Selena’s back, that stopped moving, looked pitiful. She died without her last wish being fulfilled.

‘So, Selena. You wanted to be with someone at the moment of your death? That’s why I came to your body?’

A miserable person like me, who also died alone like you? You should’ve chosen a better person to make your wish come true.

Or did she call me because I didn’t seem to have any lingering feelings about life, and wouldn’t act recklessly? So that she wouldn’t die miserably like before?

It didn’t matter what her motive was.

I was going to live in Selena’s body now, and I was going to die at 23 years old. Those two things wouldn’t change.

I opened my eyes and saw candles, not light bulbs, lighting up the room. This made me once again realize that this was Selena’s world.

Then I saw the final scene of the original Selena dying pitifully.

“Well, just one time…”

‘Let’s fulfill her wish.’

***

Nevermind. I canceled my plan. I was, in fact, too lazy after thinking about it.

‘What a nuisance.’

After that day, I resolved to get out of bed and try to live a better life in my own way, but everywhere I went, I got unnecessary attention and whispering, and also some worried looks.

‘Why are there so many people here? It’s crazy.’

“Ah, that’s enough. I’m sorry, Selena.”

I laid down on the grass behind the sparsely populated promenade. Then, I heard footsteps with rustling noises around me. However, I didn’t want to open my eyes.

‘Let’s just pretend to be asleep.’

But the person near me didn’t seem to have noticed me sleeping, judging from the rustling noise.

‘Alright, you won.’ I struggled to get up.

I crawled on my knees, pushed the bushes with my hands, and poked my head out. I saw a man there.

He was swinging a sword, his long hair swaying. There was only one thought that came to mind when I saw him.

‘Wasn’t there a place for training in this mansion? Why is he here?’

I didn’t want to get intertwined with annoying people, so I just quietly moved to another place and released my tangled hair that was in the bushes…

But it wasn’t as easy as I thought it’d be, since my hair got tangled in the branches and wouldn’t come out.

Ugh, this stupid novel. The keyword ‘accidental encounter’ must’ve also been applied to the villainess.

There was nothing I could do.

“Excuse me…”

The man stopped after hearing my shaky voice and looked around. Soon after, he tilted his head and swung his sword again. Apparently, he hadn’t noticed me yet.

“Hey…”

Once again, when I spoke, the man stopped swinging his sword. He was looking around with his fierce eyes, then slowly approached the bushes that I was at.

‘Oh my God, it feels like we’re filming a drama.’

I had no choice but to look carefully at the man approaching me. Finally, the man who came this way found me.

‘Haha, I know it’s weird, you don’t need to have such an expression.’

“Help me. My hair is stuck.”

The man looked at me with wary eyes.

I opened my eyes wide as I realized who that face belonged to.

The man turned around and laughed at me. I couldn’t berate him because I knew who this man was.

He was the male lead of this novel.

‘Lukaf, Lukaf, Ba… what’s his name again…’

“Excuse me, Lord Lukaf?”

“It’s Lucas.”

Lukaf… no, Lucas gave me a dumbfounded look. But what was he going to do?

“Oh, yes, Lord Lucas. Please help me. My hair is tangled and I can’t get it out.”

Lucas came one step closer. He looked so elegant with his head down that I couldn’t believe he was the one who laughed like that earlier.

“I’d be happy to help you, Princess Selena White.”

Lucas didn’t say anything while he helped me, and I didn’t have anything to say, so I didn’t say anything either.

I felt sleepy because it took longer than I thought, and my eyelids slowly went down.

***

Lucas looked at the woman dozing off.

Selena White, the duke’s daughter, was 19 years old this year. She was famous for her bad personality. It’s strange because the duke, duchess, and young masters were all well known for being gentle…

The princess coveted the heir position.

There would have been no problem if she secretly acted behind the scenes, but the problem was that she started whining the moment she heard that her brother would be the successor.

Adding to that, she picked on her brother’s lover, Ariel. If they got married, Aaron’s position as successor would be stronger.

It was a childish kind of bullying, but the people of the duchy weren’t so stupid that they didn’t even notice it. It would be too trivial to say anything, and Ariel said she didn’t want to do anything about it, so she kept her mouth shut.

Lucas glanced at Selena’s face. But she seemed different now, her way of talking and aura was unlike the rumours now that she lost her memories. But how could a person change just because of that?

Still, even though he had such thoughts, he should respect the duke’s daughter, so helping her would be better.

***

“It’s done.”

I opened my eyes due to the man’s voice.

“Ah, thank you.”

Lucas smiled brightly. I fixed my eyes on Lucas and thought about the contents of the novel in my head.

When Selena became 19 years old in winter, Lucas fell in love with the heroine Ariel. He saved Ariel, who was deceived by Selena and had been waiting for a long time for Aaron in the snow.

‘It is still spring here, I still have a few months before winter…’

Therefore, this man had not fallen in love with Ariel yet.

‘Then I think I can make him a person who will grieve for Selena at my funeral.’

Though it was clear that Lucas, the duke’s exclusive knight, had a reputation to keep, so he couldn’t mourn at my funeral.

‘Still, let’s do this.’

I’ll make sure the male lead would come to Selena’s funeral. Quality over quantity, right?

‘Selena, are you satisfied?’

I nodded at my own plan.

“Excuse me, Lord Lucas.”

“Yes, princess?”

“Will you be my friend?”

However, there was a fatal loophole in the plan. Unfortunately, I forgot for a moment that I didn’t have that much experience in socializing.

In my previous life, I always had to run to the hospital room as soon as school ended to take care of my younger brother, and the same was true when I was in college. My parents also didn’t want me to have friends, because it would be bothersome.

My poor younger brother, who was lying in the hospital room, personally told me that he wouldn’t forgive me if I had a friend. ‘Let’s see, how was I as a child…’

I really didn’t have any personal relationships except for my co-workers and homeroom teachers. I had no choice but to learn how to date and treat people through books I had read. And so I acted according to that.

‘Be my friend! Yes! That kind of feeling…’

“I’m sorry, but I can’t.”

But again, a book is only a book. As expected, I couldn’t learn about the world from books alone. I was heartbroken to see Lucas rejecting resolutely but politely.

‘Then, there’s nothing I can do about it.’

“Oh well, I can’t help that.”

“You don’t want to ask me why?”

Lucas looked at me. But I had already given up, since it was a virtue to give up quickly. Frankly, it was annoying to ask why.

“Yes.”

I said so and stood up. I went my way without looking back.

The place I went to was the bell tower. While heading to the place, each servant I encountered bowed their heads nervously. I nodded slightly because I was too lazy to react. As I stared blankly at the bell tower, I remembered my parents’ words about my friends.

“You can’t go out with people. Look at your brother. Don’t you feel sorry for him? He doesn’t even have one friend, does he?!”

“I’m sorry, Mother…”

“Yes, if you want to call us mother and father, do as we ask, okay? Otherwise, we’ll throw you away.”

“Yes, Father…”

I still used the title ‘parents’ when I thought of them, even though they abandoned me as soon as my brother died.

The stupid idea I had earlier made me laugh.

‘Ah, as expected, living is bothersome.’