It was all a lie. An incredibly sweet illusion.

Litania realized she had been under a great misapprehension.

She thought the cruel and vicious dragon had become a gentle lover because she had possessed the female lead. She thought she had changed the bleak original story.

The moments of walking by the lake together, horseback riding, joyfully dancing and sharing love – she thought these were the journey towards a happy ending that wasn’t in the original work.

That was a misunderstanding. She should have doubted it.

That the depressing original work, ending with the death of the female lead unable to endure the love of the deranged dragon, could not so easily turn into a happy story.

“You said you loved me, so why did you deceive me?”

The ground crumbled beneath her feet as mud rose up to swallow her two feet. Resentment grew and swelled atop the thick fear rising within her.

“Building this beautiful castle, having loyal servants take care of me, speaking to me kindly, kissing me, embracing me…”

It was such a beautiful model garden.

What did Orbis think as he watched her move around like a toy placed in this model garden?

Did he think he was making her happy, seeing her believe the illusion was real and feeling joy?

Did he think that was love?

“Orbis, you shouldn’t love like this. This isn’t love.”

“I do love you, Litania.”

Hah. A hollow laugh escaped her.

‘I should have realized sooner.’

Just as a non-human being cannot become human no matter how much they imitate humans, it’s impossible for humans to understand non-human beings.

Litania moved towards the door. The water-like floor shimmered coolly, enveloping her ash-covered feet.

“Litania!”

Orbis called out to her urgently.

“No, Litania. If you go beyond that door… you’ll no longer be of this world.”

I know.

That’s why I’m going.

“You know, Orbis. If you didn’t love me, I would have had hope.”

She would have expected him to change if he loved her.

“But that’s not the case. You do love me. You’re doing this despite loving me.”

He was a man who could inflict such cruel deception on the woman he loved without hesitation.

He was capable of such love.

“I’m so sick of your love… It’s horrible. I can’t bear it.”

“No, Litania. Don’t go.”

Even as Orbis pleaded with Litania, he couldn’t bring himself to approach her. Perhaps the memories etched in his mind were holding his feet back.

How many cruel partings had he repeated?

“Litania, please stay by my side. I’ll do anything for you…”

“You’ll do anything?”

Litania set down the small bloody mass she had been holding. She looked down at the writhing form with a sorrowful gaze.

All those happy memories were a dream, but all this sadness and despair was reality.

She could no longer endure it. She wanted to become an illusion herself and vanish like smoke.

“Orbis. If you can really do anything for me, won’t you grant my request just once?”

Litania swallowed her tears and raised her head. She thought she would tremble terribly, but surprisingly, she was able to speak calmly.

“Please, let me go.”

* * *

“Gasp!”

The woman who woke from sleep tried desperately to gather her senses.

The unfamiliar ceiling she saw upon opening her eyes. The fluttery chemise dress she wore, like something seen only in romance fantasy novels or webtoons.

No matter how she looked at it, this was a different world, a different scenery.

‘Mirror, mirror!’

The woman quickly got out of bed, pushed aside the canopy, and ran to the dressing table.

A familiar face reflected in the large mirror.

“Is this… my face?”

Wavy dark brown hair, fair skin, round eyes with a slight upward tilt.

It was definitely the same face she remembered.

But there were differences too.

‘My eyes are pink.’

The moment she saw the eye color impossible for an ordinary person, she instinctively knew.

That she had possessed someone else’s body.

‘Then this place is… inside a romance fantasy novel?’

The scenery seemed familiar yet difficult to pinpoint to a specific era or country. It would be more surprising if this wasn’t a romance fantasy novel.

As it happened, before falling asleep, she had been indulging in a shopping spree for the holidays and was in the midst of devouring all sorts of romance fantasy novels. Wasn’t this the perfect condition for possessing a romance fantasy?

‘Who did I possess? A villain who gets eliminated after tormenting the female lead? The terminally ill sister of the mastermind? A passing extra?’

But why was her face the same? If she was going to possess someone, shouldn’t it be blonde or silver hair, or the trendy pretty pink hair, instead of this ordinary brown?

Fortunately, thanks to the fragmentary memories remaining in the possessed body, she could immediately know her name.

“Litania.”

It means origin, or prayer.

Not a common name, but not an extremely unique one either.

‘Besides, I can’t tell anything just from the name.’

She couldn’t even remember the name of the protagonist from the novel she read yesterday, let alone recognize whether this name belonged to a villain, mastermind, or extra.

‘Calm down. Calm down. If this is a romance fantasy possession story, usually you possess the most recently read novel.’

Litania tried to recall the most recent novel she had read. But nothing came to mind.

Because.

She had opened all 50 novels featured in the event banner and was rotating through them every hour.

‘The novel I possessed… What on earth is it?’

* * *

The Emperor felt his throat go dry. He didn’t know what to do with the man before him.

In the reception room bathed in afternoon sunlight. The man, nonchalantly admiring the scenery outside the window despite being in the Emperor’s presence, raised his teacup to his lips without removing his white gloves and took a sip of tea.

Unlike his neat appearance with buttons fastened all the way up to his neck, the man’s honey-sweet blonde hair was loosely tied back, giving him quite a delicate look.

The blue eyes beneath long eyelashes resembled the color of early summer sky, and the thin red lips sipping tea even appeared seductive.

At a glance, he could look as fresh as a teenager, but upon closer inspection, his deep gaze made him seem close to 30 – a very mysterious impression indeed.

However, regrettably, those facing the man couldn’t leisurely admire his appearance.

More precisely, they were too overwhelmed by his strange aura to even think of doing so.

The sound of curtains gently fluttering with the breeze before settling back into place seemed unusually loud.

The attendants lined up along the wall barely dared to breathe, their eyes darting about nervously.

The flower fragrance that should have felt refreshing seemed suffocatingly thick.

Sweat beaded at the nape of necks, finally trickling down spines.

When one attendant couldn’t help but gulp audibly, the man’s teacup settled back onto its saucer.

“It’s spring.”

Though uttered indifferently, the voice was quite gentle. The attendants finally exhaled, their faces flushed with tension as they anxiously glanced at the Emperor’s feet.

The Emperor, as tense as his attendants, forcibly unclenched his fist that had grown stiff from being clenched and grasped his teacup. His fingertips trembled, unable to lift the cup.

The man glanced at the Emperor’s shaking hand, then traced the rim of his own teacup with his gloved hand before leaning back in his chair.

“The Spring Festival is coming soon, isn’t it?”

“…Yes, it is.”

“During the day, flower-decorated carriages parade through the capital, and in the evening, there’s a ball, correct?”

The man’s leisurely recitation of the Spring Festival schedule was far from threatening.

But even this gentle attitude, like reciting poetry, was not enough to ease the tension from the stiff bodies of those present.

The attendants desperately looked to their master to dispel this heavy atmosphere, and the Emperor gave up on wetting his throat with tea and raised his head to face the man.

“Do you… intend to attend the ball?”

“Is that not allowed?”

“Of course it is! But.”

The Emperor barely managed to calm his churning insides and moved his dry tongue to continue speaking.

“It’s a human festival. It might not be to Your Excellency’s liking.”

“That’s fine. I’m not interested in the festival itself anyway.”

The eyes containing the bluest hue of the highest heavens narrowed.

One more noble than the Emperor.

The symbol of the Veriverium Empire.

Called the guardian deity of the imperial family, but in reality, a unpredictable being who merely mingles with humans for amusement and could ruin the human world at any time.

The Divine Dragon Orbis smiled faintly.

“It’s the people.”