Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

“Congratulations, Yernia!”

She seemed to be the only one who had no idea what was going on.

People with bright faces surrounded her.

Her mother looked happy, and her father wiped his tears away.

Her sister and brother looked like they had been waiting for ages, and the instant she arrived, they uncorked the bottle of champagne.

The burst of liquid poured over Yernia’s head.

To prevent them from attacking her with more champagne, his hand suddenly moved on top of Yernia’s head.

When Yernia glanced up, she saw the hand of her childhood friend. She hadn’t even noticed that he was next to her along.

It was Yernia’s childhood friend, Cassian Lecardo.

“How can you say that I’m your guide?” It never came across her mind, much less her imagination. “You surprised me.”

“I know. You two are meant to be!”

She frowned as she listened blankly to her fussing sister, Seria, and her brother, Ivan.

Unfortunately, Cassian’s hands failed to stop the never-ending champagne over her head.

Now, Yernia was covered with alcohol from head to toe.

Huh. She just laughed because she couldn’t do anything about it.

Yernia glanced down at herself and realized that she was a mess.

She didn’t even untangle the wet strands stuck on her cheek.

This is ridiculous!

She just got home!

What kind of disaster did she get into?

Anger rose from the tip of her toes to the top of her head.

“What do you mean by fate? Have all of you been crazy? What are you doing?”

Yernia threw her head back and screamed from the top of her lungs.

She went out of the house in a good mood, but they showered her with champagne as soon as she got back.

“I can’t believe I’m Cassian’s guide.”

She even heard so much nonsense before she was covered with champagne.

“Stop joking around.” She was in a good mood, minutes earlier. “Thanks to you, everything was ruined.”

When Yernia received a towel from the butler, she wiped the wet strands of her messy hair.

She was on her way back after meeting her favorite opera singer.

She got his autographs and even shook hands with him.

The man even promised to have a meal with her the next time they met.

She was so happy that she felt like flying.

But, what is this?

It turned out she was Cassian’s guide?

Yernia and Cassian were childhood friends, and they went way back.

The two friends had been together ever since they started learning how to walk.

For Yernia, Cassian was like a family, like Seria and Ivan.

He was a family sort of friend.

Since they were young, their families liked to pair them together, but they shouldn’t go overboard.

How can they do all this nonsense and call Cassian here?

“No. I am telling you the truth. I couldn’t believe it at first either.”

Seria looked at Cassian and shrugged.

Cassian had been here even before Yernia arrived.

She saw Cassian sitting at the living room sofa, but Yernia thought little of it when he waved at her the instant she entered.

The two of them should have been close to each other.

Since their family was close, Cassian often came and went to Yernia’s home.

The same was true for Yernia.

The Marquess just told her that she was in charge of him as his guide.

“What?”

Yernia’s head turned towards Cassian.

‘Really?’ Not uttering a single word, she asked him with her eyes, but Cassian simply smiled.

“Yes, Ye Na. It’s true.”

“Cassian, I am your guide. No, I’m kidding. Are you trying to tease me again? You know what I truly desire.”

Let her marry her beloved Esper.

It was the wish Yernia had cherished for a long time.

Esper, are creatures with strong abilities. But unfortunately, they were too unstable. She was one of the guides who could calm down creatures like them.

The Law of the Empire required the Esper and his guide to marry without conditions.

The Empire could only achieve peace if the guide tamed their wild Esper.

Without guides like her, the empire would go straight to defeat.

An Esper is a dangerous being, and Yernia was a guide.

Yernia knew that she had to marry an Esper someday.

If she was not given any choice but to marry an Esper, she would do what was required of her but only with the man he loved.

There was no way that Cassian had no idea about the wish Yernia cherished so much.

She told him about it every chance she got.

“Your wish would never come true for the rest of your life.”

“Why? What’s wrong with you?”

Did he eat something wrong?

Was he still determined to make a fool out of her?

He was Cassian, and that itself was enough.

He is always that mean friend who teases Yernia all the time.

Yernia looked around suspiciously, and Cassian smiled at her again, his red lips curving upward.

“What? Why are you taking off your clothes all of a sudden?”

Why was he unbuttoning his damn shirt?

Yernia’s eyes were as round as saucers at Cassian’s unexpected behavior.

She glanced at her family in surprise, but they looked pretty calm for some reason.

Instead, she seemed to be the only one who considered it strange.

What’s wrong with all these people?

“Ye Na.”

Cassian called her name as she watched the ridiculous scene.

He stopped unfastening the buttons on his shirt when he reached his chest.

Next, he grabbed Yernia’s hand.

“What are you doing?”

She had already touched Cassian’s body before she could even withdraw her hand from him.

At the same time, something caught her eye.

The letters were engraved just below his collarbone.

Yernia Cilliard.

