—Have I lost my mind?

—I’m in someone else’s body, and they keep calling me “Kanna.” What the hell is going on?

—I don’t even think I’m in Korea right now. This world is totally unfamiliar to me.

—It’s been a month since I’ve become Kanna. I couldn’t believe it at first, but I think I’m slowly getting used to it.

—I’ve transmigrated... I’ve literally become another person, just like in a fantasy novel...

—I saw the most beautiful man in the world today. His Grace, Duke Silvian Valentino. Ah, how is it possible to be so gorgeous?

—I’m marrying the duke tomorrow. I think this is the first time I’ve felt happy since I came here. It’s a contract marriage, but who cares? I’ll have time to win his love.

—Wed first, date later! I managed to make Silvian mine! I guess reading all those romance novels wasn’t a waste of time after all.

“This...”

Kanna’s hands trembled around her own diary. It was written in Korean, a language no one in this world but Kanna could read. This made one thing absolutely clear—Joohwa and Kanna had been body-swapped for the past twelve years.

“This stupid b*tch!”

But this wretched idiot Joohwa had gotten married in Kanna’s body, and to Silvian Valentino, of all people! The man whose leg she’d just been clinging to!

What were you thinking?! Of all people, why him?! He’s messed up in the head! Who cares how hot he is? Who gives a sh*t if he’s polite on the outside? Everyone knows he’s a ticking time bomb! Did your novels not teach you how to spot a walking red flag when you see one? And to propose a contract marriage?!

“I will be your wife, Lord Valentino.”

“Pardon?”

“Let me be of use to you.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I’m suggesting a contract marriage. If you marry me, you will finally be able to escape the royal family’s grasp. I know you don’t wish to marry the second princess.”

It was straight out of the romance novel playbook.

“How foolish can you be, Joohwa?! Life isn’t a game!” Kanna wanted to pull her hair out and scream. She had all the memories of everything Joohwa did with her body. The more Kanna remembered, the harder she cringed.

Joohwa had tried everything she possibly could to capture Silvian’s heart. She’d hung a huge banner reading I love you, Duke Silvian! in the street. She’d sent a hundred roses to him in the middle of a meeting. She’d even snuck into his bed... naked.

But all she ever got in return was disgust.

—Silvian said he wouldn’t have agreed to my offer if he knew what kind of a lady I was, which tore my heart in two.

—Still, I must stay strong. I’ll win him over, one way or another. I’ll never give up!

This was Joohwa’s last entry in the diary before her desperate, last-ditch effort—crying and begging.

It was at that moment she’d thrown herself at him, groveling at his feet, that Kanna had returned to her original body.

“Okay. Okay. Take a deep breath and relax. Let’s calm down and think about this,” Kanna said to herself, slamming the diary down on the desk. “It’s been twelve years. This is my real body, Kanna Addis’ body, and I’m twenty-six years old now.”

That means Joohwa must have returned to her original body as well. She must’ve been just as shocked as Kanna, preparing for work when she’d been sobbing at Silvian’s feet just moments ago.

Oh no! My patients! Kanna panicked before calming herself down. Since she’d retained all of Joohwa’s memories from the past twelve years, it was reasonable to assume that the opposite would be true as well. Joohwa should have all of the medical knowledge Kanna had stored up over the years. Hopefully, that would be enough for her to keep the clinic going.

Wait. What about my business? The clinic will be fine even if Joohwa takes a few months off, but my online shop?

In the course of her studies, Kanna had taken an interest in herbalism and started making all-natural handmade soaps, scented candles, and perfumes on the side. Eventually, this hobby had even grown big enough for her to open a small online shop.

A storm of bitterness and anxiety raged in Kanna’s mind. I will kill you if you screw up my business, Lee Joohwa.

Frankly, Kanna had been more than satisfied with her life in Korea, despite her panic attacks in the beginning. The life she shared with her mother, father, younger brother, and Toto the cat was a happy one. She had even started dating recently...

Sh*t. I was even thinking of marrying him.

But in an instant, everything was torn from her, and she had returned to the body she thought she’d never see again.

“Snap out of it, Kanna. Now’s not the time to panic.” Pull yourself together. Wallowing won’t solve anything. You need to fix this, no matter what it takes.

