Chapter 1.1 – For a Mere Minor Supporting Character, I Made Quite a Mess!

There were no chirping birds.

There was no dazzling sunlight.

All she had was a throbbing headache, a queasy stomach, and a burning thirst.

“Ugh, water…….”

She struggled to open her eyes, wishing desperately that someone was by her side as she searched for water.

She must have drunk too much champagne last night.

Back when she was a freshman, she didn’t know her own limits and suffered from hangovers, but lately, this hadn’t happened—she must have been extremely excited yesterday.

Fortunately, it seemed someone heard her, as a glass filled with water appeared before her eyes.

She tried to lift her upper body just a little, but someone’s arm kindly helped her up.

It was probably Sylvia, her maid from last night.

“Thank you…….”

She weakly expressed her gratitude and gulped down the water.

With at least one symptom of the evil hangover trio gone, she felt a little more alive.

She handed the empty glass to the waiting hand and tried to lie back down, but something felt off.

‘Was Sylvia’s hand this big last night?’

She opened her eyes again, curiosity overcoming her, and looked at the hand. It was so large that it was hard to believe it belonged to a woman.

Slowly, her gaze traveled up along that hand.

‘Does a woman have such muscular forearms?

And what’s with those broad, imposing shoulders?

And the chest…… muscles?

Wait, but why…… is he undressed?’

“What are you staring at so intently? It’s the same body you thoroughly touched last night, so why act surprised?”

‘Even Sylvia’s voice had deepened?

……No, that’s not it! Anyone could see this was someone else, a man!

And what did I touch…….

No way?’

She quickly lifted the sheet to check her own body underneath.

Yes. Correct!

She was n*ked!

“I saw it yesterday, but there wasn’t anything particularly special.”

The man tried to poke his head under the sheet with her, and she freaked out, wrapping herself tightly in the sheet.

At last, she checked the man’s face before her.

Just as the original author, who loved blond hair and blue eyes, had written in the novel, the man before her had blond hair and blue eyes.

‘Now, stay calm.’

Just as she tried to calmly understand the situation, several scenes flashed through her mind.

‘No, not anymore…….’

‘Not anymore what? You don’t like it?’

‘That’s not it…….’

‘No! I wasn’t trying to think about that!’

‘Wait…… wait a moment.’

‘Why. Should I stop?’

‘N-no. Don’t stop. Please…….’

‘No! I should have stopped! Whatever it was, I should have stopped!

And why was everything flesh-colored!

There are so many beautiful colors in the world—red! yellow! blue!—so why was everything flesh-colored!’

“What are you thinking?”

At the low voice, she looked up and saw a handsome man staring at her.

She had a lot on her mind. Oh yes.

The biggest problem was that she had spent her first night in a novel’s world, and didn’t even know who the man next to her was.

‘Now, stay calm. The most important thing was to get out of this situation.’

To do that, she needed to know where she was and who this handsome man before her was.

“Um…….”

His disheveled blond hair looked as if someone had styled it to look sexy on purpose, and his gentle blue eyes gazed at her with a tenderness too much for a mere one-night stand.

‘Well, he was handsome.

He was far too, unnecessarily, abnormally handsome to be just a passing extra!

Still, please, let him be just an extra!

Or at least a supporting character with no importance!’

“Um, who are you?”

The moment she asked, the man’s face turned cold.

From his icy expression, an uneasy feeling began to creep up inside her.

“You mean you don’t know me, the sole heir to the Dukedom of Ernel Empire?”

‘The only Duke in the novel was…….’

“The Inglid Dukedom…… are you talking about that?”

It was the male lead’s family.

“…….”

“Then you’re…….”

She swallowed dryly, barely daring to hope. The only person from the male lead’s family…… was the male lead himself.

“Duke Zeronis de Inglid?”

He raised just one corner of his mouth in a sexy smirk, clearly confirming her guess. Seeing that smile, she thought to herself:

‘I’m ruined.’

She was doomed.

She—who had possessed a character so minor her name wasn’t even mentioned—had slept with the male protagonist?

* * *

Waking up in a novel’s world was something she thought only happened in actual novels.

At least, until it happened to her.

“Miss Ripley, it’s time to wake up.”

Actually, she hadn’t known she was inside a novel.

She’d simply thought, ‘Ah, is this a dream?’

If it wasn’t a dream, how could she, who had fallen asleep in a cramped studio apartment disguised as a one-room, be lying in such a soft bed with airy, mosquito-net-like curtains?

