《I Transmigrated into the Villainess of a Historical Reverse-Harem Game》 Chapter 1 Slap! The right cheek became hot. Soon, there was a taste of blood in my mouth, and my tears came out. ¡°You vicious thing.¡± When I lifted my head, holding on to the cheek that was slapped, I saw my ¡®father¡¯ looking at me with hatred in his eyes. ¡°You really thought I wouldn¡¯t know if you tried to hide it? You are vicious and vicious.¡± ¡°¡­I am not.¡± My voice kept shaking due to how unfair this was. ¡°I am not a gumiho1, father.¡± ¡°Stop lying.¡± I hurriedly tried to defend myself, but his face became more distorted. He, of course, didn¡¯t believe in my words. While kneeling down, I quietly looked up at the girl crying near his side. She was already pretty but looked even prettier while crying. I was the one who wanted to cry, but since I couldn¡¯t, I felt like swearing. ¡°How could I harm a bull that¡¯s the size of a house. I¡¯m sure there¡¯s some kind of misunder¡­¡± ¡°Father, please forgive Yeonhee.¡± I forcefully stopped my tears and asked for forgiveness, but my ¡®sister¡¯ interrupted me. ¡°Yeonhye, you also know this. When this incident happened, besides the slaves, there was only that girl inside the house. Then, the culprit is obvious. How could you side with her?¡± ¡°But father, Yeonhee is my younger sister.¡± Yeonhye knelt next to me and begged while shedding tears. ¡°Even if she is a gumiho, we are a sibling that¡¯s been raised together for 10 years. Even an animal repays favors if raised well, how could a spiritual being not. I¡¯ll teach her well. Please don¡¯t kick Yeonhee out.¡± Huh? This tear-jerking drama happening in front of me was ridiculous. I wanted to get up immediately and tell them to stop acting like this, but my legs refused to move no matter how hard I tried. ¡°Sigh, okay.¡± After Yeonhye cried and begged for a while, Daegam2 looked down at me with a more relaxed expression and spoke. ¡°Since Yeonhye is begging so much, I am willing to forgive you for this once. However, you better reflect on it sincerely. This should never happen again inside the house.¡± ¡°Sob¡­ Thank you, father.¡± I didn¡¯t know whether to say thank you or stop to Yeonhye for even apologizing in my place. However, my mouth refused to open easily like it¡¯s been sealed shut with glue. My body also refused to move like it¡¯s been tied up. My body was limp until the servants came to the room and lifted me up. ¡°Take that child and lock her in the storeroom! You better not give even a drop of water to her for four days.¡± ¡°Yes, my lord!¡± Endure it. I repeated this expression over and over again in my head and staggered up. Yeonhye looked at the sight of the servants dragging me with teary red eyes. I didn¡¯t want to see her anymore, so I turned my head. ¡°Yeonhye, hurry and get up. You shouldn¡¯t worry because of that thing.¡± ¡°Sob sob, father.¡± I could hear the conversation between a friendly father and daughter well even through the door. Rather than sad, I was annoyed because I was tired of it. ¡°My lady, please stay quietly.¡± The servants threw me into a dark storeroom without a hint of sunlight, closed the door quickly, and locked it. There was a sound of chains being wrapped as well. At the same time, an unknown power that held my body was released. ¡°Whew, is this finally over?¡± My whole body was exhausted. I sat down on the haystack and massaged my arms and legs. ¡°This episode is rather long. Ow, I was even physically assaulted.¡± I felt miserable while rubbing my painful cheek and muttering. Until when do I have to live as a punching bag? Surely it can¡¯t be until the female lead sees the ending? Suddenly scared, I tried my hardest to recall the content of a guide that I could now barely remember. However, the more I thought about it, it was depressingly clear that I became a scapegoat. ¡°Damn.¡± What do I have to do in order to get out of this game? Right now, I possessed a body of a villainess in a historical reverse-harem game. ¡­ Chapter 2 The setting of this game with a childish name was simple. The female lead, who was the youngest daughter of the prime minister, had a weak body since she was young and lost her mother when she was born. She looked just like her mother and was sick frequently, so Daegam called a monk asked for her fortune because he was afraid that he would lose her like he lost his wife. ¡°If my lady is raised as the youngest child, she will live a short life. In order for her to live, her younger sibling has to face the back luck in her place.¡± After losing his wife, Daegam didn¡¯t have intentions of re-marrying; he thought for a while and, in the end, brought a child home. Since a male child could threaten the position of the heir, he chose an orphan girl who lost both of her parents in the war. Yeonhye, the female lead who has a kind personality and a pretty face, took good care of her non-blood related younger sister and grew up healthy. As she grows, she becomes involved with the male lead candidates and finds love. However, Yeonhee, who was taken good care of like a real related sibling, was actually jealous of her sister, the real daughter of the prime minister. She tries to hinder her sister¡¯s relationship with the male leads every opportunity she gets and gets killed right before the ending because she is framed as a gumiho. ¡°No matter who looks at it, she¡¯s a villainess, no doubt.¡± I am that villainess, Yeonhee. I felt so empty that only laughter came out. I just bought and played an Indie game from a funding site and fell asleep only to wake up as a villainess who faced a miserable end because she was jealous of her sister. ¡°I think it would be better if I died fast.