“Crazy.”
No matter how much I thought about it, I could only conclude that it was insane.
“This is ridiculous.”
I stared fixedly at the mirror.
In the mirror was a girl with jet-black hair like ebony. With golden eyes, a small delicate nose, and lips red like rose petals, she was a doll-like girl whose features were harmoniously arranged.
“To think that I became Ivelotte…”
It was so absurd.
That was right. I had possessed a character inside a novel.
And not just any character, but the youngest daughter of a villainous Ducal House.
“I’m not even asking to be the protagonist, but this is too much. Why Ivelotte of all people?”
The family Ivelotte was born into was the House of Grand Duke Blackeyed, blessed by the Dark Spirit King.
The Ducal House Blackeyed was a family that had long taken charge of the dirty work on behalf of the Imperial Family.
They had dealt with traitors, and for generations eliminated nobles who committed corruption, bribery, and other filthy deeds.
Because of that, the Ducal House was an object of fear among the nobles.
Paradoxically, although they handled villains, the methods they used were ruthless and merciless, so they were also called a villainous House.
“This is really too much!”
The reason I was reacting so strongly, however, was that Ivelotte in the novel was a short-lived character.
“I already died as someone with a terminal illness in Korea, and now I’m fated to die young here too!”
Ivelotte was murdered at the age of fifteen.
Because there was an assassin who wanted her blood.
Above all, among the bloodline of the Ducal House, she was the weakest, which was also why she died.
Of course, the Grand Duke was strong, and her two older brothers, Alex and Valdes, were far stronger than her.
Moreover, Ivelotte was a very pitiful girl.
Not only had she grown up hearing that she had killed her mother at birth, but she also lacked talent as a spirit summoner.
In a Ducal House that had produced powerful spirit summoners for generations, Ivelotte’s existence was nothing less than a stain.
Above all, the Ducal House didn’t look kindly upon Ivelotte, who had survived instead of the benevolent Grand Duchess.
The Grand Duchess, who had been called the angel who descended upon the Ducal House, was a kind person who didn’t suit a villainous family.
She always extended a helping hand to those in need and gave generously to anyone.
The Grand Duke cherished her greatly.
When she died after giving birth to their daughter, the cold and austere Grand Duke even shed tears.
Because of that, not only the Grand Duke but everyone in the household couldn’t like Ivelotte, who had taken away the revered and benevolent Grand Duchess.
Instead, they were filled with resentment.
And so Ivelotte was neglected in the annex.
At first, there were servants who pitied the newborn baby and took care of her.
However, as she grew and began to resemble the Grand Duchess, the servants who had cared for her also began to distance themselves from her.
At some point, the bullying began.
They were never punished for tormenting Ivelotte.
The severity of the abuse gradually worsened, and they grew bolder in tormenting her.
In that way, Ivelotte was neglected and bullied for fifteen years before being murdered by an assassin and dying a miserable death.
I let my shoulders slump and looked at myself reflected in the mirror.
“Seven years old…”
I was currently Ivelotte at seven years old.
I rolled up my sleeve.
There were bluish bruises and scabbed-over wounds.
They were the result of the servants in the annex tormenting the original Ivelotte.
Anger rose inside me.
The servants not only starved Ivelotte but also beat her and locked her up.
They tormented her while carefully controlling the severity so that she wouldn’t quite die.
Even if she was neglected, Ivelotte was still a direct member of the family.
It would be troublesome for them if someone of the direct line were to die.
And more than anything, I was even angrier at the Grand Duke.
“No matter how incapable she is, no matter how much you hate her, isn’t this going too far? She is still your child. At the very least you should let her live like a human being!”
If the Grand Duke hadn’t neglected Ivelotte, she would never have been treated like this.
After moving the mirror aside, I turned my gaze to the table.
There was food placed there.
Or rather, it was garbage that reeked so badly no person could possibly eat it.
If she didn’t eat even this, they wouldn’t give her any food, so she had to eat it in order to survive.
And if she ended up with a stomachache, the servants would mock her, force her to do humiliating things, and only then give her medicine.
They made her crawl like a dog and lick their shoes, or pick up water and medicine that had fallen on the floor and eat it.
They were truly vicious.
The torment wasn’t limited to the food.
They didn’t even clean properly, so the room’s hygiene was a complete mess.
It was a miracle that she had survived in such an environment until now.
“So this means she keeps getting bullied until she dies.”
Just thinking about it was truly horrifying.
“I can’t live like this.”
At that moment the door opened and a maid walked in.
The maid looked at the food on the table and frowned.
“What, you still have not eaten? Hurry up and eat. If you do not eat it, do you think you will get another meal today?”
I glared at the sneer hanging on the maid’s lips.
[Contempt]
And I also saw the word [Contempt] floating above her head.
A week had passed since I possessed this body, and every time that maid looked at me, the word [Contempt] appeared above her head.
At first, I thought I was seeing things.
But after one day, two days, three days passed, I realized it wasn’t a hallucination.
I tried recalling the contents of the novel, wondering if Ivelotte had possessed such an ability, but there had been nothing like that at all.
‘So this is something that appeared after I possessed her body… but what exactly is it?’
When I only glared without eating the food, the maid scoffed.
“What is with that look? Just because you are part of the direct line, are you staging a protest?”
When I said nothing, the maid continued to mock me.
“Surely, my Lady, you have not given up yet? My Lady, it is about time you did. I have told you several times that you do not even qualify as part of the direct line. The best way to at least save your life is to stay quiet and rot away here. Do you understand?”
I ignored the maid.
It wasn’t the right time yet.
If I failed to hold back and showed my anger here, the maid would unleash merciless violence.
A seven-year-old body couldn’t withstand an adult’s severe beating.
When I remained silent, the maid snorted and covered the plate with its lid.
“I will take this away since you are not eating it. And since you did not eat, you will not be getting any meals today.”
After the maid left, slamming the door and letting in a gust of cold air, I quickly rummaged beside the bed and pulled out a bowl.
Inside the bowl was oil.
Every time the maid came to the room with the lantern to bring dinner, I had secretly taken a little oil from it and gathered it for three days.
If asked what I planned to do with it, of course it was to teach that maid a lesson.
I couldn’t live here, suffering abuse like this just because that was the role assigned to me.
‘I can’t live like this.’
I had already died young from a terminal illness in my previous life. I didn’t want to die miserably here as well.
I wouldn’t endure it any longer.
To do that, I had to escape the annex somehow and meet the Grand Duke, the biological father of this body.
After all, the reason Ivelotte had ended up living like this was because the Grand Duke had failed to take care of her.
Fortunately, there was only one person in the annex who personally watched over me.
The servants who stayed there were in charge of cleaning and cooking, but they often neglected their duties and were frequently absent.
And besides, she had said I wouldn’t be given any more food today.
In other words, no one would come to my room today.
She had probably locked the door as well.
It would be troublesome for her if I managed to escape and went to meet the Grand Duke.
Except for when she brought food, the maid always locked the door.
‘The only chance is tomorrow morning.’
I hid the lamp oil again and lay down on the bed.
The bed was in such poor condition that it creaked every time I shifted.
I forced my eyes shut and waited for morning.
In this room, it was easy to tell when morning came. There were no proper curtains or anything like that.
I snapped my eyes open and quickly pulled out the lamp oil I had hidden under the bed. I poured it on the floor in front of the door, then hurriedly hid the bowl again.
A moment later, the door burst open and the maid appeared.
She looked at my haggard appearance and sneered.
