Chapter 42. Changing Content

“Haa, ha—.”

Her breath rose all the way to her chin. Unrefined, rough breathing continuously burst through her lips, eventually bringing a tangy taste of blood to her mouth. But Iella didn’t stop even for a moment. She didn’t even have the presence of mind to do so.

‘Why, why so soon.’

The violet eyes filled with murderous intent remained fixed in her mind. The sensation of his large hands wrapping around her neck as if about to twist it at any moment still felt sticky on her skin.

Running away from him with all her might was, without a doubt, an act of force majeure.

“Ah!”

Suddenly, her body tilted. Her legs, which had been running mindlessly for quite some time, finally gave out.

Fortunately, Iella caught her balance before falling and stood in place, catching her irregular, panting breath. Her head spun from the throbbing pain squeezing from her throat to her lungs and the lack of oxygen.

If she hadn’t barely managed to press her knees and stand firmly, Ailexia’s body, which seemed to have never experienced hardship, would have collapsed immediately.

How much time had passed since then?

‘Why is Allen already wanting to kill Ailexia?’

The violent pounding of her heart gradually subsided, and her breathing also calmed to become regular and composed. It felt like quite a long time had passed.

It was around then that her mind, which hadn’t been functioning properly, began to move again like a gear that had started turning.

‘The female lead hasn’t even appeared yet.’

In the novel, Allen had lived suppressing his emotions until the female lead appeared. It wasn’t by choice. From childhood until now, his surrounding environment had always made him that way.

So even while being tormented by Ailexia, he never violently expressed the humiliation, hate, and shame he felt. At most, it was only revealed through the ripples in his eyes or shown through his attitude. As Iella had witnessed.

But just before it finally turned into resignation, with the female lead’s appearance, his emotions began to stir for the first time in his life. The female lead’s bright, spirited, and unprejudiced sunny disposition reached even him as he was dying inside.

Eventually, he became aware of his feelings toward Ailexia, and from that point, his hatred and desire to kill her began to grow uncontrollably.

From that point on, Nix further incited Allen, and finally, on the day his hatred turned into a desire for revenge, Allen personally delivered death as the final outcome to Ailexia.

In other words, the female lead’s appearance was essential for Allen’s emotional change.

‘Even if by some chance Nix had incited Allen in the meantime, it’s not yet time for that to work.’

For Nix’s incitement to succeed, the premise of “Allen whose emotions have begun to revive due to the female lead” was needed above all else. So this too wouldn’t work at the current point when the female lead hadn’t even appeared.

Then what on earth had changed him?

‘……No way.’

Iella’s face suddenly turned pale as she compared the novel’s content with the present.

The difference from the novel. There was only one.

‘Because of me?’

Herself, who had entered Ailexia’s body.

‘Really?’

Iella covered her mouth with one hand in shock. She didn’t want to believe it, but no matter how she thought about it, that was the answer. The fact that her actions differed completely from those of Ailexia in the novel was reason enough.

‘Because I didn’t seek out Allen. Because I couldn’t properly pretend to be Ailexia. That’s why.’

Until the female lead’s appearance, Ailexia had called Allen to her bedroom every day. She had relentlessly driven him to darkness. She had continuously and endlessly used his body and mind, leaving him without a moment’s respite.

Iella was the complete opposite.

She had been busy avoiding Allen every day, desperate to distance herself from him. She had never once sought him out first. Unintentionally, she had given him the space to awaken different thoughts and emotions.

‘I didn’t know it would turn out like this!’

Iella buried her face in her hands, tilted her head back, and let out a silent scream. She had acted thinking it best not to get involved with him for the time being, but she hadn’t known it would come back to trouble her in this way. If she had known……

‘……If I had known?’

Suddenly, she came to her senses.

‘If I had known what? Would I have continued to torment him by mixing bodies with him like Ailexia?’

She was dumbfounded by her own self-questioning, which came out in a reproachful tone. If she had had the courage and shamelessness for that, she would have done so long ago.

“Haah.”

In the end, a deep sigh escaped through Iella’s lips. She had no idea where to begin or how to handle this situation. No, would it even be possible to handle it if she tried?

