OCDRF 00

Prologue

It had been two months since I opened a counseling center in this rofan world, putting my psychiatry major to use.

I skimmed through today’s list of visitors and let out a sigh.

‘Why do criminals keep coming to a psychological counseling center?’

I had intended to help people with mental health issues such as depression and panic disorder, but the only people who actually came to see me were terrifying villains.

At this point, it would be fair to call this place a confessional in a temple rather than a counseling center.

“No. If you committed a crime, you should turn yourself in to the guards. You shouldn’t come to a psychological counseling center and confess your crimes.”

“Rumors have spread far and wide that if you confess your sins to you, Young Lady, you can be saved.”

Betty, who was organizing the intake forms, said this, making me sigh.

If confessing your sins to a counselor could solve everything, there would be no reason for laws and trials to exist in this world.

I was merely someone whose role was to listen to people’s troubles.

“How does that make any sense? It’s not like I’m a saintess from a temple.”

“But everyone who has received counseling from you seems to repent and be reborn as a new person.”

“……That just happened by chance.”

Yesterday, I had managed to persuade a man who confessed that he had committed investment fraud to turn himself in.

‘Didn’t he say he had deceived people by selling ordinary water at an exorbitant price by claiming it was holy water?’

All I had done was make criminals face their own sins and bring out their remorse.

The problem was that rumors had spread, interpreting that as “salvation.”

“When will I finally be able to work as a proper psychological counselor?”

Betty tried her best to comfort me as I looked depressed while staring at the intake forms.

“The lady who came last time said her life had changed thanks to you! You’re amazing, Young Lady!”

“Hmm. If you want to be precise, I did act as a divorce counselor.”

I had merely helped a woman suffering from depression due to domestic violence get a divorce in this medieval world with its rigid views on marriage.

‘But that was just one case.’

Since there was no concept of psychological counseling in this world, perhaps it was natural for people to find it strange to confide their troubles in someone.

Still, having only criminals come here over and over seemed dangerous.

What if an actual criminal I couldn’t handle came here?

“Well, I don’t think I’ll be surprised no matter who comes anymore.”

And then he really did appear.

The final boss.

“Is this the famous place the Saintess, Eliya, mentioned?”

A man who had mistaken the psychological counseling center for a fortune-teller’s tent entered.

He was tall and imposing, with sharply defined features that looked as though a master craftsman had painstakingly carved them.

I hid my trembling hands beneath the desk and took a deep breath.

‘Why is that man here?’

From the moment I saw him, my mind went completely blank, making it impossible for me to maintain my composure.

And for good reason.

This world was a hopelessly bleak rofan novel, and that man was the shadowy sub-male lead who even waged war in order to obtain the female protagonist.

The peaceful life I had barely managed to build after opening this counseling center shattered into pieces.

I forced a smile and guided the man to the only wooden chair.

I had changed my voice using a magical tool, so there was no chance of my identity being discovered.

Even though I kept telling myself to remain calm, the trembling wouldn’t stop.

Fortunately, the man, Grand Duke Benhardt, showed no interest in my condition and instead began listing his symptoms.

“When I see that person, my heart starts beating rapidly, and my fingertips tingle. Sometimes, my face even turns red.”

Judging from the way he spoke, it didn’t seem as though he had come here knowing who I was.

Benhardt del Rovenhive.

A Grand Duke who possessed power rivaling that of the Imperial Family, he was an arrogant man who regarded human lives as no more valuable than ants.

‘Still, he really did come here to receive counseling for a psychological problem.’

There was no one who was completely evil in this world, and even the Grand Duke had his own circumstances.

Judging from his symptoms, that man was a patient suffering from prosopagnosia.

‘He said that people’s faces looked as though they were masses of fog.’

It must have been difficult for him to regard a lump of fog as a person worthy of respect.

I nodded at the original novel’s villain, whose circumstances were pitiful in their own way, and quickly added another sentence.

Can’t even remember his own fiancée’s face, yet he has plenty to say.

From the beginning, he had the kind of personality that would kill his own fiancée because he loved the female protagonist.

‘He framed her for a crime and sent her to the guillotine because she refused to break off their engagement.’

And the body I had possessed was that very fiancée, Liviat.

After possessing her body, I had worked so hard to avoid getting involved with that man.

I had planned to break off the engagement soon and never see him again for the rest of my life.

And yet, of all things, that man had to come to my psychological counseling center as a client.

