I opened my eyes to a burning thirst. From that very moment, my entire body ached. My head especially.

When I came to my senses and opened my eyes, a large tree stood before me, and a bow was clutched in my hand. How on earth had I fallen from a tree while holding a bow?

Before I could find an answer, an unfamiliar sight caught my eye. The bow in my hand looked nothing like the one I knew.

“Huh?”

It was not the bow I had cherished and honed over five long years.

“My bow!!”

It was not the bow that had been my constant companion through every high and low of my archery career. The outfit I would never have worn, and the hair I noticed only belatedly.

This was not the place where I had been living.

With only the thought of ‘I need to get out of this forest quickly’, I moved my feet.

I had barely walked at all when my breathing grew labored, and soon a chilling sound of a beast reached my ears from nearby.

Grrrr.

Reflexively, I lowered my body and minimized my movements.

“Fortunately, it doesn’t seem to be coming this way.”

I readjusted my grip on the bow and carefully moved toward the direction of the sound. Before long, I spotted a man leaning against a tree, and a beast that appeared to be targeting him. I raised the bow I had firmly gripped.

Just as I was debating whether to k*ll the beast or merely frighten it, the beast lunged rapidly toward the man leaning against the tree.

The moment I saw that, I swiftly pulled the bowstring and released.

Twang.

The arrow left my hand lightly and flew through the air, cutting through the wind.

Whoosh.

It pierced the beast’s throat precisely. The man turned his head and looked at me. He had not reacted even when the beast was in front of him, yet he responded sharply to the presence of a person.

The beast still had breath left in it and was moving toward the man, so I drew the bowstring once more.

Only after seeing the beast collapse without making a sound did I walk toward the man.

“Excuse me, are you all right?”

But the closer I got, the more guarded the man became, so I stopped in my tracks.

“I didn’t mean to startle you. It looks like you’re badly hurt, so please don’t push yourself. I’ll leave.”

Whether he was listening or not, the man ignored me entirely and hid his body behind the tree. Just as I had said to him, I had no intention of doing anything to him.

Still, shouldn’t he at least thank the person who saved him? Seeing him avoid me like that made me feel embarrassed on his behalf.

Since I had saved him from the beast, I figured he could manage on his own, and I was about to quicken my pace to get out of the forest again.

“Just… help me.”

The man’s voice reached me.

From the strained, wrung-out tone of his voice, I could gauge the extent of his injuries.

It was absurd that the man who had been so guarded just moments ago was now asking for help, but it was hard to ignore someone in that condition making such a request.

As I slowly walked over, the man’s appearance came into clearer view. Above the mask covering his face, only his eyes and hair were visible. My gaze met his for only a brief moment, but even that brief moment nearly had me entranced.

It was not that any particular feature was beautiful or striking. Simply making eye contact gave me the feeling of being spellbound.

His hair was mottled with patches of gray and black mixed here and there. The mottling looked like marks where something had been erased.

“Help me get out of the forest.”

It was only after looking at the man’s attire that I became certain.

This is not the world I lived in.

“For someone asking for help, your tone is more arrogant than I expected.”

The man answered my words with silence.

“Do you know the way out?”

“I do.”

“All right. Then you guide the way. This is my first time in this forest.”

I helped the man up and let him lean on my shoulder.

“By the way, this forest seems to have a lot of dangerous beasts normally.”

“No.”

“Then what about the beast that was threatening you?”

“That beast does not originally live in this country.”

Did that mean someone had deliberately released it?

The man beside me was already puzzling enough. I should not try to figure out the beast that was already dead. Get it together, Jang Hye-a!

Following the man’s directions, I found myself out of the forest before long. Once we reached the area that appeared to be the forest’s entrance, the man said that was far enough and refused my support.

“Is it all right not to get completely out of the forest?”

“Someone will come soon. I owe you my life, so I will repay it.”

“Do you even know who I am?”

“Whoever you are.”

“How reassuring.”

Leaving the man behind, I exited the forest and walked a fairly long distance before people who recognized me, or rather this woman, came rushing over.

“Miss! We were just about to send people in because it had been well past the time you were supposed to come out and there was no word from you.”

