“Are you going to kill me?”

“Huh?”

The man who was bowing down in front of me looked up as if he was taken aback. However, he lowered his head again.

‘Ah, the top of his head is golden, but I guess I can worry about that later.’

“Can you kill me without hurting me?”

I meant everything that I said. I wasn’t terrified of dying again, but I hoped I didn’t have to go through any suffering. I was hauled here with no recollection of feeling pain, either.

“Why do you keep saying that as if I’m a killer? I’m your loyal servant.”

‘Really?’

I ignored his words. How could a loyal servant betray his master later? This character is unbelievable.

Perhaps anxious about the meaningless prolonged silence, the man in front of me lifted his waist and sent a glance in my direction.

“If you betray me, you’ll lose your tongue.”

His face turned pale in an instant.

‘Ah, I’m sick of that expression.’

***

It was a few days ago when I opened my eyes inside the novel, .

It was a third-rate romance novel that I read to my brother, who loved novels, but everything about it, including the style, flow, and narrative, was a disaster.

Before I woke up here, my brother used to be my whole world. Born as an orphan, I was adopted by a couple without any children, but soon, the couple ended up having a biological child. However, the child had a weak constitution and was frequently sick, so my parents blamed me for all the misfortunes.

They used to beat me and starved me for days on end. I eventually abandoned my own life and devoted myself to my younger brother.

I never attempted to study or find work for myself. I had no notion to pursue any interests in my past life. That wasn’t something I had the time for.

I used to despise my brother. He foolishly considered everything I owned to be his. Nonetheless, he was bedridden, so I couldn’t detest the child to my heart’s content, which made it harder for me.

Our relationship was odd, to say the least. We relied on one another, but we wouldn’t go so far as to say we adored each other. It was difficult to explain.

Unexpectedly, my brother died before he reached the age of 20. My life’s purpose was quickly lost, and my parents kicked me out. They forced me to live on the streets, but I had no intention of living any longer.

No matter how old I was or how much money I made, everything was always done for my brother.

‘So, what should I be doing now?’

I was stuck in a small room, didn’t go out, and kept thinking about it. Life was becoming increasingly vexing and annoying. I didn’t even know who I was… I didn’t want to be this way anymore. I was quite exhausted due to the fatigue that came with numbness.

My younger brother’s face came to mind. He always had a pale complexion. Oh, that was the only face I could recall. If I had sacrificed myself to live for him… shouldn’t I at least be able to recall his happy face? He should’ve shown it to me.

I had enough. So, I hurled myself over a dilapidated building. Surprisingly, it didn’t hurt. My body lacked strength, yet I didn’t feel any pain. Was death supposed to be like this?

Then, I opened my eyes.

‘I wonder, is this what the afterworld looks like?’

Suddenly, some faces came into my view. It was strange, and it was oddly bright for the afterworld, too.

‘Is it supposed to be this bright? What’s happening?’

When I fully opened my eyes, the people looking at me made a noticeable fuss. While I was puzzled about what was going on, someone shouted out loud,

“Lady Selena!”

At this rate, my eardrums would’ve ruptured. I couldn’t bring myself to open my mouth, so I blinked instead. I wanted to talk, but my voice couldn’t come through clearly.

It seemed like I fainted for a few days. My voice seemed to be hoarse. As a result of being unable to talk while lying still, I took the time to become more aware of my situation by eavesdropping.

Lady Selena collapsed after falling down the stairs four days ago. But once she woke up today, it turned out to be me inside of her body instead of her. The people who surrounded me in tears were my brothers and my parents. Was this a dream?

My head became dizzy as I organized my thoughts.

‘So I committed suicide and came to Selena’s body. What about Selena, then? Oh, I’m not sure… I’m too exhausted.’

I was sprawled on a bed. It was a really comfy bed. I lived like this for a few days while quietly eavesdropping on the people’s conversations around me. Those maids talked a lot, I really couldn’t imagine Selena’s suffering before.

After a few days, I was finally able to open my mouth. The condition of my neck had significantly improved.

After lunch, Selena’s mom and dad came into the room to see my condition.

“How are you today, Selena?”