“Why is my name there?”

For a moment, she thought she saw the wrong thing.

When nothing had changed after blinking several times, Yernia rubbed her eyes with her free hand.

However, the name didn’t vanish and remained there.

Engraved in black ink, her name was, in fact, in the right place.

Yernia realized what her name engraved on Cassian’s chest meant.

“No way.”

Currently, Yernia also failed to point out that Cassian unbuttoned his shirt more than necessary.

She spaced out as she thought about the reason why her name appeared on Cassian’s chest.

“I told you. You should take responsibility for me.”

It was such a rare case, but ‘fate’ appeared for the  Esper and his guide.

Fate.

From that point on, only the owner of the name could take responsibility for the other person regardless of the individual’s gender.

If the guide’s name appeared on Esper’s body, only the focus would have the ability to calm that Esper down.

The fact that Yernia’s name appeared on Cassian’s body–

“We have to get married.”

It meant the end.

***

Yernia turned out to be a guide when she was eight.

The instant she appeared as a guide, she realized that this was a novel she had read in her previous life.

<<The Esper’s Arrogant Love>>

It was a famous romance fantasy novel.

A world where Espers and Guides exist.

In the novel, Yernia Cilliard is the childhood friend of the male protagonist Cassian Lecardo.

Yernia, who had a crush on Cassian since childhood, appeared as the character who constantly torments Herena, the heroine who stole Cassian’s attention.

Yernia was a guide, but Herena wasn’t one.

Yernia was a sweet girl who taunts Herena by pointing out her faults with facts to back her up.

It was a great relief that she found her memory before the novel began.

“Cassian, I’ll be nice to you.”

“All of a sudden?”

“I was always good to you. All I’m saying is, I’ll do better.”

When Yernia was eight years old, she knew Cassian’s knife itself would cut her future.

Since she was in this novel, she thought she could change the future now that it turned into her reality.

She had to be good from now on.

The only memory she had of her previous life is her own.

Yernia’s life without the Female Lead was so peaceful.

+++

Maybe because she was close to Cassian in her way, she couldn’t believe that she would die in Cassian’s hands.

As a result, her goal of being kind to Cassian failed in less than a year.

She tried to be nice to him, but he couldn’t.

Her problem was Cassian Lecardo’s personality.

“Cassian, you are as rude as a beggar.”

Cassian’s personality had gone off the deep end. That is why she had to tell him.

“I’m glad you have such an ugly character. Everything was almost perfect.”

Because they were friends, Cassian did not antagonize Yernia.

However, Yernia often trembled from the arrogance emanating from his every word and behavior.

“Yes, thank you.Ye Na.”

“It’s not a compliment!”

Cassian has always called Yernia ‘Ye Na.’

When she first heard Cassian’s nickname for her, she tried to recall her memories if he had given her the same nickname from the original novel?

However, Yernia had no idea because the novel only mentioned that ‘the Male Lead has a childhood friend’ until the heroine appeared.

As she stared at Cassian, calling her Yernia, she thought the relationship between the two was probably better than she thought.

At least until the female protagonist appears.

Sigh.

“Do you sigh because you like it so much?”

“It’s the other way around. I’m melancholy as I thought about going to the same academy as you.”

The two had attended the same academy.

She can’t believe she has to see his cheeky face at the academy!

Yernia was desperate.

Yet she adapted little by little to the life at the academy, thinking that he was lucky to be around someone familiar.

It was a mere observation for just one day, but it changed a few years later.

“You bad guy! I was humiliated because of you!”

Cherry blossoms are in full bloom in spring.

It was the new semester.

The weather was so good that she could have laughed and enjoyed it, but here Yernia was, with her face so red as if it was about to burst.

As she towered in front of Cassian, who was sitting on the bench, Yernia’s body trembled with rage.

“What are you even ashamed of? What are you doing with that useless piece that you call a brain, stone head?”

“What? Did you say that what’s inside my head contained nothing but stones?”

Yernia was stunned, speechless, for a moment at the strange smugness on his face, but that didn’t make her forget that she was still angry at him.

Yernia was a ditzy student who hated studying, and Cassian was similar to Yernia.

At least Yernia thought so.

Cassian is playing with her, but why was he the only one who gets good results?

Cassian and Yernia were almost together, and she hated Cassian when he started bothering her, but put off all people, it was still comforting to see his face for the longest time.

When she comes to her senses, Cassian is always there next to Yernia.

Yernia rubbed her chin in contemplation as he observed Cassian.

Cassian was determined to stare straight ahead so she could only see his side profile.

If this continued, he would be at the top of the class if he studied hard!

No matter how much she thought about it, the idea was too absurd.

Yernia, who had spied at Cassian for a few days, whispered in his ear one day.

“Cassian, are you cheating?”