Chapter 2
When I picked up the cellphone and looked at it, there were additional comments from readers who were in the pit of shock, just like me.
[That’s a waste……]
[Ha……]
[…….WHAAT?!!]
[The development was slow, and they’ve been feeding us sweet crumbs all the time……but what is this? It’s a romance fantasy, but they took the male lead away. The story had a good style, but I just don’t know anymore. I’m dropping this.]
[Clementz was fake and Medif was the male lead? Medif, please wake up.]
[Author-nim, please get the male lead back in the next episode as if nothing happened. I’ll pretend I didn’t know and just read it.]
In the midst of them all, the one that drove me crazy the most was a line of announcement.
《”Beauty and the Beast” Season 1 is over. I’ll be back with Season 2. I need some time to recharge. Thank you.》
‘What? You’re taking a leave of absence after this?’
I lied down with tears in my eyes, praying earnestly and hoping the second part will be there when I open my eyes.
And when I came to my senses, I found out I had possessed the 12-year-old Ophelia Leora, who was destined to become a handmaiden of the same age for the female lead.
A girl with acacia honey blonde hair. Her golden round eyes and impressions were quite cute, but she could not rival the beauty of Bella even if she grew up.
There was no noticeable mention of this character in the novel. When she heard about the Prince’s visit to the County, she only made an appearance to make a fuss, or helped in dressing Bella and had a stand by role. A typical role next to the heroine in any novel to convey the rumors of the palace and run errands.
It was such a light presence. I realized I possessed this girl when I heard someone call for me using her name.
“……I asked to be greeted with the second season of the story when I woke up, not to turn me into a supporting character.”
“Ophelia, what are you saying?”
That must be Ophelia’s mother. Her round golden eyes, very similar to her daughter’s, looked down at me. I replied with a big smile.
“It’s nothing, Mother. I just want to sleep a little longer.”
“Ah, go ahead. If you travel to the House of Monahan next month, you wouldn’t be able to sleep as you wish…..”
What a strange detailed dream.
‘Please wake me up when the holiday gets over this time.’
I closed my eyes without knowing who I was begging. Or at least, I was just hoping to wake up back in my bedroom the next morning.
But the situation did not change. Even when I closed my eyes several times. Whenever I opened them, I was still Ophelia Leora.
I was in shock and locked up in this body, but I didn’t know what I could do.
I spent my next few days thinking about it over and over again.
Maybe there was a purpose for which I was transferred to this novel. A chance to stop the tragedy at the end of the first season and save the two characters I loved.
I knew that love burned more when it came to adversity. But did they have to kill each other?
The greater the loss through adversity, the more impoverished it would be, and the more true the love would seem. Therefore, the readers were angry with this novel.
In this case, the possibility of a sad ending also increased. A sad ending to my favorite novel, Beauty and the Beast. That was what I had to stop.
To do that, I had to start with the incident in question. Why did Bella kill Clementz?
It was partly due to the growing love of Camille, the evil girl, but the more fundamental cause was Bella’s identity. Bellarusia Reyunis Monahan. She was a reincarnated witch.
The background of the novel, the Clatia Empire, was a country founded by a wizard who drove away the demons. A long time ago, all kinds of magical beasts, regular beasts, and demons were rampant on this land, making it impossible for humans to live in peace.
Demons used to be born from pure clumps of spirits.
However, the mana that aroused from them was dull and hazy energy.
Both of the tribes were togetherly called the Magical Beast.
One day, a genius wizard sealed all of the Magical Beast’s birthplace with his blood and ascended to the throne. This power had been handed down from generation to generation, and finally to the descendant family of Düshingen.
But even after the seal was made, the beasts were active in Hornwood, on the western end of the world and on the border with Magye.
When the mana of the earth itself was strong, even ordinary animals mutated into spirits. This was the reason why the fatigue of the royal family could not be eliminated.
There was an old witch who lived in the forest, whom every beast followed like a mother. She was a great woman, originated as a human being, who lived freely, ignoring the order of the human world.
After much consideration, the Emperor chastised the Magical Beast by killing the woman and hanging her body.
The frightened Magical Beast retreated into the deep forest, but the witch’s spirit remained long before entering the body of a noble lady born in Hornwood.
