“Lady Lillisian Redwin’s courtship application has passed the screening. Congratulations, Your Highness, the Grand Duchess.”

This is insane.

To transmigrate at exactly this moment!

Just a few hours ago, I was Shin Jae-ah, an ordinary office worker from South Korea. Only after witnessing the terrible scene I’d repeatedly read throughout my vacation in 〈The Empress and the Black Wolf〉 did I realize where I was—inside the novel itself.

I’d been desperately waiting for the final chapter to be uploaded and just stepped out to buy snacks when I missed seeing the “Under Construction” sign. Now I’ve transmigrated without even knowing how the novel ends.

To make matters worse, I’ve transmigrated right after the Grand Duchess selection was finalized, missing my chance to tear up Lillisian’s courtship application to the Grand Duke.

In 〈The Empress and the Black Wolf〉, the supporting character Lillisian Redwin was a lady from a declining viscount family. She had dropped out of the academy due to tuition problems and secretly harbored feelings for Shurkan, a member of the Imperial Knight Order whom she’d met in a general education class before dropping out.

There were quite a few reasons why her love remained one-sided.

First, to support her family instead of the incompetent Viscount Redwin.

Second, because she was naturally hopeless at romance.

Without ever properly confessing to Shurkan, Lillisian applied for the Grand Duke’s open courtship to save her declining viscount family.

The Grand Duke wasn’t just any Grand Duke—he was also the first love of Marienne, the current Empress of the Canel Empire.

For the crime of offending the jealousy-blinded Empress, Lillisian’s end was ultimately destruction.

She died because of the Empress’s jealousy over her love for the Grand Duke.

And what infuriated me most was discovering that Shurkan, my favorite character, had actually liked Lillisian for a long time.

If only they’d known sooner.

Today was the very day I’d cursed the author for making supporting characters miss each other’s feelings so ridiculously—and now I’ve become Lillisian.

This isn’t the time to dwell on that. I need to immediately tear up the courtship application I was forced to submit to the grand ducal household and go to Shurkan for a happy ending!

After all, Shurkan was the true protagonist of her heart.

I just need to avoid catching the Empress’s eye and live quietly like a supporting character in the novel before peacefully passing away.

But first, I must avoid marrying Ryan Hilton, the Grand Duke.

Marrying the Grand Duke would be the fastest way to become entangled with Empress Marienne Canel.

What kind of person was Empress Marienne Canel? The moment Emperor Rike Canel took a concubine, she immediately declared war by announcing she would take one too.

Anyone who crosses Marienne dies. I don’t want to die at the hands of a crazy villainess.

Lillisian muttered to herself before clasping her hands tightly together.

I just need to avoid the Grand Duke, the Empress’s first love, for now.

The Redwin viscounty might seem on the verge of ruin, but it never actually collapses by the end of the novel.

Which means there’s no need to become the Grand Duke’s ghost bride, especially when he has the Empress as his first love.

Lillisian looked up into the bright, gleaming eyes of Ryan Hilton, the Grand Duke, who wore a radiant smile.

While at it, she glanced at Martin, the Grand Duke’s butler who was her second favorite character.

The intellectually s＊xy Martin, as she’d nicknamed him—a man who suited glasses perfectly.

She’d always sung about wanting to see him in person, and the feeling of seeing him right before her eyes was more thrilling than she’d imagined.

After clearing her throat to change the atmosphere,

Lillisian raised her head stiffly and met the Grand Duke’s eyes.

One of the Grand Duke’s eyebrows twisted upward conspicuously.

“Your Highness. Would you return my courtship application?”

Lillisian boldly extended her hand.

Then her gaze quickly shifted to Martin, who was holding the application.

As she persistently sent him a look that said “hand it over quickly,” Martin’s gaze turned toward the Grand Duke.

The Grand Duke twitched his eyebrows and looked down at Lillisian with a displeased expression.

Under his penetrating gaze, Lillisian unconsciously closed her eyes.

I haven’t even seen my favorite Shurkan’s face in person yet, so falling for the protagonist’s face already is unacceptable!

A supporting character should act like one.

After clearing her throat a couple of times, Lillisian waved her extended hand.

“Didn’t you hear Martin’s words that you’ve already passed?”

As if!

But they hadn’t even held the wedding ceremony yet. What kind of nonsense was this, just because she’d passed the screening?

“I was shortsighted, Your Highness. Please withdraw the screening and tear up the courtship application I submitted. I would be grateful.”

“Martin. Would you explain again what was said when the courtship application was submitted? It seems she’s lost her entire memory from fainting.”

With his head tilted slightly, the Grand Duke leaned against the wall and gazed intently at Lillisian.

Lillisian’s heart pounded with a strange sense of fear, causing her to withdraw the hand she had boldly extended just moments ago and clasp it with her other hand.

The rule that appeared briefly in the middle of the original work had just come back to her, and she’d forgotten about it.

