It was the dead of night.

She felt the warmth that had filled her body slowly slipping away. At the same time, she sensed a soft blanket being drawn over her bare skin, and she opened her eyes.

As she tried to sit up, her gaze fell upon her n*ked body beneath the silk sheets, and instinctively, she pulled the blanket higher. Full, generous br*asts. A flat stomach without a trace of excess flesh. Slender arms and legs. Soft, wavy beige hair cascading over porcelain-white skin.

It was not her body.

‘What on earth is going on?’

Running a hand through her disheveled hair, she tried to piece together the situation.

She had been an ordinary college student. A perfectly normal university girl with a crush on someone, though her friend had not been normal at all. The friend she trusted had pried into her about the boy she liked, only to seduce him and start dating him herself.

That same girl had offered all sorts of ‘helpful’ advice, advice she later realized had all been tailored toward things the boy disliked.

‘You liked him? Then why did you style yourself in exactly the way he hates?’

That was what her so-called friend had said the day she confessed everything in tears after learning they were dating. Every piece of advice she had followed had been precisely the opposite of his preferences.

Toyed with by the girl she had considered a friend, she downloaded a stack of web novels to vent her frustration. She had planned to read a revenge story something refreshing and cathartic. But one of the novels she downloaded turned out to be a dark tragedy.

She had almost closed it immediately.

But the opening was gripping, and it was the new release of an author she adored. So she kept reading. To make matters worse, the situation of the male lead’s mother resembled her own.

A pitiful woman who had been deceived again and again by someone she thought was a friend, only to be assassinated in the end and stripped of her position as Empress. Worse still, she had been separated from her son in childhood under the pretext of crown prince education and never saw him again until her death.

That son, raised apart from her, would later become Emperor and begin a bloody purge in revenge for his mother.

“Leonie Dina Bastian……”

And now, she had possessed the body of that very woman, the mother of the male lead who would come to be known as the Blood Emperor.

As memories surged through her mind, she nearly screamed, barely managing to swallow the sound. The sensation of foreign memories flooding in was so vivid that she had no room to question whether possession was even possible.

There were more urgent matters.

‘When is this? What part of the novel am I in?’

Her memories as a college student tangled chaotically with those of Leonie, a marquis’s daughter with beige hair and pink eyes.

Still, she could roughly tell where she stood both in this life and within the story.

‘D*mn it!’

Clutching the blanket around her, she screamed inwardly.

There was no mistake.

It was that day.

The day I, Leonie Dina Bastian, conceived Rayul, the male lead of Blood Rhapsody, who would one day become the Blood Emperor.

***

Leonie had fallen for the Crown Prince the very first day she attended a ball in the capital. Though several years had passed, she remembered it clearly.

Crown Prince Yulgen Mos Varian had appeared at the season’s first ball wearing his formal military uniform and the crown of the heir apparent for the knighting ceremony. With neatly trimmed dark brown hair and golden eyes, he had looked down upon the crowd from a raised platform with an arrogant expression.

His cold, impassive face and slightly lifted chin seemed to emphasize his innate nobility.

A long line had formed before him. Admirers of his political talent and swordsmanship already widely known had flocked to swear loyalty and become knights under the newly appointed Crown Prince.

Even Leonie, raised in the countryside, recognized the names of the famous heroes and ancient noble families kneeling at his feet. The sight was magnificent beyond words.

She could not help but fall for him.

As a result, she ignored her father’s repeated calls to return to their estate. Instead, she rented a townhouse near the capital and attended every ball she could, chasing after the Crown Prince for years.

Yet Crown Prince Yulgen Mos Varian never spared a glance on her.

Because nothing about her, her style, her hobbies, her demeanor, suited his tastes.

‘Then why the h*ll did he suddenly hold me like that today?!’

It was true that she had stood out tonight.

Shortly after arriving in the capital, Leonie befriended Amber, the daughter of the Magnus Viscount family, long-time residents of the capital. Amber was well-versed in trends and rumors. Trusting Amber’s advice that eye-catching attire would draw the Crown Prince’s attention, Leonie had worn a bold, vividly colored dress that accentuated her figure.

