“So in order to break the curse, you have been meeting and dating men all this time.”

“Ah, yes. That’s right…”

“Leaving me, your husband.”

“…Pardon?”

“Leaving me, your husband, and being with another bastard, that was the way to break the curse.”

That’s because you won’t let me touch you.

“Uhm, Diart?”

I want to get out of here right now. Because Diart, who had kept his mouth tightly shut as if pondering something, had gradually turned grim.

‘If worse comes to worst, let’s run away.’

It was at that moment when I hesitantly approached the door,

“It’s fine.”

Diart opened his mouth with a completely not-fine voice.

“There will never be such a thing again. Understand?”

Because I had only seen him lying flat on his face until now, I had forgotten what kind of person he originally was.

“But it would be better to prevent such a situation from occurring in the first place. I cannot just leave my cursed wife as she is, as your husband.”

Is there such a scary face that smiles cunningly like this?

“No, it’s okay…”

“Don’t worry, Roeni. I will definitely break that damn curse for you.”

I took a step back as Diart slowly approached.

“D-Diart…”

I swallowed hard as his eyes pierced into me and undid the button.

‘Is he crazy?!’

Oh my god!

I fell backward, my knees on the bed. As my vision tilted, the familiar ceiling of the bed came into view, and the past days began to rewind quickly.

* * *

Huh? I clearly died, right? I even heard the sound of my heart stopping as my eyes closed.

“What on earth… is this?”

“There’s a question I want to ask.”

The voice was so cold that I could have thought it was made of ice.

I swallowed my saliva and quietly looked down at my hands. My fingers, which had become thick from various part-time jobs, were pale and thin like someone who had never touched a drop of water.

And there was a platinum ring with a diamond the size of a fist, like something I had seen on TV, slightly exaggerated. But what astounded me was not that.

Slowly, along the skin that my hand was touching, I moved my gaze. I felt my breath catch in my throat as my eyes traveled up his muscular chest to his sharp, strong jawline.

From his thick eyebrows and sharp eyes to his well-formed nose and soft-looking lips. He was the most handsome man I had ever encountered. I was captivated, unable to take my eyes off his face, and in the next moment, I trembled.

“What the hell are you doing?”

His disheveled but surprisingly good silver hair revealed glimpses of golden strands, glaring at me menacingly. His lips, slightly twisted to one side, curled up.

“I didn’t know you had a taste of pouncing on sleeping people.”

I realized what situation I am in only just now. I was sitting on top of a handsome man who was now lying on the bed, with my legs spread apart, drooling.

“Move aside.”

“Huh!”

Before I even fully understood his words, he quickly removed my hand that was gripping his firm chest and stepped back. Then, I lost my balance and clumsily fell backward. The man, who was halfway sitting up, burst into a bewildered laughter.

“What kind of trick is this again?”

Lying on the soft bed, I gazed at the intricately carved canopy and blinked my eyes, having a foolish thought for a moment.

‘Is this heaven?’

If that’s the case, now I understand the situation. It must be a setup by the gods for me, because I had a difficult life in my previous life, to lie here with an unbelievably handsome man in this ridiculously luxurious room!

‘If possible, make him a gentle man.’

Rather than a man like this who only looks handsome but seems utterly rude, I had a preference for a shy and affectionate man. There is a God after all. Faith in the existence of God, which I didn’t believe in when I was alive, surged within me.

“You’re getting physical now, and I’m not having any of it, so get out of my room, Roeni Wheaton.”

I grew irritated as I looked down at myself.

‘Hmm? This name sounds familiar, have I heard it before?’

Even though I thought that, I hadn’t fully realized the man’s unfiltered way of speaking until now, and I became sulky.

‘But why did this bastard become so insolent?’

The moment when I lifted my body with enough force to hit a word at a man,

“Seems like you want to be dragged out by the servants.”

The man, who had lost about ten percent of his good looks because of his arrogant attitude, grumbled harshly. I glanced along his long arm, reaching towards the bell placed on the bedside table, I hit the back of my head hard and took a deep breath at the passing awareness.

Instinctively, when I grabbed the man’s arm, he nervously shook me off. But I was in too much of a state of shock to care about any of that.

‘Silver hair. Golden eyes. That asshole way of speaking!’

Sweeping the man up and down quickly, I turned my hands around and looked down as I clenched my hair, which had been fluttering at the edge of my vision until now.

