Chapter 2

"ARGHHH! This can’t be happening! There is no way I've been sucked into a novel... This is all just a dream, right?" Chaewoon muttered, aggressively pinching her own cheeks.

It made absolutely no sense. Her eyes darted left and right, scanning every corner of the room. 'Are there hidden cameras here? Am I being pranked on some high-budget, trending variety show back in Korea?'

"My lady, are you alright?" Britney asked, her brows furrowed deeply as she watched her mistress. Lady Seraphina was pacing around, looking completely out of her mind.

Chaewoon lunged forward, grabbing the maid by her shoulders. "Britney!" she pleaded, giving the girl a desperate shake. "Please, just slap me right now. This is a dream, isn't it? It's a prank, right?!"

Britney’s eyes welled with pure anxiety. "My lady, please don't be like this. You are truly frightening me."

Realizing she was acting like a lunatic, Chaewoon stopped shaking the poor maid. She stumbled backward and collapsed into her chair. Biting her nails nervously, she forced her mind to race backward, trying to piece together every single detail she could recall about the novel.

From what she remembered, she wasn't the female lead, nor was she the villainess. She was merely an extra a minor character destined for an early grave. To make matters worse, Seraphina’s death was scripted to happen in the year 743. With the current year being 742, she had exactly one year left before the novel’s plot kicked off, along with the countdown to her own demise. The sheer thought of it made the hairs on her arms stand on end.

‘Why? Out of all the people, why did it have to be an extra?!’ Chaewoon screamed internally. Couldn't she have possessed the villainess? Or the female lead? Heck, she would have happily possessed Britney or any other insignificant background character who at least got to survive until the end! But why did it have to be Seraphina?

Overwhelmed by frustration, Chaewoon slammed her forehead onto the wooden desk with a loud thud.

"My lady!" Britney gasped, quickly clapping a hand over her mouth, completely utterly shocked by her lady's uncharacteristic behavior.

The more Chaewoon thought about it, the more her head throbbed. She slumped back against the chair, staring blankly up at the vaulted ceiling before shifting her gaze out toward the balcony, taking in the grand view of the estate.

In the original story, Seraphina de Valois was the daughter of a Marquess, blessed with a blissfully happy life and the privilege of being the female lead’s best friend. However, she was also destined to become a thorn in the main couple's side. Why? Because in 'The Moon That Shines Upon The Tyrant', Seraphina harbored a deep, unrequited love for the Third Prince the tyrant himself, and the story's male lead.

Yet, what frustrated Chaewoon the most was that Seraphina was genuinely a good person. She was so pure-hearted that she ultimately sacrificed her own life just to protect the female lead. Her tragic death served as the ultimate catalyst, forcing the fragile female lead to depend entirely on the tyrant, effectively cementing the main couple's tragic but grand romance.

'And I am the one who has to pay the price for their character development?!' Chaewoon thought grimly.

Fortunately, since it was only the year 742, she and the female lead hadn't met yet. They hadn't become friends. If her memory served her right, Seraphina was supposed to encounter the female lead at a marketplace while shopping for new dresses. Moved by the sight of the ragged, pitiful girl, Seraphina’s kind heart would prompt her to take the girl in as her personal maid.

'Wait... I'm nineteen right now. Everything only hits the fan when I turn twenty. That means I still have time to change my fate!'

A spark of hope ignited within her. Chaewoon grabbed the quill and aggressively began scribbling a survival plan on the paper.

Rule number one: Absolutely avoid meeting any of the main characters in this novel.

Rule number two: Leave the Aurelian Empire... Wait, no, scratch that. Why should I flee right now? She slashed a line through the second rule. I don’t need to run away permanently. I just need to stay under the radar, accumulate my own wealth, and when the main plot officially starts, I'll just go on a very long vacation somewhere far away. Somewhere like my mother's homeland! But wait... where exactly is that? The novel never did go into detail about Seraphina's family background.

Chaewoon tapped the quill against her chin before writing down the next line.

Rule number three: I must learn magic, so I can defend myself and avoid dying a dog's death.

Rule number four: Live a long, normal life and get my own happy ending. After that, I can just sit back as a bystander and watch how the story ends.

Then, she paused. 'Wait... how does the story actually end? I got hit by that truck before I could even finish reading the last chapters!'

"Ugh, whatever. I'll figure that out later," she mumbled to herself.

Chaewoon held up the scribbled piece of paper, nodding in immense self-satisfaction. Her plan was brilliant. A sharp, mischievous laugh escaped her lips.

Standing off to the side, Britney’s brows were practically knitted together in sheer bewilderment. Her lady was definitely acting strange today. What on earth did she eat last night to wake up looking and acting like an entirely different person?

Ignoring the maid's judgmental stare, Chaewoon suddenly let out a massive yawn. The morning breeze filtering through the balcony was warm and pleasant the perfect weather for a nap.

"Britney, you may leave now," Chaewoon ordered, stretching her arms as she walked back toward the massive bed. "Do not come back in until I call for you. I need to sleep, and I absolutely do not want to be disturbed."

With that, she collapsed onto the plush, luxurious mattress. It was so incredibly soft, a stark contrast to her cheap rented bed back in Korea.

"Understood, my lady," Britney replied, bowing respectfully before quietly backing out of the room.

The heavy wooden door closed with a soft click. As the room fell into silence, Chaewoon closed her eyes and within moments drifted into a deep, peaceful slumber.

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