But the current dress code favored pastel tones, soft colors, modest necklines, and voluminous skirts that concealed the body’s shape.

‘No matter how I think about it, I was the only one who stood out like a sore thumb!’

Mortified, Leonie had fled the ballroom and slipped into an empty room.

Only to encounter the Crown Prince there.

‘This body does have a great figure. Taller and more slender than most women, thin yet beautifully curved. But just because I showed it off, you suddenly seduce and sleep with the woman you’ve rejected for years?!’

At that thought, Leonie cursed the Crown Prince inwardly.

Of course, he had not pounced on her merely because of her daring outfit.

He had seen the young lady who had chased him for years arrive in a flashy dress that blatantly ignored the dress code. It had left him exasperated, somewhat pitiful toward her and perhaps slightly amused. He had intended only to indulge her briefly.

But that indulgence had led to intimacy.

Knowing these circumstances well from the novel, Leonie trembled with anger.

‘In the story, it was just one night. Leonie slept with the Crown Prince before becoming a concubine. So because of tonight……’

She would become pregnant.

With the future male lead of a tragic tale.

‘……I’ll become the Crown Prince’s concubine, discover I’m pregnant, be elevated in rank, eventually become Empress and then live miserably before being assassinated.’

Trying to steady her trembling body, she pulled the blanket up to her chin and organized the events to come.

‘This is bad.’

If things continued as written, the Crown Prince would accept Leonie as a concubine simply because they had spent the night together. The original Leonie would rejoice at becoming the first and only concubine of the Crown Prince and accept gladly.

In time, her pregnancy would be revealed. Once the child was confirmed as a legitimate prince, she would be formally raised to Crown Princess.

But it would not be a ladder to glory.

It would be a descent into misfortune and curse.

‘Not just me. The child will suffer too.’

Yulgen had never once thought Leonie suitable as Crown Princess or Empress. And in truth, Leonie had been unable to properly fulfill the role of Empress. That was partly because she had ascended to the position without proper education but also because Amber had subtly interfered with her duties.

“Your Majesty the Empress, it seems the ministers are opposing His Majesty the Emperor’s opinion, and he is troubled. Should not Your Majesty offer assistance?”

Amber Magnus had always presented Leonie with solutions directions on how matters should be handled rather than helping her understand the causes and consequences behind the tasks she was meant to perform. Acting only on what she was told, without truly grasping the nature of the work, Leonie eventually made a disastrous mistake.

And when everything fell into chaos, it was Amber’s family already forewarned by Leonie that stepped in to clean up the mess.

Had everyone known the truth, perhaps Empress Leonie would have been criticized merely for being foolishly deceived. But no one knew. Because of Amber’s involvement, people believed Leonie was at least managing to imitate an empress well enough. As a result, no one thought to separate the two.

Even while mishandling affairs of state, Leonie, following Amber’s advice that it was proper to display imperial dignity, ensured that banquets were flawless and magnificent. That, however, only led the ministers to fear that the young prince might grow up indulging in feasts like his mother.

“Your Majesty. You must forbid Her Majesty the Empress from meeting His Highness the Prince. Forgive my boldness, but Her Majesty is overly indulgent and insufficiently educated. She will harm the prince’s upbringing.”

In the end, Yulgen accepted the ministers’ counsel. He prohibited meetings between Leonie and her son and left the prince to be raised solely by members of the imperial household.

Then Amber whom Leonie had once trusted as a friend entered the palace as a new concubine. After giving birth to a princess, she began wielding power. The prince’s childhood became nothing short of miserable.

And after ‘Leonie’ was assassinated, the prince’s mind shattered beyond repair. Without anyone knowing, he began planning a bloody revenge.

When he later ascended the throne, not a single person even remotely connected to Leonie’s assassination was spared. All were slaughtered. In the process, the heroine’s family was falsely accused and unjustly killed, earning the Emperor the heroine’s undying hatred.