¡± I was hungry and really thirsty. The pain from the slap earlier has gone away, but I still felt down and miserable. My ¡®father¡¯ who¡¯s a Daegam ordered that I be starved for four day, but my stomach has been empty for a long time already. It seemed like Yeonhee was hated even by the servants. ¡°I guess I can¡¯t help it.¡± Even though this was inside a game, it was hard to endure the pain from the body. I took out an eunjangdo4 that I hid inside my clothes and stabbed my heart with it. My eyes gradually darkened and my chest became stiff. It became hard to breathe, then¡­ Ding! [¡®Find the gumiho!¡¯ Quest completed. Would you like to receive the award?] What is this? What quest? The transparent window in front of my window sparkled. At the same time, a button with ¡®Yes¡¯ and ¡®No¡¯ appeared underneath. That¡¯s strange. I thought if you die, the episode gets skipped. First time I was transported inside the game, Yeonhee was pushing Yeonhye, who was riding a swing on Danonal5. Yeonhye fell to the floor and injured her arm, but Yeonhee was hit hard on the head by the swing that was coming back. The chair on the swing was made of jade so Yeonhee should have died immediately. However, because I was possessing her body, she wasn¡¯t hurt even the slightest. Back then, a transparent window, just like this one, appeared in front of my eyes. [¡®Steal a glance at my love while riding a swing on Danonal¡± Quest failed. No reward is given.] The reward of the quest was that Yeonhye meets one of the male lead candidates and goes on a market date. However, since I wasn¡¯t the female lead, I had no idea who¡¯s route Yeonhye was on. Anyways, because I was a character who hindered Yeonhye at every opportunity, it didn¡¯t seem like I could die before it was the right time. However, if I chose to kill myself, the quest or the episode got skipped, and the next story was played. ¡°Was my quest completed because the prime minister found out that I was a gumiho?¡± But I had no idea why I was able to see this. Shouldn¡¯t Yeonhye be the one to see this quest screen? Besides I could even choose if I wanted to receive the reward. Chapter 3 ¡®Maybe¡­ is it because the game player is me, so I can see it?¡¯ What is this innocent prank? Does this mean I have to keep looking at the scene as the quest progresses? If this goes on, I might even get a quest completed tab when I actually die. It was so ridiculous that only laughter came out, but, for now, I decided to press ¡®Yes¡¯. I should at least get a reward after being miserably treated as a gumiho. Suddenly, the transparent window disappeared, and there was a sound of chains being unwrapped. ¡®Are they finally going to release me since four days have passed?¡¯ I raised my body in anticipation, but suddenly I felt very dizzy. I leaned against the door and tried to breathe but my stomach started hurting like crazy. ¡®Damn it. Maybe I¡¯m like this because I starved for four days.¡¯ Apparently my body didn¡¯t improve just because I skipped an episode. While I was breathing heavily with my eyes closed, someone opened the door and came in. ¡°Please, ta¡­¡± I grabbed his arm while gasping for breath. ¡°My lady?¡± A man I¡¯ve never seen before was looking at me when I opened my eyes. He was wearing white clothing that was covered in blood. However, I didn¡¯t have time to be surprised. I was too hungry. ¡°Please, take me out of here.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t do that.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°How could a Baekjung5 touch a lady.¡± Ah, that¡¯s why his clothing was covered in blood. Come to think of it, he had an enormous sack in his right hand. Since the sack was dripping blood, it seemed like they called Baekjung5 to deal with the bull. ¡°So what?¡± But now wasn¡¯t the time to care about that stuff. Since I wasn¡¯t actually born of the upper class, and even if I was, what was wrong with Baekjung5? They were just butchers. ¡°What do you mean so what?¡± However, he was confused because he never thought he would hear these words. I grabbed his arm harder and gasped for breath. ¡°Only you can help me right now¡­¡± In order to not get swayed by this damn game, I wanted to receive help from anyone. ¡®Even if I die when I die, I don¡¯t want to live like this.¡¯ Soon, the pain that couldn¡¯t even compare to the pain from stabbing herself on the chest with Eunjangdo earlier, came over my entire body. ¡°My lady!¡± Thud, with a sound, the sack fell. Maybe he let go of the sack because he had to catch me while I was falling. As the Baekjung5 caught me, my vision became dark. ¡°Ugh¡­¡± As soon as I woke up, my head started hurting like it was about to break. My body was drooping like a wet cotton, and it lacked strength. Even so, the floor beneath me felt comfy. It seemed like I was out of the storeroom. I grabbed my dizzy head and looked around to find that I was in my room. As I reached out to the kettle to pour myself a drink, a maid who was standing outside saw that I woke up and ran to somewhere quickly. I wondered why she was running but didn¡¯t have the strength to catch her. For now, I just wanted to take care of my dried-up throat and started drinking from the kettle without even pouring it into a cup. ¡°I¡¯m hungry.