A warm afternoon sun greets me.

Walking along the path next to the park, overlooking the quiet road, my body naturally becomes languid.

The nameless wildflowers blooming along one side of the road are truly beautiful.

Why is a healthy 20-something Korean at the park instead of at work or school at this hour, you ask?

“I can’t believe I’ve lived to see the day I get fired. Life is…”

As the company’s situation worsened, one by one, people were encouraged to resign, and although I hoped this day wouldn’t come, I too was eventually discarded by the company I had dedicated my passion to.

Thinking they might call me back if things improved, I couldn’t even add any words as I trudged out, feeling miserable and on the verge of tears.

If I had a family to lean on at times like this, would the situation have been a little different?

I couldn’t know.

From the moment I decided to live as a lonely orphan with nothing to my name, I had prepared myself to overcome situations like this alone…

“Reality truly is a gutter.”

Only a bitter laugh escaped me.

‘I don’t need anything else, I just wish I had a lot of money. I’m confident I could live well, eating well and enjoying life without working at such a lousy company.’

Finally, my eyes began to sting. I knew without looking that they must have turned red.

“Ah! This is really shitty. I just want to give up on everything.”

I tried to hold back my tears by straining my eyes open.

It might look like a strange expression to others, but I disliked the idea of being seen as a woman crying her eyes out on the street, so I kept walking in that state.

But as I walked, I suddenly felt a sense of dissonance.

“Huh? That’s strange.”

Why are there so few people on the street?

I slowly came to a stop.

Until just a moment ago, I had only thought the street was quiet, but now it seemed as if there was nothing, no, no living being around, only silence enveloping the surroundings.

There were no cars on the road, and even the occasional people were nowhere to be seen.

It was a situation where the saying “not even an ant in sight” fit perfectly.

The tears disappeared in an instant at this surreal situation.

In this strangely quiet moment with no people, no cars, not even the sound of insects on a sunny day.

Tap tap-

Someone touched my sleeve.

“Ah! Who are you?”

I was startled, but also relieved to see a person, and I started to calm my racing heart.

But as I turned around, I couldn’t help but be surprised once more.

The person who touched me was a man so handsome it made my eyes widen.

A man with light blonde hair falling to his waist and blue eyes that seemed to hold the sky.

He was quietly gazing at me.

Now, only he and I were standing on the roadside.

“What’s the matter?”

He looked kind, but you can’t judge a person by appearance alone. As a Korean who had seen all sorts of things and frequently encountered bad news, I looked at him with eyes full of caution.

And I took a step back from him.

The man, who had been watching this series of actions with a gentle smile, opened his mouth.

“Don’t be afraid. I’m just here to listen to your thoughts and make a proposal.”

It sounded like something from a new religious movement. I looked him up and down with even more suspicion. His attire caught my eye.

He was wrapped in something like white cloth, similar to the clothes of gods in myths.

In other words, he didn’t seem quite normal.

I briefly considered turning and running away.

But there was something peculiar about the atmosphere he exuded that made me hesitate.

The surrounding silence was also strange, and above all, the man’s appearance that seemed not of this world, combined with the desperation of being fired that day, made me blurt out a response.

“A proposal?”

“You said you wanted to live as a jobless person for life without working, didn’t you?”

Oh? He got it right.

“And?”

“I’ll make that happen for you. However, you need to do one thing I ask.”

“What kind of thing?”

“It’s not difficult. Take this.”

I found myself drawn into the conversation without realizing it. He handed me a book that had appeared out of nowhere.

“You know this is a bit strange too, right?”

He smiled faintly.

“I know. Read it and think about it slowly.”

“Alright.”

“Where should I contact you when I finish reading?”

I looked down at the book in my hand for a moment, and when I raised my head, he was already gone.

The noise of an ordinary day on an ordinary street finally reached my ears, and the cars and people that were nowhere to be seen earlier now brushed past me.

After that, in a state of mind I couldn’t quite understand, I walked home diligently. I tossed the book carelessly aside and sat on the bed. Then I raised my hand and hit my head once.

“Okay. There’s pain, there’s a sense of reality, I’m not crazy.”

The more I thought about it, the stranger it all seemed.

The quiet street, my response to the strange proposal, and the fact that I thought more about that man than about losing my job all the way home.

It was as if someone had planted him in my mind.

“Have I gone mad from the shock of being fired?”

Suddenly, my eyes fell on the book I had carelessly thrown on the bed.

I picked it up and placed it on my knees, running my hand over the old hardcover that had no title.

The rough sensation under my fingertips.

As I savored that sensation and blinked once.

Whoosh-

With a heavy resonance in the air, a golden light filled the room.

Shhh-

And those lights converged into a single strand and shot towards me.

The sudden situation left me unable to even blink, let alone scream.

‘Am I going to die caught up in this strange phenomenon?’

Thinking that this was a rather unimpressive final thought for this life, I clenched my fist.

