I Thought It Was a Common Transmigration - Chapter 27

The next morning, the Duchess summoned me to her office, where there was no one but her.

“Edith. I hear you’ve had a hard time.”

“I’ve had no hardships. I’ve made myself comfortable in my room.”

“Hardships of the mind are harder than hardships of the body.”

I couldn’t deny the words.

The tip of my nose twitched for no reason, and I took a deep breath.

“Just so you know, I really didn’t steal the documents, and I’m willing to bet my life on it.”

The Duchess nodded quietly.

“I know you won’t believe me, and I don’t care if I get more probation, I really don’t–”

“Edith.”

Her warm hand grasped mine.

“I believe you. I do believe in you.”

Oh, God.

Hearing those words in this situation makes me burst into tears……

“Ha…… sob……”

“I know how hard it’s been for you, Edith.”

“No one believed me……”

“I do believe you. I know you’ve done your best to help me, I know you’re trying to fit in somehow in this house. How can I not know that? I’ve been through it all before……”

She understood me from the perspective of a fellow daughter-in-law.

It was a big part of her life too, being married and living in a house she didn’t know, trying to fit in and be liked somehow.

“I don’t know who played this nasty prank on you, but I do know it wasn’t you.”

“Sob, sob, t- thank you……”

Tears streamed down my face as I was overcome with emotion at the first “understanding” I’d gotten since falling into this shitty world.

I wanted to respond in a more mature way, but the tears wouldn’t stop and I couldn’t breathe, as if there was a malfunction somewhere.

As I sobbed like a child, clinging to the hand patting me on the back, I thought of one hope.

‘Maybe…… the Duchess will believe me.’

The Duchess will believe me if I tell her about my situation in the Riegelhoff family. And she won’t kick me out.

If at least one person understands me, I might be able to get through this, so I decided to tell her.

“Mother. I- I…… actually……”

“Yes, Edith.”

“In the Riegelhoff family…… I actually……!”

“……Edith?”

“Ugh, ugh……”

“Edith! What’s wrong? Edith!”

It really was strange.

Just as I was about to blurt out my predicament, my breath caught in my throat and my vision blurred.

My tongue wouldn’t move, tinnitus struck me, my head hurt like it was going to burst, and then suddenly everything stopped and I was engulfed in darkness.

A moment later, from somewhere in the darkness, I heard a voice, clean and emotionless, like an announcer on the morning news.

 

[Edith Riegelhoff can not reveal hidden settings about herself until she meets……]

 

At first, it sounded like a hum, but as I concentrated, the voice gradually became clearer.

 

[Edith Riegelhoff can not reveal hidden settings about herself until she meets the conditions of the three-level exception.]

 

I could hear the words clearly, but I didn’t understand what they meant.

‘What? Three-level exception? What is that?’

But no one would explain it to me, just an emotionless voice repeating the same thing over and over again.

 

[Edith Riegelhoff can not reveal hidden settings about herself until she meets……]

 

It got a little scary listening to it, and I struggled to wake up.

After a long struggle, I managed to open my eyes with my teeth clenched.

I opened my eyes to find myself on my bed in my room, with Anna standing guard by my side.

“An…… na……?”

“Miss, are you awake?”

“Why am I……”

“You’ve drained a lot of energy. You collapsed due to accumulated fatigue……”

“I…… how long have I been lying down?”

“Miss, you’re just waking up after two days.”

My, I slept longer than I thought.

For some reason, I was hungry.

My head was a little fuzzy, whether from sleep or hunger, but the dream I had earlier was strangely vivid.

‘I can’t reveal hidden settings about myself until I meet the three-level exception?’

I don’t know what the three-level exception is, but I do know that I can’t reveal the truth about myself right now.

It was too weird to be a dream, so I tried testing it again by talking to Anna.

“Anna. I, actually……”

“Yes, tell me, miss.”

“I, in the Riegelhoff family…… ugh……”

“Miss!”

Another beep, another tinnitus, and my tongue hardened.

‘Okay, I won’t say it! I won’t!’

As soon as I thought that, the tinnitus disappeared and my tongue loosened.

“Ugh, ugh……”

“You’re still not feeling well, miss. Don’t try to force yourself to talk, just get some rest. I’ll be by your side.”

“Thanks……”

“It’s my job.”

“By any chance, did Kill…… no, no.”

I was about to ask if Killian had ever come here, but then I shut my mouth.

