Chapter 

Prina had been watching an advice counseling broadcast.

[Q. I think my boyfriend is kind of weirdㅠㅠ He’s handsome, sweet, perfect, but… he hides a lot of things.

A. What kind of things does it seem like he’s hiding?

Q. I recently found out he lied to me about his job. He apologized so much that I ended up forgiving himㅠㅠ But now I’m starting to suspect he might actually be using someone else’s identity. I’m the weird one here, right?

A. Break up with him immediately.]

Good grief. A boyfriend using a fake identity?

What a terrifying world.

[Q. But my boyfriend treats me really well, and normally he blah blah blah…

A. Break up with him.]

‘Huh? Why is this suddenly…?’

Blink. Blink.

Prina lay sprawled on the stairs, staring blankly at the ceiling.

Without warning, memories from her previous life flooded her mind.

It had happened one day while she was rushing to visit her younger siblings at the academy.

The moment she fell down the stairs at home while carrying heavy luggage, the shock triggered the memories of her past life.

‘No way! I reincarnated inside a novel?’

And not just any novel—a crazy world where the protagonist endlessly regressed just by breathing, and the hidden mastermind destroyed the entire empire she lived in!

‘This is insane!’

Someone save me!

She was so shocked that she couldn’t even think about getting up, merely staring vacantly at the crumbling old ceiling when—

A long shadow suddenly stretched over her.

“…Goodness, Prina, are you alright? You’re not hurt anywhere, are you?”

Looking at the face stiffened with concern, Prina struggled to stop the corners of her lips from loosening into a foolish grin.

Calm down. Stay calm.

…But seriously, why is this man so handsome even when he’s startled?

The man’s name was Hugo.

They had only recently started dating.

Without a doubt, he was the most breathtakingly beautiful man she had ever seen.

“Prina, can you stand?”

“Mmh… Hugo, I’m okay.”

“But your pretty knee is scraped.”

Prina let out a groan.

Her whole body hurt like she’d been beaten up, but the dizziness from the memories of her previous life crashing into her mind was even worse.

Before she knew it, Hugo had crouched down on one knee and was examining her swollen ankle with a troubled expression.

‘He must really be upset that I got hurt…’

Would she ever meet another man this gentle?

His regretful gaze lingered on her ankle for a long while.

…Wait, wasn’t he looking at it for a little too long?

Eh. He was probably just worried.

She brushed it off casually, but then the large hand stroking her ankle gradually began applying more pressure.

His strong fingers wrapped tightly around her slender ankle without the slightest gap, and it felt suffocating, as though heavy shackles had been locked around her leg.

“…Ah.”

A startled cry escaped her when he gripped her swollen ankle. Hugo immediately pulled his hand away.

‘Honestly, Hugo can be bad at controlling his strength sometimes.’

Even during dates, he occasionally snapped the armrests of chairs or casually bent knives.

‘Mm. He even broke our front door once.’

Of course, Hugo had apologized and fixed it afterward.

…Though the doorframe had looked oddly crooked ever since, Prina decided not to mention it.

“Can you stand, Prina?”

The moment Hugo held out his hand, Prina hesitated.

…Was it really safe to take this hand? Hugo wasn’t exactly good at controlling his strength.

“I’ll help you.”

At that instant, his large hand firmly wrapped around her wrist.

Then he pulled her up.

‘Ah, but…’

Her ankle throbbed painfully as she was yanked upright by his overwhelming strength. But the moment her eyes met his crimson gaze staring straight through her—

She completely forgot the pain.

A strange, indescribable sensation bloomed deep in her chest.

Black hair.

Ruby-red eyes.

…Didn’t Hugo look way too similar to the hidden mastermind from the novel?

“Are you alright, Prina?”

“Ah, thank you for helping me up, Hugo.”

Prina hurriedly pulled herself together.

‘No way.’

Hugo being the hidden mastermind from the novel?

That couldn’t possibly be true.

It was ridiculous.

Shaking her head, Prina forced away the vivid feeling she had just experienced.

‘If this place really is inside that novel…’

The moment that thought followed, Prina unconsciously stopped breathing.

‘Then me… and my siblings… we all die together.’

The horrifying truth made her dizzy.

She had to run away.

If this truly was the world of the novel… then she needed to escape before the hidden mastermind turned the empire into a sea of blood!

On the day her memories of her previous life returned, Prina firmly resolved to flee the country with her precious younger siblings.

That had already been two years ago.

“Achoo!”

As Prina sneezed loudly, attention turned toward her.