“Summer, the young lady has come out, so let’s call it off now.”

I did not know what my name was, who I was, or who the people in front of me were. Just as I was about to say something, a warm, thick liquid trickled from my nose. Flustered, I grabbed my nose, and my white gloves began to stain red.

The servants who had been watching rushed over in alarm, and before the voices calling what seemed to be my name could even reach my ears, my eyes closed and my body tilted.

“Miss…”

—

When I opened my eyes, I found myself inside the novel The Lady Who Holds the Leash], one of the many romance fantasy novels I had read. And I had a fiancé.

‘I do not want to marry Marquis Ter Giuo. But as he said, if my family is to prosper further, I must be the one to sacrifice.’

‘I just want to leave this world. I want to swap souls with someone and live their life.’

But what I also knew was that Eloa Rumania, the owner of this body, had not wanted to marry Ter Giuo either. And that Ter Giuo, whatever he had said, was coercing Eloa into marriage through some family matter.

And…

‘I heard from a shaman I met at the market that there is a soul-swapping technique. I will take all the money I have saved, go to him, and swap souls.’

That Eloa, not wanting to marry, had performed a soul-swapping technique.

It was what had been written in Eloa’s diary, which I had come across by chance.

And lastly, I, Jang Hye-a! As a devoted romance fantasy fan, my absolute favorite character exists inside this novel!

It is none other than Siobhan Akane, the warm and gentle second male lead who is like sunshine. In [The Lady Who Holds the Leash], he ultimately does not end up with the female lead, but he was more than enough to capture my heart.

All right, fate is something I make for myself. Now that I have been possessed into this world, I am going to marry my favorite character!

—

Why on earth am I here?

I had lost count of how many times I had thought this already. No, was it the several millionth time? Without a doubt, it was certain that this was the thought I had had the most since entering this body.

Attending the imperial social party had been fine. But I had not wanted to be Marquis Giuo’s partner!

At first, I had the expectation that I might get to meet Siobhan, and even if I did not, my goal had been to eat delicious desserts and look around outside…!

A plan that could have been perfectly achieved, if not for that wretched Marquis Giuo, had fallen apart.

As I wandered around the imperial palace brooding over Marquis Giuo, the beautiful flowers in the garden caught my eye.

The moment I approached the flowers, a familiar voice reached my ears.

“Lady Rumania!”

Ter Giuo. That fish-brained wretch.

The one who ruined my dream-like plan.

I had ignored every single letter Giuo had sent up until now. There were times I threw them into the pond the moment I received them and claimed they had fallen in, times I placed bird feed on top of the letters so the birds would carry them off, and times I pretended the wind had blown them away and tossed them into the fireplace.

Since I kept claiming I had not received his letters, Marquis Giuo had come in person. And not only that, but insisting on taking me as his partner to the ladies’ social party!

“My lady, let us attend this social party together as partners.”

“Oh my, my lord Marquis, I have not been feeling well yet… I am afraid I would not be able to go out even if I wanted to.”

“But my lady, did you not take first place at the ladies’ hunting competition the other day?”

“That was merely good fortune.”

“Staying in bed too much is not good for one’s health. Very well, I shall come to collect you on the day of the party.”

And that was how it had come to this.

Even though I had never intended to skip the social party hosted by the imperial family to begin with, I had absolutely no intention of attending as Ter Giuo’s partner.

Word had already spread through social circles that I was to become engaged to Ter Giuo. However, since I intended to break off the engagement, attending with him at an official occasion like this, especially at a party hosted by the imperial palace, had not been part of my plan.

Right, in this world, it would be stranger to appear alone when one has a fiancé.

Left with no choice, I had attended with Giuo as my partner and tried to quietly hide in a corner. That was, until a great number of young ladies approached me.

“Lady Eloa, we are planning to hold a small hunting competition in our territory, and we were wondering if you would like to attend…”

“My lady! When the weather warms up, we are planning a hunting trip to the southern region, and we would love for you to join us…”

“As for me, my lady…”

“My la…”

Everywhere I turned, there were only voices calling for me.

Being surrounded by all these lovely young ladies…

I feel absolutely wonderful!

It had only been two weeks ago that I had come to be popular among the young ladies.