Chapter 1

‘I, the owner of this body, am Brody.’

<She was the stupid villainess from the novel Blonde as the Sun.>

An unfortunate girl who was used and abandoned because she was in love with the blond-haired hero, Jax McCarthy!

From dedicating her entire life to being rejected by the departing male lead, Brody committed various foolish deeds to hinder the main characters. However, the main characters only burned more passionately with love due to her actions. In the end, Brody, moved by the angelic female protagonist, Mila Riley, decides to live a good life, attending the wedding of the two blonde protagonists with a smile.

‘I feel bad for Brody. Playing the bad girl Cupid, yuck. What’s so sweet about being attached to those two, yuck.’

She kept thinking that as she read the novel.

She couldn’t believe the situation, but pinching her wrist to feel pain, the ‘Brody in her’ spat out curses internally.

‘Whether this is a dream or not, I have to live on my terms. There’s no reason to live according to this messed-up novel.’

Having decided to live independently of the two protagonists

“The Northern Duke.”

From memory, it seemed that Brody herself was now in enemy territory, poisoning the Northern Duke, the enemy of the protagonists, for Jax.

‘Of all the times to be possessed, why now? If it had to happen, it should have been before being captured.’

When she roughly grasped the situation, the curtain of the barracks fluttered open with a swish.

It was dark outside, and inside, the dim light made it difficult to distinguish faces from the shadows.

When a man who appeared to be a soldier entered, the women buried their faces between their knees, pursing their lips to hide their cries.

“You!”

He pointed at Brody.

Still feeling disoriented, she was forcibly lifted by the strong hands of the two men.

Amidst the terrified and resentful gazes of the surrounding women, she was dragged out. The woman who had explained things to Brody covered her mouth with both hands, looking at her with pity. The door to the barracks closed after the prisoners, leaving Brody behind.

The next barrack she entered was brighter than the previous one.

A stern-faced woman in her thirties was standing with a towel soaked in water.

After Brody’s clothes were forcibly removed by those women, her body was wiped down by their hands as if washing a dirty dish.

As a war prisoner, she was in a filthy state.

But even after their hands passed, she was not clean, rather, she was limited to a level of cleanliness amid the dirt and contamination.

The water was precious, and that was about it.

Next, they combed her hair with a sparse brush.

Her light brown hair, tangled with dirt and dust, barely found its place.

Then they checked every hole in her body – nose, mouth, ears, etc.

It was so meticulous that it felt disgraceful.

‘Ugh, seriously. Why do I have to go through this? Stupid Brody!’

She cursed herself for being foolish, but the ‘original Brody’ did feel pitiful. She could feel her sincere feelings toward Jax through her actions…
Brody sighed inwardly, feeling a strange sense of familiarity with those unknown memories.

Changed into new clothes, dirty but not beautiful, she managed to escape their grasp.

However, what awaited her was likely a situation that was no less complicated.

Because she was to be sent to the notorious Northern Duke.

She was grabbed by the arms again and dragged away.

Seeing stars that seemed to pour rather than neon signs.

Stepping on the ground covered not with asphalt but with moss and soil.

As she realized the reality of this place, she became disheartened.

Soon, a large mansion came into view at the end of her gaze.

‘This must be the mansion of the Northern Duke.’

Through the double-layered door, she was pushed into the final destination.

The Duke’s mansion was equally dimly lit.

On the desk, a simple candlelit chandelier was placed, and a man, relying on the candlelight, was seen examining a map and documents.

‘Is that… the Northern Duke I’m supposed to assassinate?’

Thrown into such an unfamiliar environment and a bizarre situation, strangely, she wasn’t scared.

The method of assassination naturally came to her mind, and since she knew the outcome of the novel, she remained calm.

This scene was from the original work, where Brody, the villainess, successfully assassinated the formidable Northern Duke and returned alive, earning fame.

A leaf appeared and disappeared in her field of vision as Brody, with controlled breath, looked down at the palm of her hand.

‘Alright, the ‘ability’ seems to be working well.’

With confidence that there was no need to worry about the situation going awry, Brody calmly observed the man.

The man had only glanced at her when she entered the mansion, and since then, he hadn’t paid her any attention.

So, she could leisurely scrutinize the man.

A physique that could easily surpass about a hundred people.

With a robust build and a sensual figure, his clothes, stained with what seemed like blood from the recent battle, hinted at how dangerously close to death he had been and yet how adept he was at surviving.

Matching his nickname, the Northern Duke, his sharp sapphire eyes showed no emotions.