Martin had asked when accepting the courtship application, and the original Lillisian had answered.

‘This is your last chance to withdraw your courtship application, my lady.’

‘If it’s not impolite, could you tell me how many applications have been submitted?’

‘That’s confidential. I wish you good results.’

Withdrawing is not possible!

And now Martin kindly added an explanation.

“You were the only one who submitted a courtship application, my lady.”

Oh, heavens above!

In the original work, Lillisian never tried to withdraw her courtship intention, so she never asked about the competition rate, nor was she told.

Come to think of it, the situation made perfect sense.

Empress Marienne would summon the Grand Duke to the imperial palace on all sorts of pretexts.

The Grand Duke’s reluctant open courtship was due to the Emperor’s sharp warning.

‘How long do you plan to leave the position of Grand Duchess vacant? I’m very curious why you remain silent despite hearing rumors about the relationship between the Empress and the Grand Duke.’

The Emperor’s mood had soured at the powerful Empress’s behavior, and the Grand Duke had no choice but to find a Grand Duchess.

The problem was that no one dared to pursue the position of Grand Duchess.

The rumor about the Empress and the Grand Duke having that kind of relationship was famous among noble ladies.

Moreover, with rumors that Empress Marienne was watching the position of Grand Duchess with burning eyes, everyone else held their breath and stepped back.

Except for Lillisian, who jumped into the fire to save her viscount family, even if it meant being a ghost bride.

“I think that’s explanation enough, don’t you, my lady?”

The Grand Duke stared at Lillisian with a strange smile.

‘Ah, what should I do?’

If she had even a little time to think, she could make up something to say.

With enemies everywhere except for Winter, Lillisian’s mind went completely blank.

Anxiety swept over her that if she became the Grand Duchess now, things wouldn’t differ from the original work.

Which would mean disappearing as dew on the guillotine.

Swallowing hard, Lillisian quickly racked her brain.

She dropped to her knees on the floor and grabbed the Grand Duke’s pants, stretching out her arms.

“Please give me a chance to withdraw my courtship intention……”

When the viscount’s daughter suddenly knelt down, everyone’s eyes except the Grand Duke’s began to shake violently.

The Grand Duke frowned as he looked down at his pants hem caught in Lillisian’s hand.

Then with a sharp movement, he roughly removed Lillisian’s hand from his pants.

“I only have one life too.”

The Grand Duke muttered in a cold voice while absently stroking his chin.

“You remember the contents of the signature you just made, don’t you?”

The Grand Duke had set exactly four conditions for marriage. Of course, Lillisian had already signed her agreement before I transmigrated.

So she must have passed the screening with flying colors, d＊mn it!

First, do not speak more than three sentences to him per day.

Second, do not interfere in the affairs of the grand ducal household.

Third, do not expect any affection from the Grand Duke.

Fourth, agree to divorce when the Grand Duke wishes (though with generous compensation provided).

It meant living completely as a figurehead. Lillisian’s eyes, filled with despair, began to wander aimlessly through empty space.

“I don’t remember at all.”

The Grand Duke sneered at Lillisian and turned away.

“Martin. Please escort the viscount’s daughter to her residence. Also, inform her of the location of the new residence where she will stay, and calculate and notify her of the amount of money she will need to live on for the rest of her life.”

The man was much more handsome than the illustration on the novel cover, but his personality was even more disagreeable than in the novel.

“Winter. Is there any good way? A way to go back one day?”

“There’s no such thing, Miss.”

A privately owned slave in my past life, a ghost bride in this one.

As soon as she boarded the carriage heading to the viscounty residence, sighs began to escape her one after another.

The door flung open, and pitch-black darkness greeted Lillisian.

The residence of Lillisian, a supporting character, had never been properly described in the novel.

So this place, which she had never imagined, was absolutely terrible.

It was such a small, collapsing residence that she wondered if she could even properly pay the weekly wages of Winter, her personal maid.

“Ah, I can see a garden and some fields too.”

Not completely destitute then. With a sense of relief amid misfortune, she turned around and spoke to Winter.

Winter bowed her head and shook it sideways at the same time.

“As I explained last time, only the residence remains, Miss. The garden and fields are no longer owned by the viscount family. Not anymore.”

“Not anymore?”

Lillisian drooped her shoulders and let out a heavy sigh. That damned viscount must have already sold everything and more.

“What about Father?”

Again, Winter shook her head.

“Please don’t tell me it’s gambling?”

Winter only bowed her head without answering. Viscount Redwin was described as starting various businesses here and there. The problem was that everything he touched failed.

But gambling too? Really?

Shaking her head back and forth, she followed Winter into the residence.

When Winter lit the candles, the living room brightened. It was such a terrible residence that the darkness from moments ago might have been better.

As she quickly scanned the interior, cobwebs caught her eye in every corner.

‘Sigh. What kind of lovey-dovey life did I expect with my fate?’

This life seems ruined too!