I Thought It Was a Common Transmigration - Chapter 130

“Are you crazy?”

“I did it because I’m not crazy.”

The first consonants of a harsh expletive threatened to leap out of my mouth, but I tried my best not to sound angry.

“And the yacht incident was also you, then?”

As expected, Lizé nodded.

She replied so obediently that it made me feel even angrier.

“So tell me, why on earth did you do that, and why me?” I asked, giving her a half-hearted smile.

She had probably been controlled by the author, but I hoped she would give me a more plausible answer.

Lizé, who had been staring at the floor, suddenly burst out laughing.

“You’re the best Edith of all the Ediths I’ve ever played against, I didn’t expect I’d lose.”

“What……?”

Something was off.

“All of the Ediths?”

“You’re the 13th Edith.”

“What?”

I was confused by her strange phrasing.

What is she talking about? Does she mean that I’ve been reincarnated 13 times without my knowledge?

“No, before we talk about the ‘Ediths,’ tell me about you. Who are you?”

With an ominous and uncanny sense of foreboding, I asked Lizé’s identity on a whim. Somehow, it felt like I had to.

And my hunch wasn’t wrong.

“I’m the author of “I Refuse Your Obsession.” I was reincarnated as the female lead of the novel I wrote.”

Apparently, it’s a reflex to be so surprised that your eyes widen and your mouth drops open. I realized I was making that expression without realizing it.

“The author? The author who’s been trying to frame me as a villainess and kill me all this time, you’re the one?”

“Yeah,” she replied dryly, as if it didn’t matter.

“Why…… did you do that?”

“Why? Because I’m supposed to be the female lead of this world forever, and you’re supposed to be the villainess who gets jealous of me and dies trying to get in my way, isn’t that what the original story was about?”

She answered so shamelessly that my anger boiled over.

However, I calmed myself down by pressing my forearm where the bruise had not completely gone.

“Earlier, you said I was the thirteenth Edith, so you mean there were more Ediths before me?”

“There were twelve more before you.”

“Uh, how could……?”

“I made them transmigrate into this world and they reincarnated as Edith.”

It was hard to keep my head above water at Lizé’s shocking confession. This transmigration was not accidental, it was intentional!

“Why?” I asked in a shaky voice.

Lizé replied rather brazenly, “You’re dead anyway, shouldn’t you be thanking me for giving you one more chance to live?”

“Who asked you that, I asked you why you made me transmigrate to this world!”

As my voice rose, Killian knocked on the door from outside.

“Are you okay, Edith?”

“Whew…… I’m fine, don’t come in.”

While I could barely contain my outburst, Lizé looked toward the door and gave me a wistful look before obediently answering.

“I’ve been living this story ever since I was reincarnated as Lizé, and it’s been fun, but I’m getting a little bored of hearing the same thing over and over again.”

When I heard that, I think I had a rough idea of why I was reincarnated as Edith.

But Lizé didn’t bother to look at me and continued her confession shamelessly again.

“So after much pondering, I decided to make my book readers reincarnate as Edith, so that life would be more thrilling and the story would be richer, and I would stand out more…… until you came.”

“So you’re telling me…… that the twelve people before me, all of them, died, just like in the original story?”

“Yeah.”

It was the kind of “yeah” that doesn’t come with a hint of guilt.

“Ha……! I’ve never seen such a crazy bitch in my life.”

“Why are you saying such harsh things?”

“So you think you’re normal now, driving other people to miserable deaths for your own gratification?!”

“They’re dead anyway, they’re going to live a bonus life as a supporting character in an interesting novel, and they should be thanking me for it.”

“By that logic, you’re already dead, and you should be grateful for living the same life over and over again in Lizé’s body, so why are you looking for a thrill?”

“That’s because…… I’m not like you, I’m the author!”

I’m about to die of blood pressure, should I call Killian?

But Lizé said things that made me more pissed off, like she was really going for my cerebral blood vessels.

“Besides, I gave Edith a system to win, the exception conditions, and you’re alive because of it.”

“Oh, the exception conditions, under which I have to hope that a cow can catch a mouse while walking backward? If that’s fair game, how about we reverse it? I set the conditions, you try to meet them with your life on the line, how’s that?”

She glared at me like she was about to punch me in the face, but quickly looked away.