No way he’d come here.

And there was no point in breaking my heart to confirm it.

I took Anna’s advice and went back to sleep, sighing heavily and eventually opening my eyes in the depths of the night.

 

‘I slept too much, and now I can’t sleep anymore.’

My mind was racing.

With nothing to do, I calmly reflected on the last three months or so of my possession of Edith Riegelhoff.

When I first woke up in Edith’s body, I thought I was the main character of a Rofan novel with a typical possessed villainess story.

I thought that if I behaved myself, I could escape death like the other Cider[1] Rofan novels and get a handsome male lead.

[1] Go back to Chapter 2 if you forgot what a Cider story is.

That false hope lasted less than a week.

After that, I gave up on my husband and decided that I would just be a daughter-in-law of a rich family without worrying about money.

That seemed like a good idea. But strangely enough, the original episodes were happening, and no matter what I did or how I twisted them, it was the same result as the original.

And then the leaked documents convinced me of one thing.

‘Ha, the survival rules for a possessed villain in a Rofan novel? I possessed a villain who’s going to die, and there’s nothing I can do to change the story.’

I wanted to grab someone and ask them what kind of possession this was, but I was just mistaken in the first place.

For Edith Riegelhoff, this novel is unlikely to have a happy ending.

Edith and I aren’t the main characters.

‘There’s no way I can ever be the main character.’

After pondering this whole story for a while, I decided to stop struggling and accept my death.

After all, I’ve died once, so what’s so hard about dying twice?

It’s not about giving up or committing suicide. I’ve just accepted my fate as a terminally ill woman.

Sure, the thought of being beheaded was scary, but if I just closed my eyes, it would be over soon enough.

Killian is such a great knight, he’d probably do it all at once so it wouldn’t hurt.

At the same time, I had a strange misgiving.

‘If I’m going to die, I might as well try to do it…… like Edith in the original, right?’

The episode I’m thinking of is the one where Edith tries to seduce Killian with her body.

Feeling threatened by the document leak, Edith sneaks into Killian’s bedroom at night and kisses him in his sleep.

When he awakens, she tries to seduce him by removing his flimsy nightgown, only to be thrown out of the room in disgrace, much to Killian’s disdain.

And she’s also humiliated by the guards standing watch, I suppose?

‘So let’s just kiss, kiss only.’

At first, I thought it was a ridiculous idea, but as time went on, I realized, ‘Why not?’

That is the flow of the original story, and since I can’t change it, I have no choice but to go with the flow.

Besides, it would be unfair to possess a villainous extra and be killed for nothing.

I decided to go ahead and run it right now.

In the original, Edith wears a see-through, risqué nightgown and a robe, but that means her body is also exposed to the guards outside.

I just put on a robe over my regular nightgown.

I slipped on my soft furry slippers and crept out of my room without making a sound.

There was not a single ant in the hallway as everyone else was sleeping.

‘If not now, when else will I get to kiss such a handsome, lip-smacking man? And when I die, I’ll take at least one good memory with me.’

Taking a deep breath, I took short, steady steps until I reached Killian’s room.

I was nervous that it was locked, but the door was unlocked for this episode.

‘A great flow of the original. For the first time, I thank you.’

I nervously wet my lips with my tongue.

Oh, that’s a little dirty.

I wiped my lips again with the sleeve of my robe.

I would leave immediately after giving him a warm, innocent, tender kiss that would never be the rough one.

To be honest…… I don’t think Killian would let me go any further than that, unfortunately.

I sneaked over to Killian’s bed, held my breath, and watched him sleep like a sculpted statue.

He’s even naked!

‘Wow…… I never get used to that face of his…… it’s new every time I see it, really.’

My heart thudded in the center of my chest as I wondered what would happen if Killian woke up to this.

My heart is only the size of a fist, so why does it sound so loud?

‘Focus, you only get one chance. Just aim for the lips, fast and precise, okay?’

I don’t know if what I’m doing is a crime, but if I’m going to die anyway, I might as well do it guiltlessly, right?

I stared mesmerized at his handsome face and naked torso, then took a deep breath and leaned closer to his lips.

As I leaned in, I heard his low, even breathing.

I think I must have been holding my breath from then on.

‘I’m sorry for stealing your first kiss, Killian. I really tried not to like you…… but I guess I failed.’

I apologized in my mind and pressed my lips to his.