage, and the woman yelling at the driver was indeed a maid.
It took me a whole month to accept that this bizarre world was real. But understanding what kind of world it was took even longer.
I suspected I had fallen into a novel, like in those transmigration stories. But I couldn’t remember which one—it wasn’t even clear.
‘I’ve read so many novels… How could I possibly figure it out without a clue?’
Even after recalling hundreds, nothing seemed right. Eventually, one came to mind—a cheap 19+ one-volume erotica novel. The kind you read quickly and forget. Even the character names and settings weren’t memorable.
I didn’t even remember the title. The only reason I realized which story I was in… was because the plot was that ridiculous.
Just a cliché erotica where the male lead—a married Count—cheats and rolls around with various women. And one day, he gets caught by his wife.
That’s the world I had entered.
‘Well… at least it was just one smut novel.’
At least the original Countess had money, status, and didn’t mingle much with others. That worked in my favor.
But just because I had adapted didn’t mean I wanted to watch my husband in bed with another woman.
“Hah… Ridiculous.”
Clutching my head in frustration, I was quickly guided to the drawing room by my attentive personal maid.
“Um, my lady… The drawing room is empty. Shall I prepare it for you?”
I nodded, staring at her freckled face.
The maids scurried at my slightest word, trying their best not to anger me. No wonder nobles grew arrogant. Even I, after two months here, had mastered the art of acting like a high-handed Countess.
“My lady, would you like some tea?”
“The usual will be fine.”
“Yes, my lady.”
Ordering people around with just a word or a finger—without even feeling guilty. That was who I had become.
The tea was quickly served. Holding the warm cup calmed some of my rage.
But the bitterness in my heart remained.
I had tried to think positively—this was someone else’s life after all.
Because it was a novel. Because it wasn’t really my problem. I stayed in the room quietly and never even tried to find out who he was cheating with.
But knowing this was a novel and witnessing the affair in my room were two completely different things. My stomach churned with rage.
‘This really is a novel.’
It hit me hard—how real this fictional world had become. And now that I’d seen the ending of that scandalous scene, I had no idea how to survive here.
Even a deep sigh didn’t ease the weight on my chest.
“My lady, shall we change the sheets?”
My maid asked. I wanted to snap and ask, Why even ask that? but I didn’t have the energy. I just nodded.
“Yes. And I’ll sleep in the guest room tonight.”
“I’ll prepare it.”
She replied calmly, though her usually neat hair was slightly disheveled.
As my personal maid, she always stayed by my side. I rarely heard her name mentioned around the house.
I once caught another maid calling her something like Bella-something, but didn’t hear the rest.
To avoid suspicion, I never asked. Instead, I gave her a simple nickname.
“Bell, once everything’s ready, you may rest early tonight.”
I acted like nothing had happened. Bell bowed politely, though her face was pale—terrified I might lash out at her.
Her freckled face was ghost-white. I fiddled with the teacup before speaking again.
“I’m fine. Go rest.”
“Yes, my lady.”
Bell lifted her head—but my gaze only made her turn paler.
Smiling as if nothing had happened, I slowly sipped the tea.
“It’s a little cold.”
Bell quietly threw it out and brought a new, hot cup. She must have been confused. A Countess who caught her husband cheating should be fuming—not calm.
She probably thought I would soon snap. Or that chaos would erupt across the estate.
I recalled the evidence of their affair, hidden under the broken marble near the bed. My mouth tasted bitter.
This world is insane.