I spoke in a firm voice, as if passing judgment. “You’re the same as me from the beginning, and the last twelve Ediths, people you toyed with and then brutally murdered just because you had the slightest advantage.”

“Don’t be ridiculous! I’m different! I am a god here!”

This is the behavior of a child throwing a tantrum.

I can’t believe this is the author of a novel I’ve been enjoying.

“A god? Yes, you’re a god, and what can you do now?”

Lizé’s face turned bright red at my sarcasm. “If it weren’t for you, I’d still be perfect! Everyone in this world would be happy! Because of you, I have no idea where this story is going now! How are you going to take responsibility?”

The back of my head throbbed.

How did this monster ever get born?

I slowly slid off the bed.

Lizé hesitantly stepped back, but I grabbed both of her forearms.

“This is normal, Lizé. Life is about not knowing what’s ahead, and living a life like this is what it means to be human!”

“Stop talking nonsense!”

“Don’t be silly! Everyone else is living through the unknown future every day, even the characters in this novel. You looked down on them because you already knew the future, but you know what?”

I spun Lizé around to face the mirror on my vanity.

“You, who have already forgotten how to fight an unknown future, may have the mental capacity of a minor extra in this novel. Everyone but you is used to this, and everyone knows that there is no set ending.”

Lizé’s eyes fluttered frantically. “It’s not fair…… I wrote this story…… I’m the main character!”

“You must be thinking like that because you’ve been taking the test called life while glued to the answer sheet. I’m sorry to throw cold water on that illusion, but I’ve always been the main character in my own life, not an extra for you!”

A thought that would never have occurred to me as Choi Soo-na in my previous life came out of my mouth.

If only I could have thought of this back then.

If I had done this back then, I wouldn’t have kept my mouth shut when I was unfairly treated at work, I would’ve slapped my ex-boyfriend for betraying me, and I would’ve left my brother in a heartbeat.

‘Maybe I was reincarnated as Edith because I had been living my life in a vacuum.’

As much as I felt guilty, it was also the reason I couldn’t push Lizé harder.

If it weren’t for Lizé, if it weren’t for my experience as Edith, I would have taken everything, even my death, with a heavy heart.

I turned to face Lizé again.

She is just a child, stubbornly trying to deny this reality.

“‘I Refuse Your Obsession’ was an entertaining novel, sure, but the world won’t fall apart if you don’t get the ending you’ve set for yourself; if anything, a funnier, happier ending might come your way.”

“Don’t be ridiculous! There’s no happier ending than the original one, and besides, I’m going to be old and ugly from now on, and it’s all your fault!”

“Have you ever been old?”

“What?”

“Have you ever gotten old enough to say something like that?”

Lizé shook her head reflexively.

“Then stop saying that. I plan to have fun even when I’m old.”

“But with a wrinkled and ugly face……”

“You’ll look beautiful to Cliff forever. As long as you don’t keep trying to be everyone’s sweetheart like this. If you can’t let go of that in the end, you’ll never be everyone’s sweetheart…… and you’ll miss out on even Cliff.”

I released my grip on Lizé’s arms.

“You were an author in your previous life, right? Maybe you should think of a happier ending. That’s all the advice I can give you.”

My blood pressure was rising, and I was pretty tired from all the talking.

“Killian!”

Killian opened the bedroom door at my call.

“Lizé says she’s going back now. Goodbye, Lizé.”

I gritted my teeth and smiled at Lizé, who looked like she was about to cry.

Lizé, as much as I despised you right now, I prayed that you would come to your senses and get a real life.

***

Once Edith had recovered enough and Lizé was able to regain her composure, the Duke of Ludwig opened the gate to the mansion.

Duke Ludwig was inundated with congratulatory gifts, invitations, and requests for visits as a result of his victory and his official status as one of the Emperor’s closest confidants.

Among them was Count Sinclair, who was given permission to visit the Duke quite early on.

That alone made Sinclair’s siblings’ arrogance soar to the sky.

“Congratulations on your victory in the territorial war, Your Excellency, and your sons also have done admirably!”

Count Sinclair greeted Duke Ludwig with a wide smile.

In response to the greeting, which praised his sons more than himself, the Duke glanced at Cliff and Killian, who were seated next to him, and nodded proudly.

“These gentlemen have had a hard time.”

Pausing for a moment at the sight of the proud-looking Duke of Ludwig, Count Sinclair deliberately brought up something that would irritate the Duke.