EWGEW 05

Chapter 05

Her head was so confused that she was squinting when the door suddenly flew open.

Camilla turned her head at the sound. Seeing the people hurriedly entering the room, Camilla narrowed her eyes.

‘Those people from earlier….’

They were the ones whose worried voices she had heard even through the pain that felt as though it were burning her body. And when she had opened her eyes again, the woman had been gone.

‘She must have gone outside.’

There was an old man beside the woman. Their faces were unfamiliar, but both of them were filled with concern for her.

As though worried that someone might see them, they hurriedly looked around before entering the room. After carefully closing the door, the woman rushed toward Camilla.

“Miss! I’m back! Oh, why are you sitting up? Please, sit down!”

She looked at Camilla with tears welling up in her eyes.

Her mistress had awakened and was sitting upright. What she had seen was not a dream. A deep sense of relief washed over her, followed by overwhelming emotion.

‘Miss, Miss has awakened.’

Even now, she couldn’t believe this miraculous moment. The woman quickly approached Camilla. She pulled out a chair from a nearby table and brought it right beside Camilla.

Camilla watched her somewhat dazedly.

She had no idea why this woman looked so moved.

‘For now, since I don’t know what’s going on….’

Perhaps she should simply go along with their behavior for now. They didn’t seem like they intended to harm her.

Camilla nodded in response, and soon the old man approached her. He wasn’t as flustered as the woman, but he looked at Camilla with an emotional gaze as he spoke.

“Miss, are you feeling dizzy or nauseous?”

Camilla hesitated for a moment before shaking her head. Since he was speaking respectfully to her, she thought this would be the natural way to respond.

“…No, not at all.”

It felt awkward speaking informally to an old man she had never seen before, but once she tried it, the words came out naturally.

‘Fortunately, they don’t seem to think anything of it.’

That must have been the right thing to do.

Camilla nodded slightly.

Instead, the woman in front of her began to tear up even more.

Why were they reacting this way whenever they looked at her? Camilla couldn’t figure it out. Even though she was behaving naturally, her confusion didn’t disappear.

“Still, you look well, but you never know what might happen.”

“That’s right. I know you dislike these things, Miss, but you must make absolutely certain.”

They both tried to persuade Camilla.

Camilla carefully observed them. Their faces were filled with nothing but concern for her.

Throb.

A sudden headache struck her, and Camilla raised a hand to press firmly against her temple.

‘What on earth is going on? I don’t understand any of this.’

She sighed and leaned back against the chair. As her body relaxed, the tension gradually eased, and she began to feel somewhat drowsy.

‘First, I need to relax.’

They clearly seemed worried about her, and it didn’t look as though they intended to hurt her. There was little to be gained from worrying about it right now.

‘First, I need to figure out this situation.’

She had suddenly lost consciousness and awakened in an unfamiliar place. She still had no idea what was happening. There didn’t seem to be any immediate danger, but she couldn’t be certain….

Camilla tilted her head slightly and placed a hand on the teacup the woman had poured for her.

Her hands were far more delicate than she remembered.

“What do you need to make certain?”

The woman frowned slightly at her question and looked at Camilla with pity.

The old man sitting beside her answered instead.

“I know you dislike such things, Miss, but you are the legitimate daughter of the Elcasist Count’s family!”

The old man spoke with a solemn expression.

“Ah…?”

Clack.

Camilla lowered the teacup she had been about to bring to her lips.

“Elcasist?”

“Yes. The Elcasist Count’s family, one of the most prestigious families in the Shumolitan Empire! Miss!”

The woman spoke in a sorrowful voice.

But Camilla didn’t notice the slight tremble in it.

She had heard the name ‘Elcasist.’ How could she pay attention to anything else?

Elcasist was the count’s family that appeared in a novel she used to enjoy reading.

And the ‘Shumolitan Empire’ the woman had just mentioned was also a country from that novel.

‘Damn.’

She was beginning to understand what was happening.

She wanted to swear out loud, but Camilla forcibly swallowed the curse that had risen to the tip of her tongue.

That novel was also an in-the-novel possession story. Although such things were common in novels, having it actually happen to her left her mind completely blank.

Especially since she had only recently finally managed to sign the contract for the house she had always dreamed of.

A home in Seoul.

How difficult was it to buy a house in Seoul these days?

She had worked herself to the bone, doing anything and everything she could under her own name to get that house. She had worked overtime, worked extra shifts, and taken every job that offered additional pay.

‘And now I’ve been possessed by someone else?’

Her hands almost trembled, but she barely managed to suppress it.

The people beside her looked like they would start fussing again.

“Ha.”

Camilla sighed and pressed her temple once more, trying to organize her thoughts.

The Elcasist Count’s family.

In the novel, the Elcasist family was one of the Empire’s oldest and most prestigious loyal families.

She particularly remembered liking the heir of the Elcasist family.

Maybe not her absolute favorite, but perhaps her second favorite character.

What was her name again?

