It was daytime when the birds chirped softly.
I gulped, swallowing my saliva.
“Umm, taking this into consideration…”
My fingers looked so thin and pale as I tapped the teacup. It seemed like it might snap even at the slightest touch.
“Milady!”
I was startled by Becky’s call, making me jerk my hand away.
“Ack, it’s hot!”
The teacup containing the medicine was very hot, so even though I hurriedly removed my hand, it still got scalded.
“—Milady!”
“I got surprised and burnt myself, Becky.”
“What do I — what should I do?! Wahhh!”
Staring at Becky — who was even more startled than I was — currently making a fuss, I changed my mind.
“A doctor! We have to call a doctor!”
“Don’t.”
“But, milady! You might collapse even just by a gust of wind!”
“People don’t collapse because of the wind, Becky.”
I shook my head, barely managing to grab the hem of her dry clothes.
It was a behavior that could’ve been easily seen as discourteous, but elegance oozed from my fingers as I held her.
A pale woman was reflected in the mirror hanging on one side of the room.
“You’re being too fussy.”
“But milady’s body is… frail.”
I chuckled lightly.
“Look. Even if I’m ill, my eyes are still wide open and I’m breathing fine.”
I’m so done! I’m getting goosebumps, goosebumps! I can’t get used to talking like this.
I slowly turned my head to look at a secluded corner of the room.
“Are those the portraits I told you to bring?”
“Huh? Yes… But, milady…”
Becky said, tilting her head.
“Why did you ask me to collect the portraits of every ‘handsome’ nobleman?”
Becky said that it was not strange that I, a noble lady of marriageable age, collected portraits of men.
However, it was strange to ask for, not only the portrait of the counts, but also the dukes, barons, viscounts, and even the knights of the imperial family.
“I’ll tell you later.”
I merely shrugged my shoulders.
“Did you bring them as I told you?”
Glancing at the portrait, Becky gave a quick nod.
“Yes. Blondes, brunettes, and every other unique hair color has also been included!”
“Hmm, if you say so.”
“Of course! Goodness me, I thought I was gonna die! It was especially hard to get my hands on the royal family’s portraits.”
“Well done. Can you take the teacup with you on your way out? I want to rest.”
“Yes, I’ll be leaving now!”
As soon as Becky closed the door, the smile on my face disappeared.
I then proceeded to stare hard at the pile of portraits.
‘Will the ‘male lead’ really be here?’
No… I can’t lose hope.
‘He must be in here.’
I stared at the pile with a burning gaze. It’s impossible for him to not be there.
But soon enough, I heaved out a heavy sigh.
“…What the—! Why are there so many handsome guys?”
I ran fingers through my hair, my thoughts running wild. I tightly clenched my fists.
“Get it together, Yujin — no, Darlene.”
The name that makes me tear my hair out is ‘Darlene Este’.
A month ago, I opened my eyes in an unfamiliar bed, with unfamiliar ceilings, and similarly unfamiliar people in front of me.
“Her Ladyship has woken up! It was a really close call this time…”
People who I’d never seen before were staring at me.
‘Ah, wait a minute. I know this situation very well.’
Looking around in this room of unfamiliar things, I knew I wasn’t dreaming, so I quickly recalled the next most likely scenario.
- If I’m not dreaming, then what kind of situation am I in?
- I know! A book reincarnation.
‘…I’m very familiar with this situation, with years of experience reading romantic fantasy novels.’
“Pardon? The name of this country? It’s the Visen Empire, milady!”
The Visen Empire.
“Is there a temple? Of course there is. There were originally two moons.”
A temple, two moons…
It’s the book ‘I’m The Real Saintess’ Second Daughter!’ that I recently read!
Was it transmigration, or maybe reincarnation? The troubles that I had been concerned with went away as I reached an exciting conclusion.
I opened my eyes in the body of a character from a book!
To top it off, Her Ladyship ‘Darlene Este’, whose body I possessed, was an unfamiliar extra.
I heard that I have a sickly body, so maybe that’s why I am very weak. They also mentioned that it was because of my chronic illness that I collapsed this time.
“Woah, oh my god, I would only think of it as a silly dream if I wake up again now.”
No wonder I didn’t wake up even after a few days.
‘To think that I, a romance-fantasy reader, am being presented with a situation like this. This isn’t some kind of workbook with ready-made answers that I’d solve!’
It’s honestly absurd to see tropes — that I only see in books — unfold right in front of me, but now that I know the title of the book, won’t living in this world be a piece of cake?
…Is what I thought.
“…Why aren’t they coming out?”
In ‘I’m The Real Saintess’ Second Daughter’, both the male and female lead meet in the imperial garden and confess their feelings to each other on the first day of the founding festival.
And so, I waited for them in front of the imperial garden all night. However, as I waited there for longer than I should have, I realized something.
…Is this not the right novel?
If my memory serves me right…
‘I’m The Real Saintess’ Second Daughter’ is a book I read quite recently, so I roughly remembered the plot.
Also, the country where the main characters lived in the book was not the ‘Visen Empire’, but the ‘Vincent Kingdom’.
That’s right. I got the name wrong!
“Eh? It’s not that book?”
I was left dismayed. I couldn’t believe that it wasn’t what I’d expected… but if that’s so, then where in the world am I?
