#acuriousmoon

Gyeong-Ja, now fully accepted her new identity as Louise, really tried to gain the duke’s attention. She had memorized Duke Regis' schedule, tried to calculate the balls he was going to, and searched everywhere she saw him for an excuse to go with him, but despite all her efforts, everything she did was fruitless.

Her new father supported her ambitions and promised to help his daughter anyway he could. After all, it would bring their family to the peak of high society if she took the vacant position of the Floyen duchy as its duchess. Duchess Louise Floyen. That had a nice ring to it, didn’t it?

But, back to the matter at hand. She still couldn’t get close to the Duke!

Ah, if she’d studied for her university exam with the effort you put into conquering that goddamn man, she’d be a professor now! She reprimanded herself before forcing her aggravated mind to calm down. It wasn’t the end of the world. She simply had to change her tactics. If she couldn’t approach the Duke, then the best person to ensure a romance with him was to get close to his daughter, Jubelian.

Once he realizes how kind, honest, and intelligent she is compared to the other high society rats, he’ll definitely fall in love with her. Yes, this was the way towards a happy life~!

   A person’s own world could take on the shape of entertainment for other individuals. 

  These worlds are crafted from authors. When the world is in the incomplete drafting phase, they are in control of it. However, once the author writes the final sentence of their work, the world becomes independent from its creator. It cannot be touched by any outsiders, nor will it collapse unless something happens to the male protagonist, the female lead, or deuteragonist. 

Every world has its own set of rules and genres. If an outsider intervenes with the novel’s plot on the pretense of conquering a character or to shape it into their own world, that’s where you come in.

Under the name “Sheila”, you worked as an agent for The Chapter, one of three organizations tasked with monitoring these worlds and fixing them before they are destroyed. 

Although you were vacationing on an off-world designated for relaxation, your contract as an S-ranked agent did require you to be ready for an emergency mission. So, when you heard the shrill alarm emitting from your system, you automatically knew it was time to clock back in. 

The system provided the intel via a web file: the world you were assigned to was based on a best-selling novel and manhwa adaptation; Father I Don’t Want to Get Married. Everything was running its course until an outsider showed up. A transmigrator who is reborn in this world as an extra side character and decides to find her own happy ending.

Basically, an idiot who wants to screw up the world’s order so she can get herself a hot (and preferably rich) man who just happened to be the female lead’s father.

Ugh, why can’t people enjoy a romance with deep feelings instead of sexual attraction? But that was just your logical opinion. Agents weren’t allowed to get attached to anyone. Shaking your head, you continued to read the file. 

This world has a high ranking on novel websites, classifying it as forbidden. Once you were there, all connection to The Chapter’s main system would be cut off. You would be alone with limited access to tools  and emerge in the world in your original physical body instead of the spiritual one that allows you to possess a person. 

There were just as many pros as there were cons if you accepted this mission. However, you didn’t obtain a perfect streak of SS-scored missions within the last quarter by being meek. So what’s one more forbidden world to add to your mission record or another person who will hate you for messing up their ‘genius’ plans?

Seeing them crumble in despair or screaming your name in anger as karmic retribution kicked their ass made this job all the more fun, anyway~!

Grinning, you pressed the ACCEPT button on the screen, immediately teleporting to the novel world.  Upon the completed migration process, you woke up in a lovely bedroom with cream-colored walls and another screen hovering in front of you.

Your new identity was Sheila Griddlebone, the only child of Marquis Griddlebone and trusted advisor on the Emperor’s council. Starting today, you would be shadowing your father in the imperial palace as you have recently been declared the heir to the household. Your older brother was too incompetent to run things. 

Sadly, the intruder was part of the neutral political faction and not the loyalists, so you couldn’t see firsthand what this flea looked like. But you did get a name: Louise LaRue. Least that some form of identification to the outsider you were tasked with apprehending while not exposing yourself as an agent. 

Rumors around high society gossiped about her relentless pursuit of the novel’s deuteragonist. In all honesty, you kinda expected the flea to possess a cheat system that allowed her to be in this world or to collect enough affection to conquer the aloof man. But you certainly did not think she would sink this low to not only possess a physical resemblance to his late wife, but also act like her. And she’s supposed to be a marquis’ daughter too? How shameless. 

But that was all right, all good things would come to those who waited. And all the more anticipation to see her squirming before the emperor once she was exposed as a fraud. 

Now fully aware of the fate that lied ahead of you, there is no way that you would allow yourself to become enthralled with Calix if he was just going to dump your sorry ass once the female lead arrived. That’s a recipe for heartbreak and unnecessary drama, which you really didn't need again in this lifetime, thank you very much!

Plus, in this world there were young women who would secretly write sensual novels for money and even attend masked soirees to recite the aforementioned tales in front of an all-ladies audience.  Do you hear money or did you hear the crowd asking for an encore? Heck yes. 

You had a plan. Now all you needed to do was dive head first into the well of creativity and start zero drafting some ideas. There is the saying that nothing is ever original in art, but you would not stoop so low as to steal the stories from your own world and publish them here under your name. 

Plagiarism is plagiarism no matter what the isekai manga have said or did. And it was about time for you to step out of your comfort zone for the sake of your own survival. You’d figure it all out as you went along.

Still…what could you do about Calix? As much as you wanted to stay as far away from him as possible, he is your fiancee now.  But isn’t there a saying in your old world, to kill someone with kindness?

