Chapter 3

‘Heiress Sabina D’Vialis. And that man is the traitor Reyes Brinita… It’s obvious. This is the novel that ended with the protagonist’s sudden, meaningless death. It can’t be a coincidence. The name D’Vialis isn’t common.’

She trembled.

‘I’ve possessed that foolish woman Sabina D’Vialis, whose life was ruined twice by a persistent jerk? Oh, no way.’

She didn’t want to possess a woman whose life had been twisted twice by a relentless trash. But it had already happened, and she was now Sabina D’Vialis, standing in the ballroom.

She was seized by the intuition that there was no way back to her ‘original world’.

She couldn’t remember her original name, or what kind of person she was.

But it didn’t matter. What use was her past identity?

Since she couldn’t undo possessing this body, she had no choice but to live as D’Vialis’s heiress.

Before her stood the man who had killed ‘Sabina’ twice, holding a champagne glass and smiling gently.

‘I can’t let myself be trapped by that man and die a third time like an idiot.’

She frowned slightly as she leaned on her cane, staring at the man before her.

Reyes extended a glass to her with a soft, courteous manner. Just like in the original story.

“I’m Reyes Brinita. Do you remember?”

Sabina didn’t accept the glass he offered, nor did she run away.

Becoming his lover would ruin her life. No matter what, she must not get involved with him romantically.

Sabina looked Reyes straight in the eye and grabbed the arm of a man passing by.

The best excuse to reject a man.

Of course, another man.

“I like you.”

Her confession slipped out. She hadn’t even checked who it was.

“What? What are you saying?”

Her target looked utterly baffled. Sabina continued without blinking.

“Please officially date me.”

“Wha—why are you doing this? We’ve never even talked properly…”

“You don’t have to be close to like someone. Really. I like you. I’ll prove it.”

Sabina grabbed his jacket with both hands and pulled him closer.

She didn’t hesitate to kiss him.

Her cane fell and rolled across the floor. With its metal head, it made a loud noise when it hit the ground.

Everyone’s attention immediately focused on them. Sabina, being short, almost had to cling to her partner. She teetered on her tiptoes.

When their lips parted, her partner’s face was oddly flushed. He was supporting Sabina’s back. She gently leaned her head against his chest.

Sabina D’Vialis’s peculiar string of male relationships began that very day.

One amusing thing was that she couldn’t love any of the many men she went through.

Not because of trauma from Reyes.

It felt as if the part of her that could feel love had been cut out entirely.

‘A side effect of possession, maybe.’

As she thought, perhaps it was caused by another person’s soul being layered onto her body.

‘Maybe it’s for the best. There’s nothing good about trusting a man.’

It was just that Reyes was a lunatic on a grand scale; in Sabina’s eyes, other men weren’t much better.

Men who became her lovers for her money, beauty, and countless other qualities all left before long.

Whether they got tired of her, or achieved whatever goal they’d hoped to reach by dating her.

Sabina didn’t care.

She could just find another man.

She didn’t want to settle down.

She just needed a shield to reject Reyes.

* * *

It had been a week since she broke up with the man who hung around bars trying to pick up women, all the while dreaming of becoming a violin master.

“There’s… no man.”

Sabina pressed her forehead.

Since her graduation party at nineteen, her lover’s seat had never been vacant for so long.

It was no secret that Sabina didn’t love her partners, but that hadn’t stopped her from getting new ones for the past three years.

Her habit of swapping out lovers every few days or months was the hottest topic in the society tabloids.

Newly debuted singers, actors, and young businessmen all hoped to make headlines by sitting next to Sabina.

That’s not all. Even just receiving one gift from Sabina as her lover was a profitable deal. D’Vialis’s spending was legendary.

Whenever word spread that she’d broken up with someone, men should have been lining up.

‘…It did take a little longer to find a new man last time I broke up.’

The intervals between finding new men were getting longer.

‘So this time I tried to find someone who would truly love me for a long, long time.’

She never really believed they would love her sincerely forever, but she hadn’t expected them to cheat after only a few days. Sabina couldn’t tolerate being made a fool of, so of course, she had to break up.