¡± My empty stomach was agitated more now that I¡¯ve drank water. They should¡¯ve given me some food since they¡¯ve released me, but the room contained nothing as if they wanted me to starve to death. With no choice, I decided to lie down on the blanket again. Suddenly, the door opened. A young maid came in trembling with a sack. ¡°My lady.¡± I got up thinking that they¡¯d give me some porridge since I just woke up, but the maid closed both her eyes as if she were in fear and handed me the sack. ¡°Th, this! My lord has said this was yours so you can do whatever you¡¯d like with it.¡± ¡°What is this?¡± It can¡¯t be¡­ I thought I saw this sack a lot, of course it was this. When I untied the string, this squishy lump wrapped in brown paper inside of the sack reeked of blood. 5. Baekjung ¨C a man of the lowest class who¡¯s excluded from family registry and made living by killing and butchering livestock. Chapter 4 ¡°He said that since you took it out, you can do whatever you want with it.¡± The maid teared up and stepped back. I searched her hand in vain. Unfortunately, I couldn¡¯t see anything else. I asked in a weak voice. ¡°Do you have any porridge?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Or even some rice.¡± ¡°H, he told me not to bring anything like that¡­¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Complaining to her wouldn¡¯t have been useless. I waved my hand. ¡°You may go. Oh wait, did my father order to lock me in here?¡± ¡°N, no. He didn¡¯t¡­¡± ¡°Then take all the people outside and disappear.¡± ¡°Yes¡­¡± With a face that showed she was glad that I didn¡¯t show temper, the young maid quickly disappeared. ¡°Does he really want me to starve to death?¡± Suddenly, the resentment grew. If he brought an orphan to save his daughter, shouldn¡¯t he be taking care of her well and not pray that she dies soon? It wouldn¡¯t be strange if she thought about hurting them instead of facing the misfortunes for her sister if she died like this. There was really no choice but to become a villainess for Yeonhee. I didn¡¯t feel anything because I knew I was going to die anyways, but I didn¡¯t want to die here like they wanted. Furthermore, if I died right now, the episode gets skipped and the story continues. It was obvious that only my body will hurt, so I would rather die at one go and be done with it. ¡°For now I will survive, and I will admit that I¡¯m a gumiho at a crucial moment and end it there.¡± I was more at ease after making that decision. I thought that maybe that was what this damn game wanted from me. If I died like how the original game flowed, maybe I could escape from this game. Since I didn¡¯t die no matter how many times I tried, this hypothesis sounded convincing. I opened the sack and went out holding the unknown lump wrapped in paper. It seemed like they were praying that the fake daughter died soon, but I had no intention of letting that happen. Luckily, I rather enjoyed playing so I knew by heart most settings, maps, and characters. The layout of the house of the main character Yeonhye was obvious. However, the prime minister probably thought that Yeonhee didn¡¯t know the way to escape because she was never allowed to go outside. I found the backdoor of the annex easily and left. The backdoor was connected to a mountain path, but it was a secluded road with only a few people going in or out. I gathered the last of my strength and followed the path down. Soon after, a thatched house with smoke coming out of it came out. It was a familiar sight. ¡°Finally!¡± As expected, the layout of the map was the same. If my guess was right, that was the house of a butcher. ¡°Hey there!¡± I opened and entered the private door while raising my voice, but there was no sign of anyone. ¡°Is no one there?¡± Did they go out to trade since it¡¯s still daytime? Unfortunately I didn¡¯t remember when the market was open until. While I was looking around, I felt something moving. ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°Ah, you¡¯re here. I came to ask a favor.¡± ¡°¡­my lady?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± The baekjung I saw yesterday came out of the kitchen. Because he was holding a bloody blade with an indifferent expression, I felt chills down on my back. He glanced at me and asked. ¡°How did you come here?¡± ¡°I came to find the owner of the butcher shop¡­ Is this your house?¡± I thought the owner would be an old man, but I was mistaken. The man put his blade back in at my words and slowly nodded. ¡°Yes, but how did you come here?¡± ¡°I have a favor to ask.¡± I handed over the lump wrapped in paper. ¡°This, can I eat it?¡± ¡°This is¡­¡± With a surprised face, he untied the sack. As I had expected, it was a liver. ¡°This is a cow liver. Why did you bring this, my lady?¡± ¡°My father gave it to me. Since I¡¯m a gumiho, he wants me to eat liver and not rice.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Chapter 5 The man frowned slightly and stood there in silence. Suddenly, I was scared. This person, what if he was programmed to not think about anything besides the main game story since he¡¯s not an important character? I can¡¯t let that happen! I urgently made up a pitiful voice and spoke. ¡°I wasn¡¯t able to eat anything while I was locked in the storeroom. I woke up today and only drank water. When I asked for something to eat, they gave me this.¡± ¡°Are you saying that the prime minister really starved you for five days?¡± Five days? I wasn¡¯t locked in for just four days? I started to fume. This man must be out of his mind. At the same time, my legs lost strength and I fell down due to a stomach twisting pain. ¡°I feel like dying¡­¡± I gasped for breath and clenched my chest, and the man looked at me and spoke quietly. ¡°Please wait a moment.