As much as you wanted to not marry him and avoid being burnt at the stake for trying to kill the female lead, this was a political arrangement between your respective families. You could not simply beg your father to call off the engagement unless there is enough evidence to appeal to the emperor that the Rochester’s heir was an unfit match for the Eclair’s only daughter.  The love affair between the main characters would not happen until after you turned eighteen. Twelve years from now. 

There was no choice but to go along with it. Shutting his invitation for outings would only make him more persistent.  

So you will have to play along; be cordial, be pleasant, and all that jazz. Furthermore…you’ll have to open with Calix. Letting yourself be vulnerable around someone who would cast you aside in the near future….it sucks. But you were not going to experience the misunderstanding troupe, thank you very much. Communication, in any relationship, is crucial. 

You were going to be honest with the male lead, even if it might kill you in the end.

Time flew by quickly. Lessons in the morning, tea in the afternoon, and writing manuscripts until late at night for your maid to secretly spirit them to the publishing house you worked for under the pseudonym Black Rabbit. It was a comfortable cycle, and you were delighted to see your hard work being paid in gold coins with an occasional participation at a literary soiree. 

Of course, you spent some time with Calix, watching a performance at the opera house or dining out at a fancy restaurant.  He was a courteous gentleman in public, appearing as a man who adored his fiancee very much. And that is what is bothering you. 

In accordance with the original storyline, he never once shared any concern towards Loure Eclair. She had been his fiancee in name, nothing more. He minded his own business until the female lead arrived and turned his dull, gray world into a kaleidoscope of vibrant colors. And yes, that is a direct, gag-worthy quote from the novel. However, in this timeline, he showed concern. 

He smiled at you, laughed, cheeks flushed a bright pink or red. He was the sweetest man in your presence. And that bothered you a lot. It shouldn’t have, in fact, you should have felt relieved that your actions had changed the course of the novel for the better. 

So why was your gut telling you that this was all an act? A mask he wore to keep you close until he would cast you aside for the female lead? You didn’t like it. Not one damned bit. 

 It looked like you were going to have another talk with him, again. You already asked him to be honest. Pleaded to speak his mind. Get angry with you, damn it, don’t just smile!

 Why does he keep acting like this, as if he were afraid of you? It’s supposed to be the other way around, you being afraid of being abandoned by him? You already voiced your concerns about it, how many more times do you have to repeat yourself?!

So, you sat down with him and talked about it. A heart-to-heart conversation that ended with a promise to do better.  Although it went better than you initially thought…why did it seem like the novel’s plot was about to deviate even further?

From the moment he met the pink-haired girl known as Loure Eclair on a sunny afternoon, Calix’s initial thought had been the following: she was adorable. Even when she cried out to the servant that she did not want to marry him, being betrothed to her had made him incredibly happy.

At first, she kept her distance from him. But then, slowly, very slowly, she began to open up. She told him what she liked, what she disliked, and some of her hobbies. She had even gotten feisty on occasion, growling in annoyance like a puppy baring its fangs. 

So cute. He thought. Every expression she wore was absolutely charming. She seemed more real to him than the image of an ethereal fairy princess waiting to be swept off of her feet by a knight in shining armor. 

He cherished these small moments when Loure opened herself up to him as much as he cherished the time that they spent together.  As the heir to his father’s duchy, Calix could not go out very often with his fiancee and spoil her, much to his annoyance.

 But Loure understood. She reminded him to take care of himself and not work too hard, occasionally sending over some sweets from a famous bakery to cheer him up. He still kept the ribbons of those pastry boxes in his desk. 

When he wasn’t by her side, his servants kept an eye on her. Imagine his surprise when he discovered that she was a writer. Not just any writer, but the infamous Black Rabbit herself! The harlequin whose words enraptured the hearts of young maidens and books flew off the shelves as soon as they were available. 

Calix did not spare any expense in purchasing all of Loure’s books. They were not just for his own amusement; he read them as well, devouring one novel after another. His beloved was incredibly talented, there was no doubt about it…but why put in so much effort when they were to be married soon? Once she becomes his wife, she will have enough money to be comfortable for three generations even after shopping in the capital’s shops. 

When he asked her one evening after attending a piano recital, she flinched. Flinched, in his presence, when he would never dare to harm a single hair on her head. He did not like that at all. But he sat in silence, hearing their carriage rattle beneath the cobblestoned streets before she made an unlikely confession.

Yes, she enjoyed writing novels…but it was also a failsafe. A nest egg in case something happened to her father’s estate…or their engagement. She was afraid of being abandoned with nowhere to go. That was the truth.

Why? He thought. Why would she even think of such a thing, when all she had ever done is shown him kindness? It was unbelievable. And yet…the confession made him so happy. Elated he had discovered another secret of hers, building up the trust between them. It made her even more desirable to him. 

Ah, he wanted them to be married soon.  He wanted to wake up every morning by her side, seeing things that he would never let another man see. 

No, no. He cannot think like that. Loure had made it clear to him that she was not interested in another man. That was one of their many conversations that they had when he got jealous of someone being near his woman. 

He had nothing to worry about. Yes, there were men she had to meet, investors and representatives from the publishing house. But that’s all there was to it. Just business. 

Hmm…perhaps he could purchase a failing business and turn it into a publishing house under his name? It wasn’t a bad idea. He’ll ask her when she comes to visit him for tea. 

First, he needed to have a small chat with the crowned prince. That brute believed because he was the heir to the throne that he was entitled to take any woman as he pleased, including his Loure. 

She belonged to him, as his heart and soul belonged to her.  He had been infected with the sweet pink venom known as ‘love’.