“It’s purple…”

Roeni Wheaton has purple hair. I finally realized clearly what situation I was currently in. I, me! Unbelievably, I had become a character from the romance fantasy novel I liked the most.

And the man looking at me with a pale face was undoubtedly Roeni Wheaton’s husband. So, he was now my husband, Diart Wheaton, the Duke. I covered my mouth with my hand. Oh shoot!

If I had really possessed Roeni Wheaton, then my fate would soon be to die at the hands of this unfortunate man. Because of a shameful crime of trying to kill the heroine whom he likes out of jealousy!

My head was spinning round and round, but one thing was clear.

I’m screwed.

But little did I know until now that I would soon find myself in an even more absurd situation without even having a chance to adapt to the first absurd situation.

* * *

“It’s definitely not a dream.”

No matter how many times I pinch myself, it’s the same. After a long period of illness, my once dull skin has become smooth and elastic, but it also hurts terribly.

“It’s too unrealistic.”

Many romance fantasy novels start with the protagonist, who lived in reality, getting transmigrated into a book. I’ve often wished to transmigrate into a novel myself, but who would have known it would actually turn out like this?

‘I wish I transmigrated as Adelia.’

Ever since I was young, I loved Adelia, she had a bright personality and got along with the people around her. If I were to transmigrate, it would have been nice to be Adelia. But fate had to play a cruel joke on me, transforming me into Roeni, who cursed and begged for the foreign substance¹used to describe something that is not normally present or does not belong to be removed quickly. What kind of twisted destiny is this?

After thinking this far, I immediately raised my head.

“No, no.”

Adelia McGregor. How pitiful she became in my eyes later on. She was such a warm and lovely person but unfortunately, she couldn’t see any men around her. Among the numerous men by her side, she chose, of all people, Diart Wheaton.

Diart Wheaton. That guy is just crazy. It’s not normal to laugh and cut someone’s neck just because they danced with the female lead. I even doubted whether that guy truly loved the protagonist, given his indescribable obsession and cruelty. Eventually, I had to leave a polite comment.

「Author, could you please change the male lead? Adelia is too pitiful. Sniffle.」

I gnashed my teeth as I remembered the face of the man who had finally called the servant to drag me out of the room last night. See, I knew he was no good!

After cursing at Diart for a while, I corrected my posture and sat down. After reflecting, the situation I was in right now wasn’t so bad.

‘I… I’m still alive, right?’

Even if I roll in a dog’s graveyard, it’s better than the afterlife. For now, just the fact that I’m still breathing matters.

And I’m not just living aimlessly. Roeni Wheaton was the beloved daughter of a duke before her marriage, and now she is the wife of a wealthy duke. If I can avoid the fate of dying at the hands of Diart, it means my miserable life might bloom.

How to avoid the fate of dying at Diart’s hands? Well, that’s easy.

‘Just get a divorce!’

If I just mention divorce, he’ll gulp it down like water. It shouldn’t be difficult to get a divorce. If I’m going to live alone, it’s better to have a lot of money. So until the divorce is finalized, I’ll try to accumulate some money and avoid Diart… No, wait. Diart and Adelia haven’t met yet, right?

“Hey, when is the Crown Prince’s birthday?”

I turned my head to the young maid with brown hair standing next to me as if she were a lifeless mouse. Startled by my sudden question, the maid trembled in shock.

“Yes, yes?”

At first, I wondered why she was so frightened, but then I remembered Roeni’s fiery temper in the original story and understood.

‘If it was the normal Roeni, she should be scared.’

But I’m the real Roeni, and I had no intention of scaring this child by imitating her. I consciously smiled and asked again.

“About His Highness the Crown Prince’s birthday. How much time is before that?”

“Ah… A… About three months.”

The maid, who had been staring blankly at my face, bowed her head and answered.

“Three months…”

It was a bit tight, but it was better than nothing. Diart and Adelia would meet for the first time at the party celebrating the Crown Prince’s birthday.

I had about nine months left before Diart, who would eventually start a rebellion, would kill me. I just had to somehow escape Wheaton Castle before that.

Alright, let’s start by going to get the divorce papers tomorrow.

“Okay.”

The unrealistic fact that I had transmigrated into a novel was no longer in my head. Now, I am Roeni Wheaton!