Episode 1

“Investigate the House of Duke Celdian.”

Bring back any signs of rebellion.

That was the meaning behind the secret order that had been issued.

When the Emperor finished speaking, Cassian dropped to one knee and paid his respects.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

As the Emperor’s loyal sword, he moved immediately.

It just so happened that this was the day the Lady of Celdian was to marry Viscount Hethius.

Suspecting that they might be using the young lady’s wedding as a front to exchange some sort of secret signal, Cassian hurriedly spurred his horse onward.

But then.

“Ugh!”

The moment Cassian and his knights arrived at the western forest, they all frowned.

Blood was everywhere.

People and horses alike were drenched in blood.

It was such a gruesome scene that there wasn’t a single intact corpse to be found.

“Are they all dead?”

As Cassian muttered quietly, looking dejected at the unexpected sight—

“My lord, there’s a survivor here!”

One of the knights discovered a fallen woman.

“This person…”

She had a familiar face.

They knew each other by face, but had never exchanged words.

Eveline Celdian.

The younger sister of the current Duke of Celdian and the emerald of high society.

She had grown up beautiful as a jewel and in an affluent environment, and people called her the Queen of the North.

As if to prove the title, her green hair, seemingly holding the morning dew, fell long and gracefully.

Her fair skin, as white as finely ground sugar, was even paler than usual.

Though she looked haggard now, her outstanding beauty could not be hidden.

There were wounds here and there, but somehow, they only made her look even more pitiful.

A bride in a pure white dress had suffered such a tragedy on her way to meet her groom.

Did she have many people who held grudges against her?

While Cassian was lost in thought, Eveline’s eyelids twitched.

At her faint groan, Cassian hurriedly supported her upper body with his arm.

The moment they came close, the scent of flowers brushed the tip of his nose.

For an instant, Cassian’s expression hardened. But as if nothing had happened, he immediately composed himself and checked Eveline’s condition.

Eveline, who had been frowning as though caught in a nightmare, breathed faintly and unevenly before finally opening her eyes with difficulty.

And then—

“Son of a bitch.”

With those words, she passed out.

“……”

Silence descended at the clear voice.

Cassian’s face stiffened, while the knights were at a loss for words.

The Emperor’s hound.

That was what people in the North called Cassian to mock him.

But to go beyond hound and call him a son of a bitch?

“Should I drop her?”

The arm supporting Eveline tightened.

He looked ready to throw her onto the ground at any moment.

Fortunately, however, that did not happen.

“You can’t! Even so, she’s a lady!”

A brown-haired man who had arrived at the scene late hurriedly stopped him.

It was Hans, Cassian’s aide.

“You want me to show chivalry to a lady who just called me a son of a bitch?”

“You never know…. She might be useful to the investigation.”

[Investigate the House of Duke Celdian.]

At Hans’s words, the Emperor’s order came to Cassian’s mind, and he furrowed his brow.

Unable to find anything to argue with, Cassian clicked his tongue and reluctantly picked Eveline up into his arms.

“What an incredibly troublesome woman.”

I got transmigrated. Into a romance-fantasy novel.

The problem is, I don’t know which romance-fantasy novel I transmigrated into.

Don’t call me stupid.

It hurts enough being the stupid one who has to hear it.

If I had to make an excuse, I’ve read so many romance-fantasy novels that I don’t know anymore.

Yeah. To be honest, I did read all sorts of them, but I skimmed through them.

Anyway, enough of that.

To explain my situation, I was working as an intern at a company when my boss pressured me into getting behind the wheel, only for me to crash into an oncoming cargo truck and take the express route to the afterlife.

“Huh?”

I thought I had died without a doubt, but when I opened my eyes, I had transmigrated into a pretty young lady wearing a white dress.

“My lady, which earrings would you like? Since it’s your wedding, shall I ask them to bring out the diamonds?”

“We’re having the ceremony at the temple, so I think sapphires would be nice as an accent!”

The woman reflected in the mirror was truly beautiful.

Beautiful enough to make me think, If the spirit of summer were a person, would she look like this?

She had the kind of appearance that could easily pass for the protagonist.

Just as I was endlessly admiring my reflection in the mirror—

“They say they’ll be here any moment!”

“We don’t have time, my lady!”

“We have to hurry!”

The maids helping me get dressed suddenly grabbed my hand after hearing the knight’s words and rushed out of the room.

I followed them outside in a daze, but strangely enough, the surroundings were far too deserted.

“Why is no one here?”

“Because you said you wanted to go separately, my lady!”

“I said I wanted to go separately?”

“Yes. There’s no time for this! Hurry and get in!”

The maids roughly shoved me into the carriage.

Before I could even ask why, the coachman quickly drove the horses forward.

Knights clad in armor escorted the carriage, exchanging conversations I couldn’t understand.

It wasn’t until twenty minutes had passed that the carriage finally slowed down.

What on earth is going on?

Wasn’t I supposed to be going to meet my groom?

Why did it feel like I was being chased by someone?

This was supposed to be a happy moment, yet an inexplicable sense of unease suddenly came over me.

The maids sitting across from me kept glancing out the window.

“Looks like we lost them, right?”

“I think so. Oh, my lady, they say there’s a rest stop a little farther ahead.”

“Yeah. But who are we losing?”

“Who else? Them, of course! You’ve been acting really strange today, my lady.”

“Are you feeling unwell?”

As their suspicious gazes gathered on me, I gave them an awkward smile and avoided their eyes.

“…I guess I’m just tired.”

It would’ve been nice if I knew something—anything—but strangely, I had absolutely no memories of the owner of this body.

I let out a deep sigh of disappointment.

“My lady! Are you feeling sick?”

“Shall we stop and rest for a moment?”

The maids fidgeted anxiously, clearly worried.

“I’m fine. How much longer until we reach the temple?”

“Another couple of hours.”

“Shall I tell the coachman to stop the carriage?”

“No. Anyway, my groom is…”

“Ah, He—”

BOOM!

“Ugh!”

“My lady, are you all right?”

“What the hell is happening?!”

Suddenly, the carriage shook violently.

I lost my balance and slammed my shoulder against the wall, letting out a groan.

“Assassins have appeared!”

“Protect the young lady!”

There must have been an attack, because frantic shouts could be heard from outside.

Looking out the window, I saw masked assassins attacking the knights.

The knights tried desperately to protect the carriage, but one after another, they fell beneath the merciless blades.

Seeing this, the maids grabbed my hand and jumped out of the carriage with me.

We tried to run far away from the assassins, but—

“Found her! The young lady is here!”

A chilling blade touched my neck.

Am I really going to die?

It was bad enough that I had transmigrated into a novel I couldn’t even remember, and now I was going to die less than three hours after transmigrating?!

“Wait a second, let go of this! I said let go!”

I tried to escape after the reality of the situation finally hit me, but it was useless.

The assassins, who had dealt with the maids, fastened a heavy lump of metal around my hands and pointed their swords at me.

“This is the end.”

And just as I stood on the brink of death—

BOOM!

A mass of unknown light wrapped around my body, and a massive explosion erupted.