I was possessed by the villain’s daughter.

PROLOUGE

There was jewelry, porcelain, and gold everywhere I looked. In a spacious mansion, I was enjoying tea time with my family.

“Lara, were you feeling well?”

My eldest brother Edwin’s voice snapped me out of my daze and I set down my teacup.

“Yes, yes. Of course…oops!”

But then I slipped up and scalded my hand slightly on the hot tea. His second brother Wright, who was sitting next to him, hurriedly handed him a handkerchief.

“Were you okay?”

“Thanks…”

I took the handkerchief and wiped my hands. My father, Esat, leaned closer to me and looked at Dane’s finger, his heart breaking as if he had hurt it himself.

“Be careful. Laila.”

“Ah….”

I blushed a little. It felt so awkward and uncomfortable to be the recipient of such warmth and goodwill that I couldn’t stand it. But  Esat nodded as if he knew what I was thinking.

“It was  okay. Even if you lose your memory, Laila, you will always be part of our family.”

“….”

I lifted my flushed face. I look at Edwin and Wright, and they return my gaze with warmth. I send them an awkward smile, and they smile back at me like a blooming flower.

My name is Laila Roshahil.

But a few months ago, I didn’t even know these people, let alone be related to them.

I never dreamed that I, an ordinary Korean high school girl who was an orphan, would become obsessed with a novel called The Story of Elia.

Let’s went back in time for a moment.

***]

“Read this!”

Yum. I took a big bite out of my hamburger and squinted my eyes. My friend Ye Eun-yi suddenly shoved her smartphone at me. I chewed my burger quickly and asked.

“What was this?”

“You’ll know when you read it.”

What, was she trying to sell me the novel she was been reading again?

I took the phone and started reading.

I was sitting in an air-conditioned fast food restaurant eating a burger that Ye-Eun had bought, so I was willing to let her read the novel, even if it wasn’t very good.

But I didn’t realize that the novel wasn’t just boring.

“What the hell!”

The title was “The Story of Elia.

There were about 40 of them on the internet. I read about half a dozen of them in one sitting, and then, without pausing to breathe, I pointed out every single thing that was wrong with them.

“Why was  the main character so nice, every time she did something, everyone around her falls head over heels in love with her, and this girl laila is annoying, and the whole story is just frustrating!”

My friend, who had been listening to my tale in silence, smiled brightly when I finished and said.

“That was what I wrote.”

“…….”

There was a moment of silence.

“You…you were writing a novel?”

“That was  my first one, and it was  the first one I showed you because it was doing pretty well on the internet….”

I shut my mouth and quickly shifted my stance.

“It was kind of fresh and provocative, which was exactly what this generation likes. The main character’s a little too nice, but that was how novels were supposed to be, and now that I think about it, I like some of the characters!”

“Oh, you mean the Duke of Roshahill?”

“Yes! He was so cool, a competent, cool-headed duke.”

“Exactly! I knew you’d like him.”

Despite my bad-mouthing, she was eager and enthusiastic to explain the novel in detail. In particular, she talked a lot about the Duke of Roshahil, whom I had told her I was interested in. Thanks to him, I learned not only what he liked and disliked, but also that he had watery hair and turquoise eyes.

I also learned that he had two sons and a daughter, both in their 40s and that he had been married for an incredible amount of time.

Aha, the daughter was the wicked Elia.

As I listened, shaking my head in disbelief, Ye Yi added one last word.

“But don’t like her too much.”

“Why?”

“Because in the novel, the duke dies in a year.”

Hul.

That was the hull.

The only character I liked was the Duke of Roshahil!

But Ye Eun-yi was adamant.

“It was written.”

Chet, you can’t help it.

I folded up the paper from the finished burger and tossed it in the trash.

I parted ways with Ye-Eun-yi and walked down the darkened street to my house, where my aunt frowned openly as soon as she saw me.

“What was a girl doing out so late?”

It wasn’t even nine o’clock yet.

When she asked me where I’d been, and I told her I’d been to a fast food restaurant, her stare became even harsher.

“If you ate that, won’t you get fatter and roll around like a pig?” she asked.

I didn’t say anything. It was not that I was fat. On the contrary, I was very slim. But every time my aunt saw me, she would always say, “You ate a lot of rice” and “You will become a pig” and slap me.

I had been living in my aunt’s house ever since my parents and brother died in a car accident when I was in elementary school. I was grateful that I didn’t went to an orphanage, but…

“Hurry up and went  inside, before your aunt gets home.”

