I Held the Leash of a Blind Beast (1 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 1

The bustling shopping district was crowded with people, horses, and carriages alike.

Among them, beneath the hastily scrawled sign of Café Cardinal—a famous spot so packed that even its terrace overflowed with patrons—a woman gleamed with excitement as she watched passersby.

Her appearance was striking enough to draw anyone’s gaze: pale skin, lustrous golden hair the rich hue of honey like gently steeped chamomile tea, vivid violet eyes, and plump pink lips. Yet once she neatly tied back her hair, tucked it under a bonnet, and threw on an old, worn-out coat, she faded into the background as just another member of the lower class in this rigid society.

Rona’s eyes, scanning only the young women in dresses amidst the chaotic crowd, held a sharp intensity—but her expression and actions betrayed extreme impatience.

“Sigh. Meeting the female lead really is as hard as plucking stars from the sky.”

Rona’s real name was Wonyun Ji.

Once, she had been a healthy, freshly minted young professional in South Korea. Just as she’d landed a lucky job and was celebrating her good fortune, she found herself transmigrated into a romance novel she’d only skimmed.

She’d read the beginning carefully, but grew increasingly careless toward the end—because she’d gotten that job midway through.

Consequently, by the time she reached the latter half, she kept starting and stopping, and couldn’t recall all the details clearly.

Still, one thing was certain: this was the world of the novel . After all, Illeon Clevent, Duke of the manor where she worked, was the novel’s protagonist.

And he was Rona’s only hope of returning to her original world.

[If you follow the original ending, you can return to your original world.]

That was the first thought that came to her upon regaining consciousness after transmigration. Though working for House Clevent had been pure chance, Rona rejoiced at the opportunity to witness the original plot unfold up close.

“Why won’t the two of them just meet already?”

Lately, Rona’s biggest worry was, “Why hasn’t the female lead shown up yet?”

In a corner of the vast ducal estate’s garden, a single weed-like plant had sprouted—an oddly out-of-place herb that was, in truth, a rare medicinal plant capable of restoring the Duke’s sight. It supposedly bloomed for only ten days once every ten years. If Illeon, blinded by a potent poison, drank a decoction made from it, he would recover completely.

For such a miraculous herb to bloom right in their backyard—it could only be the author’s deliberate arrangement to ensure the male lead regained his sight.

In the original story, the heroine Karina would appear, restore Illeon’s vision, and the two would fall in love. Rona, having transmigrated into “Unnamed Extra #1” who never even appeared in the original, took care not to let the known plot deviate.

But now, a whole week had passed since the flower bloomed, and still the heroine hadn’t appeared—Rona was growing anxious. Ever since she’d discovered the flower faintly glowing with an auspicious light during a nighttime stroll, each passing day burned inside her with a frustration no one in this story-world could possibly understand.

Why on earth did the author have to set it to bloom for only ten days? Couldn’t it just keep blooming, or at least last a bit longer? These days, Rona fretted endlessly.

In truth, Rona understood better than anyone why the male and female leads weren’t meeting.

After all, you can’t pluck stars without looking up at the sky.

Illeon, having lost his sight, had stayed cooped up in the manor all this time, never once venturing outside.

Illeon, who bore the title of the Empire’s greatest knight—had he not been blinded, he would have been a valiant warrior. Yet to Rona, her master was an incorrigible homebody.

Today, Illeon had been summoned to the Imperial Palace by the Emperor’s command. Rona, having lost her memories and lacking proof of identity, couldn’t accompany him as a servant. Thanks to this unexpected free time, she’d come to spy on Café Cardinal—the very stage where Illeon and Karina were supposed to meet.

Though she knew from the original plot that he would regain his sight, she still felt deeply sorry for Illeon as he was now.

And she also pitied herself, waiting desperately for Illeon to quickly recover his vision, meet the heroine, and reach the proper ending.

Where on earth was the heroine, and what was she doing?

