Chapter 1
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It was a time when my daily life, which turned like a cogwheel, was vain and perhaps even pessimistic. I had fallen asleep reading the classic novel “For the Evening Primrose,” and was still lying there, my bewildered gaze fixed on the ceiling.
The speckled walls and dirty surroundings were inconspicuous and strange. The place where my body lay was on a rusty iron bed in an old attic.
Squeak. Squeak.
From somewhere came the squeaking of rats and the urgent sound of scampering. It was a black building with a crumbling ceiling and plastered walls.
The cold fireplace seemed to be untouched a long time ago, and the only thing I could rely on on a cold day was an old blanket.
Only the square windows with sunlight shining through them illuminated the birds reflecting the scenery outside, the church bell tower and the building.
I wondered if this was a dream that perfectly depicted Diana’s life as described in the book, but the chill of the north wind stinging my skin was so raw that I couldn’t tell if this was reality or a dream.
It didn’t take long for me to realize that I had become ‘Diana Claire’, the main character’s younger sister, who had been subjected to all kinds of disrespect and humiliation.
“Diana! You lazy thing, come out quickly!”
It was clear that the name heard with the knocking on the door was referring to me.
“I guess…. Did I come into this life?”
Wasn’t this situation only happened in novels? I couldn’t believe that this was really possible. However, I had never been run over by a truck, a typical barrier in this world, nor had I lost my battle with illness; I just went to bed and woke up.
It was not fair, even in dreams.
I was forced to live an honest life, however, this reality came as a shock to me, as I had lived long enough to be an heiress. Although I was quick to adapt to change and have a light-hearted personality, this was different.
The biggest problem was that the environment of this body’s owner was quite poor and beggarly. Why couldn’t I be in such wonderful conditions as an Empress, Queen, Grand Duchess, or Duchess?
Why did I have to face the worst conditions in the best life? If I had that much wealth and power, it would have been easy to avoid the death flag, and I could have discussed it by having an affair with my first man and enjoying each other’s lives together.
Why did I read this classic novel….?
In the novel….
Her father, Admiral Winston Claire, hated Diana so much that he neglected her and treated her coldly.
He banned her from all social activities and outings, citing the trivial reason of being sick to any outsider who was curious about her, and the only thing known to the outside world was the fact that there was a second daughter who was sick.
It was probably to hide the fact that she was abused. The servants also seem to be very thorough in keeping their mouths shut. Moreover, they used the “bridal lesson” as an excuse to treat her like a slave.
He told the maids that they had to teach Diana how to do her chores, but in fact, he meant to make her work.
It was a coy excuse for a noblewoman to be doing housework. On top of that, as a soldier’s daughter, she had to share the harsh realities of the soldiers on the battlefield, and she was forced to spend her days in an old attic with only one military blanket.
No! Even in the army they give you clothes, food, and a sleeping bag!
Diana was smaller than her peers because she never had enough to eat, and ill-fitting clothes showed her skinny legs. The servants always blamed her for their wrongdoings, starved her, and took out their anger on her. However, the fortunate thing was she was strong without pain.
There was no one to protect Diana, but she seemed to be positive and mentally strong.
But I was not such a positive person. To enter a raw life with such a low quality of life was…. It was an unfortunate environment where I had to be helped, in addition to not even reaching the minimum standard in the happiness index criteria of life.
First of all, it was very cold and dirty and the clothes were unbearable, like beggars. From spring to early fall, Diana lived with bed bugs and ticks.
I was definitely not one to endure in a positive way, singing songs with mice like in fairy tales. My life wish of ‘doing nothing’ included a peaceful life.
“Isn’t that obvious abuse?”
At seventeen, she was old enough to be an adult here, but still young enough to be protected. As I stood up, brushing off the dirty blanket, I heard the rough voice outside the door again.
“Diana, do you know what time it is? I can’t believe you still haven’t come out!”
The maid came in through the old wooden door, her hands on her hips and her eyes wide open.
