# 1
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Evelyn woke up at the same moment she died.
She soon realized that the place she was now in was a romance novel she had read before.
‘……Damn.’
While others may be reincarnated as secondary or additional characters, she entered the body of the novel's heroine.
If the heroine had been a character who would receive abundant love from the hero or be showered with affection from side characters, the story would have been different. But as stated, this novel was bleak and hopeless.
The protagonist Evelyn, in this story, stubbornly clings to the hero Devrin, who does not even love her and in the end dies of depression.
Only then does Defrin feel some remorse.
'Too late, it was too late.'
Thinking about it, she couldn't understand why this novel was classified as a romance novel in the first place.
Even at the end of the story, there was no scene of Devrin loving Evelyn or anything like that.
But the most annoying point was something else.
Evelyn was terribly abused by her in-laws after her marriage to Devrin.
Dyffryn was the only son of the Lewanc family, one of the ducal families of the Colclough Empire.
The former Duke of Liuanx had arbitrarily promised to marry his grandson to his friend's granddaughter.
Not only were the two families close friends in the past, but the former Duke of Liuanx had once had his life saved by his friend, and was repaying the debt through his grandson.
That friend's granddaughter was the heroine of the novel, Evelyn.
But marriage was not just a relationship between individuals, it was also between families.
Unfortunately, Evelyn's family was just a humble baronial family with no wealth or power, and Dyffryn's mother, the Duchess of Lewanc, found Evelyn unfit as a daughter-in-law and continued to make her life a living hell.
Thus, even though Evelin was the heroine, the path she had to take was not full of flowers, but rather full of thorns.
'No, this is almost a path to the underworld.'
In fact, Evelyn's life was cut short due to psychological pressure.
But if there is a silver lining in all this, it is that Dyffryn had not yet inherited the dukedom and was residing in the capital, where he worked as a minister. At the same time, Dyffryn's parents, the Duke and Duchess of Lewanc, were staying in the duchy to manage the property.
This meant that Evelin rarely had to see her cold in-laws.
Evelyn sighed, rubbing her forehead.
At that moment, the door opened violently and a maid spoke to Evelin.
“Lady Evelin, the Duchess family members have arrived at the reception room.”
Evelin gripped the bouquet of flowers she was holding tightly and stood up.
As she got up, Evelin's reflection was visible in the large, long mirror – a beautiful woman with wheat-colored hair tied tightly, wearing a pure white dress that flowed elegantly.
Today was the day Evelyn was to marry Devrin.
It looks like her in-laws have just arrived at the wedding venue. Evelyn left the bride's waiting room to greet them briefly before the ceremony began and entered the reception room.
As the maid said, the ducal family members were there.
The man who would become Evelyn's father-in-law, Duke Dunswell Lewanc, and the woman who would become her mother-in-law, Duchess Amelia Lewanc, and her future husband, Dyffryn...
'Wait, where is he?'
As Evelin looked around, she felt a sharp look. It was from Amelia, her soon-to-be mother-in-law.
Amelia was wearing a white hat with several colorful peacock feathers decorating the wide brim, and a light blue velvet dress.
Her clothes were elegant enough, but what was most striking were her carefully drawn bright red lips and her dark eyes, unflinchingly fixed.
Evelin realized that she was late in greeting them, so she spoke calmly
“Thank you for taking the trouble to travel such a long distance, Mom and Dad.”
The Duchy of Liwanic was located in the eastern part of the empire, and it must have taken them five full days to reach the capital.
Amelia, sitting on the chair, looked at Evelin steadily and raised her head.
“You will call me ‘Her Highness’.”
She spoke in a cold tone, making it clear that she would not allow friendlier titles to be used.
“…Yes, Your Highness.”
Amelia's cold eyes were like hail balls, directed at Evelin.
Her excessively dark eyes and almost condescending expression were truly terrifying, just as the original novel had described.
“On my way here, I couldn’t help but think whether this wedding was really worth a five-day trip.”
Amelia's stinging words hit Evelin, but she was able to accept her words without showing any emotions.
Thinking about it, her cold attitude wasn't entirely unjustified.
In the end, Evelyn was nothing but the daughter of a poor baron with nothing to her name, and even her closest family member, her father, had died, leaving her an orphan in this world.
However, because of one word spoken by the former Duke of Liuanx, she was supposed to become the daughter-in-law of this prestigious noble family. It was understandable to feel upset.
Even in modern times, marriage was an important business transaction, and for a powerful family like the Liwank family, which held great influence in the empire, it was even more important.
‘The Liwank family must lose a lot with this marriage.’
For this reason, although she was happy to marry Devrin, the original Evelin felt guilty for causing his family such a great loss.