This was Daisy Hall.

“Prina, did you catch a cold?”

“Ugh, I think so.”

Her body had been aching since morning, and it seemed she’d finally come down with something.

‘I shouldn’t have waited around for a whole week…’

It had already been a week since she started waiting at Layton Bridge—the place where she planned to tell Hugo they should break up.

But he never came.

“Why are you still waiting for a guy who ghosted you?”

“G-ghosted me?”

Prina stammered in surprise, and her coworker raised an eyebrow.

“He left a year ago without a single message, and now he doesn’t show up for an entire week? Plus, he never told you where he lived, but he knows where you live and still hasn’t sent even one letter. Go ahead. Try to argue with that.”

Hmm. She really couldn’t think of a rebuttal.

Did I seriously get ghosted…?

“Bet he found someone else.”

The coworkers peeling potatoes in the kitchen chimed in indignantly.

“Maybe he was two-timing you?”

Hm?

“Sounds like he cheated and then ghosted you.”

“He hasn’t sent a single letter for a whole year, Prina. You seriously never suspected anything?”

Honestly, she hadn’t.

More accurately, she’d had no reason to suspect him.

Hugo had left right before she was about to break up with him.

If they were breaking up anyway, what did it matter whether he cheated or not? At worst, it would just leave a bitter taste in her mouth.

‘For a whole year, all I worried about was how to tell him we should break up…’

She had never imagined Hugo would disappear without a word.

Thinking about it now, maybe her coworkers were right. After a year, it was only natural for someone’s feelings to change.

‘But…’

It was before Hugo left.

“This is something important, Prina.”

“You have to return it when I come back. You must wait for me.”

Usually, knights heading off to war entrusted precious belongings to the lovers they cherished.

Hugo hadn’t been going to war, but he did the same thing whenever he departed on dangerous missions.

That was why Prina couldn’t bring herself to refuse the ring, even though she hadn’t managed to tell him they should break up.

Of course, she’d tried refusing it at first.

“H-Hugo, the gemstone is huge. If I lose this, I’ll never be able to pay you back…”

“It’s alright if you lose it. I only need you to wait for me.”

Saying that, Hugo had pressed the ring into her hand.

‘…Why did I accept this thing?!’

If she hadn’t, she wouldn’t have suffered through an entire week waiting around just to return it.

Was it really a ghosting breakup if he wouldn’t even come retrieve the ring?

But such an expensive ruby ring?

And besides…

‘This is the ring Hugo always wore.’

It truly seemed like he had entrusted her with something precious.

Prina let out a deep sigh.

She still worried. What if there really was a reason he couldn’t come…?

So just until today.

Today would be the last day she waited for Hugo.

Eight o’clock in the evening.

Prina stood on Layton Bridge once more.

“Fresh fruit! Sweet and juicy fruit!”

“Layton Bridge souvenirs! Couples who buy these charms will stay happy forever—!”

Prina stared blankly at the street vendors.

In the end, she’d come to Layton Bridge again after work. She had already been waiting for him for quite some time today too.

‘Just thirty more minutes.’

Normally, she would have gone home by now, but today she decided to wait a little longer.

Because today was the final day she would wait for Hugo!

Time passed as she waited.

Eventually, feeling thirsty, Prina decided to buy a drink from a nearby vendor.

“Seventy silver.”

“…What?”

“Seventy.”

Just because this was a famous reunion spot, did they really have to jack up the prices this much?!

‘Normally it’s only thirty silver!’

Prina nearly teared up as she handed over the seventy silver.

After wasting such a ridiculous amount of money, she suddenly wondered what she was even doing waiting around for someone who never came.

‘Ugh.’

Was the alcohol content high or something?

She felt tipsy almost immediately after drinking it.

‘I should take it easy. I’m gonna get drunk.’

Prina looked up at the tall clocktower rising above Layton Bridge. The second hand had already passed downward.

Another thirty minutes had gone by.

Time to go home.

‘Hugo and I are over now.’

But the ring…

She hesitated, but there wasn’t much else she could do. Hugo hadn’t shown up!

…If it was truly important, wouldn’t he come for it eventually?

‘Anyway, I kept my promise.’

Just as she turned to leave—

‘Huh?’

A flash of black hair passed before her eyes.

As though bewitched, Prina stared at the man.

At the face beautiful enough to look sculpted.

Crimson eyes swept indifferently across Layton Bridge.

…It was Hugo.

After waiting one week and one extra day—

Hugo had finally come.