¡± He went into the kitchen, brought out a tray with a bowl of porridge on it, and put it on the table. ¡°You will get sick if you ingest meat after starving for a couple days.¡± Even though it was a cold porridge, I still finished it quickly. My mind felt much clearer after filling my empty stomach with something. ¡°Thank you.¡± A while later, I thanked him with all my heart. ¡°If it weren¡¯t for you, I would have died yesterday. Since you helped me today as well, I will eventually repay the kindness you showed me.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t do it to receive something in return.¡± ¡°But still, it¡¯s only fair that I repay the person that helped me.¡± In the house of the prime minister¡¯s, even maids refused to help me. It wasn¡¯t because they hated me, they just didn¡¯t want to anger either the prime minister or Yeonhye, the real owners of the house. However, even though he was from a lower class, this man helped me. It was the first time I was shown kindness in this game. ¡°I have no strength right now, but I¡¯ll definitely repay you later.¡± ¡°¡­If it pleases you, do what you want.¡± He replied one beat late. Maybe the reason he always replied slowly even though this wasn¡¯t an important conversation was because he wasn¡¯t programmed to meet me? While I was looking at his face, he picked up the liver and spoke. ¡°I¡¯ll cook this for you.¡± ¡°Really? Thank you.¡± I was wondering if I should keep coming down here to get food, but he solved the problem for me! I sat down in front of the table like I was waiting for it. Like a butcher that he is, he brought a container with various food and handed it to me. ¡°I packed porridge and some additional food; this should last you for a couple days. But I¡¯m not sure if it¡¯d fit your taste.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about that.¡± I always liked ox blood soup and ate Sundae1, beef intestine, and internal organs well. ¡°Then I¡¯ll get going now. Oh, right.¡± I looked back while opening the private door with both hands full of heavy bowls. ¡°Did you forget something?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± I forgot the most important thing. I fixed the bowl in my hands and asked. ¡°What is your name?¡± The NPC¡¯s name wasn¡¯t determined in the game. He was just called the owner of the butcher shop. However, I couldn¡¯t keep calling him a baekjung or a butcher. ¡°Don¡¯t you also have a name?¡± Maybe he doesn¡¯t have a name because he¡¯s not a male lead? That would be really pitiful. I felt nervous because he didn¡¯t answer quickly. I didn¡¯t know what to do if the prime minister found out that I was gone because I was taking a long time. ¡°If you don¡¯t have one, I¡¯ll give you one. Hmm¡­ how about Gordon Ramsey?¡± I suggested this name because it was kind of similar to a baekjung or a chef, but he frowned instead. ¡°My name is Jun Kyung. What is that alien word you said?¡± ¡°Ahaha, is that so?¡± Didn¡¯t baekjung have foreign blood mixed in? There¡¯s nothing wrong with using a foreigner¡¯s name. His hair and eyes may be black, but his tall height and wide shoulders could suggest that he has foreign blood mixed in. Chapter 6 I felt funny so quickly waved my hands and escaped. ¡°I¡¯m leaving!¡± Luckily, he didn¡¯t follow me to ask further. The way back up wasn¡¯t as hard because my stomach was somewhat full. When I entered the back door and went back into the annex, it didn¡¯t seem like they found out that I went out for a while. I went to the kitchen and opened up the container that Jun Kyung gave me. ¡°It even has rawr liver.¡± There were a couple of other food that was good for digestion besides the porridge in the container; the liver I gave him was kept intact with blood properly removed. I was going to throw out raw meat because I didn¡¯t really like them, but I changed my mind. I hid the other foods, put down the big bowl with raw liver in the room, and went back to lying back down. ¡®Whoever it is, I hope someone comes in.¡¯ It was disgusting to starve someone to die and not even look at how they were doing. Since they were trembling because they thought I was a gumiho, they will probably faint when they see a real raw liver. The sun set quickly because it was summer. I was full and felt more relaxed so I accidentally fell asleep. Someone came into the annex. I closed my eyes while lying down and anticipated for that person to come into my room. *Sound of door opening*. ¡°Yeonhee, are you still¡­ kyaaaaa!¡± Huh? Did I hear this voice somewhere before? When I opened my eyes, Yeonhye was already falling backwards after seeing the raw liver. I¡¯m so screwed. ¡°Sob, my lady. Why did you have to go find that gumiho and hurt yourself like this.¡± The maid cried loudly and helped Yeonhye up. As a result, I had to get up and give Yeonhye my spot. I was the one who had no strength in my body because I¡¯ve starved for a couple days, but for some reason, Yeonhye became the patient. ¡°She¡¯s not a gumiho, don¡¯t say such a thing.¡± Yeonhye, whose white face became even more pale, still had a kind heart. She scolded the maid while lying down. ¡°Yeonhee is my sister, you can¡¯t talk badly about her.¡± ¡°She can¡¯t be your sister. You two have nothing in common with each other.