Chapter 1: Possessed by the Villain

A severe migraine and a ringing in her ears made Bliss’s stomach churn with nausea. The piercing headache felt like being stabbed with an awl. She kept her eyes tightly shut and tried to steady her breathing, but the pain and tinnitus would not easily subside.

Bliss pressed her temples, keeping her head down as she took slow, deep breaths. As time passed and the pain gradually diminished, the ringing in her ears faded, and she slowly opened her eyes.

She blinked several times at the unfamiliar sight before her.

‘What… is this?’

She was certain she had been lying in bed reading a book, but when she opened her eyes, she found herself in an unfamiliar room. Lavish food covered the tables, and people milled about under a massive chandelier—her attention was completely captured by these strange sights.

‘No way, are those dresses?’

The women wore gowns that were tightly fitted at the waist and billowed out dramatically around the hips. Among the women in dresses, men in formal attire were showing themselves off. The overall atmosphere suggested it was a party.

‘What is all this? Where… am I?’

Bliss slowly closed and opened her eyes again, but the scene before her remained unchanged, and her heart sank at this strange and bewildering situation.

“…liss.”

While Bliss was trying to make sense of her surroundings, she faintly heard someone’s voice.

“Bliss!”

Someone grabbed her shoulder.

“Ah…”

The touch on her shoulder felt so real that when she opened her mouth, her voice immediately came out. The realistic sensation made Bliss realize this moment was not a dream.

‘Bl…iss?’

The name was familiar, but where had she heard it before?

“Are you alright?”

The woman who had touched her shoulder looked at her with worried eyes.

“You suddenly went quiet, and it startled me.”

“It’s just…”

Bliss mumbled vaguely as she randomly picked up a glass in front of her. After moistening her lips with a sip of water and setting the glass down, she belatedly noticed its shape.

‘What kind of water glass is this?’

It was made of crystal, perhaps, holding light between its intricate engravings. As Bliss stared at the glass feeling enchanted, she raised her eyes. The moment she registered the unfamiliar dishes laid out on the long rectangular table, she caught their savory aroma.

‘Have I gone mad?’

It felt like a scene straight out of a novel. While Bliss maintained her composure on the outside, she was screaming all sorts of things internally. The realization that this wasn’t a dream, due to its excessive realism, made it even more maddening.

Bliss looked down at her body. Though everything felt foreign, she wanted to see herself most of all. Her gaze moved from the water glass to the hand holding it.

Her hands were pale and slender, as if they had never seen sunlight—smooth and small without a single callus. Her constricting bodice sparkled under the chandelier, and her puffy skirt spread out like a fully bloomed rose.

Bliss turned her head to see her reflection in a decorative piece.

Her skin was so fair it was almost pale, with light brown eyes set in her face. Despite the slightly upturned corners of her eyes, she was striking, with a small but prominent nose and full peach-colored lips.

“Bliss.”

At the awkward but familiar call of her name, Bliss looked up. It was the woman from before. With red hair tied up in a bun secured with a large pin, she was dressed as elaborately as Bliss herself.

“Is Marquis Adrian not coming?”

‘Marquis Adrian…’

She rolled the names in her mouth—first ‘Bliss,’ referring to herself, then ‘Adrian.’ Just as the sequence of names began to feel familiar, her startled fingers brushed against the cup. When the crystal cup toppled over with a sharp clinking sound, Bliss let out a silent scream.

‘These are the names from the novel I was reading.’

Bliss looked at her face again. What she had initially thought were simply beautiful features now appeared to be an exact recreation of how she had imagined ‘Bliss’ would look.

Bliss called out to the woman, testing her suspicion.

“Countess Azel?”

“Why so formal between us? Just call me Azel.”

It was indeed Azel. First Bliss, and now Azel… With characters from yesterday’s novel appearing one after another, it was impossible to mistake this for any other story. Bliss tried to calmly recall what Azel had asked in order to respond.

“Marquis Adrian…”

Bliss pondered Azel’s question, thinking of Marquis Adrian, Bliss’s husband in the novel.

“He said he was busy.”

“As expected, right?”

Azel nodded as if she had known all along. Then, as if she had been waiting for this opportunity, she began to chatter away.

“I’ve rarely seen the Marquis attend parties. Even at royal balls, he only shows his face briefly before disappearing, so I figured only you would come today, Bliss.”

