The door opened to a sparse room with a lone bed covered in pink and orange. Reuden didn’t need to take a closer look to recognize his only sister’s trademark hair. He walked slowly with a grave face, approaching the bed before looking down at his sister quietly.

Her eyes were closed, and her ever-smooth forehead was now creased with a frown. Her breathing was labored, her eyes and cheeks were red, and her chest was rising and falling at an alarming rate. That wasn’t all. The arrogant jerk was sweating so much that she looked like she’d been caught in the rain.

“No... It can’t be,” Reuden mumbled as he put his hand to her face. Her shallow breathing was heavy and very hot, as was her forehead.

Did she swallow fire? Her parched lips made his imagination run wild. A complex, white pattern bloomed from the tip of his finger. Reuden mumbled something, and the pattern, which had been hovering above her face, shattered into dust. The tiny specks drifted around her like fireflies, but as soon as they touched her body, they disappeared.

Reuden took his hand away. “Healing magic won’t work.”

“Neither does divine force,” Catherine reminded him.

Not even divine force... Reuden fell deep into thought.

“How should we proceed? Should I get another doctor—”

“No. Don’t call another doctor. Leave her be.”

His voice was ice cold as he cut the maid off, but his face had softened. Catherine had never seen Reuden make such an expression before, so she kept quiet. She could just feel it. Something was about to change.

***

“You insolent human! How dare you? Curse you! As long as you live, you will never be loved!”

“Ah!”

The piercing scream ripped my eyes open, but my vision was blurry.

What was that? A dream? But I couldn’t think for long. A migraine shot through my head. I couldn’t help but groan as I held my head in my hands. That was when I remembered.

You’ve declined both missions today. A penalty will be issued.

The word was written in black over the red window: penalty.

Yes, I had faced a penalty, all right. All because I had chosen not to do something bad. It was like something from a comic book, or a video game, to be exact. Or, since I was in a novel, maybe it was apt to say that it was like a novel?

A bitter smile crept up on my face. For the past week, I had been half dead, if I may exaggerate. Someone kept stopping by to check on me, but I had been so sick that I couldn’t even see who it was. And all that just because I declined a few missions?

I let out a short, sarcastic laugh. I had learned one thing, though. If the mission window existed before I became Renee Blair, that meant that she had been forced to become a villainess. There was no other explanation.

A week-long fever for a penalty? Who would ever choose that? It was such a painful and agonizing experience that I sympathized with Renee Blair. I was literally in her shoes, after all. If she had gone through this once, she wouldn’t have declined a mission ever again. All this time, that had been why...

I sighed as if I was blowing a hole through the ground. This was going to be a big problem. My goal was to live lavishly with Renee Blair’s hard-earned fortune and to befriend Anastasia Solen. To do that, I was supposed to show her that I had changed, that I was reborn.

That meant that I had to stop being bad. But the mission window wouldn’t let me. So what was I supposed to do now? What was going to happen to me? Suddenly, Renee Blair’s end came to mind. Come to think of it, she was murdered at a banquet hall.

I couldn’t remember exactly, but she had messed with someone important. Had that been because of the mission window? The thought sent a chill down my spine as if blood was draining out of my entire body.

“No, not that!” I yelled, sitting upright as I pushed away the sheets.

“Not what?”

“Oh my!” I yelled again, turning my head to the unfamiliar voice.

A man was sitting on a chair next to me, holding a hefty book. I had to blink a few times to see the man clearly.

Coral hair, coral eyes... I thought I’d seen them a few days ago... On second thought, I realized it was the color of my own hair that I’d seen on the day I became Renee Blair. Therefore, I easily guessed who he was.

“Reuden?”

He was Reuden Blair, no doubt about it. But why was he here?

Reuden’s brows furrowed ever so slightly. Had I made a mistake? I frantically thought about what Renee called Reuden in the novel, but my brain was useless, perhaps from the week-long bed rest. So, I decided to take a chance.

“Bro?”

I had never had any siblings, so I had no idea how they addressed each other. It was so awkward. I could feel my face twitching.

This is hopeless... Come to think of it, I didn’t think the word “bro” ever appeared in the novel at all. I vowed to never say it ever again. I heard a heavy thud and turned to see that the hefty book had fallen to the ground. Reuden stared at me in disbelief.

Sh*t, is it because I called him “bro?”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I just wanted to try it out. I’ll never call you that ever again.”

“Sorry?” Dazed, Reuden muttered as if he had heard the word for the first time.

Oh, right... Renee Blair would never apologize, especially for something like that. Reuden narrowed his eyes, clearly suspicious. I had to keep it together. No, wait, was this actually a good thing? Should I just be direct and say that I was going to change my life around now?

Before I could make an excuse, Reuden picked up his book and said, “It must have been a truly harsh fever, seeing how the first thing out of your mouth is an apology. Before you apologize to me for calling me ‘bro,’ apologize to Solen first. You slapped her a week ago.”

I watched him as he pressed down on the page that had folded when the book fell. Why did he address Anastasia as “Solen”? Why not something friendlier?

I didn’t like how he had called her by her last name. I had that thought even when I had read the novel.

Reuden Blair... He had prematurely earned the title of marquis after losing his parents at a young age. Work was all he knew. He was a talented genius at magic, and naturally, he became a royal sorcerer. After impressing the king, he was bestowed the highest position of them all.

In other words, Reuden Blair was a workaholic, both as a marquis and as a sorcerer. But even he had someone who stirred his heart: Anastasia, who was also a sorcerer as well as his assistant. Of course, our dear Anastasia was so brilliant, so smart, so skilled at magic. Who could possibly resist her?

It makes me wonder... Why did he call her “Solen?” It was so formal. He should have been getting friendly with her if he wanted to compete with all her suitors.

“So you’re not going to apologize?” Reuden’s voice snapped me out of my tangent. I shook my head vehemently.

“Yes, I will! I was going to, anyway,” I told him.

He stared at me with a cryptic face for a while and then got up. “Take care. It’s always been trouble when you get sick, ever since we were kids.”

“Of course, of course. Don’t you worry. I’m going to be fine!”

“Sure,” he almost whispered. He locked eyes with me once more before he left.

I quickly climbed out of bed. Wait, did Reuden nurse me back to health despite being so busy? In the novel, Reuden’s character had given up on Renee. He had grown so tired of her endless villainy that he didn’t even shed a tear when she died.

But then why would he stay by my side? For the past ten years, I had been so busy paying off my debt that I had no time for love and affection, not even from my own family. Was Reuden just doing the bare minimum in the name of family? Or was it brotherly love?

That was probably it. At least I hoped so. If it were, then he would surely cry tears of joy when I showed him that I was now good. It wouldn’t take much. The morning sun was pouring in through the window. I was staring blankly outside when I heard a familiar sound.

A simple ringing sound. It was the bell of the clock that I had heard on the second day here. The mission window had popped up as soon as...

Ding.

I hadn’t even finished my thought. I hadn’t even come up with a plan yet. It happened too soon, but it was unavoidable. I balled my hands into fists and looked up.

================================

TODAY’S MISSION

Slap a working maid.

Accept / Decline

================================

Again? Leave the maids’ cheeks alone! It didn’t feel right, but I had no choice but to accept.

As soon as I pressed the option, the window disappeared. I felt like a pistol had just signaled the start of my new life as the villainess of this novel.