¡± Yeonhye¡¯s maid glared at me and said fiercely. It seemed like she really didn¡¯t care about the listener. But, to be honest, she had a point. Yeonhye and I looked nothing alike. Yeonhye had jet black hair with black eyes. On top of that, she had a tall, slim body with arched eyebrows that were round like a crescent moon. When she was wiping her face with a wet towel, it was obvious that she had no make up on, but her lips were still red and her cheeks were the color of apricot. She was a typical beauty that you couldn¡¯t forget once you have seen her. On the other hand, Yeonhee, the girl I was possessing, had light brown hair with light brown eyes. She was still slim but wasn¡¯t as tall; she was more of a pretty girl type rather than beautiful. Because of his dignity, the prime minister probably never went around talking about how he picked up a war orphan to make her his daughter, but it was pretty obvious that she looked nothing like the rest of them, causing the servants to talk about her origins. ¡°I won¡¯t forgive you if you talk about the daughter of the prime minister like that again.¡± ¡°Yes, I understand.¡± But because Yeonhye had such a kind heart, she even solded the maid that was just worrying about her. The maid¡¯s eyes became bitter from being scolded while taking sides. I turned my head and pretended to not know what was going on. ¡°Yeonhee.¡± Yeonhye got up and held my hands. I was going to avoid it because it was too burdensome, but her gripping power was stronger than I thought. She looked at me with teary eyes. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I couldn¡¯t stop our father.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not something to be sorry about.¡± ¡°Making you eat something like this, I¡¯m really sorry. But don¡¯t worry. I¡¯m sure father isn¡¯t as angry anymore.¡± Chapter 7 Yeonhye opened up the bag she brought. I was about to say it¡¯s okay, but changed my mind as soon as I saw all the food inside of it. There were steamed ribs with various herbs, boiled meat, rice, dumplings, and neatly cut fruits. ¡°Since your body hasn¡¯t recovered yet, start with porridge for today and eat little by little from tomorrow morning. I specially asked the cook to make this.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± There was no reason to refuse since she was just giving me food. When I received the food, Yeonhye called a maid with a pleased face. She was the young maid who gave me the liver. ¡°And this girl will be serving you.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay, I lived alone all this time.¡± ¡°But I¡¯m not okay with it.¡± Yeonhye was stubborn and forced the maid to stand next to me. ¡°As the older sister, I think I have been very careless with you. From now on, I would like us to get along, Yeonhee.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t need to do that.¡± It wasn¡¯t just empty words. I was still the fake younger sister and had the villain role. If I wanted to get out of this damn game, I had to die to Yeonhee like the original script. ¡°I¡¯m a gumiho anyway.¡± ¡°How could a human be a gumiho?¡± ¡°But that¡¯s what father believes.¡± ¡°Father is mistaken. I¡¯ll talk to him about it.¡± I didn¡¯t want to stop her since she was going out of her way. It wasn¡¯t strange that a female lead full of justice wanted to help out the pitiful villain. If it were the real Yeonhee, she would¡¯ve insulted and tormented her kind sister due to jealousy, but I didn¡¯t want to live that hard. ¡°Okay, thank you.¡± Everyone was amazed when I answered without giving any trouble. In particular, the young girl who was just assigned to be my maid widened her eyes. Yeonhye was the same. ¡°Then I¡¯ll get going now.¡± She got up with a really happy face. The color on her face was back to normal. ¡°I¡¯ll come again.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± I didn¡¯t really care if she came or not, so I answered apathetically. Yeonhye went back to the main building with her maids following her. The young maid who was standing in the corner carefully spoke. ¡°Uh, wh, what should I do first?¡± ¡°Put the food in the kitchen. Don¡¯t touch anything else.¡± ¡°Yes¡­¡± The new maid that Yeonhye gave, Danyi, acted carefully around me. She was fast about what she was ordered to do, but I wasn¡¯t sure whether she was trustworthy or not yet. ¡®Why did Yeonhye suddenly change her mind?¡¯ It was frustrating to sit in the room alone with her without any conversation, so I came outside. As I walked around under the sun, a question suddenly came into my mind. Yeonhee wasn¡¯t close to Yeonhye originally. It was because Yeonhee rejected all the times Yeonhye tried to get along with her. She always stopped their father, the prime minister, from treating her badly, but it was the first time she came to Yeonhee to take care of her. ¡®Oh, maybe it wasn¡¯t shown because it wasn¡¯t the game¡¯s main story.¡¯ The main story of was the growing relationship between Yeonhye and the three male lead candidates. The story behind the villain who¡¯s trying to ruin the relationship between the main characters were not important at all. ¡®Well, whatever.¡¯ My goal was to finish this damn game quickly anyways. Guessing based on the season, there was about one year until Yeonhye seduces one of the male lead candidates and marries him. That meant I just had to survive until next summer. ¡°I wanted to die quickly.¡± I was annoyed. I couldn¡¯t die even if I chose to kill myself. Of course, the story did get skipped each time I died, but my body was hurting, and I became too scared to keep trying. ¡°Is that your wish?¡± Suddenly, someone sneered behind me. ¡°If that¡¯s so, you could have just stayed inside the storeroom. Why did you pretend to faint?¡± ¡°¡­older brother.