“Okay.”

I entered through the living room, where my cousin was sitting on the couch. He frowned like my aunt as soon as he saw me. On the TV, pretty idols were smiling and making comments. My cousin didn’t like me either. He said I was ugly and that I was making things difficult for his aunt and uncle.

He had barely gotten into college because he was a daredevil, and he was always irritating his aunt, let alone doing his chores. Did that mean he was handsome, no, not at all.

It was a good thing she hadn’t moved in yet. The unrelated aunt was especially cruel to me. She couldn’t bring herself to abandon me in public, so she locked me in a room that could be used for storage. It was her doctor who forced me to went to a vocational high school, even though I had good grades.

“What good was a girl’s education?” she said.

She was disappointed that I was good at studying while her son, who looked just like her, was a three-sport athlete.

If I were the real daughter of this family, would they still treat me like this?

I closed the door to the guest room and hung my head in sorrow. The room was as dark and cold as my heart.

Then I heard the front door open. It was my uncle, and he came in, yelling at the top of his lungs as if to show off his drunkenness.

“Where was  that bitch? What was  so great about her that she won’t came out and saw me?”

“Came in quietly, Jin-soo, take your dad with you.”

“Why was  my mom picking on me!”

I heard three voices complaining. I held my breath and concentrated on the sound of the conversation. My aunt sometimes beat me when I drank alcohol. So I had to hide as quietly as possible.

I could feel the pounding footsteps coming down the hall and toward my door.

My breath caught in my throat.

A long moment passed. Maybe it was only a second, but it seemed so long to me.

I heard the door creak open.

I let out a long sigh.

I could hear the sound of my aunt flopping down on the bed through the wall. She was too drunk for tonight and decided to stay in.

Still, I was  frozen to the spot. How long had it been?

I must have fallen asleep in that position because when I opened my eyes, it was already dawn. My whole body ached from sleeping on my stomach.

The clock read 6:34 am. I scrambled to my feet. It was time for my aunt to wake up to prepare breakfast. It was wise to get to school early to avoid running into her.

As I hurried out of the house, I could see a white mist of water enveloping the entire neighborhood. My neighborhood sits on a river, so in the mornings, the entire neighborhood would be filled with a mist that made it difficult to saw. I munched on cheap bread from the convenience store and waited for the light at the crosswalk.

“Still.

The good news  was  that I was about to become an adult. My aunt’s unilateral decision to send me to a vocational high school meant that I could start working early. In the third year, I will go directly from high school to an industrial company, got a salary, rent a small apartment, and move out of my aunt’s house.

You did’t have to hide in fear anymore. No more crying, no more heartache from being unloved.

I had no more expectations. No expectations to be loved, no blood ties.

The absence of expectations makes me feel at peace.

The light had just turned green. I crossed the street slowly.

It was then.

Bam!!!

I heard the brakes of a truck coming to a sharp stop.

It was as if time had stopped. It felt like slow motion as the big wheels approached me.

BANG!!!

My vision flashed white. Blood rushed to my face. I shivered, unable to scream. The pain was unbearable.

Was I going to die like this?

No, no.

I can’t die like this…

My life was too precious.

I desperately tried to open my closing eyes.

When I miraculously opened my eyes once again,

I was in the middle of the story of Elia.

***.

As soon as I opened my eyes, I groaned, and the man in the white coat next to me looked at me with a smile on his face.

“De, were you finally awake!”

“…Ugh?”

As I opened my eyes, unable to comprehend the situation, someone quickly pushed the white-robed man away and stuck his face in front of my eyes.

” Elia !!!”

He grabbed my hand as if I was going to cry.

“Watery hair? Turquoise eyes?

He looked to be in his thirties.

He had watery hair that changed color depending on the angle, cold turquoise eyes, and cold facial features that made him incredibly handsome and inhumanly smooth.

It didn’t take me long to realize that it was eerily similar to the description of Esat Roshahil I had seen in the novel.

But, ah. No way.

“…Who…was…counting?”

“What, what?”

He looked at me in shock. Still not quite grasping the situation, I looked around and saw it.

A carved ceiling with a golden bird in flight, just like the one described in the novel.

If text were an image, this is what it would look like.

It was, without a doubt, the perfect Roshahil crest.

“…Ha…ha…ha…ha…!”

No way,

No way.

Could it be that the person in front of me right now?

The biggest villain in The Tale of laila, Duke Esat Roshahil … Human,

You can’t be, could you?