my bare feet brushing against the thick carpet trembling as my mouth did the same while reading the information. The room was still unfamiliar, still too grand to make it real.
My head throbbed lightly from all the confusion.
looking away from the window that had appeared before my eyes and looking around in panic, I noticed it.
A mirror.
It stood tall beside the wardrobe, framed with gold and carved ivy patterns. I walked toward it, almost hesitantly.
And when I saw my reflection—
I froze.
"…This is me?"
Silver-white hair, long and smooth, fell softly around my shoulders. My skin was pale, almost porcelain-like, without a single blemish or mark.
But the most shocking part… were my eyes.
gold
My eyes were blindingly golden. They were so bright and truly looked like gold that I was about to tear them out myself.
'..w..wow..'
This wasn't Jung Seok-Hyun.
This was… Derek Vickelheim.
The second son of a noble family in the novel The Faded Flowers of the Villainess.
Then—
Ding!
The system window popped up again in front of me again.
=☆[ Synchronizing memories… ]☆=
"Wait, what—?"
A wave of heat hit my brain.
"Urgh…!!" I groaned, falling to my knees.
A stream of memories—foreign, yet suddenly familiar—rushed into my head like a broken dam.
Sword training in the Vickelheim courtyard.
Cold stares from the family.
Formal tea parties. Magic lectures. Etiquette lessons.
And most importantly..
Her.
Derek Vickelheim's obsession.
The protagonis of the novel.
I gasped for air, gripping the edge of the bed.
The memories slowly settled. My breathing evened out. I sat on the mattress, eyes wide, heart pounding.
"…So it's true. I'm inside the novel."
I knew this story. I had read it from beginning to end.
☆The Faded Flowers of the Villainess☆.
The story followed a sweet, kind-hearted girl surrounded by powerful male leads, all falling
hopelessly in love with her.
But hidden behind her pretty smile… was something darker.
She manipulated, twisted hearts, turned friends into enemies.
And the villainess, Roselia Everveil, was the only one who saw through her.
Roselia, previously a bureaucrat before dying and transmigrate just like me, had to fall into the skin of the villainess of the story.
The one who always lost in the end, and hated by everyone.
even Derek despised Roselia from the start, even if he was engaged to her.
Hated her, blamed her, even humiliated her publicly.
And the protagonist kept pulling him closer.
Closer.
Until he became obsessed.
Until he lost his name, his power, his family.
Until he fell.
My eyes narrowed.
"That won't be me."
Not this time.
Not with these memories. Not with this second chance.
I clenched my fists.
"I'm going to survive."
and above all...I'm not good at love..so it would be a waste of time to try to flirt like in 90% of the novel
On the other hand I just need a moment to adapt..it's quite crazy but still I was transported into the novel..
.
.
I leaned back against the headboard, arms crossed, eyes locked on the ceiling above.
So this is where it all begins.
If I remembered correctly…
This was around chapter ten.
Right before the plot really picked up.
Tomorrow was the day.
The first turning point for Derek Vickelheim.
The day he visited Roselia Everveil, the so-called "villainess" of the story.
That scene…
It was short, but sharp.
Derek went to meet Roselia because of the marriage arrangement discussion between their families , to get to know each other better.
But instead of a soft-spoken noble lady, he was met with cold eyes and harsh words.
Roselia rejected him without hesitation.
Without even blinking.
And Derek's pride—his ego—was shattered.
That was the trigger.
From that moment on, he started resenting Roselia.
Started following the protagonist's every word like a blind dog.
And slowly, the manipulation began.
It was sad, because Derek through Roselia's words was meant to have a happy ending with the protagonist, but everything that followed was just a string of unhappiness..kind of like me in a way
I exhaled.
"…So that's where I am."
This was the calm before the storm.
A quiet time.
The only moment I had to prepare.
If I played this right, I could avoid everything that followed.
The humiliation.
The downfall.
The obsession.
But more than that…
I had to survive.
This world wasn't just romance and tea parties.
It was a world of magic, politics, war, and tragedy.
And if I let the plot carry me like it did in the novel…
I'd be swallowed whole.
I glanced toward the window.
Morning light hadn't arrived yet.
But I could already feel it creeping closer.
"Tomorrow, I'll meet Roselia."