¡± My mood fell when I noticed who it was. The man who was staring at me like I was his nemesis was the young master of this house and the older brother of Yeonhye and Yeonhee. Chapter 8 Ji Inwoo. He became 24 years old this year, he was a genius who just passed the state exam. Unless something happens, he was probably going to become an official and inherit father¡¯s worth and honor. However, I knew that he had a secret that no one had to know. ¡°Why? Are you disappointed that I didn¡¯t die?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°It¡¯s true. Yeonhye will only live long if I died fast. Aren¡¯t I right?¡± I retorted because I didn¡¯t like his eyes that looked at me like I was an insignificant bug. ¡°We¡¯re in the same situation, don¡¯t be so mean.¡± ¡°What do you mean by the same situation.¡± ¡°Older brother also isn¡¯t the real son of our father.¡± Ji Inwoo was a boy who the prime minister brought by asking the distant relatives because he needed a male heir. Yeonhye was three when that happened, so it was likely that she didn¡¯t know this fact. Because he wasn¡¯t related to the prime minister by blood, he was anxious about every little thing that the prime minister said. That¡¯s why he was very protective of the prime minister¡¯s real daughter, Yeonhye, and he was the person who helped the most when Yeonhee was accused of being a gumiho and killed. Due to this reason, out of all the endings of , Ji Inwoo¡¯s ending received a lot of criticism. While they weren¡¯t real siblings, they were family on paper and it wasn¡¯t really known whether Ji Inwoo loved Yeonhye for real. I, personally, thought that he used Yeonhye¡¯s feelings to become the confirmed heir of the prime minister and did not like Ji Inwoo¡¯s ending. ¡°I don¡¯t plan on living long as the daughter of the prime minister, so don¡¯t worry.¡± I said coldly. ¡°I¡¯m glad you know your place.¡± Ji Inwoo answered with a firm face. ¡°I don¡¯t know how you found out this fact, but I guess there¡¯s no reason to hide it. However, you better remember, I¡¯m not in the same situation as you.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the difference?¡± ¡°I at least have Ji¡¯s blood inside of me, but you don¡¯t even have that.¡± I couldn¡¯t reply. His black eyes like Yeonhye¡¯s came close to me. He asked me while looking straight into my eyes. ¡°A war orphan became the daughter of the prime minister, do you have anything else you want?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t utter a word to anyone and be prudent. Don¡¯t get close to Yeonhye or else, I will make sure you regret it.¡± ¡°Why, are you going to kill me?¡± However, I wasn¡¯t scared of him threatening me. I couldn¡¯t die if it wasn¡¯t the right moment anyways. ¡°Then kill me. It would be good for you if there was an unsavory rumor about you before you even became an official. Yeonhye would also be sad. She asked to get along with me a while ago.¡± Ji Inwoo¡¯s face became distorted when I spoke back sarcastically like he did to me. He turned as if he determined there was no reason to talk to me further. ¡°Take care of yourself.¡± I spoke the opposite of what was in my heart and stomped back to my room. ¡°Danyi, lock all the doors.¡± ¡°Huh? But then the people from the main building can¡¯t come.¡± Danyi looked anxious again. She probably thought that I didn¡¯t want to meet with Yeonhye. Damn it. I have to be careful about Yeonhye. She was the main character of this game, so it was not beneficial for me to get on her bad side. ¡°Then lock all the doors besides the one connecting to the main building. No one usually comes here anyways.¡± ¡°Yes, I understand!¡± Danyi¡¯s face became brighter. What kind of image does she have of me? Why is she so scared? I had no clue how badly the original Yeonhee treated her maids. ¡°Oh, right.¡± I suddenly remembered something and went out the door. ¡°Danyi! Spread some salt there!¡± I pointed at the place where Ji Inwoo left and shouted. It was loud to the point that Ji Inwoo, who was going to his room, could hear. *** It wasn¡¯t easy to act like a fake sister. ¡°Yeonhee, look at this rouge. I got this when the merchant of Chu came around just recently.¡± Yes, well, it¡¯s pretty.¡± Chapter 9 Yeonhye had been sitting and chattering in the annex for over two hours already. It seemed like her request to be close to wasn¡¯t just empty words. She even brought all the good things she owned and tried to give them to me. But, despite her effort, those things didn¡¯t impress me. In the end, there was no reason to make myself look pretty when my mission was to survive until the right moment and die. ¡°This would look good with your hair color. Take it.¡± ¡°Thank you, my lady.¡± I took the rouge she handed to me apathetically. ¡°Yeonhee.¡± Suddenly, Yeonhye¡¯s voice subsided. When I looked up, her face was dark. ¡°Wow, this is so pretty! I¡¯ve never seen a pink rouge before. It even smells nice. Haha! I will definitely treasure it since it¡¯s so pretty.¡± ¡°Yeonhee, why do you call me my lady?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Isn¡¯t that natural? The real daughter of the prime minister is you. Even in the game, Yeonhee called Yeonhye my lady. No one in this household pointed that out. Even the main character, Yeonhye, thought that was natural. That¡¯s why Yeonhee was more jealous and hated Yeonhye. Even if she wasn¡¯t the real daughter, she was still her sibling on paper. Anyone could see the difference in status. ¡®But why is she saying that all of sudden?