And the male lead, who fell in love at first sight with the woman who despised him—

Leonie stopped her thoughts there.

‘No. Absolutely not. Knowing that future holds not a single shred of happiness, why would I walk straight into it?’

The child who had not even implanted yet tugged painfully at her heart. She had thought the male protagonist of Blood Rhapsody cruel, yet at the same time unbearably pitiful. She could not gift such a future to her own child.

In her previous world, she had never known a proper family. She had longed for one, and had once vowed that if she were ever given one, she would cherish it more than anyone.

How could she knowingly lead her own child born from her own body into such misery?

Whether her body had changed or not, whether this was her original world or not, she already considered that future child her family.

A man with dark brown hair and golden eyes was watching her.

Yulgen had already risen and hastily put on his trousers. His expression resembled that of someone who had caused an accident and was now troubled over how to handle it.

Lost in thought, Leonie only then realized the Crown Prince was standing before her.

With his broad, firm chest, taut abdomen, and well-shaped hips, he was undeniably attractive. His long, powerful thighs were enough to draw admiration with a glance alone.

For a fleeting moment, she understood why Leonie had fallen for him at first sight.

“Leonie.”

The Crown Prince approached her, his expression resolute, as though he had made up his mind about something.

“Wait a moment!”

Scanning the room, Leonie spotted her crumpled dress and undergarments lying on the floor not far away.

Wrapping the blanket tightly around herself, she reached for the dress. Yulgen halted at her sudden movement. She quickly slipped out of bed, still wrapped in the blanket, grabbed the dress, and disappeared behind the partition near the headboard.

After roughly wiping away the traces on her body with the silk blanket, she struggled into the dress. There was no zipper only a line of buttons down the back. It was clearly not designed to be worn alone.

Cursing the designer inwardly, she fumbled with the buttons.

Then something warm pressed against her back.

“Ah!”

Startled, she stiffened like a startled cat. As if to soothe her, Yulgen’s hand gently gripped and stroked her shoulder.

“I will help.”

“……I-I can manage…….”

She said it despite knowing she could not. The warmth of his hands grazing her bare back and shoulders was unbearable. It felt as though the embers of pleasure left behind might ignite again.

Noticing the subtle tension in her skin, the Crown Prince let out a quiet laugh. He brushed her exposed arm lightly before pressing his lips to the soft skin between her neck and shoulder.

Leonie flinched and hastily pulled up her dress, stepping forward and turning around. The spot where his lips had touched burned as though scorched. She rubbed the back of her neck with a troubled expression.

Yulgen’s lips curved upward.

“You were far more eager just moments ago.”

Leonie cursed inwardly.

If she had possessed this body before sleeping with the Crown Prince, she would have distanced herself from him by any means necessary. She would have abandoned her days of attending every ball in the capital, returned to the Bastian marquisate’s estate on the outskirts, given up on the indifferent Crown Prince, and lived her life alone.

‘Wait.’

She paused.

‘Why can’t I?’

In this era, women were taught that pregnancy meant marriage to the child’s father was their only path to survival.

But—

‘I just won’t marry him. Then my life won’t turn into a disaster. He won’t suffer. And my child won’t grow up in misery only to become the Blood Emperor.’

Slowly, hope began to break through.

Standing at the edge of panic and fear, Leonie smiled.

There was something newly confident about that smile, something that caught Yulgen’s attention.

He felt she had changed. And yet, she was not visibly different from the woman she had been before he had taken her into his arms.

Naturally so.

No one could change in less than an hour.

While he watched, Leonie skillfully reached behind herself and fastened the remaining buttons. The hardest ones had already been secured by him, making the rest manageable.

Yulgen watched with reluctant eyes as her pale skin disappeared beneath the vivid red dress. Remembering how soft and supple that skin had felt, merely seeing it stirred his thirst again.

He knew that to avoid scandal, he should send her away for now and promise the future.

Just as he was about to offer her the position of concubine—

Before he could speak, Leonie opened her mouth first.

“Let us pretend that tonight never happened, Your Highness.”