“Are you insane, even late for breakfast?”
I was so preoccupied with my nerves that I couldn’t keep my thoughts straight. I couldn’t stand this kind of rudeness, and it was our first meeting. I raise my hand, meaning to wait with furrowed brows.
“Wait.”
“What? What did you just say? Did you just say wait?”
The maid’s face turned bitter and red. Does that attitude make sense to the owner’s daughter?
I sat down with my arms crossed, my legs crossed, lifted my chin and asked her a question.
“What’s your name?”
“What’s wrong with your head? You even forgot my name?”
“What’s your name?”
“Vera.”
She sounded a little nervous, perhaps frightened by my unusual arrogance.
“I see. Vera, what do you do in this house?”
“Me? I work here. What the hell are you talking about? What’s wrong with your attitude?”
“You’re a servant, I’m noble, right? You should behave yourself.”
“Look at you. What do you talk about when you are treated like a slave, worse than a maid?”
“Well, that’s enough, guide me to my room and wait for me. I can’t stay here any longer.”
The maid was perplexed and very confused by my noble attitude.
“Come on.”
The maid, frightened by the hawkish look in my eyes, finally led me to my room. It was not a large room, but still neat and clean. It was then that I finally examined my condition in the mirror.
Emaciated body, dry and brittle long hair, haggard and pale face with exhaustion.
I ordered the maid to prepare me a bath.
“Did Master order something else…….”
The maid asked me carefully. I sneered at her, her demeanor having changed dramatically from earlier.
“Of course, I just asked you to do what you had to do. What’s the problem?”
“Ah…”
“Bring me the scissors.”
Then the maid brought me the scissors with a startled look on her face. I grabbed my tangled black hair with one hand and cut it short. Woolly strands of hair fell from my fingers in a crumpled mess.
“Trim it.”
The maid, confused by my sudden attitude, adjusted the crooked ends of my hair.
My waist-length hair was now short, a little past my chin.
I felt a little more human now after I washed my dirty body, brushed my clean hair and put on neat clothes.
The girl’s face, with its pitch-black hair and dim gray-green eyes, which had looked like a starving crow for days, a little brighter in the warmth of the room. I still like short hair. Even in my previous life, I kept my hair short, and I didn’t grow it out very often.
“Bring me some food.”
At my arrogant and coercive order, the maid bowed and retreated with courtesy.
“From now on, I have to convince the father of this body, and no matter how much I dream, this is no good.”
But this was my complete misjudgment and conceit.
Admiral Winston Claire was from a marquis family, and was crowned Count for his contribution in the naval battles.
He was a handsome middle-aged man with platinum hair and blue eyes, and had the dignity and cold image of a soldier. He had no compassion nor a speck of love for his second daughter, Diana.
He was simply too close to denying the fact that she was his daughter with all his might. When the Admiral came back to the mansion, he seemed to have heard my story from his servant and came into my room.
He opened the door roughly and immediately frowned as soon as he saw me in my neat appearance.
“Diana, what’s wrong with you? Have you gone crazy?”
“I thought that as the daughter of an honorable soldier, I should present a neat appearance, father.”
“Soldiers on the battlefield don’t have time to wash or eat. I thought I told you to feel their hardships and realize them.”
“My gratitude for their hardships has grown in my bones over the years.”
Actually, it was more like a preview of the experience, but it was enough to make me feel bone-weary for a few years. I’ll be dead before I last a minute in that place.
“So everything I’ve done so far has been for nothing. After all, I want a clean place to sleep and a decent meal.”
My mood wasn’t so good, but I raise my hard, stiff mouth.
I maintained my uppermost smile.
“Now I want to spend time with my father. I’m your daughter.”
I realized that I had said something outrageous. As soon as I finished, I saw the hatred and disgust in the Admiral’s blue eyes.
Then I was locked in a stable. For two days, I was tied up tightly without water or bread. The only thing that could keep me warm was a pile of hay in the corner.
