The first thing I remember was dying.

Not dramatically.

No truck, no explosion, no heroic rescue.

Just exhaustion from months of preparing for exams. My last thought had been ,I wish, I could rest.

Darkness embraced me.

Then someone slapped me.

Hard.

"My lady, wake up. The Duke is waiting."

I shot upright, clutching my burning cheek.

A girl standing in a black and white maid uniform stared at me with watery eyes.

"My lady, please don't scare me like that."

I blinked.

The room looked like something from a historical fantasy novel. Crystal chandeliers hung from a painted ceiling. Silk curtains fluttered beside enormous windows. A polished vanity reflected a beautiful young woman with silver hair, crimson eyes and porcelain skin.

I froze.

"That's....me??"

No.

Not me.

Her.

Lady Evelina Ashcroft.

The Villianess from my favorite fantasy novel

**The Crown of Eternal Roses**.

The Very woman which readers Love to Hate.

She was arrogant.

Cruel, jealous, and destined to die.

I remember every chapter with painful clarity.

Evelina bullied the kind heroine .

She tried to force the male lead into marriage.

She framed innocent nobles.

Finally during the rebellion, the male lead executed her before the Imperial Palace while the heroine watched with a tear in her eyes.

It had been one of the most satisfying endings.

Now....

I was here.

"..You have got to be kidding me."

The maid looked confused.

"My Lady"

"Nothing".

No panic.

Think.

If I simply avoided the heroine, apologized to everyone, and lived quietly, Maybe I can survive.

Yes.

That was my plan.

A Peaceful Retirement.

No drama.

No romance.

Definitely no male lead.

......................

Three months later.

Everything was going perfectly.

I cancelled unnecessary parties.

Stopped insulting servants.

Returned unfairly collected taxes.

Opened a free school for orphaned children .

Every noble in the capital whispered that lady Evelina has become strangely kind.

Perfect.

If the original story was based on me acting like a monster, I simply wouldn't.

Problem solved or so I believed.

......................

"Lady Evelina"

I slowly turn around.

Standing behind the marble archway was the empire's greatest war hero.

Duke Adrian Revenshade.

The main lead.

Tall.

Dark hair.

Golden eyes that seem capable of seeing through lies.

Every woman in the empire admired him.

Every enemy feared him.

In the novel, he despised Evelina from their very first meeting.

But now....

He was looking directly at me.

Without hostility.

Without disgust.

"Congratulations on your charity work" he said.

I smiled politely.

"Thank you, Your Grace".

"I have been watching you".

My smile froze.

Watching?

Why?

"I'm glad empire has gained someone worthy of respect".

Excuse me?

That line wasn't in the novel.

Not even close.

I quickly bowed.

"I am honored"

Then I escaped, Literally.

I walked away so fast that my maid had to ran behind me.

"No, Absolutely not".

That conversation never happened in the original story.

From then on, strange things started happening.

Whenever I attend banquets....

Adrian was already there.

Wherever I visited the library.....

He somehow appeared at that same time.

Wherever I rode through the city....

His carriage conveniently passed mine.

Coincidence?

Maybe.

After the 15th coincidence...

Definitely not.

One rainy afternoon, I finally confronted him.

"Your Grace"

He looked up from his hook.

"Yes"??

" ...Are you following me???"

He remembered silent for several seconds.

"I supposed, I'm"

"......"

"......"

He admitted it.

Without shame.

" Why?"

He closed the book.

"Because I wish to know everything about you."

My brain stopped working.

"Everything ?"

"That's unnecessary!"

"I disagree"

His answer comes immediately.

"You have changed".

"So? "

"I want to know why".

"I simply matured".

"I don't believe that ".

Great.

The male lead has become suspicious.

This was bad, very bad.

...----------------...

The heroine finally appeared.

Luna Everhart.

She was exactly as the novel described.

Bright chestnut hair .

Gentle blue eyes.

A smile that warmed everyone.

I nearly cried with relief.

Finally.

The story could return to its original path.

Adrian will fall in love with Luna.

They would defeat the villains.

I would quietly retire somewhere with a garden.

Simple.

I did everything possible to help.

I introduce them, create opportunities to meet them.

Even "accidentally"leave them alone during parties.

Everything should have worked.

Instead....

Adrien walked straight past Luna.

Every single time and came to stand beside me.

" I have been looking for you".

"Your Grace, Lady Luna is right there".

"I know"

" ...She is waiting".

"I would have rather talked to you".

Luna gave me a sympathetic smile.

The poor heroine has thought that I have stolen her future husband.

I wanted to scream.

Rumors spread rapidly.

"The Duke only dances with Lady Evelina"

"They Exchanged letters".

"He refuses three marriage proposals".

"He rejected princesses"

"For Lady Evelina ?"

"Who knows?"

Every rumor wants me to bury myself underground.

...----------------...

One evening I returned home to find a dozen gifts .

Flowers .

Books.

Jewelleries.

Tea.

Rare Paintings.

All from Adrian.

