Annette is suddenly drawn into the world of this book without knowing why.
In an unfamiliar world, even her body movement was embarrassing…
She felt like a parasite.
Annette could not move freely because every time she did she began to think that the limbs she felt now belonged to someone else.
Every movement was terrifying, as if making a dead body move.
So it was impossible for her to get used to this body, and to this world as well.
She also didn't think she wanted to adapt to them and live a difficult life as the villain of the novel.
It was unfortunate to live a life tied to someone else's, so she would rather die.
But fortunately or unluckily for her, right after Annette opened her eyes, she found herself in danger of death.
Since it was someone else's life, Annette couldn't end it, so she decided to put up with the situation for a little while.
And the moment she gave up everything...
This man came.
When he softly whispered a chance of survival in her ear, Annette thought it was salvation.
The words that were whispered to her to get out of that asylum were so sweet that she never lost the opportunity.
She blindly followed Theodore, not knowing whether she was headed towards heaven or hell.
In fact, Annette expected that the place she was going to would not be heaven, but she did not know that the person she was following would be a guide to the depths of hell.
How did Theodore, who is just a fictional character in a book, bring Annette into his world?
Incomprehensible questions gathered in her mind as anger rose within her.
“Tell me.
How the hell did you summon me here?”
Annette's words did not contain the slightest hint of courtesy.
She abandoned the calm she had strove to maintain and crushed it on the road along which the carriage passed.
Now, Annette's head was full of perseverance just to figure out how to get back to her world.
“How did you get me here?”
“There is a way to get you here, but I can't tell you.”
In the end, Annette couldn't hold back her anger, and grabbed Theodore's shirt collar tightly and pulled him towards her.
Her anger was wild and endless.
It was the most intense emotion she had ever felt after entering this world.
“A few months ago, Annette Scheringen was talking nonsense that a soul from another world would enter the body she had left, and that the person who would come would know the secret and future of this world.”
When Theodore opened his mouth, Annette's grip on his collar slowly lost its strength.
“She said that she would be like an unerring holy spirit, so if I receive help from her, my fate will change and I will become an emperor.
Everything she said was ridiculous, but do you know what is even more ridiculous?”
“……”
“In order to invite a spirit from that world, we need to pay a certain price.
Part of it is already available, so you asked me to provide the other part.”
“So, did you pay the price I asked you?”
“I was tired of dealing with her at that time.
I wasn’t willing to pay for anything, so I told her to leave immediately.
After that, Annette Scheringen disappeared and there was an article saying that Marquis Scheringen had died.”
Theodore took Annette's hand holding his collar and placed it gently on her lap.
“I don't know who you are.”
He wiped his collar and straightened it.
“But I will tell you how to return to your original world.
Instead, make me emperor.”
Annette looked into Theodore's eyes and gasped.
His eyes were filled with madness.
If he were rational at all, he wouldn't even believe in such a thing as incarnation.
A determined obsession to achieve his goal even if his means are not of this world, nor even of reality, and his willingness to use an angry mad woman.
That's what those eyes that saw her said.
Until Theodore did what he wanted, she would never escape his grasp.
Annette was caught in this man's trap and fell into this world indefinitely.
“Then be my holy spirit.
If you are like the grace that woman spoke of, I will return you to your spirit world.”
There was no reverence on his lips.
Aside from the awe of her being out of this world, there was only arrogance in his words.
At that moment, the driver cracked the whip, and the horses sped up and the carriage shook, but it was Annette's heart that shook more.
The carriage then continued moving until late at night.
* * *
'I thought I was dizzy from seeing sunlight for the first time in a while.'
The sunlight had long since disappeared, but her head was still throbbing with pain.
Complex thoughts also created wings and began to actively fly through her mind to torment her.
Vine trees were visible from the carriage.
Everywhere Annette looked, it looked green and fresh, so she had nowhere to look but ripe grapes.
This was a place that no one except the workers would visit, and no one would accidentally go near it.
The sounds of grasshoppers and stars in the night sky were the most present in the dazzling spectacle.
The carriage carrying Annette and Theodore stopped at this place.
When Annette got off the carriage, she saw a secluded villa surrounded by vineyards.
The exterior of stacked logs was unattractive to call a noble villa, but it was a place for Theodore to rest when he wanted to take a break.
It was a shabby building that had been built like that on purpose for the purpose of residence without anyone knowing, and the property was also owned by someone who had no relation to Theodore.
“We will stay here for a while.”
Theodore's resting place was Annette's hiding place for the time being.
The suspicious appearance of the villa might arouse curiosity in ordinary people, but Annette did not ask Theodore anything.
After that tantrum in the carriage, her expression returned to an unreadable state.