At that moment, the light suddenly changed direction.

Onto the book in my hand.

The strands of light swam across the cover, writing letters.

Shhh-

“What is this…”

Maybe something like… a Hogwarts acceptance letter?

While I was having these crazy thoughts, a title appeared on the cover, and the lights seemed to seep into it and disappear.

I was dazed for a long time after that.

When I finally came to my senses and lowered my gaze, I saw the letters.

It was in an unreadable language.

Even though it seemed like something incredible had just happened, I felt completely drained.

“Well, it’s certainly not a script that exists on Earth.”

After staring at the unreadable title for a while, I carefully turned to the next page.

Rustle-

Fortunately, nothing happened.

There was only one line written there:

Once you turn to the next page, the contract cannot be undone.

A sentence that reeked of fraud was written there.

“This one I can read. Should I turn it, or not?”

After a moment of hesitation, crumpling the paper in my hand, I tightly shut my eyes.

Rustle-

Flash-

‘Ah! My eyes! This cursed curiosity!’

As soon as I turned the page, another burst of bright light emerged from the book and engulfed me.

Immediately, memories began to flow into my mind as if a movie was being played.

They were the memories of a noble lady named ‘Lorazie’.

She was born as an illegitimate daughter of a noble family. Abandoned in the slums, she suddenly met her father one day and entered the Count’s household holding his hand.

Her family members were wary of her. They didn’t openly mistreat or abuse her, but they found fault with everything she did and subtly ostracized her. Neighboring nobles who keenly noticed this also secretly bullied and looked down on her, and as she grew up, she became increasingly twisted.

Originally, subtle ostracism was more painful than open bullying. Especially in childhood.

As she became more and more twisted, her family’s attitude changed from wariness to disgust. Lorazie, who wasn’t wise, worsened the situation by being malicious to those around her.

Later, out of jealousy towards her eldest brother’s commoner wife, she even resorted to forbidden magic, and for the crime of trying to destroy the world with that magic, she was killed by the Grand Duke of the North.

“Ah…”

Plop-

Drip drip.

After seeing all the memories, I found myself crying without realizing it.

Because I could understand her life more completely than anyone else.

That sorrow when everyone blames you.

The self-reproach of why you had to be born as an illegitimate child.

The malice she displayed to protect her self-esteem, tired of the unchanging gazes even as time passed.

And the wretchedness she felt on the day she learned that her eldest brother’s wife was of common birth.

Learning that the reason she was looked down upon wasn’t solely because of her birth must have been a shock that negated her entire life.

“…Why did you have to show me something like this?”

Anyway, even though tears were falling, I had to do what needed to be done, so I wiped my eyes roughly with my sleeve and called out to him.

Somehow, I was certain he was watching.

“Sniff, sniff… So why did you show me these memories? How are you going to fulfill my dream, and what do I have to do? I know you’re watching. Come out.”

Then, just like that moment during the day, everything around me became quiet.

Suddenly, that man was standing in front of me. Smiling with an expression that seemed to say it couldn’t be helped.

“You really never fail to surprise me. Can you look at the book cover again?”

“I couldn’t read it earl- Huh? ‘Chronicles of the Asmodea Empire’?”

It was clearly the same script as before, but this time I could read it.

“That’s right. The chronicles of the Asmodea Empire, specifically Lorazie’s memories.”

“Why did you show me her life in particular?”

He smiled that faint smile of his again.

“Because if you accept my request, you will become her. Please fill Lorazie’s place.”

Ah, I understood what he was asking me to do.

“I see. I know what you’re asking.”

“You know what I’m going to ask?”

She and I were in similar situations, but we made different choices.

I compromised with reality, while Lora tried to break it. No, she tried to wreak havoc.

So, my compromise is needed, isn’t it?

“You want me to become her and prevent these events from happening, something like that, right?”

He continued with an even more enigmatic expression.

“It’s similar. But I can’t tell you the specific details now. Once you become Lorazie and live the life you desire, I’ll tell you when the time comes. That’s when you’ll have to do what needs to be done.”

“I understand.”

I answered readily. I had no lingering attachments here.

“Really?”

“Really. Then my wish will be fully granted when I become Lorazie, right? Her family has immense wealth, and as an illegitimate daughter, Lora doesn’t have to work.”

“That’s right. But are you okay without the affection of your family?”

“You chose me knowing that, didn’t you? Because I’m similar to her.”

He smiled mischievously.

“You’re right.”

“Can I ask one thing?”

“What is it?”

“Who are you?”

“Hahaha- I haven’t told you that yet, have I? I am Asmodeia.”

To be honest, I let his words about his identity go in one ear and out the other.

It was because his bright smile and innocent laughter were dazzling.

“Well then, I’m in your care.”

While I was lost in his smile, unable to come to my senses, I heard his final greeting.

When I closed my eyes once and opened them again, I found myself buried in a bed in a room that anyone would recognize as medieval and antique.

It was Lora’s room.