Twenty-three years old. Too young to end a life.

But at the moment of death, I wasn’t overwhelmed by sadness. Perhaps I felt liberated from leaving this sick bed.

Five years of fighting. I possessed a rare disease that only a few had, and gradually lost all of my senses, starting with the sense of smell.

When I finally lost sight, the laughable thing was that I was angrier with the fact that I couldn’t finish the ending of the romance fantasy novel I was reading intently, rather than dying.

To be honest, it would be a lie if death was not painful and sad. If the end was death, why did I endure the long struggle against this disease?

Was that why?

After death, I opened my eyes once again.

Under the guise of the villain from the romance fantasy novel,〈Rest by Your Side〉, which I had read until I ended up losing my eyesight.

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I woke up with a wrinkled nose.

‘Good smell.’

The fragrance of roses vibrated throughout the whole room.

What’s going on? Did the nurse leave the air freshener on? I must ask if the air freshener…

‘Wait. Smell?’

I opened my eyes wide.

Smell? My sense of smell was the first sensation I had lost after getting sick.

It’s been over five years since I smelled…

I sniffed quickly. A fragrant smell flowed into my nose.

“Gee, it smells like roses.”

What’s going on here? I jumped up and soon hardened like a stone from the sight before my eyes.

‘Where am I?’

It was a spacious and luxurious room that was eye-catching. I don’t know exactly where this is, but I knew for sure it wasn’t a hospital room.

Then I heard someone’s voice.

“My Lady, are you awake?”

I jerked my head. A girl I’ve never seen before approached me with a kind smile.

Wait. Is that….. a maid’s outfit? Why is she wearing an outfit as I’ve seen in the movies?

“It’s morning in the village, Miss Ariel. What would you like to use for your bath this morning?”

Lady Ariel? A bath?

The girl, who had uttered unknown words, placed a silver tray before me. On the tray were three pastel shades that seemed like soap.

Why are you showing this to me? Without question, I reached my hand out to the tray.

It smelled quite fragrant.

It smelled like flowers and fruit. Just smelling it relieved my fatigue and made my body feel drowsy.

Was smelling so fascinating?

As I was in a daze of shock, the girl asked cautiously.

“Is there anything you don’t like, My lady?”

I waved my hand lightly in the face of the frightened girl without realizing it.

“Oh, no. It smells so good.”

Then the girl opened her eyes wide as if she were tearing apart. As if I said something I shouldn’t have.

“Oh, My Lady, why are you so respectful… Did I do something wrong? I’m sorry, My Lady. I’ll correct it!”

The girl hovered down exactly ninety degrees. I quickly stopped the girl as I was surprised and shocked.

“What are you talking about? It’s not your fault!”

“Huh… Aren’t you angry?”

“Not at all!”

Only then did the girl straighten her waist and stare at me with frightened eyes. Those deer-like eyes reflected my face.

Oh, wait. My face?

“…Uh?”

“Wha, what’s wrong, My Lady?”

“My… My face…”

I wrapped my cheek blankly. The woman reflected in the girl’s eyes also wrapped her cheeks together. The woman who should have been familiar to me was a face I didn’t know.

“That…Mirror. Bring me a mirror.”

“Yes, Young Lady!”

After a while, when I stared at the mirror, I hardened like ice.

Long, curly honey-colored hair. Clear turquoise eyes as the summer sky. And pale skin.

I’ve seen this face.

…So, if I’m not crazy, in the illustrations of my favorite novel.

“I was… what did you call me?”

“Yes? it’s, it’s Miss Ariel…”

Oh my god.

I closed my eyes and asked back in a quivering voice.

“Ariel Winston?”

“Yes, that’s your name…”

Hahaha. I spat out a dejected laugh.

Ariel Winston.

It was the name of a supporting character who appeared in the last novel I read before I died, 〈Rest by Your Side〉.

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How was Ariel Winston’s life?

Frankly speaking, I didn’t have much to talk about Ariel Winston, even as I read the original. She was drawn because Ariel was a villain who left the original in the beginning.

‘That’s true, but let’s think about something.’

All right. I took a deep breath.

First off, Ariel was a genius perfumer. The reason why Ariel, a mere villain, was set up in the novel was because of the male lead.

The male protagonist, Cedric Evans, had a tragic past during his childhood.

