They meet in Hwangdo.
That is, the capital of the empire where I live.
There wasn’t a coherent flow to the conversation — everyone just said what they wanted — so there were gaps, but I could generally guess the content.
The male lead was a person with supernatural powers.
He could use unusual forces like magic or spirits, but at the same time, he was someone who inspired fear in everyone.
‘It’s not the position that brings fear.’
People feared those with supernatural powers even if they hadn’t done anything wrong.
How should I put it… like when you see a predator?
Like when walking down the road and you come across a tiger or a wolf — everyone would naturally be afraid.
It’s said people instinctively avoid them.
The gaze you feel when alone.
The sound of someone else’s footsteps following you in a remote area.
The view of being deep in water, so deep you can’t escape.
The sensation of being pushed off a cliff into a void, with nothing to grab onto, just helplessly falling.
Becoming a mere insect in front of a godlike being…
The fear felt from those with supernatural powers was a distilled and condensed version of those feelings — pitch black and intense.
“Well… it’s not like I’ve seen them myself.”
That’s what people who met them said.
It was like they were a different species, evoking an incomprehensible fear that ordinary people couldn’t bear to face.
However, most supernatural beings stayed at the imperial palace, served on the frontier, or appeared on the battlefield during wars… I had no connection to any of those places, so it wasn’t strange that I’d never seen one.
“Anyway… this female lead is supposed to be unusual.”
Tap tap.
I drummed my fingers on the memo where I’d written “female lead.”
In a world where everyone feared those with powers, she alone could treat them normally.
She could talk with them, even engage in physical contact like holding hands.
So it made sense that the male lead would go mad.
She was the only warmth he could feel in this world.
Of course, those with supernatural powers didn’t fear each other, so she wasn’t completely the only warmth, but still…
‘They generally don’t like each other.’
A sort of self-loathing among their kind.
I heard that even indifference was considered high praise — they got along that poorly.
Sometimes the palace would collapse because of fights between them…
So for those reasons, to the male lead, the female lead was a unique light — a treasure he didn’t want anyone else to have.
But was she only a treasure to him?
The female lead could interact with others like him, too.
So it was only natural the others would go mad with desire as well — which is why the main prophecy predicted her life would be filled with obsession, abduction, and imprisonment.
‘Tsk tsk.’
I clicked my tongue.
In the gods’ conversation, they never gave clear names for the female lead, male lead, or any of the other characters.
‘They were all just referred to as “male lead,” “female lead,” “the red-haired one,” “purple eyes,” “that crazy b*tch”… stuff like that.’
I was the only one whose name was even partially revealed thanks to my unusual middle name.
Anyway, though I felt sorry that the female lead’s future looked dark and uncertain, it wasn’t my concern. It wasn’t my life.
If I knew her name, I might sneak in a warning and tell her to be careful.
What I knew was that in the year 224, she would be working as a palace maid and get entangled with the male lead.
“Hm.”
Looking back and organizing all this, I stopped doubting my own sanity.
The variety of the people involved and how all the story elements clicked together made me drop that suspicion.
If I had been truly mad, the words would’ve been all jumbled.
But this felt like a script summary.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have the talent to write something like this myself.
That realization brought me a bit of comfort.
Somehow, I had miraculously learned the future, but since it was four years ahead and not directly related to me, my interest waned.
Besides, meddling in someone else’s love life rarely ended well.
At best, it’d cost you three drinks; at worst, three slaps to the face.
I definitely didn’t want to make an enemy out of someone with terrifying powers.
“What should I do with this?”
I picked up the memo I had written for organization and waved it, deep in thought.
It was a miracle I’d probably never experience again, so I wanted to keep it.
But I also feared divine punishment if I got caught with it.
In the end, I burned the paper to destroy the evidence.
‘I’ll just keep it as a memory in my head.’
Thinking that, I tapped the ashes off outside the window and tried to forget the prophecy.
It wasn’t going to help my life anyway.
‘Still… it’s kind of weird…’
As I watched the ashes fall gently down, a sense of unease lingered.
“Why was I mentioned?”
I had no intersection with the lives of the male or female lead.
So why was I named?
It stuck in my mind like a hangnail — something small but irritating.
***
Anyway, as long as people are alive, they move forward, and emotions eventually fade.
Now, only a faint trace of that unease remained.