'But that doesn't excuse the way they're treating Evelyn.'
There is a certain line that must not be crossed.
But Amelia didn't just stop hating Evelyn; Rather, he tortured her with contempt and verbal insults.
While reading the original novel, I must have clicked my tongue a lot in frustration. At times, I sympathized so much with the wretched Evelyn that I thought that if I had been in Evelyn's place, I would not have behaved in the same way.
Maybe that's why, unlike the original Evelyn, she was able to answer Amelia without any difficulty.
“I know that I am lacking in many aspects. But I will do my best to ensure that I do not bring any harm to the duchy family.”
Despite Evelin's calm response, Amelia merely frowned her thin eyebrows and showed a dissatisfied expression.
The person who responded in her place was Duke Dunsuel Lewanc, who was standing next to Amelia.
“Okay, we'll see about that.”
Dunswell was a man famous for his exceptional abilities throughout the empire. However, because of Amelia's influence, he did not have a positive opinion of Evelin.
At that moment, a knock was heard at the door, and then it opened as the maid announced
“Lord Dyffryn has arrived.”
Finally, the main hero appears.
After the maid stepped aside, Devrin entered.
With his beautiful platinum blonde hair, smooth, flawless skin, and perfectly proportioned features, he wore his uniform flawlessly.
Evelyn admitted to herf that Devrin was indeed a handsome man.
Devrin exchanged a brief greeting with his parents, then looked at Evelin.
“Let's talk for a moment.”
Evelin nodded and followed Devrin.
They left the reception room and entered an empty room. As soon as Evelyn closed the door and the room fell silent, Devrin quickly turned to her.
“I want to make something clear before marriage.”
The reason Devrin is talking about this at the wedding venue is because he hasn't met Evelyn at all since arranging their marriage.
Devrin exhaled briefly and began to speak
“First, don't expect any changes in our relationship just because we're getting married.”
“The only reason I can marry you is because of my grandfather’s will.”
Devrin and Evelyn have known each other since childhood. The late Duke Lewanc often arranged meetings between them.
Because of this, Evelyn has had feelings for Dyffryn for a very long time, perhaps since their first meeting.
But Devrin didn't feel the same about Evelyn. If there was a reason for this, it was that their personalities clashed like cats and dogs.
While Dyffryn was sarcastic and indifferent, Evelyn was sensitive and gentle.
Evelyn, who loved Dyffrin very much, was often affected and saddened by his meaningless words, and sometimes even cried. Defrin did not understand her sensitivity.
As this situation repeated itf, Dyffrin reached a point where even looking at Evelyn was exhausting him.
Even though the relationship was this complicated, even I, the person who suddenly found myf in Evelyn's body, was also feeling exhausted by the situation.
'Ah, I don't like this either.'
However, she could not simply annul the marriage.
How could a poor baron's daughter dare to annul a marriage arranged based on the late duke's will?
Defrin continued
“I won't care about what you do, so I hope you won't interfere in my affairs either.”
"And you should know that I have no intention of laying a finger on you. Of course, we'll be using separate rooms as well."
Defrin spoke in a deadpan tone as if giving instructions to his staff.
While she was watching him, Evelin thought to herf:
‘Living with a man like that might make her end up as dead as the original Evelin. Not because of depression, but maybe because of anger. '
Therefore, Evelin did not intend to stay with Dyffrin forever.
She already had a plan.
Although Dyffryn is currently the only heir to the dukedom, he will inherit the title two years after their marriage.
At that time, it would be the most appropriate time for Evelin to break up with him.
In the original story, when Devrin became the head of the family, he proposed divorce to Evelyn, but due to her desperation, they were unable to divorce.
'I'll make sure to get a divorce by then.'
If possible, I will demand significant financial compensation.
To achieve this, I will need to act like I don't care about him during our married life
This is to instill a sense of commitment within him. This sense of commitment will translate into a generous financial settlement after two years.
While she was enjoying her happy plan, Devrin scratched the back of his neck and spoke
“And please, don’t cry today.”
At Devrin’s words of distress, Evelin slowly turned her gaze to him. Her round eyes were watching him carefully.
'What's the best way to spark a sense of commitment in this guy?'
At that moment, Defrin took a deep breath and pressed his temples.
I remembered that he frequently had headaches in the original story.
In fact, Dyffryn's cold behavior towards Evelyn was related to these headaches. Headaches make people tense and irritable.
In addition, Evelin's crying or sad expressions were making his headache worse. It was truly a scenario that made one sigh.
'No wonder it's a tragic story.'
But, ironically, there was a very simple way to relieve these headaches.
Evelin hid her smile, then spoke with a soft voice between her lips
“Okay, I won't cry. But...”
Evelin gently reached out and took Devrin's hand.