She also didn't even respond to the conversation Theodore tried to start.
“While you hide here for a while, I intend to deal with the trial and the troublesome things hanging over you.
When things are settled, I will move you to my own palace.”
“I'm tired.”
Annette turned her back, ignoring Theodore's explanation.
“Where are you going?”
“I will stay here, just tell me where the bed is.
It has been a long time since I walked more than ten steps, so I am very weak.”
There was no force in her voice, but there was no emotion either.
In the face of her obvious boredom, Theodore frowned.
“I wouldn't go so far as to tell you that I want you to gladly accept the situation you're in now, but I also have no intention of seeing you act in such an uncooperative manner.”
Theodore had many things to ask her and arrange with her, but her tightly closed mouth did not open.
“I said I was tired.”
Annette's answer was neither high nor low, nor was she an expression of anger, but she spoke thus to explain her present state.
It wasn't even a weak rebellion on her part.
It was then that Theodore realized that she was really struggling.
Eat, drink, sleep.
It had been a month since Annette couldn't even maintain the three basics of survival.
Annette's body was so thin that all her bones stuck out.
Her body was exhausted after riding in a rattling car for several hours with a body that had lost all its muscles.
“Tell me which room I can use.”
When Annette asked in a halting, hoarse voice, the maid came running busy.
The hurried maid saw the woman next to Theodore and stopped midway in astonishment.
It was Emma, a maid who was almost deaf and could not hear.
Instead of hearing with her ears, she read people's mouths and was quick-witted.
That's why Theodore chose Emma as the villa's maid.
Because people who listen a lot are not good for relaxation.
“Take her to her room.”
Emma nodded and took Annette into the bedroom.
Annette's appearance was terrible for even the maid to see, and she needed attention urgently, so Emma was at a loss as to what she should do first.
First of all, she wanted to prepare bath water and serve a meal, but Annette lay down as soon as she saw the bed and fell asleep immediately.
Emma did not know what to do and ended her service by pulling the blanket over Annette, who had not even changed her clothes.
And the next day…
Theodore invited Annette to breakfast with him, but she did not move from bed.
Emma was afraid that the suspicious young lady would offend Mr.
Theodore, so she hurried to wake her up, but Annette did not wake up.
Emma thought something was wrong, so she touched Annette's forehead and she jumped in shock.
Annette was boiling from the heat.
Emma immediately informed Theodore of Annette's condition and began caring for her.
She wiped her body with a wet towel, but her temperature did not drop.
The fever wouldn't go down and Annette couldn't even open her eyes and was wandering between death and death.
(M.M.: It means that if Annette continues like this, she will surely die.
There is no hope for life.)
The exhaustion and mental fatigue she had experienced in the past few months exploded at once, and she couldn't even get up.
According to Theodore's original plan, he was going to leave the villa after having a late breakfast with Annette and having a conversation with her.
However, due to Annette's illness, his schedule was disrupted and he was disturbed by unexpected circumstances.
He had thought that if he found her after she disappeared he would be able to immediately use her to his advantage, but he ended up wasting money and time to treat her.
Wouldn't it be better to get rid of them now?
This didn't make sense at first, why did he fall into such an illogical matter?
But since he had already started on this path, he had to see the end.
Even when he was hunting, he always checked the moment when the animal he shot stopped breathing.
Therefore, his actions with Annette have nothing to do with human conscience.
“We…we need to get the doctor here quickly.”
The anxious maid managed to utter a word in front of her master.
But her inconsistent tone made Theodore feel more than necessary.
The maid, who was frightened as soon as she approached Theodore, mustered her courage.
This meant that the situation was really serious.
“I'm already looking for a doctor.”
As soon as the maid read Theodore's mouth, she ran back to Aannet.
Her expression was full of fear and she said she didn't want to be in the same place with him for a moment.
But Theodore was used to it because most people looked at him like that.
His mother, Maria, was overly protective of him, and his father, the Emperor, never once reprimanded him, no matter how many mistakes he made, because of his feelings of guilt because he was his illegitimate son.
There was no one to suppress his harsh temper, so Theodore grew up alone.
People naturally feared and avoided him, he was the one who could not be controlled, so he lived like this for ten years.
But Annette was the first to look him in the eye and say something arrogant.
It was such an enjoyable experience, that he felt like he had to save her.
But the reason the doctor didn't arrive was because he had to bring someone who could be silenced.
A thick-mouthed female doctor would hide the fact that Annette lives here and keep her health a secret.
“Just wait one more day.
I don’t know if you are a holy spirit or just an imposter, but either way you won’t die easily.”
Theodore looked into Annette's room and turned around.