I watched blankly as a montage of scenes unfolded before me from the heroine’s perspective—her childhood, the day she grew up and fled her family home, her meeting with the Crown Prince, their romance, their fights, and their subsequent growth.
I had definitely closed my eyes and fallen asleep, so why was I trapped in this inexplicable space, forced to watch this video?
‘It’s not working...’
Thinking I might wake up if I just went back to sleep, I tried to close my eyes, but they wouldn't shut. I tried to move my body, but I couldn't budge an inch. It was as if something was demanding I witness every single moment of the heroine’s life. Only after hearing the heroine’s ringing laughter, accompanied by the sight of the Crown Prince—now her husband—smiling happily at her, was I finally released. As the kaleidoscopic memories drew to a close, I was left entirely alone in a pitch-black darkness.
‘This is driving me crazy.’
How on earth was I supposed to escape this place? Frustrated, I struggled to move my body in any way possible, but I remained utterly paralyzed. Right then, the sound of murmuring voices drifted over from the distance.
─Ruby Esckart...!
Listening closely, it was clearly someone's name.
If it was Ruby Esckart, that was undoubtedly the name of the heroine from the novel I had been reading just moments ago. But that wasn’t my name. Why was someone calling out to me so desperately using her name?
My face contorted at the sheer desperation vibrating in that voice, but the next second, the world before my eyes began to bleed into a brilliant white.
─Ruby Esckart...!
The voice grew progressively louder. Though I couldn't see a thing, I felt instinctively that if I headed toward the sound, I would find a way out, so I forced my body to move. Fortunately, this time my limbs obeyed my will. I took a slow step forward.
─Lady... Ruby!
"Ah... it's cold."
The moment I moved toward the voice, a blinding flash of light poured over me. I squeezed my eyes shut.
When the commotion finally seemed to die down, what I felt next was a sudden drenching of ice-cold water. Wondering what on earth was happening now, I opened my eyes. As if the dream from moments ago was repeating itself, I found myself dripping wet, facing a woman dressed in peculiar attire who stood before me with a sly smirk plastered across her face.
With her fiery orange hair and sharp orange eyes, the woman looked venomous, yet she felt inexplicably familiar, triggering an intense sense of cognitive dissonance. Especially that outfit...
"...By any chance, Marin?"
"Oh my, I am so sorry, My Lady. It slipped right out of my hand before I knew it. Are you alright?"
Marin spoke in a tone that was far more mocking than apologetic. I, however, was too paralyzed by confusion to utter a single word.
‘Marin? Is that really Marin? If so...’
I slowly scanned my surroundings. It was undeniably the exact room I had seen before falling asleep. I looked down at my hands. The rough, blistered hands I had earned from working countless part-time jobs and doing housework were gone; instead, smooth, pale fingers that looked as though they had never touched a drop of water met my gaze.
I blinked hard, squeezing my eyes shut and opening them again. I clenched my hands into fists and released them. Yet, the only thing that greeted me was a piercing sense of reality. My lips tightened at the vivid realism that practically screamed this was no dream.
I had desperately hoped it wasn't true, but it really seemed to be the case, didn't it? Given these memories and everything else...
I glared at Marin. Her face was twisted in discontent, lacking even a shred of goodwill toward me.
In the panoramic memories I had just witnessed, I had definitely seen this maid's face. She was the primary culprit who had tirelessly and consistently tormented the heroine from childhood all the way into adulthood. She was vindictive enough to ensure that drenching her mistress with water like this was a regular occurrence. Actively behaving as though she were the lady of the house rather than the heroine herself, this fearless maid was none other than the heroine's long-standing personal servant.
‘...It looks like I've ended up inside the novel, haven't I?’
To make matters worse, I seemed to have possessed her during the most frustrating period of all—her days as the abused young lady of the house.
Damn it.
"My Lady? Why is your face like that? Surely you aren't offended by my little mistake, are you? It's not like it's the first time..."
Watching me spiral into confusion, Marin rolled her eyes, her expression practically saying, 'As if someone like you would dare be angry at me.'
If I had followed my true nature, I would have grabbed that bizarre orange hair of hers and yanked it until she begged for mercy, but I forced myself to take a slow, deep breath.
Calm down first. It won't be too late to act after I've figured out the situation.