“Silvian Valentino,” murmured Kanna, shoving her sorrow aside to focus on the task at hand. “So... You treated my body like sh*t, huh?”

She felt like she could lose her mind from all of the thoughts that were flying around in her head, but she knew what she had to do. First...

“I need to get divorced.” I should bring it up when the duke returns home tonight. I bet he’ll jump for joy when he hears what I have to say. The only problem is whether my father will agree to it.

Unfortunately, women didn’t exactly have rights in this world, so a lady was unable to get divorced without her father’s consent. And I doubt he’d allow me.

Joohwa’s father would’ve exploded with rage if he found out how poorly his daughter was being treated.

But my father’s different. Kanna Addis’ father would most likely shut her down, telling her not to disgrace the family. He’d rather she died a Valentino than lived a divorcée.

Ah, whatever. Let’s get some sleep first. I’ll think about it tomorrow.

Maybe this is all just a bad dream.

* * *

Kanna Addis. The first daughter of the House of Addis, one of the two noble families guarding the western continent. And an illegitimate child with no idea who her mother was.

At around six years old, she couldn’t fight her curiosity anymore and decided to ask her father. “Father, what was my mother like?”

At the mere mention of her, his face turned monstrous. It was so violent she thought he might kill her. Thankfully, not only did he not kill her, but he didn’t even lay a hand on her.

Instead, he glared at her with fearsome eyes and said, venom on his tongue, “Never again, Kanna Addis.” His tone was petrifying. “Never mention that woman to me again.”

That was when Kanna realized that her father, Duke Alexandro Addis, had never loved her mother. No, in fact, he hated her. And that was the reason he had been so hostile toward his own daughter since she had been but a child.

I see. Father hates my mother, so he hates me too. But it wasn’t just her father who treated her poorly.

“Why don’t you just shave your head, Kanna? Black hair and black eyes? Do you even know how people talk about you?”

“Oh my, Isabelle. That’s no way to speak to your sister!”

“But, Mama...”

“Well, you aren’t wrong. As you know, Kanna, we consider black to be bad luck. Be sensible, and don’t let yourself be seen.”

Her half-sister and stepmother hated her as well.

“Hey, filth! I told you to grow your hair over that ugly mug!”

Her younger half-brother, Orsini, would strike her across the face whenever the mood took him.

“My hat has fallen out of the window, dear sister. Please go fetch it for me.”

Her second younger brother, Kalen, feigned politeness to bully her.

Everyone. Every single member of Kanna’s family hated her. But it didn’t stop there.

“Oh my, that’s the first daughter of the Addis Family?”

“My goodness, her hair is black! And her eyes too!”

Black hair. Black eyes. Those traits were considered bad luck, so everyone avoided and disdained her.

She’d once run into Orsini in the street. “Hey, filth! I told you to stay out of my sight in public!”

Kanna could tell Orsini’s friends had been making fun of her. “I-I’m sorry. It’s my fault. Please don’t hurt me.”

“You disgusting piece of garbage! Go back to the sewer where you belong!” That day he struck her across the face five times, flooding her mouth with blood.

Yet her father remained a passive bystander. Or perhaps one could say he was the instigator of her torment, as the abuse could hardly have begun without his pointed inaction.

Kanna was a wilting flower, losing petals day after day. Eventually, she could hardly even look anyone in the eye.

So when she turned fourteen and suddenly became a seventeen-year-old Korean girl, she didn’t begrudge the escape from her suffocating life.

Living as Joohwa changed Kanna.

“My dear daughter. I will support you in everything you do.”

Her mother was a famous doctor of traditional medicine, wise and talented.

“Would you join me on a walk, Joohwa? Hmm? Please?”

Her father was a CEO, but he didn’t let that stop him from doting on his child.

“Joohwa! I left some fried chicken for you.”

Her younger brother was naughty but sweet.

“Meow.”

She even had an adorable pet cat.

Everyone was kind to her. They taught her the meaning of love. In those twelve years she spent with her new family, she learned how to love and cherish herself.

It wasn’t just Kanna’s body that changed. She had bloomed into an entirely different person.