‘If it were my life, it’d be different, but it’s someone else’s story.’
I was still curious why I could overhear the gods’ conversation, but just like before, I had no one to ask.
‘I can’t exactly go to the temple and say, “So this weird thing happened to me…”’
I’d be lucky not to be branded insane.
I resolved to forget the whole thing.
If only today hadn’t happened.
***
That morning, I got dressed up nicely and boarded the carriage waiting at the front gate.
The carriage, with my family’s crest emblazoned on it, was so lavish that even from afar, anyone could tell it belonged to the Count of Estarote.
I leaned back into a seat more comfortable than most sofas, gazing out the window with excitement.
It was the day of my monthly meeting with my fiancé.
“Hmm hmm, hmm~”
I hummed a tune, thinking of my fiancé.
Pedro Sachsen.
The heir to the Sachsen viscountcy — honestly, his family wasn’t very noteworthy.
‘But that doesn’t matter. Pedro is a radiant person.’
I couldn’t say for sure what expression I had, but I must’ve looked dreamy thinking about him.
I fell in love at first sight when we met during a childhood family trip, and I begged my parents to arrange the engagement right away.
The Sachsen family didn’t quite match the wealth and power of the Estarote house — one of the richest in the Empire — but no one could refuse the request of their daughter born once in a hundred years.
In the end, it was decided that once we became adults, he would marry into our family.
Even though I had two older brothers and a younger brother, bringing in a husband this way was very unusual.
Normally, families would continue their lineage through a daughter or bring in a live-in son-in-law.
However, my parents didn’t like the idea of their precious daughter leaving their embrace, nor did they want me to suffer by marrying into some backward territory like Saxony.
If he came in as a live-in son-in-law, even though Pedro was the eldest son, he wouldn’t be able to inherit his family’s land.
It would mean transferring from the Saxony territory to the Estarote territory…
Within one’s own territory, a lord was no different from a king.
It was insane, but with just a gesture, a life could easily be taken, and no one could punish him for it.
Such a position was lost because of my childish whining back then, so it was no surprise that Pedro’s gaze toward me wasn’t exactly kind.
“Well, things are a bit better these days…”
At least now, because of the watchful eyes of the people in the House of Count Estarote, he refrained from physical violence, but his attitude remained icy cold.
Thankfully, recently, he seemed to have warmed up a bit.
“I need to work harder.”
I had always been told that I ruined his life.
So, to that extent, I had to make it up for Pedro’s happiness.
No matter what.
It was when I was looking out the window with a somewhat gloomy expression.
[I’m getting off at this station]
Ah, damn it.
That idiot again.
Once again, a translucent panel filled with divine words appeared before my eyes.
[Old junk cars should go to the junkyard]
I am… so sick of this.
How much longer do I have to choke on frustration?
[I’m getting off at this station]
Seriously, how many times has it been already?
Beat Pedro up, that little piece of… I mean, he’s even got a love child now?
And a six-year-old, at that?
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH (dies of hypertension)
Even though I hadn’t touched ice, my fingertips turned cold.
As a noble, and a woman at that, the word “illegitimate child” sent a chill through my heart.
And the name that appeared before it…
‘Beat-Pedro? No way… it can’t be Pedro. It must just be a coincidence that the three syllables match.’
After all, hadn’t the prophecy so far only talked about the heroine and hero, not about me?
My name had popped up like a side dish before, but it wasn’t the main subject.
So surely, this wasn’t about me.
[Old junk cars should go to the junkyard]
It’s currently the year 225.
The male and female leads went on a winter trip and watched the sunrise together.
If the child is six years old now, adding the pregnancy period, that makes about seven years ago…
That means he cheated in 218?
[I’m getting off at this station]
Ugh, I knew it.
Previously, he brushed off four mistresses like a saint, but he eventually collected five and even had an illegitimate child on top of that, hahaha.
If this keeps up, I can’t hold it in anymore, author!!!
[Director of Namnam Academy]
LOL Why haven’t you dropped this story yet?
You said you would when Lovely appeared and everything was so frustrating, remember?
[I’m getting off at this station]
Exactly, why didn’t I?
I don’t even know why I’m so furious over something that’s not even about the main characters, just some extras =益=v
“Ah…”
In the end, once my name was mentioned, I couldn’t suppress the dizziness.