He was kidnapped by a group of vicious villains and used as a victim for human experimentation that synthesized between monsters and humans.

As a result, Cedric has a peculiar constitution. If he didn’t regularly smell the scent of the demonic flower, Anixia, he would not be able to sleep, in addition to the fact that if it took a long time, he would go insane.

To solve this problem, Cedrick inquires into the genius perfumer and meets the icebreaker, ‘Ariel Winston,’ whom I happened to possess.

And Ariel, like a genius, succeeds in artificially creating scents that can soothe Cedric.

But Ariel would not have been a villain if she had let go of him.

The moment Ariel saw Cedric, she fell in love at first sight and suggested a deal. Instead of offering perfumes regularly, she offered they have a contractual relationship.

Cedric, who is caught weak, is forced to accept the threat under the pretext of a suggestion.

I wish Ariel was satisfied with the superficial intercourse, but there is no end to human greed. She craves Cedric’s true affection as time goes by. Cedric, of course, gets fed up with Ariel and pushes her even further.

Ariel, who becomes increasingly obsessed, eventually tries to assassinate the heroine with poison after being jealous of her and is hanged for attempted murder.

‘What a miserable character.’

I breathed a deep sigh.

Why would God have possessed me to this kind of fire moth-like villain?

Is it a consideration for me to live a while longer?

‘Oh, thank you very much.’

But it won’t happen.

It was the second life I earned like a miracle.

I couldn’t die in vain again this time. I decided that I would somehow survive the fate of the original.

‘To do that, we need to avoid the death flag.’

Cedric Evans. Like a walking executioner headed to Ariel.

I wish I could avoid it…but unfortunately, the time I possessed her was after Ariel and Cedric had already begun their contractual relationship.

If I ran away now, Cedric, who needed the ‘scent’, would chase me by any means. That shouldn’t happen. I had to keep clean from Cedric and all the death flags.

‘The first task I have to do for that…’

To bid farewell to the male protagonist.

To be as neat as possible, a farewell was needed.

‘First off, let’s break up with the male lead.’

The moment I made up my mind, the door snapped.

Only then did I realize that I had been soaking in the bathtub. The girl in a maid’s outfit peeped her head and reminded,

“Lady Ariel, I think you might be late for your meeting…”

“Oh, I’ve been here too long. I’m sorry.”

“What? No, it’s not something you should apologize for…!”

The girl was startled like she heard something she shouldn’t have heard.

It wasn’t that I was being sarcastic or anything, but ‘Ariel’ didn’t seem to be a very good master.

Sighing, I asked the girl in the softest voice possible.

“But just now, did you say meeting?”

“Oh, yes, My Lady. I don’t think you’ll be late for the dinner meeting if you prepare from now….!”

Dinner meeting. I smacked my forehead.

It was a situation where I had yet to adjust properly to this new world. Now I have to meet someone in the midst of this?

I now had no idea of ​​Ariel’s relationships, her way of speaking, her personality, and hobbies. In this situation, even those who knew Ariel well would have doubts if they met her now.

I wanted to postpone it if I could. No, let’s postpone it now. I asked the girl.

“That meeting, can you put it off?”

“What?”

The girl opened her eyes wide like they were about to pop out.

“Eh, a dinner meeting with Duke Evans?”

…… Duke Evans?

I opened my mouth wide. I didn’t think this evening’s meeting was with Cedric Evans… So, you mean the male protagonist?

‘I can’t believe this.’

Entering the dungeon, I was just discovering the place, and I felt like I was suddenly confronted by the final boss.

But I soon changed my mind.

‘Maybe it’s better this way.’

I had to meet the male protagonist at least once anyway.

To end Ariel’s forced contract romance and escape the death flag.

I have to say goodbye to his face.

Yeah, you need to take out the iron while it’s hot. There was no need for this to drag on.

Meeting the male lead this evening and apologizing without hesitation, saying that I was sorry for being unreasonable.

‘It’s a clean breakup.’

Determined, I said to the girl.

“No. I won’t cancel the meeting, either.”

The girl breathed a sigh of relief as I said so.

“Well then, shall we bring in the makeup work, My Lady? We’re a bit tight on time as there are only four hours left until the meeting.”

What do you mean you’re in a hurry when we have four hours left?

Concealing my doubts, I rose from the bathtub.

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