The hunger and cold were so vivid. Is this reality? If it were a dream, it still stayed with me after I woke up.
My maid, Vera, came in and burst out laughing.
“It’s a good thing. You’ve lost your mind.”
She took a piece of dry bread from her pocket and held it in front of me.
“Do you want it?”
I was dizzy with hunger, but even if I starved to death, I would not eat the bread she gave me.
I glared at her with a single thought that if I succeeded later, I would trample her. She looked very happy as if she was satisfied with mocking my situation.
“Say, ‘I’m sorry, Lady Vera’.”
The words were arrogant, as if she was a young lady of noble birth. I leaned against the cold stone wall and looked up at her, my dry lips quivering.
“Crazy woman. You think you’re a noblewoman? Aren’t you ashamed of yourself?”
Embarrassed by my words, she bit her lip with a bright red face.
“‘You’re the crazy one! You’re going to freeze to death like this!”
“If I get out of here, you’ll be the first one I kill.”
I glared at her with murderous eyes, driven by an irresistible urge to kill. It wasn’t the world I lived in anyway, and it could be a dream, so I might as well at least try to kill her.
When Vera saw me grinning, she backed away, startled out of her skin, and hurriedly turned around and exited the horse section.
She didn’t even close the door. She had no manners.
A harsh cold wind blew through the gap in the open door, making an eerie sound like the scream of a ghost.
“It’s cold. I think I’m going to freeze to death.”
Suddenly, the Admiral’s disdainful gaze that I saw earlier came to mind. He sincerely wanted the owner of this body to die, his own daughter.
In the early part of the original story, after Diana’s sister and the main character, Celine, was kidnapped, Diana was framed for “selling her sister to the enemy” and was shot to death.
[Father, I didn’t do it!]
Diana’s miserable wailing did not help. Without projecting the person she hated before she died, I don’t know how the writer intended to include such a short, strong epic of misery.
It was a kind of expendable character to show the anger of the father who cared for Celine, and a supporting character who lived empty without presence. Like the blank of records not left in the long, long history of the world, the life of the woman “Diana” also ended with the death of one line.
Since the novel was based on a true story, each of them will have their own misfortunes and circumstances if we look closely. Even when she was alive, the treatment with Celine was a world apart.
The Admiral treated Celine, who resembled his dead wife, as a princess and took very good care of her. He made every effort to rescue his abducted daughter and carried out a rescue mission together with the male protagonist.
If this body was kidnapped, he surely wouldn’t want to save it.
“If I stay here, I’ll die even if I prevent Celine’s kidnapping. I’d rather be kidnapped by the Duke of Rothsilde instead.”
I made this decision because I was getting closer and closer to the judgment of reality. Dream or reality, I couldn’t stand this kind of hospitality. Dying was even worse. In the meantime, I’ve decided to discard the inspirational project of opening the Admiral’s heart to change and enjoy an aristocratic and peaceful life.
I was just going to run away somewhere else, but running away in the middle of winter without any encyclopedic knowledge of this world was tantamount to suicide.
Since there was no way I would be fortunate enough to have books or newspapers to read, and since I was in a situation where I had neither the time nor the environment to accumulate knowledge, so I decided that at least acting within the knowledge I know would be the least risky.
It was a few days before my sister Celine was abducted.
She attended a party, but was abducted directly by the subordinates of the Duke of Rothsilde, a colonel of an enemy country, because she was the daughter of the Admiral. Even though Celine was kidnapped and confined, she stayed in a warm place where food was served without fail.
The conclusion was that I had be taken instead of Celine. In order to escape from this hell and live comfortably, I had to avoid the death that would soon come and saved my life.
I tend to persue maximum benefits with minimal effort.
What do I do after being kidnapped?
If you know your enemy, you will win a hundred battles.
I had a general understanding of Duke Rothsilde’s tendencies from my novel, so once I succeed, I would be able to handle him.