Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Everyone with eyes could agree that Albert Grey was a handsome man.

With gray hair that was a subtle mixture of black and silver, and crimson eyes that were like rubies perfectly embedded on his face—anyone would be captivated by him.

Further enhanced by his tanned complexion, his statuesque features made anyone think that he’s the word ‘beauty’ personified.

No matter who it was that passed by, they would stop in their tracks just to admire him.

But God wasn’t satisfied with his creation yet.

Having the skills that surpassed even a sword master, Albert’s entire body smouldered with muscles, so it was safe to say that even his body captured the hearts of many people.

Everyone just knew that he would one day be king.

However, the current king, Rosteratu Grey, detested Albert.

Envious instead of proud, the current king hated the prince because Albert was not his son.

Why, you ask?

Rosteratu Grey was impotent.

This was an open secret amongst the people. This was why he brought in a suitable heir who had mixed royal blood, and that heir was Albert Grey.

Albert had no parents, no brothers, and no power.

When he was brought into the palace, Rosteratu was relieved. Albert wouldn’t be able to gain more power than him.

But he was too complacent.

Albert grew up to become a great man.

Seized by an overwhelming sense of inferiority, Rosteratu framed Albert for a crime he didn’t do, and locked him up in the tower.

Inside the tower that was imbued with magic that confined him within, Albert was left alone with one maid. However, this was not for his convenience.

Rosteratu wanted to destroy Albert—to make him miserable.

So he chose a lustful woman who wasn’t shy about showing her desire for Albert, and chose her to become his maid.

The current king even gave her a magic wand to torment the prince.

The maid played with Albert to her satisfaction, and so she controlled him relentlessly with the wand just to fulfill her desires.

A kiss or a hug were easily coerced out of Albert. Everything went according to Rosteratu’s plans.

But Albert was not a fool. He gradually regained his strength, and one day, he succeeded in coaxing the maid to give him the wand.

Being the munchkin character that he was, he knew how to handle mana, and he used the wand to contact his allies outside the tower. From then on, he quietly sharpened his blade of revenge.

After only one year of captivity, Albert eventually left the tower. Then, he exacted his revenge.

Can you guess what the first thing he did after he got out?

Ding ding ding! If you guessed it right, then you get a prize!

He lopped off the head of the impish maid right away.

The maid died at once, not even having the chance to beg for her life. It was the rightfully futile death of a third-rate villain.

* * *

That’s right. The maid who died from getting her throat slit.

But why do you think I’m explaining this?

Rosé Artius, the maid who toyed with Albert Grey.

I reincarnated as her.

There was once a time when I read a book that detailed Rosé Artius’ exact characterization and actions.

I read all about the first day she came to the tower as she greeted Albert—

. . . and even what they were doing right at this moment.

The breath that lingered on my lips disappeared as the stranger moved away.

I stared at the man who kissed me just now.

Under those dark eyebrows were half-lidded eyes that glinted with intellect, with a certain elegance exuding from that gaze that no one would be able to look away from.

But those eyes that were as red as blood . . . made him look as if he wanted to eat me whole.

I was instantly bewitched. I couldn’t look away, as if there was an irresistible force coveting my gaze. Because he’s so handsome.

He was more handsome than any other celebrity I’d ever seen, with distinct features that made you think that he may just be a statue accurately created out of God’s image.

That’s why it was inevitable for me to gape dazedly at him. I really wasn’t being absent-minded on purpose.

“Rosé, how long do we have to do this?”

I shuddered as the sweet voice whispered next to my ear. Only then did I come to my senses.

I laughed awkwardly to fill the silence. Ahaha, I really don’t know . . .

“I-I think we can stop now.”

At my words, Albert grinned. It was the soulless smile of a salesman.

I couldn’t help but notice the smile because it reminded me of my own forced smile when I was at work.

Despite his soured mood, he was breathtakingly beautiful nonetheless.

“Then, can I see it now?”