Frustrated, Rona had considered visiting the heroine’s baronial estate herself, but Illeon kept seeking her out at the most inconvenient times, preventing her from acting. Later, she’d even sent a letter—but Karina never replied.

[Karina Young Miss, I apologize for this unsolicited message. I have an urgent matter and hope to meet you at Café Cardinal. If you could spare your precious time, please reply via the post office box.]

Perhaps it looked suspicious to anyone who read it. Karina must have dismissed it as spam.

Rona’s eyes drifted toward Café Cardinal’s sign.

“They were supposed to meet here originally.”

She couldn’t fathom what had gone wrong. Regardless, all her attention these days was fixed on the first meeting between Karina and Illeon. Please, please let Karina appear before the flower withered. Rona prayed fervently, again and again, in her heart.

Rona stepped inside the café. As she approached the counter, a well-built middle-aged man greeted her.

“Will you be dining in?”

“No, I’d like to ask you something.”

“What’s that?”

Hearing her reply—which didn’t sound like a customer’s—the café owner immediately spoke plainly.

“Um… have you perhaps seen someone recently in your café? A young lady around my age, with dazzling silver hair and green eyes—quite beautiful.”

“Heh heh.”

The café owner chuckled heartily.

“How can you find someone with just that? Try looking for someone with golden hair and violet eyes like you—how would that help identify anyone?”

“Haha. Y-yeah, I guess you’re right…”

Just as Rona was feeling disappointed—

“If you’re talking about golden hair and violet eyes, isn’t that her over there?”

At that moment, some ruffians lounging on the terrace chimed in.

Where they pointed, a wanted poster issued by the temple was pinned up.

[Elicia Yuter: golden hair, violet eyes, fair skin, quite pretty. If you’ve seen this person, please contact the nearest temple or Hadyunsha. Reward: 9,990 gold coins.]

Seeing the absurdly high bounty on the flyer, Rona shook her head.

“How can anyone find a person from a poster like that? There must be hundreds who look similar.”

Perhaps because this was a medieval-style world, the woman’s face on the wanted poster was drawn in a style reminiscent of the Queen card in our world’s playing cards.

“Did they really think people could be identified from that? Seriously?”

The temple must have spent quite a bit of money printing these posters—yet to use such a careless portrait to find someone? Rona couldn’t help but giggle quietly at the absurdity.

Just as Rona was about to return to the manor with nothing to show for her efforts—

“Hey, miss! Wait a moment.”

“Yes?”

The same ruffians from the café, who’d just commented on her resemblance to the wanted woman, caught up and stopped her.

“No matter how we look at it, you really do look like the woman on that poster.”

“Me?”

No way! Where on earth do I look like a playing card?!

Rona wanted to protest, but before she knew it, three men had surrounded her. Instinctively, she shrank back.

“What’s your name, miss? Where do you live? Do you have identification?”

“W-who even are you people?”

“If you’ve got time, come with us to the temple for a bit.”

“By what right do you do this? L-let go of me!”

Just as a burly man reached to grab Rona’s wrist—

Thud!

The thug who’d seized her wrist went flying through the air. At the same moment, Rona’s slender frame was pulled swiftly into the firm embrace of a man.

“Isn’t that rather rude to a lady?”

A familiar voice sounded from above her head.

“Hey, what’s with you all of a sudden?”

“He looks blind. What business is it of yours to interfere?”

Underestimating Illeon, the ruffians shifted stance and charged again.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Three crisp, clean impact sounds echoed.

“You lot are worse off than a blind man.”

Only then did they seem to realize who they were dealing with.

“C-Clevent Duke?!”

The man, still tightly holding Rona with one arm while brandishing his cane with the other, shouted sternly.

“You’ve laid hands on my person—you’ll pay the price.”

His previously cold voice softened slightly as he whispered,

“Is this why you stood me up, Rona?”