¡¯ It was so suspicious that I started thinking of what to say, But Yeonhye laughed as if she were feeling bad and grabbed my hand. ¡°I want you to treat me as if I¡¯m your older sister.¡± ¡°I have always thought like that. I¡¯ve never thought I was better than my lady even once.¡± ¡°Why does it matter whether a sister is better than the other? It just troubles me that you always call me my lady.¡± ¡°But I was taught to call you my lady from the start.¡± Sadness spread on Yeonhye¡¯s face. But I didn¡¯t care whether she was sad or not. It¡¯s not like I was the real Yeonhee, there was no point to care about those things. I had no intention of becoming the real daughter of the prime minister. ¡°I¡¯ll just keep calling you my lady.¡± ¡°It looks like you haven¡¯t opened up to me yet, I¡¯ll try harder.¡± Yeonhye got up from the seat and smiled. She really had the personality of a main character. Very stubborn! ¡°Do what you¡¯d like then.¡± ¡°If I receive anything good in the future, I¡¯ll share it with you. Since I have lots, it¡¯ll be good if we use them together.¡± Her words were kind of weird now that I thought about it. Did she pity me? But I had no idea why she was being nice to me all of sudden when she never cared in the past. Anyways, if she had said this to the real Yeonhee, the real Yeonhee would have only been angry and tried to fight her. But it didn¡¯t matter to me whether Yeonhye was trying to bother me or not, so I replied nonchalantly. ¡°Okay.¡± Yeonhye¡¯s smile became wider. ¡°I¡¯ll be leaving now then. Ah! And Yeonhee, just in case, don¡¯t go outside the annex at night.¡± ¡°Huh? Why?¡± There was no reason for me to go out, but I asked because I was curious about how carefully Yeonhye was looking around her surroundings when she warned me. The maids pretended to not hear our conversation. Yeonhye came closer to me and whispered. ¡°Father has been suspicious about the incident lately. Even though you aren¡¯t the culprit, isn¡¯t it natural that he¡¯s the most suspicious of you for standing in the middle of the cowshed at night?¡± ¡°Ahh, that.¡± That was the reason why I was slapped by the prime minister. One night, a large cow was found dead with blood bubbles in her mouth, and it was said that my hands were stained with blood. ¡°It does look like what a gumiho would do.¡± ¡°Yeonhee!¡± When I said the word ¡°gumiho¡±, her face became really pale. ¡°You can¡¯t say such a thing. You¡¯re not a gumiho.¡± ¡°But that¡¯s what everyone thinks I am. Then I guess I¡¯ll just become a gumiho.¡± And that was the ending I wanted too. Yeonhye¡¯s eyes became moist after listening to me, and she turned around. ¡°¡­I¡¯ll come back later.¡± ¡°Yes, my lady.¡± Chapter 10 ¡°¡­I¡¯ll come back later.¡± ¡°Yes, my lady.¡± Yeonhye probably wanted to hear me call her unnie1, but I had no intention of saying that. I would be the one that the prime minister or Ji Inwoo would retaliate against if one of the maids started creating a rumor. It was not guaranteed that Yeonhye would protect me then. ¡°How annoying, ugh.¡± I lied down after roughly organizing and throwing everything Yeonhye gave me in the corner. It was June and very hot, so I wanted to take a rest. ¡°My lady, what should I do with these?¡± Danyi slowly approached and asked while pointing her fingers at the objects. It seemed like she really liked the rouge. ¡°Do you want it?¡± ¡°Huh? N, no. How could I possibly take what lady Yeonhye gave¡­¡± ¡°You can have it if you want. What¡¯s the point of me putting on rouge if I have no reason to go outside?¡± ¡°Really?¡± Danyi¡¯s eyes sparkled. I nodded and handed her the rouge. ¡°Do you want a daenggi2 too? Do you like deep red or pink better?¡± ¡°I like deep red!¡± She usually couldn¡¯t meet my eyes and stuttered often, but when I offered a present, she answered very eagerly. However, it was much more comfortable for me when she was like this. ¡°You can have everything. I don¡¯t need it.¡± I gave Danyi most of the things that were given to me. ¡°Thank you, my lady.¡± Danyi swept everything in her skirt and shouted in excitement. ¡°I was really worried at first because they ordered me to serve in the annex, but my lady is a really good person.¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± ¡°Yes! You even give someone like me a present, and you don¡¯t order me around often!¡± ¡°It¡¯s tiring to move when it¡¯s hot.¡± ¡°Yes! I¡¯m happy!¡± It made me feel a bit better to see her so happy. I was so tired due to Yeonhye¡¯s visit in the morning, but I felt like my head was getting clearer. Danyi went to the kitchen and came back with a cool tea, then sat down next to me and started chatting. ¡°I actually feel more comfortable in the annex than the main building. Lady Yeonhye is the complete opposite of my lady. I probably don¡¯t know well because I wasn¡¯t in the house long enough, but¡­ lady Yeonhye can be scary sometimes.¡± ¡°Why?¡± This was interesting to hear. I thought everyone liked Yeonhye because she was the main character. ¡°She sometimes stops smiling all of sudden. When her expression changes like that suddenly, I get chills down on my back. Her head also seems a little blank.¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± ¡°Yes. But other maids said that they¡¯ve never seen that happen and that lady Yeonhye isn¡¯t scary.¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± ¡°They said serving lady Yeonhee is scarier and warned me to be careful because she will beat me with a broomstick or an ink stone if I did something wrong¡­oh!