Until now, although Allen had hated and despised Ailexia, he had never once said he wanted to kill her. He might have thought it inside, but he had never expressed his feelings and impulses out loud.

But this time, those feelings had been expressed. Emotions once expressed would not go back inside and disappear.

‘If the female lead appears at this point……’

Iella quickly erased the thought as if she didn’t want to imagine it. Her body trembled involuntarily, showing how terrible that situation would be.

It meant that it would only incite Allen’s murderous intent toward Ailexia, never soothe it.

‘Will I be able to return before the female lead arrives?’

She was also worried about the timing of the female lead’s appearance, which she had originally thought wasn’t yet time for. The situation had already become so jumbled that it was impossible to tell which point in the novel they were at.

That meant the female lead’s appearance was also likely to be earlier than in the novel.

‘It won’t be… delayed, right? Since Allen’s emotional changes have been accelerated.’

Just when something seemed to be resolving, another variable would appear and complicate matters. At this point, she wondered if it was God’s joke or fate’s prank.

‘Let’s consult with Vanessa first. If that doesn’t work, I’ll just run away again.’

In the end, unable to find any immediate solution, Iella closed her eyes and opened them again with a half-resigned feeling. Still, she tried to think positively. Memories of being caught every time she attempted to escape came to mind, but she consciously ignored them.

This time Nix was here, so maybe they could succeed—thinking this way. Somehow regaining her composure and calming herself made her feel better.

It was then that Iella’s eyes suddenly took in the surrounding scenery. The surroundings that had been invisible while she was lost in thought finally came into view.

“Beautiful……”

An exclamation of admiration escaped Iella’s lips involuntarily.

The scene of pink and purple hydrangeas in full bloom, white delphiniums, and the large old tree standing at the center was beautiful enough to make her forget everything for a moment.

For a while, Iella took in the scenery without thinking about anything. When the wind blew, making the leaves and petals sway, it created an even more spectacular view.

Somehow, she felt at peace. Perhaps her heart had resonated with the tranquil scene. She even felt an inexplicable familiarity.

Soon after regaining her senses, she looked around.

‘Where am I?’

It was like a secret garden. There were no buildings in sight, just bushes, flowers, and trees everywhere. It seemed she had come to an unknown place after running mindlessly with the sole thought of escaping from Allen.

Iella made a troubled expression, unsure how to get back. She thought about walking in any direction but hesitated, worried she might get even more lost.

‘Moreover, if I walk aimlessly and happen to meet Allen, the Emperor, or someone else…. Haah, I don’t even want to think about it.’

Iella squeezed her eyes shut at the thought of the people who gave her a headache just by thinking about them.

But she couldn’t stay here forever either. It would be perfect if Vanessa noticed and came to find her, but that was just her wish. She couldn’t just wait blindly in a situation where she couldn’t be certain if Vanessa would come or not.

After pondering for a moment, she soon moved. She headed toward the wide shade cast by the large old tree.

‘Let’s rest for a bit first.’

There was still time before sunset. She had plenty of time to stretch her legs, which had been pushed to the limit by the intense sprint, and take a short rest.

‘Considering I didn’t meet a single person while running away, I might have to walk quite far.’

Even as she had been lost in thought for a while, there had been no sign of people anywhere. Moreover, the fact that the huge imperial palace buildings weren’t visible even from a distance meant this place was quite remote.

That meant she would have to walk a long way to reach a place where people, whether servants or anyone else, were moving about, which was too much for her legs right now. As she had felt when investigating the secondary palace walls earlier, Ailexia’s body was really too soft and flabby. It meant she had no muscles.

‘I might collapse on the way. Really.’

Compared to her original self, Ailexia was slightly taller and had a better build. She looked very healthy for someone who was supposedly chronically ill.

However, contrary to appearances, her insides were as soft as tofu. Iella couldn’t understand at all how this body could handle so many men every day.

She shook her head as she reached the old tree in front of her.

— ‘You came again.’

A voice, somewhere between a boy and a young man, still youthful, suddenly came riding on the wind.