“. . . Yes.”

He took the wand that I had been holding.

In the novel, the maid Rosé always asked for a kiss from Albert in exchange for letting him see the wand.

In short, at this very moment, I was digging my own grave.

. . . Damn it.

Immediately after I got reincarnated, I raised a death flag!

* * *

I finally pulled myself together to stop looking at Albert’s face so I could sort everything out.

Before I transmigrated into this novel, I was an ordinary office worker named Yoo Jung-in.

I got into a bus accident when I was on my way to work, then when I woke up, I opened my eyes to this world.

My small but certain happiness in my ordinary life was my hobby of reading webnovels. Even though I couldn’t buy expensive things, I paid for novel chapters everyday for the sake of that small happiness.

This novel that I transmigrated into was one of the novels I had read before.

It was frustrating to see Albert suffering from the evil plots of side characters, but it became exciting the moment he left the tower and found the female lead, Seo Ina.

It was the novel that I was thinking about right before I died.

Was that why I came here?

Sure, I could roll with that. But there was a big problem.

Because I reincarnated as an extra who was destined to die soon.

Rosé Artius was a depraved individual. Although her life wasn’t really given much detail because she had a small role, it was clear that she was someone who did everything just to capture Albert, who she fell in love with at first sight.

She somehow managed to strike a deal with Rosteratu and ended up being stuck alone with Albert in the tower.

Rosé might have been thrilled that she was locked up with the most attractive man in the world, but I, Yoo Jung-in, was not thrilled at all.

If I lived like Rosé, I’d surely die. And since I didn’t want to die any time soon after just getting a second shot at life, I didn’t want to act like the original Rosé.

There’s a saying that went like: ‘Even if you roll in sh*t, it’s still good to be alive.’

Albert Grey was incredibly handsome, and this fact was indisputable, but honestly . . . ‘Handsome’ was too weak of a word to describe him.

The mere sight of him really would mesmerize any person, and they’d surely want him to be theirs.

But no matter how beautiful he was, my life mattered a lot more, even at the cost of the story changing.

Plus, I was satisfied just looking at him.

Originally, my ideal types were more beautiful the farther they were from me. Because that way, I wouldn’t have to be hurt by unfulfilled expectations.

I tried to recall the first and last kiss Rosé had with Albert.

The memories swirled inside my mind like a blurry dream, and when I woke up here, they started disappearing.

I quickly grappled with the memories to remember how many days I had left to live with Albert.

. . . I could feel my gaze growing dark.

The crazy maid won a kiss from Albert just a week after being imprisoned. She really was greedy for him.

Should I be glad that she never went beyond that? But no, while Albert kissed me, I already knew what kind of person Rosé was.

And the more I thought about it, the more my headache got worse.

O, dear God. Why must you torment me so?

Albert wasn’t the only one who was suffering.

Another person was locked up with him in here, and that was me.

How the hell am I gonna live for a year in a place where there’s no wifi, no internet, no computer?? As a person from modern civilization, this is surely going to drive me insane.

But after I lamented for a bit, I pulled myself together and faced reality.

The first thing I did was recall the tower’s structure again. The tower had three floors in total.

The first floor had the kitchen, where there was a lone door where food came in and where we could communicate with people from the outside.

There was also a storage room where cooking utensils, bowls, pans, and pots were kept, and there were ingredients there as well. Of course, there was also space to light a fire.

Because the tower was round-shaped, the stairs were curved like a whirlwind along the wall.

If you go out of the kitchen and go up the stairs, you’ll be able to reach the one and only bedroom.

There was a bathroom next to the bedroom.

And that’s it.

This tower really shouldn’t have been called a ‘tower’. There’s only one bedroom in it.

Fortunately, the tower was large, so even if it had only one room, it was spacious enough. The ceiling was high, and there was a window so it didn’t feel stuffy.

The walls of the tower were painted with a warm beige, so it was strangely soothing.