“I’m fine.”

When I spoke out for the first time since I came to this world, Selena’s parent’s eyes were filled with excitement. But soon, it dimmed.

I didn’t want to call these strangers my mom and dad, so I spit out the ultimate line in every tragic soap opera.

“Can you tell me where we are…? And who are you, exactly?”

My, no, Selena’s parents were taken aback and started reminiscing about her whole life, down to the littlest things.

They told me about my name, childhood memories with my brothers, and so on… listening to their stories reminded me of something and somehow, their stories were familiar. When I heard the maids’ stories, I also felt the same way. Did I read this from somewhere?

Oh, yes. I indeed read this information from somewhere. It was from that ridiculous novel, , and I must’ve been the time-limited villainess, Selena. That’s how I learned about the world that I lived in.

Since that day, Selena’s parents and the people she knew had been visiting me in my room, hoping that I would recover my memories as soon as possible.

Today, a man with golden hair, who was said to be my loyal servant, was in front of me.

Despite the fact that this man claimed to be my loyal servant, I knew the truth. His words didn’t contain a shred of sincerity in them. Even though I only skimmed the novel, I remember certain facts about the characters because I read it aloud to my brother.

My explanation was certainly not completely accurate, but…

In the story, Selena picked up a beggar on the street, and she was kind enough to make him a servant in her mansion.

That very man was the so-called male lead, who would later betray Selena.

After I brought up his betrayal, the man’s face turned pale, and he shut his mouth firmly.

Though he didn’t make a sound, I could see his eyes, which seemed to be asking, ‘How did you know?’

“Get out of here. I’m going to sleep.”

He bowed down and left the room anxiously. I instructed all of my maids to leave the room as well, then went to lay in bed as I looked around the empty room. Oh, the bed felt really comfortable. I wanted to spend the rest of my life lying down in it.

Selena White, whom I possessed, was a greedy woman.

She despised her older brother, Aaron White, and aspired to inherit the duke’s title. She put forth a lot of effort to achieve that. However, she wasn’t as capable as her brother, so she stayed up all night studying a variety of things.

In short, Selena was a hard worker, but her talent was lacking compared to her brother. Her resentment for her brother grew and she began to commit wicked acts to achieve her goals.

Her wicked acts eventually involved the female lead, Ariel, who loved Selena’s brother. She succeeded in separating the two, but the male lead and supporting characters, who were fond of Ariel, joined forces and imprisoned Selena.

Selena died in prison because of her sickness at the age of 23, with little left in her hands. She was so lucky.

I tossed and turned in bed to find a comfortable posture.

‘Ah, I think this situation works for me. I’m not greedy and I won’t try anything.’

I didn’t have much desire to live to begin with. This unusual situation was somewhat intriguing, but that was it. My senses were already far too numb to feel the thrill.

I got on my feet. I don’t know why God intended to let me live longer when I wanted to die. This was all pointless.

Yes. I still didn’t enjoy living, and all I wanted to do was rest. As a result, I slept for the majority of my time here and dreamed. In my dream, I could see my younger brother in my past life. The younger brother I can’t hate. We were intertwined in a strange relationship.

The day he died, I didn’t shed a single tear. My only thought was that I was no longer useful.

It was strange that I randomly started to reminisce about my past. I blankly looked at the passing scene in front of me and suddenly, an image of Selena appeared.

She had blue hair paired with sky blue eyes. The corners of her eyebrows were slightly raised, but they did not appear fierce, perhaps due to her bright hair color and eye color. Or maybe it was because of her pale complexion.

Just before her death, she was gasping alone in an empty, narrow room. She walked over and knocked on the rusty iron door.

Knock, knock, knock.

“Please… someone… help me… help me! No, please… someone save me. At least someone stay by my side until the moment I die… please… dying alone like this…”

She coughed out blood as she desperately spoke her wishes. Then, she stopped for a while. Perhaps out of rage, or terror. But soon she started shouting again.

“No, no! No! I… I… no! It’s my fault! No, you can’t. Oh, no! Please, please, please!”

After shouting so loudly, Selena fell on the floor and stopped moving.

No, it was because she could never move again.