At Illeon’s words, Rona nearly jumped.

“Lord Illeon! What do you mean by that?”

Thud. Thud.

As Illeon effortlessly dealt blows to the thugs who stubbornly kept charging, he spoke calmly.

“Didn’t we agree to have tea together in the afternoon once I returned from the palace? But you weren’t at the manor. I heard you’d come here, so I came to meet you.”

“Ugh…”

“Aaah…”

The thugs, sprawled instantly on the street, crawled away with resentful faces, vanishing beyond Illeon’s attack range.

Watching them flee so cowardly without even a parting threat, Rona finally let out the breath she’d been holding.

“…I’m sorry.”

“Are you hurt?”

“No.”

Illeon nodded as if that settled it.

Still shaken from the violent encounter, Rona stared wide-eyed at Illeon.

“How is that ‘standing you up’?”

“Because that’s how I felt.”

“And we never agreed to have tea together—you just said I’d serve you tea.”

Anyone would think they’d made plans for an afternoon tea like friends.

“Since you’ll be serving me while drinking together, it’s practically the same as a promise.”

“That’s such a stretch! Yes, I was wrong to disobey my master’s orders, but I didn’t expect you back so early!”

Wasn’t there a huge difference between “disobeying my master’s command” and “standing Illeon up”? Sometimes Illeon used such overly familiar terms that Rona was left flustered.

“For heaven’s sake—he’s a duke! Isn’t he being far too informal?”

She resolved to gently scold Illeon later about choosing more appropriate words.

“Didn’t you say before that there was a café you wanted to visit?”

“Yes. This is it—Café Cardinal.”

She’d casually asked once, thinking that if Karina wouldn’t come, she might as well drag Illeon here herself.

“Since we’re already here, shall we have a cup of tea?”

At Illeon’s suggestion, Rona’s eyes widened.

“Really? That’s great! I’d love that!”

Perhaps heaven truly helps those who help themselves—it seemed the skies were finally on her side.

[This is the timeline separator]

Rona and Illeon entered the café and sat facing each other at a table.

“What would you like to order, Lord Illeon?”

When Rona asked in a lowered voice, Illeon pursed his lips.

“What can I even order?”

“Coffee, tea, juice. We also have cookies, cake, and chocolate.”

“What do you like?”

Rona studied the menu intently for a moment, then quickly gave up. The head chef at the ducal manor, Schubaly, was exceptionally skilled—how could anything here possibly taste better than the manor’s desserts? She picked something at random.

“Coffee and chocolate, please.”

“I’ll have the same.”

Rona paid and placed their order at the counter. Then she busily scanned the surroundings.

“Where could Karina be right now? She should be showing up at a time like this.”

In her past life, Wonyun Ji had firmly believed that “social media is a waste of life.” But now, unable to reach the heroine, Rona bitterly lamented the absence of SNS in this world. If only it existed—she could’ve at least sent a DM.

“Wow.”

Glancing back at Illeon seated at the table, Rona couldn’t help but exclaim aloud.

Dressed in full formal attire for his visit to the Imperial Palace, Illeon stood out strikingly. This was the first time since Rona had started working that he’d stepped outside the manor.

How startled she’d been this morning seeing the grown-up Illeon—her heart had pounded so hard it felt like it might leap from her left side to her right.

And now, for him to sit in a café frequented even by commoners—it was like a crane perched among chickens, radiating noble grace. Yet the fact that he couldn’t see a thing was truly lamentable.

“Did your visit to the palace go well?”

“Yes.”

Illeon nodded.

“His Majesty said he had something important to discuss.”

He stopped mid-sentence and gave a soft chuckle. Why cut off right there? She was curious.

“What did His Majesty say?”

Unable to contain her curiosity, Rona asked—and Illeon answered calmly.

“He said I’m past the proper age and should get married.”

Before the original heroine even appeared, Rona’s guaranteed ticket back to her original world was already in jeopardy.