I swallowed a sigh and asked,

“So, whenever you see your fiancée, you feel as though your chest is tightening, the back of your head aches, and your mouth becomes dry. Is that correct?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

The man, who had been resting his chin on his hand, lifted the corners of his mouth into a carefree smile.

That eerie smile looked as though it were announcing that he was going to kill me soon.

Bending forward until he was at eye level with me, the man asked seriously,

“So how do I get rid of these unpleasant symptoms? Should I kill the object of my emotions?”

“No. No matter what, murder is still wrong. Murder is……………….”

“Why? Killing her would solve everything neatly.”

Tears came to my eyes at the villainous Grand Duke’s humanity-destroying personality.

Why did I have to get transmigrated into this world?!

The man asked me in a languid voice, almost as though issuing an order.

“Do you know what’s causing these symptoms?”

Judging by the symptoms alone, the answer was obvious.

It was anger-induced illness.

I had read how that bastard regarded his fiancée in the original novel.

‘He thought she was insignificant because she seemed annoying and stupid, but when things didn’t go the way he wanted, all that anger accumulated.’

If I told him the truth, then given that man’s personality, there was no doubt he would try to kill the fiancée who was the cause of his anger-induced illness.

So I gave him a different diagnosis.

“The cause of those symptoms is love that has begun to take root in your heart.”

One of the man’s hands reached for the sword sheath at his waist.

Seeing the murderous intent overflowing from his eyes, I hurriedly added,

“You haven’t been able to see other people’s faces clearly for a long time, have you?”

The man’s eyes, which had been filled with nothing but boredom until then, widened.

Clear suspicion seeped into his face as he looked at me.

‘That man keeps his illness completely hidden.’

This was information that only I, someone who had read the original novel, could know.

I moistened my lips with my tongue and began the full-fledged process of lying.

“Because you haven’t had much emotional interaction with other people, you feel uncomfortable even with positive emotions.”

“You mean that I love my fiancée very much?”

“Yes. When you fall in love, your heart naturally beats faster, and you become nervous in front of that person, which makes your mouth dry.”

The man looked somewhat dazed, as though he had just heard something completely unexpected.

“There’s no way I could love that young lady who’s like a foal with a lit tail.”

I can hear you, you bastard.

I swallowed my irritation at the Grand Duke insulting his fiancée right in front of her.

‘He is a patient, after all.’

I should be considerate of the heart of a patient who had presumably suffered for a long time…………….

“If I kill the person I love, will I be free from these feelings?”

“Why did a story that was going so well suddenly return to the beginning?”

I touched the mask I had worn for my own protection and took a deep breath.

‘Should I quit the counseling center and run away right now for my own safety?’

It wasn’t as though I had opened a psychological counseling center because I possessed some grand sense of mission.

I simply wanted to earn enough money to escape abroad while using my abilities to help the people of this world.

‘After being transmigrated into a rofan world out of nowhere, there wasn’t much else I could do.’

If possible, I wanted to protect the precious everyday lives of the people here.

That was the reason I had dreamed of becoming a psychiatrist in the first place.

………………But I didn’t want to give up.

“A person with a strong sense of self-love may not realize that they love someone even when they do.”

The man’s brows furrowed sharply at my sudden statement.

I could feel an oppressive force, honed as sharply as a blade, pressing down on my body.

Honestly, I desperately wanted to run away right then and there.

But even if I was going to run away, I had to try everything I could first.

“Love is a matter of skill. It is also a process of understanding another person and giving yourself to them.”

“Get to the point.”

“Maintain an appropriate distance from your fiancée and observe the changes in your own emotions.”

I insisted that once he learned what love was, the symptom of people’s faces appearing blurry would improve.

Well, it wasn’t entirely wrong.

The Grand Duke’s condition really did improve after he fell in love with the female protagonist of the original novel.

Apparently, when he began thinking that he wanted to see the heroine’s face, the Grand Duke’s own magical power spontaneously healed him.

“Trust me. Love will make you perfect.”

At the time, I had no idea.

I never imagined that because of this lie, I would end up teaching the Grand Duke how to love.

Nor did I know that in the not-so-distant future, the villainous Grand Duke and the original male lead would become employees at the Happiness Psychological Counseling Center I had worked so hard to establish.

1) A symptom in which a person is unable to distinguish or recognize human faces due to brain damage or neurological problems.