“Miss Ripley, you really must get up.”

And nobody would call her by a name she didn’t recognize.

“Miss!”

The woman who had been speaking kindly suddenly shouted, and thinking it was a dream, she instinctively jumped up.

“Well done. Now, shall we wash your face?”

It was clearly a question, but it seemed she wasn’t expecting a reply.

Judging by the washbasin placed right beside the bed.

‘If it’s a dream, who cares?’ she thought, and dipped her hand into the basin……

“Hm?”

The water was cold.

‘Did dreams normally feel this vivid?’

“Miss, what are you doing? You need to wash quickly. Today is Miss Etwar’s birthday party. You must prepare quickly.”

‘That name…… sounded familiar.’

“Who……?”

“Today is the birthday party of Etwar de Heily, the Baron’s daughter.”

Even the surname was familiar.

“Um, is the person you’re talking about the Baron’s daughter, Etwar de Heily, who has honey-blond hair, deep lake-blue eyes, and lips redder than blood?”

“Oh my! Miss, really. Where did you learn such romantic novel-like expressions?”

‘……From a romance novel.’

“I don’t know about the honey part, but yes, she has blonde hair and blue eyes, and it is her birthday today.”

“Then, um…… was she originally a poor orphan who happened to save the Baron’s life, was adopted into his family, and became the Baron’s daughter— that Etwar?”

“Oh my! How can you summarize Miss Etwar’s story like the plot of a novel?”

‘……Because it is the plot of a novel.’

To elaborate—this Baron’s daughter would, in the story, meet the most obsessive, borderline insane yet incredibly handsome duke by sheer coincidence, run into him repeatedly by sheer coincidence, get trapped with him in an enclosed space by sheer coincidence, hear about his tragic childhood by sheer coincidence, and, by sheer coincidence, fall in love. Naturally, she would become the target of the villainess’s jealousy, nearly be killed, but the duke would find out in the nick of time, they’d confess their feelings, and live happily ever after.

……It was that kind of typical romance fantasy novel.

A story where almost every scene happened by coincidence, with plausibility created only by the male lead’s handsomeness and the female lead’s kindness.

‘And now I was inside that novel?

But who was Ripley?’

Even though it was a mass-produced novel, she had been so obsessed with it that she had read it several times.

But the name Ripley had never appeared in that novel.

“Um…….”

“Yes, Miss.”

The woman, probably her maid, smiled brightly and handed her a towel after she finished washing her face. She spoke carefully to her.

“But Miss, why are you speaking so formally to me today?”

‘Because today is the first day I’m your noble lady.’

……But she couldn’t say that.

“Did I? Maybe I’m still half-asleep.”

She quickly covered her face with the towel as she spoke.

‘I’d better be careful!’

If anyone says, ‘Miss has gone strange!’ and tries to send her to a sanatorium, that would be a problem.

First, she had to figure out whose body she had possessed so she could know how to behave from now on.

“Um, hey. Was I really close enough to Miss Etwar to be invited to her birthday party?”

“Yes, of course. Miss Julia, who is the younger sister of Lady Juliette, the fiancée of Sir Dmitry, the Young Baron—Miss Etwar’s older brother—is your friend, Miss Ripley.”

‘……Isn’t that usually what people call ‘barely acquaintances’?’

If that’s the case, Ripley must just be the kind of extra who stands on the outskirts of the party.

“Now, since you’ve washed your face, shall we choose a dress?”

At her gesture, maids brought over something like a clothes rack.

There must have been at least thirty dresses hanging there.

“Which dress would you like to wear today?”

“Uh… um… well…”

“Or, would you like to choose your dress according to the jewelry?”

She gestured again, and this time, something like a rolling tray used in the dining room was brought over, with about ten jewelry boxes on it.

The maid began opening them one by one, revealing jewels of all colors and kinds.

“Are… are all these mine?”

“Oh my, Miss. You’re really acting strange today. Usually, you always complain that there aren’t enough jewels for an Earl’s daughter.”

“I’m an… Earl’s daughter…?”

‘Goodness, for a mere extra, I wasn’t even a Viscount’s or a Baron’s daughter, but an Earl’s daughter? Even the female lead is a Baron’s daughter!’

Looking at the mirror placed prettily among the jewels, she saw a woman with a flustered expression.

Reddish hair, almost like a carrot, and blinking green eyes full of confusion.

She couldn’t tell for sure since she wasn’t local, but it was hard to call her pretty—if anything, she had a cute face.

And that was her, now.