Contrasting sharply with my raging inner fury, a soft smile graced my lips. It was the exact type of manufactured smile I wore right before snapping—the kind that would have made my real-life best friends turn and run without looking back. Mimicking the Ruby from my memories as closely as possible, I opened my mouth.
"...No. It's fine. Mistakes happen. I'm okay."
"I knew you'd say that! I just knew our kind Lady would understand. You need to change out of those wet clothes, so go ahead and pull something comfortable out of the wardrobe. I have somewhere I need to drop by, so I'll head out first. Just change and come straight down to the dining hall."
As if she had fully expected that answer, Marin rattled off her words in a breathless rush and slammed the door shut, leaving as if her business here was done. It was behavior that should never have existed given the sheer status gap between a noble lady and a maid.
The smile instantly vanished from my face as I stared coldly at the closed door, falling deep into thought.
Cross-referencing my current situation with the original 'Ruby's' memories, this body was now twenty years old, having just reached adulthood. Even so, Marin treated her like a mere child, making decisions on her own whim and acting entirely as she pleased. It was to the point where it was hard to tell who was the lady and who was the servant.
It was an attitude I had already witnessed while reading the novel, but experiencing it firsthand made my blood boil. I clenched my fists so tightly to control my temper that my knuckles turned stark white. At the very least, I felt a strange sense of pride that the years of endurance I'd built up in the corporate world were finally paying off today. Right. I should save my anger until after I've fully grasped the situation. Even then, it wouldn't be too late.
I climbed out of bed and approached the vanity mirror I had noticed before lying down. Reflected in the glass was the heroine, looking like a drowned rat with a thoroughly dazed expression. I gave my cheek a sharp pinch.
"Ouch."
As expected, the pain stung immediately. After rubbing my reddened cheek, I decided to change out of my soaked clothes first and walked over to the solitary wardrobe standing in the corner of the room. When I pulled the doors open, my jaw dropped.
"...What is this? Is this really a noble lady's wardrobe?"
It looked more like a maid's closet.
My brow furrowed. The only things visible inside were a few drab, dark dresses that looked incredibly worn out. No matter how neglected she was, she was still the sole daughter of a Duke; this treatment was entirely beyond the pale.
Letting out a brief sigh, I changed into the neatest-looking dress among the meager options. Though the gown was remarkably uncomfortable, it was infinitely better than staying in wet clothes.
‘...Ruby. Ruby Esckart.’
Fully dressed, I stepped back in front of the mirror. Staring at the reflection that remained unchanged, I finally began to accept reality.
It seemed I really had been transmigrated into the body of the heroine.
While I had no idea how such a thing was possible, it was a stroke of luck amidst misfortune that I had read this novel until the very end. Furthermore, having just witnessed all of her memories, I could easily recognize the people she knew. At the very least, I wouldn't have to put on an act pretending to have amnesia.
On top of that, this novel wasn't an angst-heavy tragedy, nor did it have a sad ending. Once I got past this specific hurdle, it was a guaranteed, smooth-sailing happy ending, so I didn't need to worry about the future. The moment I met the male lead, the Crown Prince, becoming the Crown Princess was a predetermined path. I just needed to quietly follow the original plot.
The only issue was that to do so, I had to time my departure from this estate perfectly...
Well, it would probably be fine.
My memory of that specific event was crystal clear.
Depending on how things went, I could either endure it for as long as I could bear and leave when the time was right, or if I truly couldn't stand it, I could just leave earlier and wait for the Crown Prince myself.
Deciding to keep things simple, I smoothed down the wrinkles of my dress and stepped out of the room.
Normally, Marin would bring meals up to the room, but there was exactly one occasion a week where Ruby would head down to the dining hall herself: the day the entire Ducal family gathered for breakfast.
Fascinatingly enough, the Duke's family in the novel made it a strict rule to share breakfast together just once a week. Because Ruby was despised by her family, no one would have cared even if she skipped it, but the original heroine had been so desperate to fit in with her relatives that she always looked forward to this hour with painful anticipation. Yet, despite the effort she poured into attending, the crushing pressure and suffocating tension of the table always gave her severe indigestion, leaving her clutching her stomach in agony for the rest of the day.
‘...If that's how it's going to be, it would actually be better not to go at all.’
I clicked my tongue.
A wave of exasperation washed over me at the heroine's foolish behavior, but despite my thoughts, my feet carried me briskly toward the dining hall.