There was news that had the entire capital in an uproar.
And that news was—
“I heard the real young lady of House Lucerte has returned?”
The little duchess of Lucerte, who had supposedly been lost long ago.
At last, she had been found!
With such joyful news, the House of Lucerte was in a complete festive mood.
The people of the capital sincerely celebrated the occasion, but…
Some gossipmongers secretly whispered about the “fake young lady of Lucerte.”
“Then what will happen to Lady Cecilia?”
“Well, the ducal house has its pride. They probably can’t just cast her out…”
“Won’t they hurry and marry her off or something and send her away?”
Behind the wide-open fans of noblewomen.
Amid the acrid smoke of cigars held between gentlemen’s lips.
Low whispers mixed with mocking laughter drifted through the air.
“‘Fake young lady,’ huh? What a pitiful situation… heh.”
“Oh my, calling her fake is a bit harsh.”
“But everyone’s already calling her that behind her back.”
“In any case, the ducal family must have quite the headache now.”
Meanwhile, at that very moment, in the Lucerte ducal residence—
The townhouse of the ducal family looked no different from a grand banquet hall.
To celebrate the return of their lost daughter, they had prepared a family dinner lavish enough to resemble an imperial feast.
The table overflowed with all kinds of rare and expensive delicacies.
Among them, the duchess turned toward the daughter seated beside her with a radiant smile.
Perhaps uncomfortable in such elegant clothes, the young girl kept fidgeting with the collar of her dress.
Her brilliant golden hair resembled the duchess’s own so closely it was uncanny.
And her vivid green eyes—the trademark inheritance of the direct Lucerte bloodline—sparkled intelligently.
“Milena, try some of this. It’s apple pie.”
The duchess gently pushed the plate toward her daughter so it would be easier to eat.
A sweet aroma rose from the pie, filled with carefully stewed premium apples.
“Back when you were still eating baby food, you absolutely loved mashed apples.”
The duchess reminisced wistfully.
“My daughter… when did you grow up so beautifully? I wasn’t even there to take care of you, and yet you grew up so well.”
Unable to continue, the duchess’s eyes became moist with tears.
The duke patted his wife’s shoulder affectionately and spoke gently.
“My dear, Milena has returned to us now. Everything we couldn’t do for her before—we can make up for from now on.”
“You can finally rest easy now, Milena. From now on, we’ll protect you.”
The young duke, Elias, added kindly.
Everyone seated at the table looked happy.
Everyone except one person.
Cecilia von Lucerte.
The fake young lady adopted to fill the absence of the real daughter.
She sat silently staring down at the plate before her, her expression dark.
She looked as though she might burst into tears if someone merely tapped her shoulder.
And yet, no one paid Cecilia any attention.
Though they sat in the same room, the atmosphere surrounding her was so different that they hardly felt like one family at all.
‘No, am I the only one bothered by this?!’
Milena screamed internally at that very moment.
As though sensing her gaze, Cecilia slowly lifted her head.
Their eyes met directly.
‘Gasp.’
Milena swallowed nervously.
At the same time, Cecilia’s shoulders stiffened.
She pressed her lips tightly together and glared sharply at her.
As though she refused to lose to Milena—the “real daughter”—no matter what.
‘…This is making me miserable.’
Milena found the entire situation unbearably awkward.
It wasn’t even her fault, yet Cecilia hated her for it.
And she also hated this household for openly treating Cecilia like an invisible person just because they had found her.
“Um, excuse me, but I don’t want to play the role of a duchess’s daughter. I just want to go back home.”
…If only she could say that!
But she couldn’t.
‘Because this contract has my mother’s life riding on it!’
Sighing inwardly, Milena forced the most harmless smile she could manage toward Cecilia.
Hey, heroine?
I’ll stay quiet and out of your way, then leave as soon as possible.
So please stop glaring at me like that. Please!
The problem was that, for some reason, Cecilia interpreted Milena’s desperately polite business smile in the worst way possible.
Her expression became even more terrifying.
‘No, this is unfair for me too.’
Milena cried tears of blood inwardly.
‘I never wanted to return to the ducal family in the first place!’
…And all of this had started from a strange dream on an otherwise ordinary day.
Chirp chirp, chirp chirp chirp.
The cheerful songs of birds announced the morning.
Sunlight streamed brightly into the room.
‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’
Having just awakened, I blinked blankly.
My name is Milena.
Since I’m a commoner, I don’t have a surname.
I’m eighteen years old this year.
I live alone with my mother in the small western city of Baron Trancier’s territory, famous for its hot springs.
Normally, the biggest thing I worried about was something trivial like:
“What should we have for dinner tomorrow?”
But this—
‘This… this can’t be real!’
According to the dream I had just now, this world was actually inside a book.
More specifically, inside a romance fantasy novel I had read in my previous life.
“The Villainous Young Lady Will No Longer Be Disdained.”
To summarize the story:
The heroine, Cecilia, was the only daughter of the empire’s greatest family, House Lucerte.
However, Cecilia was not actually the duke’s biological daughter.
After losing their real daughter, the duchess—unable to bear her loneliness—adopted Cecilia as a substitute.
Afterward, Cecilia tried everything she could to earn the family’s love.
And yet, the family coldly pushed her away.
“In place of that child, you must at least strive not to stain the honor of House Lucerte.”
The duke was always cold as winter.
“I wonder where that child is now… what could she be doing…?”
The duchess would burst into tears whenever she looked at Cecilia, thinking of her lost daughter.
“Ha, you still don’t get it? How could someone like you ever be my real sister?!”
Even Elias, the young duke, constantly shouted at her.
Still, Cecilia could not abandon her faint hope.
She struggled desperately.
‘No… someday, they’ll accept me as their real daughter.’
Because Cecilia, who had grown up in an orphanage, had always dreamed of having a family.
But then—
“My goodness, our daughter!!”
One day, the “real daughter” finally returned to the ducal family.
The family became obsessed with the returned daughter.
Even the man who had once shown affection toward Cecilia suddenly confessed his love to the real daughter instead, as easily as flipping over his palm.
…At this point, you’ve probably realized already.
The archenemy who stole everything from Cecilia.
The villainess who charmed everyone with her sunshine-like personality.
That was me.
I was that damned real daughter!!
‘T-This makes no sense!’
I grabbed my head and screamed silently.
Out of all the countless characters, why did I have to become that real daughter?!
In the original story, Milena had been unbelievably irritating.
Always smiling sweetly while subtly digging under people’s skin…
“Oh? Brother didn’t greet you kindly? That’s strange. He always welcomes me with a smile.”
“Maybe you misunderstood something? It’s odd that such a kind brother would only treat you coldly.”
“I think you might just be too sensitive!”
Milena’s legendary lines flashed through my head one after another.
And finally, the top comment from the novel’s readers appeared as if mocking me.
“I’d honestly be fine if Milena tripped over a rock and disappeared from the story already. Please get rid of her quickly…”
…I had definitely agreed with that comment so passionately that I even upvoted it.
But I never imagined I’d end up living as that very “Milena”!
‘This has to be a joke, right?!’
Just as I collapsed face-first onto the bed in despair—
Bang!
The bedroom door swung open.
And a familiar face slowly peeked inside.