The rugged expression, dirt-streaked but still handsome face, and the undiminished glint in his eyes shone in the candlelight.

‘A man like that uses a woman for one night and then throws her away, what a disgrace’

‘He doesn’t look like a h*rny bastard to me’

Brody recalled the bosses she had encountered so far.

‘This seems more like someone burdened by a sense of responsibility, resembling an addicted person in conflict. Ha……. Look at the anguish in those deep shades. It’s so…… sexy.’

A casual swagger. Yeah… Let’s admit it. This extra Northern Duke perfectly matched her taste.

‘As long as his personality isn’t trash, he’s perfect.’

She even thought that women who would want to spend a night with him might outshine the main street of Gangnam, Soul.

Looking this way and that, even though he had an expressionless face and didn’t seem to hold grudges, Brody couldn’t find a reason to kill him.

It was too wasteful to kill him, especially since she had no intention of following the original plot.

Considering he’s the nemesis of the two blondes who’ve seen through the hypocrisy of pretending to be good while using Brody, he might not be a bad guy. If that man is trash, the people here will take care of him. I, on the other hand, have to escape.’

Having thoroughly examined the man, Brody turned her head and looked around the mansion.

Although the mansion of the Duke was meager, essential household items were present.

Her eyes fell on a fireplace and a kettle.

Brody cautiously moved towards that area.

‘As expected, it’s here.’

In her eyes, a tea leaf box next to the kettle was visible. She had thought there would be tea leaves since the original Brody had brewed tea.

‘Even in times of famine, it seems they can afford such luxury items. Well, he is the master of the North, after all…’

Brushing aside her thoughts, Brody used the unfamiliar stove to heat the kettle.

Now, no room for mistakes.

With all her heart and sincerity, she brewed the tea.

Even during her preparation, the man still didn’t pay attention to her.

But when she carefully approached and placed the teacup in front of him, he finally reacted.

His sharp gaze turned towards the plain, white, worn-out teacup.

While Brody held both hands together and stared at him, he seemed to be examining the teacup.

“Tea? Was there such a thing here?”

The Duke tried to recall.

Then the sharp black eyebrows, already furrowed, cast a deeper shadow.

He vaguely remembered his chief of staff saying, ‘Please drink this, or you’ll fall asleep and die on the battlefield.

Eventually, his gaze moved away from the teacup, landing on Brody.

She stared back at him, holding her hands together.

Her heart raced. His handsome face showed a different beauty up close than from a distance. The rugged and sharp expression couldn’t hide that charm.

However…

‘Why is he looking at me like that?’

His gaze was oddly intense.

What is it? Did he notice something?

It couldn’t be. In the original work, the man drank the tea she presented without suspicion.

‘Even though it was a passing story, it was ridiculous for the Duke to casually drink tea offered by a captured enemy woman.’

Regardless of how skilled Brody was at making tea, she thought.

Well, with such thorough body searches, and besides, no one would expect Brody’s ‘special ability.

Brody calmly met his gaze with the most harmless expression.

The warm and bittersweet aroma of the tea filled the space between them.

Observing her closely, the Duke, who had been examining her as if studying her, finally spoke.

“Leave it and go.”

His voice was a low, gravelly rumble.

Brody obediently turned and stood at the entrance of the mansion.

For a moment, the man stared at the teacup, lost in thought.

Brody swallowed dry saliva. One minute felt like an hour.

‘Drink it! Just drink it! Once you drink it…!’

Eventually, the man raised the teacup.

‘In this scene, that man dies.’

Brody’s hands clasped together politely.

Warm water flowed to his lips as he savored the aroma for a moment, and then she saw his hard uvula rise and fall.

In the original story, the poison had been added, but the current Brody hadn’t.

Instead, she put ‘something else’ in the teacup. Just to get away

Now that he drank the tea, it was only a matter of time before the plan worked.

The man shook his head.

‘Yes, he’s going to sleep. I put in a lot of ‘Meshu.”

Oh, but something… was strange.

‘Meshu’ has a calming effect on people. Depending on the amount, it could even put someone to sleep.

Did I put in the right amount? Why isn’t he falling asleep?

The Duke’s sharp eyes became hazy.

With his tired eyelids, he raised his head.

Either his surroundings were spinning, or he was lifting his head to look at Brody, his eyes were shaking back and forth.

But he never closed his eyes.

‘Why? Why?!’

Staggering, the Duke approached Brody with unsteady steps.