Half-listening to Azel’s words, Bliss looked around. Through the lingering tinnitus, the sounds of the party washed over her like waves.

The gentle melody of music, the laughter of men and women, even the sound of shoes tapping against the floor. No matter how many times she checked, nothing changed.

‘Bliss… what kind of character was Bliss again?’

Though she didn’t know how she had become Bliss, what mattered now was the fate of the novel’s Bliss.

Bliss was a woman born into a count’s family who grew up wanting for nothing. Apart from being unable to choose her own marriage partner, she had lived life as she pleased. Being pampered by those around her had greatly influenced Bliss’s personality.

It was natural for her to view maids as less than human, and she didn’t hesitate to punish them if they failed to meet her standards. She lived as though the world revolved around her, and the description that defined her was quite simple.

‘Villainess.’

That personality didn’t improve even after she stole the original female lead’s place and married Adrian, whom the lead had secretly loved. If anything, with no one to stop her, she became even more wicked, unaware that it would eventually cost her her life.

‘I end up… being murdered.’

Realizing she had entered the body of someone who would soon die, Bliss bit her lip so hard it turned white. She had possessed the body of a villainess destined to die soon.

‘Why of all people…’

She couldn’t understand why, among all the characters, it had to be this one. But there was no time for self-reproach since she didn’t know how to leave Bliss’s body. Right now, she needed to figure out which scene from the novel she had entered.

“Don’t you feel lonely sometimes when you come alone?”

Bliss, lost in her thoughts, showed a startled expression at Azel’s question.

‘Come with my husband? Impossible.’

It was unthinkable to arrive with Marquis Adrian, with whom she had a strained relationship. Though he maintained proper courtesy befitting a husband, Marquis Adrian was a man who didn’t care for his wife. More accurately, he was a character whose thoughts were impossible to decipher.

Bliss’s unease grew as she looked around. While there were many balls mentioned in the novel, Bliss only attended one of them. Though she hoped she was wrong, today seemed to be the moment in the novel when Bliss dies.

‘I need to leave first.’

Bliss began to rise from her seat. Getting out of here was her priority. If this was the moment she feared, Bliss would die at this ball today. She offered a brief farewell to Azel, with whom she had been speaking.

“Well then, I…”

“Are you leaving? That’s too bad; I still had so much to tell you.”

Even seeing Azel’s disappointed expression with downturned eyebrows, Bliss’s fingers clutched at her skirt. The conversation with her wasn’t important at all. Besides, she couldn’t waste any more time. He might appear soon. She needed to escape before then.

“Next time, let’s continue this conversation. I just remembered something.”

“But we finally met after so long…”

As Azel was drawing out her words, she happened to glance behind Bliss, and her lips parted slightly. Seeing Azel’s surprised expression, Bliss instinctively turned to look. Upon seeing the man standing at the entrance to the party, her expression mirrored Azel’s.

He was a man with looks that commanded attention.

Beneath his neat, dark eyebrows were sharp, thoughtful eyes. His high nose bridge balanced his elegant features, and his firmly set, full red lips were strangely sensual.

As her gaze traced from his Adam’s apple to his broad shoulders and finally met his striking blue eyes, Bliss called out his name.

“Caelan.”

Marquis Caelan Adrian. The moment she recognized who he was, even the remaining tinnitus vanished as if it had been a lie.

‘Oh no.’

Bliss stared at him with horrified eyes. She shouldn’t face him… She took a step back, clutching her skirt, and bumped into Azel’s shoulder.

“Hm? What’s wrong, Bliss?”

“…It’s nothing.”

Bliss shook her head slightly while standing frozen in place. More shocking than suddenly becoming Bliss was the appearance of the man who was her husband. She should have left before he arrived, but she hadn’t managed to. As her heart raced and she blinked, as if that were some kind of signal, Caelan approached.

“Bliss.”

Bliss raised her wandering gaze to meet Caelan’s eyes. The man, who seemed quite accustomed to looking down at her, spoke with an indifferent expression.

“Were you about to leave? Perfect timing.”

At his gesture suggesting they leave together, Bliss unconsciously bit back her parting lips.

‘What should I do?’

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T/N: Welcome to Chapter 1! I felt like leaving a note here because I’ve already translated like…40 chapters ahead of posting this today. LMAO. The story got me so hooked that I didn’t even realize. Anyway, I hope you enjoy reading as much as I did on Day 1. This novel is definitely promising plot-wise and character-wise. See you around!