“Milady, you’re burning up!”
“Why are you burning up so early in the day? What happened? Did you do something?”
“Nothing… I did nothing — cough, cough!”
I was desperately digging through my head while shivering at the excruciating body aches I had gained from waiting all night for the main leads.
Now that I think about it, the season when the founding festival was held was clearly similar.
The event where an explosion occurred in the temple a while ago was also the same.
Firstly, I was sure that it was in the novel that the two moons in the sky and the recent events that Becky told me were the same as those in the novel I had read.
But the problem is…
First of all, the name of the kingdom is different!
Secondly, the main leads did not meet like I expected.
Could it be that it’s another novel with a similar story?
In that case, shouldn’t I get a new hint?
Could the current events be hinting at something? Those aren’t the only problems.
There was definitely a novel about the nation’s founding festival. How many novels are there?
Damn it! There are way too many founding festivals in romance-fantasy books! Naturally, a lot of novels came to mind.
So… I didn’t know which one it was.
“No, hold on. The more I think about it, the angrier I get.”
Party, banquet… Are there only two novels about founding festivals? Moreover, there are usually many events like this in romantic-fantasy books.
‘Nah, let’s calm down.’
I first sorted out all the ones with similar names and content that I remembered.
I think ‘Don’t Give Your Heart To That Strange Book’, ‘I Suddenly Became A Convict And Was Thrown Into Jail,’ and ‘My Sister Picked Up A Mage’ are the ones that mentioned something about the moon too…
The title wasn’t the only issue.
While trying to recall the title, the contents were mixed up in my head. Three or four male leads also came to mind one after another.
‘Ah, I’m fucked. I shouldn’t have read reverse harem…’
Reverse harem! The male leads must like genres where they could appear in bundles!
The cherry on top was that the status of all these male leads was also different. If he was a prince in one, then he was a duke in the other. There was also the chivalrous mage.
…I read too much.
You damn writers!! I blame the innocent authors.
“You guys need to write with a bit more originality!!”
I rubbed my face roughly after recollecting that memory and raised my head.
Thankfully, my taste in male leads is very, very clear.
“Whew, okay. I definitely only read one.”
My unchanging tastes might be of help in finding the male lead.
“I ended up digging out only the cranky ones!”
Firstly, I’m familiar with the explosive events and settings that took place in this empire.
Then, if I think about it carefully, the answer will eventually come on its own without my knowledge.
If I can just find out who the male lead is then I’ll know the novel, too. I may be easily swayed but I’m no fool.
…Wait, but aren’t I a fool already?
“Then… I should believe in myself. That is to say, my taste in male leads!”
Once you reincarnate, you have to know what book you’ve entered so you can return it to its original plot and enjoy a comfortable life.
“Damn, of all things, I had to like such trash…”
Among the novels I read, there were quite a few novels where the characters around the protagonist died, so I have to be careful.
“Whew, it’s peaceful now, but it turns out that the body I possessed is of some no-name villainess… Hngh, this is terrible! What will I do if I’m some extra no. 1 who gets caught up with the main characters and dies early?”
If luck is on my side, then I’m probably one of the main characters or a supporting role, but… I should also keep in mind the possibility of not being either.
Honestly, isn’t it more likely that I’m neither of them?
In any case, I need to know the main character and the contents of the book in order to prepare for either route.
‘I’m curious more than anything.’
Male lead, who are you? I must find you first.
“All right, let’s first narrow it down.”
Men that are of my taste!
And so, many portraits were lined up in a neat line in front of me.
‘The only clue is my taste in liking feisty male leads, so I thought I’d know if I bumped into him.’
But what is this, why are there this many portraits?
“…Even though I told them to pick only the most handsome men?”
The first virtue of a male lead is to be handsome.
However, the portrait was not enough to fill the wall, so it was full to the back row. It was tiring to even look at it.
No, why do there have to be so many handsome guys?
Knock knock knock.
The door opened just in time. Becky came in with refreshments in hand.
“Milady, I’ve brought some light refreshments.”
I thought it’d be a good idea to have her next to me. I beckoned her, to which she came running.
“Why are there so many handsome guys in our country?”
“Pardon? Milady, don’t you know?”
Becky blinked as she looked at me strangely while pointing towards the painting.
“Oh, my word! You must be very tired from your body aches. Because of the strange walls of the tyrant Emperor Nerotitas three hundred years ago, there are many exceptionally handsome and beautiful people among the nobles.”
“A strange wall?”
“Yes, he was famous for executing ugly-looking people regardless of gender. In the end, he died in the rebellion. But after thirty years of his reign, all his descendants were men and women with good looks.”
“…What a tyrant.”
What kind of world is this?
With such a strange emperor, I should be able to remember something! Seeing that nothing really came to mind, it must have been something that didn’t appear in the book or just quickly passed by.
It’s clear that the work has become very difficult!
It’s been a month since I’ve adapted to this world, and I, Darlene Este, the daughter of a decent countess of the Visen Empire, am certainly sick.
But I still don’t know exactly what kind of world this is!
Again, with years of romance reading experience, I, a reader who’s read more than a thousand novels, do not know the title of this novel.
𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐦𝐲 𝐊𝐨𝐟𝐢 𝐩𝐚𝐠𝐞!!!
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