Chapter 0: Prologue

Thump-thump—

Thump.

The sound of a heart about to burst.

Whose heart it was wasn’t important.

The silver-haired woman stepped back.

“Don’t… say things like that.”

Do you like me?

‘I already know.’

But hadn’t she been pushing him away?

Shouldn’t she be far from here?

Her mind was in turmoil.

Even while thinking that way.

Paradoxically, she was curious about what he would say next.

The tall young man revealed his handsome appearance under the moonlight.

Jet-black, ashen hair and two vividly shining red eyes.

When they were younger, why hadn’t she noticed?

He was undoubtedly the protagonist, anyone could see it.

“Don’t push me away.”

She didn’t answer.

She couldn’t bring herself to.

At some point, the young man pulled her closer.

“..Please. Rosa.”

She felt his hot breath on the top of her head.

His low voice sent shivers down her spine.

“From that moment, from the moment I first met you. It’s only been you.”

“Uh…”

She couldn’t honestly say she disliked his words.

“Tch.”

His two red eyes narrowed.

They were the eyes of a predator, reigning as an absolute ruler.

But the deep yearning within them still held the look of a boy.

“..I can’t live without you.”

The moment she heard those words, as if he’d coughed them up.

She closed her eyes instead of answering.

As if promised, a careful kiss followed.

Like handling a precious artifact.

Forehead, nose, cheek. And lips.

She simply couldn’t push him away.

The small fists that had initially tried to push him away soon lost their strength and fell.

‘Why? Just why…’

Half-baked guilt, anxiety, and a contradictory excitement.

Amidst all the confusion, she thought.

‘When, where did it all begin…’

Probably from that encounter seven years ago.

Yes. It seemed to have started then.

She opened her eyes to find herself a woman.

It wasn’t an exaggeration, it was the truth.

She enjoyed romance fantasy novels, but she never specifically wished to become a woman.

‘Well, honestly, maybe a few times…’

He had been a robust twenty-year-old man and a heterosexual who wanted a girlfriend, like any other.

Yet, this had happened.

He had become a character in a romance fantasy novel he’d read a long time ago, Love That Illuminates the Shadows.

He hadn’t left 5,700-character comments or sent private messages to the author.

Who would have known he’d become like this overnight?

“Well, there’s the male lead too.”

The question was why he became an extra who appeared in only three lines before the main female lead even showed up. And why, of all things, in a woman’s body.

[In the end, Rosa Anencia succumbed to the darkness of the shadows. An unwanted marriage, the prince’s unchanging coldness. Depressed by her situation, she eventually threw herself out the window. ]

He remembered this because it appeared at the very beginning of the novel.

Sigh—

The girl let out a deep sigh.

Was she even twelve yet? Her delicate features were striking.

Translucent silver hair, light pink lips. Her two eyes, gazing out the window, were the color of pale rubies.

A beautiful girl with a promising future.

‘Extra or whatever, it doesn’t matter.’

It had been four months.

She still felt the unfamiliar emptiness below her waist.

Aside from turning into a woman, everything else was good.

Veal steak with tender tendons and mushroom soup sprinkled with truffles. Just those two alone were a meal at a price he couldn’t have imagined before.

‘Yeah. When will I ever experience such luxury again?’

After finishing her luxurious breakfast, the girl stretched vigorously.

She was an orphan, so she had no family, and her one close friend wasn’t someone she’d think of in this situation.

She’d cursed, laid down sprawling, even jumped into a fountain wondering if it was a dream.

She’d even tried shouting “Status Window!” but nothing changed.

Eventually, he, no, Rosa Anencia, decided to adapt to this life.

In the spring when Rosa Anencia, the extra in the novel, turned twelve.

He was possessed by ‘her.’

And she met a boy.

On a dark, snowy night.

A boy who collapsed, covered in blood.