“What test should I take?”
“First, tell me three things that might be useful to me about the future you know.
Then we’ll see how useful the information you provide is.”
Theodore proudly demanded to know the future.
He was a man who had a habit of beating up others and demanding what he wanted, so he always spoke to others as a matter of command.
Annette was choking with anger at the man's arrogant attitude, but somehow she endured it.
“Did the owner of this body - the original Annette - tell you about this book?”
"no."
“Two coffins.
This is the address.”
(M.M.: Nashaan is the plural of the word na’ash... and the coffin is the bed of the deceased.
It was called that because of its height.
If the dead person is not carried on it, then it is a bed.
The casket can be the same as the coffin if it has a lid, so it is a rectangular box.)
“Two coffins?”
Theodore clearly expressed his curiosity.
He must have realized what “coffin” meant.
“One Emperor, One Empress.
So that means the two people, Crown Prince Hugo and his mistress Yvonne.”
The plot of “Two Coffins” was very hackneyed.
It was just a trivial story intended to show the great love between Hugo and Yvonne.
A simple story with an unflattering ending in which the two main characters wear the emperor's crown and kiss each other.
All the characters - except the two main ones - have been used as tools to bestow love and honor.
When Annette and Theodore attempt to set up intrigues, they do nothing but polish the main characters' crown to make it shine brighter.
After all, villains are just beings who sacrifice themselves for the main character.
There were difficulties in the main character's path, but they were designed to be overcome.
There were adversities in their lives, but it went smoothly.
Trials and tragedies were just a way to nurture the love between them.
“Do you understand now how far-fetched you are when you say that you will take the crown in a world created for the main character to become Emperor?”
“You mean I should give up?”
"I mean don't be arrogant.
And know that without me you can't change the ending."
“So you are a holy spirit who will grant my wish?”
“It is true that I am not a holy spirit, but I am the only one who can fulfill your desires.
So treat me as I deserve.”
Theodore's lips rose as if he were mocking Annette's words.
His mounting anger at the fact that his fate had already been decided led him to taunt Annette.
Accepting the fact that he was born to Hugo was more difficult than accepting the disdainful looks he received as an illegitimate son as a child.
Why in heaven's name should a person exist for someone else's love story?
Why don't others have value for their existence?
Should he be at least grateful for the fact that he had the key to changing the world?
Theodore burst out laughing at the fact that this dying woman was the only key to changing his fate.
“You said you wanted to know three things about the future.
I’ll tell you them, so listen to me carefully.”
Annette carefully listed what Theodore should get rid of, what he should keep, and what he should take away.
“If you can do what I told you, you'll at least realize that I'm a qualified fraud.”
Annette offered a product, and whether or not to buy it was up to Theodore's choices.
Theodore stared into Annette's eyes to see if what she was saying was true.
Those who looked directly into his predatory eyes would have been frightened and told the truth.
However, it was only Theodore's face that was reflected in Annette's eyes, not fear.
Annette never trembled because she was not afraid of Theodore, and he could not read her true intentions because she was not affected by him at all.
Instead, Theodore felt like he was trapped in Annette's gaze.
Her eyes were a dazzling light green, like ripe tree leaves bathed in strong sunlight on a warm summer day.
She was locked in a moldy room, her skin was cracked and her body was weak, but her eyes never lost their sparkle.
She was borrowing Annette Scheringen's body, but at least the eyes belonged to the soul inside that body.
The spirit opened its mouth and gave him a stern warning.
"I won't let you get away with this if you're deceiving me.
Bring me back into my world at any cost."
Annette's determination to survive and return to her world was never weak.
***
After Annette regained consciousness, Theodore returned to his palace.
Now, only servants remained in the villa.
Because the bodyguards remained out of Annette's sight, the only ones she saw directly were Lisa the nurse and Emma the maid.
Lisa easily discovered the identity of the poison Annette had eaten and created an antidote.
This proved that she was a qualified doctor.
However, regardless of Lisa's skills, the decryption process was brutal.
As the poison was withdrawn from the body, the pain intensified.
As the senses killed by the poison one after another returned to work, the side effects increased.
Annette had a fever and chills, and even if she was just drinking water, she felt very sick to her stomach.
She vomited everything that entered her stomach until foam came out of her mouth.
She was still struggling to live, and Lisa was endlessly surprised.
The fact that Annette is a Grand Duchess and her perseverance towards life was very strange.
To be honest, Lisa thought it was impossible for Annette to recover and it wouldn't be strange if she died on the spot.
However, Annette persevered with her weak body.