Next to the window was a fireplace to be used during winter. It was small, but it warmed up the room enough.

Some distance away from the fireplace was the bed, and opposite that was a small bookshelf lining the other wall and a table in front of it.

There was a ladder, too, which you could use to climb to enter the attic, which was the highest floor of the tower. It’s also being used as a storage room.

With the wand, I could roam everywhere, but Albert was confined to just the bedroom on the second floor.

Because he had many limitations, she had to obey the maid’s whims. It was valid that he resented her.

. . . Maybe even to the point that it’s understandable that he wanted to kill her.

As I crouched in the attic, I sighed heavily.

Let’s calm down a bit.

Someone once said that even if you somehow transmigrated in a book, if you get your act together, then you’d be able to survive.

Who said that, you ask?

Me. I’m saying that.

This was an opportunity to live a new life after I died in vain due to an accident in my previous life.

Albert was a prince, and he was destined to become the king. It’s all about getting the right connections. If I just stick close to his side, then it’s like winning the lottery.

Let’s write a contract.

If I do that, I’ll be able to leave the tower and get my life and retirement guaranteed. And it’s better if both Albert and I could leave the tower soon.

What was the point of being alone here with him? I just needed to give him the wand and cooperate a bit.

It’s the perfect plan.

I just needed to put theory into practice.

As I went down the ladder to exit the attic, I saw Albert sitting elegantly on the bed as he read a book.

For a moment, I was mesmerized by his perfectly sculpted features, with his hair framing his face finely. Then, I called out to him carefully.

“Your Highness.”

Albert looked up. He looked at me and smiled. I trembled at the sight of perfection.

The maid Rosé didn’t know it, but she was risking her life for a smile that was obviously a business smile. And I knew this because I had lots of experience seeing and making that same smile.

This man’s smile didn’t reach his eyes at all.

“What is it, Rosé? Is there something else I can do for you?”

I answered the question, knowing what he was insinuating.

“No, no! I don’t need that!”

Ah, stop it! My life’s at stake!

Albert narrowed his gaze and crossed his arms.

“I guess you weren’t satisfied with the price I just paid, Rosé. I thought I did pretty well.”

“It’s not that it was bad . . .”

Gah, I must be out of my mind! But Albert was such a good kisser. Maybe this was one of the upsides to being the main character.

I added in a hurry.

“It’s not something that you wanted. You don’t have to force yourself anymore.”

“If I don’t want to do it, then I don’t have to . . . ?”

Albert raised his brows as if he couldn’t understand what I was saying. Meanwhile, I was thinking that my eyes must have been blessed to see a fallen angel right in front of me.

Inevitably, a ridiculous comment popped out of my mouth.

“Y-Your Highness is very beautiful.”

“. . . Rosé, just tell me what you want to say.”

Albert rose from the bed and approached me. I gulped and recalled what I was meant to do.

“I deeply apologize. For everything.”

I pushed the contract I wrote just now to him.

“I’d like to make a deal with you, Prince.”

“In exchange for my body?”

Why was he always twisting my words!

“No! I don’t want physical contact with Your Highness! I don’t want it!”

He furrowed his brows, still confused by my words.

Not long after, Albert muttered in a low voice.

“But you like me.”

I shuddered at his low whisper that echoed in my ears.

Oh my gosh. Why did that sound so natural coming from him? And that confidence didn’t seem forced at all.

I breathed out while controlling my expression.

If I said, ‘I’m not Rosé Artius. I’m Yoo Jung-in and I don’t like you,’ it was obvious that he wouldn’t believe me.

And if I explained that world was inside a novel and I transmigrated here, I’d immediately get locked up in the loony bin.

So I wrote a contract instead. I decided to take advantage of the power of a binding contract that every modern person knew.

I pushed the contract into his hands again.

“Your Highness, please take a look at this.”

Albert lifted the piece of paper, then murmured.

“. . . A contract to ensure the life and death of Rosé Artius?”