¡± It¡¯s no use to shut your mouth now. But based on Yeonhee¡¯s personality, it was probable that she did act like that, so I didn¡¯t want to be angry at her. As a punishment, I ordered Danyi to fan me harder. ¡°But my lady, why did you really go to the cowshed?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, I don¡¯t remember.¡± Although Yeonhee did not sleepwalk, it couldn¡¯t be helped because of the game¡¯s storyline. I was about to stop thinking about it. ¡°That¡¯s strange. Then does lady Yeonhye not know either?¡± ¡°Why would lady Yeonhye know?¡± ¡°She was with you in the cowshed.¡± Something strange was going on. I got up suddenly. ¡°Tell me more.¡± When I came to, I was already slapped by the prime minister and was forced to kneel. I didn¡¯t know any details besides that I apparently killed a cow. ¡°Lady Yeonhye couldn¡¯t fall asleep and decided to take a walk and made it to the cowshed when she saw you standing still with a dead cow.¡± ¡°Did she see me kill the cow?¡± ¡°No, but you had blood on your hands.¡± ¡°Then did I really kill the cow?¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t know¡­¡± Danyi started avoiding my eyes again. It seemed like it would have an adverse effect if I kept asking more. I let go of Danyi and lied down again. Danyi ran off saying she would go wash dishes. ¡®I feel crappy.¡¯ I was going along with it because that was how the story of the game went, but I kept feeling weird. ¡°I can¡¯t.¡± What if I wake up and find myself killing a cow? Unnie ¨C how a younger sister calls an older sister in Korean. Chapter 11 It didn¡¯t matter since I was going to die anyways, but when I thought about waking up to a dead cow in front of me, I felt sick. Since I just had to interfere with Yeonhye and die after being accused, I didn¡¯t have to really become a gumiho. ¡®I¡¯ll just receive an NPC chance.¡¯ wasn¡¯t the main character, but since I was pretty important, maybe I could get an item that could help me? I left the annex quietly while Danyi was cleaning the kitchen. The sun was setting, but it wasn¡¯t hard to find the way. After a bit, I arrived in front of Jun Kyung¡¯s house. But all the lights in the house were turned off. ¡°What. It¡¯s not even night and he¡¯s sleeping already?¡± There was no sign even after I came through the private door and looked around. I even went to the kitchen just in case. The furnace also didn¡¯t have lights on. ¡°Maybe he went somewhere.¡± I was about to leave and come back the next day when I felt something wet on the grounds. I looked down and found traces of water splashed on the furnace. ¡®He turned off the fire?¡¯ Why? It was not easy to get embers because he lived out of nowhere. I paused in wonder but then heard the footsteps outside. ¡°Jun Kyung¡­ Aah!¡± I wanted to see if he had returned, but someone grabbed my arms all of sudden. In a second, those arms pulled me closer to them, and shut my mouth. ¡°Be quiet.¡± I was so surprised at the sound of a whisper in the dark that I couldn¡¯t move my body. Jun Kyung looked towards the outside while quietly embracing me. I felt strange because I was getting anxious at my heart that was going up and down wildly. ¡°Th, this.¡± ¡°I told you to be quiet.¡± Suddenly, his words shortened. Even though he was an NPC, I frowned because I was feeling uncomfortable in the arms of an outsider man, but he tightened his arms. His breath poured into my ears and made my body feel stiff. ¡°Is no one there?¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem like anyone is. All the lights are out.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a shame. His jerky tastes really good. It¡¯s perfect to drink with.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s leave.¡± The man who spoke last spoke hard with an irritated tone. ¡®It¡¯s.¡¯ It was Ji Inwoo. Due to his firmness, three or four people accompanying repeated that it was unfortunate and went back. It wasn¡¯t until Junkyung was convinced they were far away that he let me go. ¡°I have been disrespectful. I apologize.¡± Junkyung spoke quietly, pulled out a lantern and lit it. I stepped back one step because I was afraid he was going to see my red face. ¡°N, no.¡± ¡°But why did you come here this late?¡± ¡°I had to ask something¡­but, why did you hide?¡± Seeing that the prime minister called him to take care of the bull, he wasn¡¯t someone who didn¡¯t know who Ji Inwoo was. But why did he hide intentionally? Even covering my mouth for it. ¡°Sometimes there are just some people that you don¡¯t want to deal with. Even if I¡¯m a lowly butcher.¡± ¡°You knew they were coming today?¡± ¡°There are many students who want jerky.¡± He answered roughly and started tidying up the kitchen. My worry was for nothing as he just took another ember from the back of the kitchen and lit the stove again. ¡°That jerky, is it really yummy?¡± I suddenly became curious and asked. It definitely seemed like an item that a butcher NPC would have. ¡°I didn¡¯t know my lady also had an interest in jerky.¡± . ¡°I was wondering if I could have it as an emergency food. I don¡¯t know when I¡¯ll be trapped in the storeroom again.¡± ¡°Did you bring money?¡± ¡°¡­money?¡± ¡°Jerky doesn¡¯t just cost one or two coins. Especially if they¡¯re made by me.¡± ¡°¡­¡± As if the prime minister¡¯s ugly duckling could have money. I silently closed my mouth. He didn¡¯t say anything much. I chatted with him as he left the kitchen. ¡°Do you know what cows don¡¯t like?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Like some kind of grass, medicine, or even amulets.¡± ¡°Why are you curious about that?¡± ¡°I might need it in case of an emergency.¡±