“Do you think I will die soon?”
“Oh, no… Her Highness the Grand Duchess.”
“It's okay to call me conveniently.
No, if it's uncomfortable, you can call me uncomfortable.
But I ask you not to call me Grand Duchess as much as possible.”
Annette shook her head in dismay.
“If I go to the Duke’s Palace, I will get tired of hearing that word, so I don’t want to start hearing it from now on.
Just call me Annette.”
“How dare I call Her Highness the Grand Duchess…”
“I really hate this.”
It was a look of genuine contempt.
Annette became the desired wife of the royal family, but she was never happy.
Lisa wondered why she had become Grand Duchess in the first place when she hated it so much.
When Lisa first heard that Annette was the Grand Duchess, she thought it was just a lie.
However, there was no reason for the imperial family to make a play just to fool a nurse, so it meant that they were truly a couple, but the two did not get along well with each other.
They were both beautiful in a way Lisa had never seen before in her life, but each was so full of splendor that they did not fit together at all.
Annette was too small and fragile to withstand Theodore's killing force.
But of course, when Lisa saw Annette come to life, her thoughts changed 180 degrees.
If her eyes are like spring buds, her vitality is like green summer grasses swaying in the wind.
She had a powerful energy that seemed to penetrate Theodore's cold blue eyes.
If Theodore was ice, Annette was fire.
The reason the two people were attracted to each other and the reason they avoided each other was because they were opposites of each other.
“I can't die like this.
Even if I die, I want to go back to my world and die there.”
Annette sometimes said things that Lisa couldn't understand.
The place called “Cosmopolitan” does not refer to the Palace of Duke Kleist or the Palace of the Marquis Scheringen.
Lisa didn't know what kind of place this was, but it was obvious that it was the reason Annette was clinging to life.
“Even if the detoxification ends, I won't be completely normal, will I?”
"You won't have the same body as before.
But fortunately, this is not a disease.
As long as you don't take poison again, you can live a normal life."
“I'm happy if that's the case.”
Annette talked to herself and laughed self-deprecatingly; she had a habit of replacing her pity with laughter.
Annette's smile was bright, but the moment the hidden sadness was reflected in her eyes, a frightening energy flowed out of her.
“However, I will live less than the original age, right?”
"If you manage your system well, you will live like everyone else.
It is a poison that can lead to death if you take it for more than a year, but if you take it for only about three months, you can overcome it."
“I won't die in a year or two?”
"Yes."
“That's enough.”
“What do you mean that's enough?”
“It's time to prepare to return to my world.”
Annette looked at her thin hands.
She clearly felt the pain as if it were her hands, but she also felt that it was someone else's body.
Her resolve to return didn't seem to fade, which was lucky for her.
It was unfortunate for Lisa, who was doing everything she could to save her, but Annette didn't care if her body's lifespan was over or not.
It was enough for her to exhaust everything, leave this place, and return to her world.
She didn't care about the fate of the irrelevant body she would leave after she discovered the damned way to put Theodore on the throne and return to where she belonged.
Even if Annette, the evil woman, was the culprit who brought her here, the death of her body would be good revenge.
Annette gritted her teeth and swallowed the porridge inside.
It was food that didn't need to be chewed, but she chewed it; She was expressing her will to survive no matter what happened.
She had to eat and live.
From now on, Annette had to tear apart the novel's main character, chew him, and then throw him to Theodore, instead of this runny porridge.
The main character's life will have a happy ending no matter what happens, so she had a tough way to win against such a life.
Annette examined what she had to do in the future.
First of all, she had to form a relationship with the main characters who would become her enemies in order for her to be able to monitor them.
She had to face the criminal suspicion surrounding her and get rid of the charges against her.
At the same time, he had to use the rumors that described her as a brutal murderer who could also kill her father as a strength and exploit it to her advantage.
She had to deal with her relatives who were aiming for the position of Marquis Scheringen to obtain the title, and exploit her family's position to increase Theodore's power.
There was a lot that needed to be done so that she could die and return safely.
Annette calmly regained her health.
In front of the villa, small vineyards growing day by day stretched endlessly.
While the farmer planted and took care of the grapes, Annette took care of herself.
As the summer sun grew stronger, Annette regained her will and her health.
The hot season grew hotter, and the grapes, which were not quite ripe when Theodore first brought them here, took on the form of fully ripened fruits.
Theodore never visited the villa even when the grapes changed color, and Annette regained her body's health by using her dissatisfaction as motivation to keep going.
It was the summer they met in different places.