I immediately ordered everything returned.

The next morning.....

Double the gift arrived.

Attached was a note.

"Keep this. I dislike seeing empty rooms".

Who writes something like that?

...----------------...

Months passed.

His behavior became worse.

If someone criticizes me.....

He ruined their political career.

If another nobleman asked me to dance.....

The poor man suddenly remembered some business elsewhere after getting one glance from Adrian.

If I skipped meals....

Fresh food mysteriously appeared in my study.

My maids adored him.

My father adored him.

Even my dog adored him.

I alone remained terrified.

Because this wasn't romance .

This was OBSESSION.

Polite.

Elegant

Dangerously weighted obsession.

Finally I asked the question that had haunted me.

"Why me??"

We were standing beneath blooming cherry trees .

The evening air scattered pink petals around us.

Adrian looked at me for a long time before answering.

"Do you remember the Eastern battlefield?"

"I have never been there".

"You have"

"I haven't".

He smiled sadly,"You don't remember".

"I truly don't".

"When everyone celebrated my victories, there had been only one letter asking if I had eaten properly".

My heart skipped

" I don't understand".

"You send medicine during the epidemic".

"I"

"You made orphanages for soldiers' children".

"I"

"You visited wounded veterans after every war"

His golden eyes softened.

"Everyone saw you as a Villianess".

"I saw someone different".

I wanted to tell him the truth.

That none of these things have been done by original Evelina.

That I wasn't the woman that he believed I am.

But who will believe this madness?

"I love you "

The confession was simple, quiet.

I stared at him in horror.

"No"

His eyebrow shifted slightly. "No??"

The next day.

I am in a room tied to a chain to the bed and in front of me the person whom I least wanted to see.

ADRIAN

" you are only mine"😈😈

The city truly never slept.

Glass towers pierced through the moonlight sky, their light reflected across the rain-soaked streets where fortunes were made before sunrise and destroyed before sunset. At the center of the empire stood ORION VAL, thirty-three-year-old, Billionaire CEO of Vale Dynamics.

People called him brilliant.

His rival called him ruthless.

His employees simply feared him.

Orion never smiled during board meetings. He never forgave betrayal. Every decision was calculated, every word deliberate. The financial world believed he had everything-power, wealth, influence.

But they were wrong.

He had one obsession.

Her.

Rose Carter has worked as an Architectural Consultant for only three months before unknowingly crossed paths with Orion.

She wasn't impressed by the impressive suits or expensive helicopters.

She challenged him.

"The design sacrifices people for prestige" She said during a presentation, pointed toward a skyscraper blueprint.

The conference room becomes silent.

No one questioned Orion Vale.

No one.

His icy gray eyes meet hers.

"You believe you are right?"

"I am"

Every executive expected her to be fired.

Instead....

"Continue"

The single word changed everything.

For the first time in years, Orion found someone who can look directly in his eyes without fear.

She fascinated him.

Every morning he reviewed the report that doesn't require his attention simply because they contained her name.

He learned she drinks vanilla coffee.

She volunteered at an animal shelter every Saturday.

She lived alone.

She preferred bookstores to luxury malls.

She hated unnecessary extravagance.

Facts become routines.

Routines become habits.

Habits become an obsession.

---------

Rose remained unaware.

She simply noticed strange coincidences.

The broken elevator in her resident building has been repaired overnight.

The stray dog which she had been feeding suddenly head veterinary treatment paid anonymously.

Her favorite independent bookstores have received mysterious investments, which saved it from closing.

She feels life has become unusually kind.

She never imagined one man was quietly moving pieces across the city.

Months later......

"You have been promoted"HR announced.

"I never applied".

"The CEO personally requested it".

Her eyebrows knitted together.

Why?

Working close to ORION meaning for longer conversations.

Longer meetings.

Longer silences.

He wasn't cruel toward her.

He was...... different.

Cold toward everyone else.

Patient with her.

One evening after the exhausting presentation, rain poured outside.

"I will call a taxi".

"My driver will drop you"

"I can manage"

"I wasn't asking"

His voice remained calm. It somehow made refusing impossible.

Rumors spread quickly.

"The CEO favors her"

"They are secretly dating"

"She will be the next executive director"

Rose hated every whisper.

She marched into the Orion's office without permission.

"This has to stop".

He looked up from paperwork.

"What exactly? "

"People think ....."

"I don't concern myself with gossip".

"You should "

"I concerned myself with the results"

She exhaled sharply.

"You can't solve everything with money"

"No"

He closed the file.

"But I can solve some things"

Weeks later she received flowers.

No card.

Every Monday, every single Monday.......

She donated them to hospitals.

The deliveries continued.

Then came the gala.

Champagne sparkled beneath the crystal chandeliers.

Executives laughed.

Investors negotiated.

Rose stood near the balcony for fresh air.

A young entrepreneur approached.

"Dance??"

"Sure"

Across the Ballroom.

Orion watched.....

His expression never changed.

Only his grip tightened around the whisky glass until it cracked.