Right. That was Bella.
It was only in the second half of Season 1 that Bella was shocked to find who she truly was. She had been enemies with the Düshingen.
The reason why she was obsessed with Clementz’s blood was due to none other than the bloodlust of the original witch’s spirit.
How much bloodlust did Bella really feel for Clementz when that terrible thing happened?
‘But……’
When the claws finally struck Clementz’s heart, the spirit of the witch, who was captivating Bella, flew away with a chilling laugh all over the sky.
Leaving a crying Bella over the freezing body of Clementz.
The spirit of the witch laughed, while Bella cried. After all, the two were very different beings. Bella must have deeply regretted killing Clementz.
That’s why, I decided to make sure she would never have to regret.
Bella had suffered from loneliness and frustration since she was young.
For her, the night was more comforting than the day. She secretly used to play in the woods outside the mansion in the middle of the night. The ‘voice’ from somewhere inside the forest became her friend.
It turned out that the ‘voice’ belonged to the Magical Beast.
However, such secrets could not be tolerated by the aristocratic spirituality, whose purpose was to build up what was only right for a lady’s culture and for her to be married into a good family.
The aristocratic priests gave her a stern scolding, treating her like a strange lady.
It got worse after she escaped her room and returned back with a curse on her.
“You’re the most beautiful daughter of the night. Let me give you a better look.”
The curse of the spirit of night, which turned her into a black leopard, was like a blessing to Bella. She had always wanted to be able to travel more freely in the woods.
But freedom didn’t last long. Everyone hid and imprisoned Bella for fear that the secret of the famous Count’s daughter would be revealed. Bella eventually closed her mind to most people. She couldn’t understand others, and others couldn’t understand her either.
Could a woman, who grew up so oppressed, ever accept her fateful love should it come?
Could she tell the difference between the whisper of the spirit within her, telling her to bite off flesh, and the real idea of her love? It might have been very difficult.
But what if she had a friend who understood and supported her since childhood? What if she let her frustrated and repressed mind freely speak to someone?
What if there was someone to tell her she was different, and that no matter what she was in the past, she could live as she wanted?
Then, she might accept her feelings of love. She might stop herself from moving toward a catastrophe.
‘Okay, I’ve made up my mind.’
There were now eight years left before the beginning of the original plot. It was enough time to give a positive impact on a child’s growth.
When the novel would begin and Clementz would enter the plot, I would become a guardian angel of love to destroy the obstacles and misunderstandings between them.
That way, the ending of this story would not turn into exhaustion or sadness, but a sweet happiness, right?
‘You guys, I’ll make sure to have you both walk on the flowery path!’
I, a 12-year-old young girl, decided with my fists clenched before me.
***
“Bella. Bellarusia!”
On the first day of my meeting with the 12-year-old Bella, I grinned in delight at my determination and embraced the little lady of the Monahan family.
“W-What?”
‘Don’t worry about anything. You can live however you want. I’ll make sure of it.’
The girl within my arms had silky black hair.
I accompanied Bella every day. Although she was a maid, Ophelia was the daughter of a fallen aristocrat. So, I attended classes with Bella and joined her in activities as a friend.
As a constant reader, my affection for the heroine deepened as I watched her. Adding a little exaggeration, I could do anything for Bella.
“Bella, if you don’t like embroidery, you don’t have to. I’ll finish it for you, so have a good sleep.”
“Count Monahan is taking a walk outside. I think he’s looking for you. If you hide in the closet, I’ll cover you up to keep you hidden.”
“You can tell me anything. I will always be at your side.”
I said I’d listen to her, but Bella was usually the listener and I, the talker.
She wouldn’t change her personality so easily, I thought. She would have to open her heart to me little by little to share her thoughts and feelings.
Those eight years passed away like that.
There was something I worked on more than anything while being Bella’s handmaiden. Cooperating with her to experience a sufficiently secretive freedom without being caught.
Of course, it would have been dangerous for Bella to stay with the Magical Beast. But I thought it was a hundred times more dangerous for her nature to be suppressed.
In fact, every time Clementz appeared in the original novel, Bella had a hard time keeping her nature from exploding.