On a humid night, in a 24-hour open market, with bioluminescent lights on the ceiling and an air conditioner that had been begging for repair for weeks, a girl with black hair and dark, tired-looking eyes had her face buried in romance novels. Suddenly, a sound came from her pocket, signaling a notification. She grabbed her phone with all the lazy strength she could muster and checked the email she had just received.

“FINALLY!!!!”

She screamed with joy—her internship was over, and she would need to be there the next day to receive her certificate. In a moment of celebration, she grabbed some fries and grape soda, not caring that her boss would deduct it from her salary. She was simply enjoying the happiness of finally being done with school.

After exhausting the little energy she had left, she fell asleep. When she began to open her eyes, she felt lighter. She got up and got out of the bed she had been lying on.

“A bed? Wasn’t I at the store? Maybe the manager brought me home.”

Still groggy, she began walking toward the bathroom.

PLOF!

She banged her forehead against the wall and twisted in pain, which finally woke her up. Looking around, she realized she was somewhere completely different.

“What is this place?”

She got to her feet and saw a dirty, moldy house. She noticed she was wearing torn, ragged clothes, her hands looked unusually small, and her hair was short and a completely different color—a reddish hue.

She saw a door in the corner and decided to open it. The doorknob was too high, so she dragged a chair and managed to open it. Outside, the sky was gray. Houses were on fire, and soldiers were running back and forth with swords in hand.

“WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!”

Still in shock, she didn’t notice that some soldiers behind her grabbed a sack and shoved her inside.

“WHAT IS THIS?! WHAT IS HAPPENING? AM I IN A SACK? GET ME OUT OF HERE!! I’LL CALL MY LAWYERS—I SWEAR I’LL HAVE YOU ARRESTED FOR KIDNAPPING, YOU BASTARDS!!”

“What an annoying girl!”

WHACK!

A blow to the head made her lose consciousness.

When she woke up, she was in a damp, filthy cell. She noticed she wasn’t alone—other people were in the cell with her.

“Get me out of here!! This place is disgusting!”

Soldiers came to the cell, dragged her out, and led her to another location.

“Ah! Finally!”

CLICK!

“WHAT IS THIS? A COLLAR? TAKE THIS OFF ME!”

RATTLE, RATTLE, RATTLE…

She squirmed back and forth.

A large, tall door opened, revealing a spacious and well-lit room. People were shouting desperately as they raised their bids. It was a slave auction.

“AND NOW, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!! A RARE JEWEL! THE FIRST BID IS 100,000 AUREUS!!”

“What is happening? Am I being auctioned?!”

“120,000 AUREUS!”

“150,000 AUREUS!!”

“150,000 AUREUS!! ONE! TWO!”

“200,000 AUREUS!”

“SOLD!! SOLD FOR 200,000 AUREUS!!!”

She had been sold for 200,000 Aureus (the empire’s gold coin). Kneeling on the floor, she looked up to see who had purchased her.

“You are now the new friend of my dear daughter, Rosela. Make sure to be obedient to your new master.”

Shocked to hear a familiar name, it finally clicked—she was inside Duchess’s Garden, a romance novel she had read before entering this world. Again being led by soldiers, she was taken to a carriage. The man who bought her lifted her inside, and once seated, he instructed the coachman to head to the Valoryn Ducal House.

The cushioned seats with soft pillows were wonderful. She let herself enjoy the luxury, a pleasure she had only ever dreamed of.

When she woke up, she was in a bed with clean, fine sheets. Some older women sharing the room called her over and asked questions.

“Hey! Already awake, Sleeping Beauty? The sun has been up for ages. Come on, get up! You need a bath immediately.”

They bathed together and handed her a black dress with a small white apron.

“You’re new here, right? Also, since you’re a child, Miss Rosela will be thrilled to meet you.”

Rosela, the protagonist of Duchess’s Garden, was the daughter of the Duke of Valoryn, raised with love by her father. Before she was born, her parents had betrothed her to the heir prince of the Atradis Empire. She didn’t have many friends, but when she first visited the imperial palace, she met the male protagonist—the second prince of the Atradis Empire. They quickly became friends, and as they grew older, they fell in love. However, Rosela was engaged to her brother, who was an idiot. Many events and intrigues unfolded, but in the end, after numerous ups and downs with the heir prince, the protagonists made a wager with the emperor: if they brought the crown from the enemy empire to Atradis, the emperor would remove the heir prince from power and hand the position to the male protagonist.

"They won the bet. Hooray! They lived happily ever after as the crown princess and the heir prince. Pathetic story."