“It’s only natural that you can’t find a man, Lady Sabina.”

A stern voice came with the sound of running water. Sabina lifted her head, slightly pouting.

Mitchel, the head maid, straightened her back and offered Sabina a cup of warm water.

“How could you expect to have a faithful relationship with a sincere man when you are so insincere in your relationships, Lady Sabina?”

Mitchel was the kind of person who simply had to speak her mind, even if it killed her. Her grandfather, Walter, valued this trait highly in Mitchel. Sabina also generally liked Mitchel’s frankness, but she didn’t appreciate the nagging when it came to her relationships with men.

“A romantic relationship deepens and endures only when both people’s sensibilities connect. Lady Sabina, you…”

“I just don’t feel any affection.”

“Then you shouldn’t have a lover.”

Sabina drank her warm water with a porcelain doll’s blank expression. When she set down her cup, her words were stubborn and resolute.

“No. I need a lover.”

As expected, having a lover was truly a solid shield.

To be honest, the effect was so remarkable that it was strange ‘the original Sabina’ hadn’t chosen it.

No matter how much of a black sheep Reyes Brinita was in the royal family, he had enough sense not to start a scandal with another man’s woman. He couldn’t afford to be compared unfavorably to Kenneth.

Mitchel sighed deeply as she watched Sabina sip her warm water. It was a breach of etiquette, but Sabina let it slide.

Mitchel thought Sabina was truly strange.

People lived by desire without exception, yet her master’s face was always as calm and expressionless as a doll.

Mitchel knew Sabina’s frequent changing of men wasn’t driven by l*st.

Her master’s bedsheets were always clean, and there was never a man’s hair on her pillow. Of all her lovers, only a handful had ever shared a kiss with her.

Mitchel believed there was another reason Sabina was so attached to men, but she had no idea what it was, which frustrated her.

Maybe Walter could have learned the reason from Sabina.

In any case, Mitchel often said things Sabina didn’t want to hear, but she truly loved her mistress. In the end, she confessed in a voice that sounded a bit strangled.

“Actually, there’s a reason no man approaches you, Lady Sabina.”

“What is it?”

Sabina responded immediately. Mitchel shook her head with restrained movement.

“On the day you broke up with your previous lover…”

The loyal head maid deliberately used a formal title for that scoundrel. She didn’t want to admit her lady had dated such an unworthy man.

“Of course, Lady Sabina, you know this, but on the day you broke up, everyone in the capital was gossiping that your romance had ended again.”

“That happened last time, and the time before that. A year ago, two years ago… But that never stopped me from finding a new man.”

“Quiet! Please listen.”

At Mitchel’s words, Sabina gave a rebellious look, but she kept her mouth shut.

“The important part hasn’t come yet.”

Mitchel’s gaze became stern. Sabina had no choice but to keep drinking her water. Only then did the head maid continue.

“When the young men were playing billiards and making inappropriate remarks about your affairs, His Highness Prince Reyes Brinita joined their game.”

Sabina reacted to those words. She dug her fingernails into her water glass. Her furrowed brows clearly showed her distaste.

“What did he say? Is that why things are like this now?”

“That’s right. He said, ‘Maybe I’ll be Sabina D’Vialis’s next man.’”

“No!”

Sabina shuddered and jumped up from her seat, showing the strongest emotion she ever displayed. Mitchel naturally pressed her shoulders to sit her back down.

“Reyes Brinita is out of the question.”

“Of course, Lady Sabina. I don’t think being romantically involved with His Highness is a good idea either. It’s not about your reputation anymore, but his position makes him far too dangerous for such a close relationship. Here, have some more water.”

Sabina drank her warm water again. Her face returned to its doll-like blankness.

“But what does your position matter now, Lady Sabina? After His Highness declared that, what man would dare step forward to be your lover?”

Mitchel was right.

Once a royal declared such a thing, no one with any sense or social standing would dare touch Sabina.

Reyes was determined to eliminate all her options.