Chapter 11

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter Title: I Thought It Was the Ending and Came Back, But the Genre Changed - Chapter 1

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Prologue

The wait had been long. So very long.

"All that hell... just for this one article."

Edelaine pressed her index finger firmly against her dampening eyes. Like a person on the brink of death watching their life flash before them, the grueling days of the past raced through her mind in an instant.

The front page blared the wedding of the century, decked out in florid praise. The saintess's beaming smile was practically blinding.

A smile without a single flaw. Pure radiance.

Edelaine felt like planting a kiss right on it.

It was more than worth it.

For this article alone, Edelaine had thrown away her life.

'The world thinks I did anyway.'

Social suicide or whatever.

Edelaine folded the newspaper with a wry smile.

'Edelaine Bertrand' had died five years ago.

To be precise, she'd faked it.

She'd cast aside everything that came with being born Edelaine, hiding away alone just to make this wedding of the century come true.

'Reborn into the world of a novel from my past life, slotted as the villainess? A dime a dozen.'

She hadn't known right away that this world was from a novel. At first, she just figured she'd been reborn.

Around three or four years old, her previous life came back to her like recalling last night's dinner. She couldn't pinpoint how she'd died, but accepting the rebirth felt natural.

And she didn't freak out much.

Eh, it happens. Too good a memory, maybe?

Her parents in this second life were sharp, capable folks overall. The only issue? They spoiled their youngest daughter rotten.

They believed she deserved everything her heart desired, the most dazzling life imaginable. They'd pull every string for it—including an engagement to the handsome, wealthy heir of a ducal house.

Never dreaming it'd drag their daughter's life straight to hell.

'I didn't see it coming either.'

That the cute little duke-to-be would fall head over heels for the saintess, starring in a romance for the ages as the male lead.

The year she turned nine, she uncovered this world's true nature. But Edelaine didn't panic.

Eh, it happens. Sharp memory, right?

Even learning her death was scripted in? Startling, sure, but manageable.

She was still kicking.

And besides.

'I'm a hardcore romance fantasy reader—two lifetimes deep!'

In her past life, Edelaine devoured every romance fantasy on every platform.

Possession and reincarnation were all the rage, and she'd binged hundreds. Roles varied, but villainess or side character was the norm.

The golden rule from hundreds of those protagonists?

Steer clear of pointless romances!

The deadliest pitfall that sank countless transmigrators and reincarnators.

Once she remembered her past life, Edelaine fought tooth and nail to dodge every trap.

Couldn't ditch the engagement? Fine—she'd make it clear she'd bow out anytime!

"If it's true love, don't get hung up on pageantry, Shane. We're engaged out of convenience and shared interests, nothing more."

She'd roll out the red carpet for the saintess who popped up out of nowhere!

"What good are power or titles before the world's savior? Please, protect us all."

She'd clean up the mounting chaos around her—even rescuing a kid teetering on death's door.

"Come with me. I'll be your home. I won't abandon you. Ever."

And if that wasn't enough, she played the noble sacrifice, throwing herself in harm's way to save the saintess.

"No, Edelaine! Don't die!"

"Farewell..."

Curtain call.

Her performance deserved every Best Actress sweep on the festival circuit.

All for one thing: witnessing the story's 'end.'

The end.

Happy ever after.

And they lived happily ever after.

That single line.

Be happy, y'all! I'm tapping out—peace!

While I'm gone, seal the deal, find your light, hit that ending for me!

You got this!

"Lloyd."

"Yes, Mistress."

"Can't you drop the 'Mistress' thing already?"

"Nope."

Edelaine gave the servant she'd personally rescued a complicated look for a beat.

He called her Mistress and nothing else, but obedience? Not in his vocabulary. This boy was destined to get scooped up by an underground crime boss and grow into the assassin gunning for her neck.

He used to be such a sweet, compliant kid. What happened?

"Let's toast. Today's the day I've waited my whole life for."

"The saintess's wedding day, right? The one you said you'd wait forever for."

"Yep. Freedom at last!"

"We'll see about that..."

"Huh?"

"Nothing. If you say so, Mistress."

Lloyd flicked his eyes to the front-page story.

The saintess's radiant grin. The over-the-top headline on the wedding of the century.

And the man smiling quietly at her side.

Edelaine kept insisting: just get those two together. She faked her death for it.

Fated path. Happy ending.

'Really?'

Lloyd stared at the man's face in the paper.

Was that truly the dawn of the 'happy ending' Edelaine raved about?

'Those insane eyes?'

With the 'happy ending' she'd chased her whole life finally here, Edelaine set off for the empire's capital, Delmuse, for the first time in ages.

All because of one letter.

Obituary: Emma Bertrand

Unfilial or not, she couldn't blow off her mother's funeral cold.

Before the ending, she couldn't have gone if she'd wanted. But now, with it all wrapped up, she owed her daughterly duty—at minimum. Unfilial to the core, sure, but Mom had birthed and raised her.

Or so she'd thought.

"Time to rise and shine, Edelaine."

"Gah!"

Why the hell am I kidnapped?

'By the male lead, of all people.'

There stood the male lead himself, Shane, smiling softly. His black hair hung far longer than she remembered.

A little older. A little more...

Edelaine blinked the thought away.

His striking blue eyes gleamed with an eerie light. For a moment, they seemed to ripple like the ocean.

A churning blue, tangled in something—despair? Hope? Unclear.

"Huh?"

"Long time no see, my dearest fiancée."

"Fiancée? You're married."

Shane offered no reply, just a gentle smile. But to Edelaine, it rang false. Not mere warmth—there was a chill to it.

A frigid madness lurking.

"If I thought a fake obituary would snag you, I'd have done it ages ago."

"What...?"

Edelaine sucked in a breath. No clue where she was, but sitting tight felt like a bad idea.

As she pushed up halfway from the bed, Shane closed in. His looming shadow made her shrink back against the headboard on instinct.

"Shh. Easy now."

"You kidnap me and say 'easy'?! That make any sense?!"

"Just anxious you'll vanish again."

His voice stayed soft, face prettily smiling—but off. Way off. The man hadn't blinked once, eyes locked on her. Not right in the head.

Shane smiled tenderly. His blue eyes glowed murky.

A large hand grazed her cheek. The palm stroked gently—warm, skin rough and firm. Edelaine winced without thinking.

The hand trembled ever so slightly.

Misread it? No way he'd shake after pulling this stunt, touching her like that.

She should be the trembling one.

Yet trapped as she was, harm from this hand? Unthinkable.

Shane wouldn't.

Deep down, she believed it.

"Feels like a dream. You, alive. Moving."

"Yeah? More like a nightmare for me."

"That so? Finally feels real to me. Unlike you."

Thorns laced his words.

"Where are we? Let's step out and talk. I'll explain everything, promise?"

We need to converse. Shane's lip curled at her words.

Like it was bullshit.

"Then you'd bolt again."

"...No..."

"My lovely fiancée tells such pretty lies."

"......"

"You're not going anywhere now."

Fuck. I'm screwed.