The legitimate daughter was usually supposed to become the heir, so the person she had possessed was probably that second-favorite character.

Camilla tilted her head slightly, and the old man nodded along with her.

He seemed to think she was agreeing with him.

“Miss. You were truly in danger this time. I know you don’t wish to make a big issue out of things, but if you continue like this—”

“I was in danger?”

What did that mean?

She had been pressing her head, trying to organize her thoughts, but the old man’s words caught her attention.

She needed to get to the bottom of this.

Camilla straightened from the chair, placed her arms on the table, and settled herself firmly.

Something important seemed likely to come out of their mouths now.

The old man’s face twisted with a sorrowful expression. As though comforting him, the woman patted his arm several times.

Then she looked toward Camilla.

“It’s already been… several months, Miss.”

“Several months? What has?”

“Since you lost consciousness and have been lying here.”

The woman answered instead of the old man.

“Several… months?”

Unable to believe her words, Camilla frowned and asked again.

What could possibly have caused her to lie unconscious for months?

According to what she remembered from the novel, the Elcasist Count’s family was one of the most prestigious families in the Empire.

What could possibly put the daughter of such a family in danger?

She was already irritated about having been possessed against her will, and now she had a feeling something even more serious was waiting for her.

Perhaps she could be in danger at any moment….

With that ominous feeling, Camilla listened carefully to the old man and the woman.

‘Besides, in the novel, the legitimate daughter of Elcasist wasn’t supposed to be someone who got into dangerous situations. She wasn’t the kind of person who would willingly throw herself into a fire.’

Camilla unconsciously tapped her fingers against the table.

The Elcasist legitimate daughter she remembered was definitely….

“Yes, Miss. You were lying here for several months. You suddenly lost consciousness and….”

The old man’s voice trembled slightly as he spoke sorrowfully. Then his voice became firm.

“It was that bastard. Even though you are the legitimate daughter of Elcasist, that bastard… I apologize for saying such a thing, Miss, but the poison you were given must have been his doing.”

Poison?

Things just kept getting worse.

Camilla summarized the situation in a low voice.

“So, I was poisoned and have been lying unconscious for several months?”

The woman nodded.

“Yes, Miss. You were almost at death’s door until yesterday.”

“While that bastard was away from his own daughter and the count’s family, he must have tried to assassinate you. There were clear signs that someone had broken into your room, yet the knights didn’t even investigate. Isn’t it obvious?”

“What do you mean—ah….”

Camilla was about to speak in confusion when she suddenly fell silent.

Something had clicked.

‘Ah. No way.’

It couldn’t be.

It absolutely couldn’t be what she was thinking.

Before she had awakened in this body—back when she had still been living in Seoul—the words spoken by the legitimate daughter of the Elcasist Count’s family to the protagonist in the novel she had read suddenly flashed vaguely through her mind.

“I always get what I want. Whether it’s my father’s affection or the position of heir. I don’t care if it doesn’t belong to me.”

I don’t care if it doesn’t belong to me.

Those words suddenly bothered her.

Camilla narrowed her eyes and tapped the table with her fingers several times before looking at the two people sitting across from her.

“Could you answer something for me? There are a few things I’d like to ask.”

“Yes? Yes, Miss.”

The woman nodded.

Looking at her, Camilla smiled sweetly.

It was the polite, professional smile she had learned to use in society.

“Could you tell me the name of the person that old man mentioned earlier? The ‘daughter of his own’?”

As soon as Camilla asked, the woman flinched.

At the same time, the old man’s head, which had been slightly lowered, snapped up.

A faint despair was etched across both their faces.

“Miss, that….”

Camilla waved her hand lightly.

“Ah, it’s because my memory isn’t completely intact. I can’t remember the name of that ‘daughter of his own.’”

The woman’s face turned pale.

She immediately sprang to her feet and cried out.

“Miss! We really must call a priest—!”

That’s not what matters.

Camilla clicked her tongue inwardly, then smiled sweetly again and urged her on.

“No, that’s fine. Just tell me first. What is her name?”

Camilla tilted her head slightly as though she were genuinely curious.

The old man, who had been staring intently at her, frowned before answering cautiously.

“Yuslia Elcasist. Your half-sister.”

‘Ha.’

Camilla let out a deflated sigh.

She was so dumbfounded that the corner of her lips curled upward.

The line from the novel she had remembered moments ago had belonged to the very person she remembered as the legitimate daughter of Elcasist—Yuslia Elcasist.

Her second-favorite character, Yuslia, had been an ally of the protagonist.

Apparently, in the original novel, Yuslia hadn’t occupied the position of legitimate daughter—the heir—from the beginning.

She had obtained it by killing the original legitimate daughter, this very Camilla.

In the original story, a character named Camilla had never even appeared.

‘Oh. So I wasn’t possessed into the villainess or even someone who had a single line in the original story?’

Camilla thought about it and laughed hollowly.

What a ridiculous life.

‘After everything, now I’m apparently going to be assassinated by my second-favorite character.’

What terrible luck.