Chapter 42 – The Youngest Daughter of the Count’s Family (5)
[Chapter 3 – Verse 3] The Protagonist Was Right?
The romantic fantasy novel ‘I Became the Youngest Daughter of a Count’s Family’ begins with an Earthling woman reincarnated as the daughter of a count on an alien planet.
Noble status.
Stunning beauty.
Immense wealth.
The protagonist had everything anyone could envy—a perfect character.
‘Isn’t it already over?’
I didn’t need to read further to know that handsome bachelors would be lining up for her, so I wasn’t the least bit excited.
And as expected, the story unfolded without any surprising twists.
“Dr. Seo, is this actually fun?”
“I think it’s weirder that guys like fantasy novels about hitting and killing.”
“Uh, fair point.”
Dr. Seo’s perfect counterargument made me raise the white flag immediately.
Anyway,
“So many guys are into the protagonist. The guard knight, the kingdom’s prince, a foreign prince, the young emperor, a famous mercenary, a childhood friend, a clever servant…”
It felt like every handsome guy in the novel was linked to her.
Falling in love just by locking eyes with the protagonist!
“That’s why it’s a novel.”
“Oh!”
Even so, isn’t it a stretch for multiple men to fawn over a woman the emperor of a superpower has set his sights on? Unless they’re suicidal…
There were plenty of other plot holes, but since it’s a popular work, I had no complaints!
“Mr. Kang Moon-soo, what did you think?”
“It was painful to read. The ending was unsatisfying too.”
The irresponsible ending left the protagonist’s choice of suitor up to the reader’s imagination.
Since picking one would make the others go berserk or suicidal, it was probably an inevitable choice for the author.
By the way…
“I don’t see the coach. Dr. Seo, do you know where he is?”
“…”
“Dr. Seo?”
“He’s back in the country, under police investigation.”
“What?! Why?”
The police, out of nowhere?
“A coach has a duty to protect and manage their athletes. But when you collapsed, he wasn’t there.”
“Even so…”
“He was at a gambling den. There’s even a statement from a woman who says he paid her. No need for further explanation, right?”
“…”
The harsh reality left me speechless.
“It’s not your fault.”
“But they found out because something happened to me.”
“He shouldn’t have done it in the first place. He even booked a cheap ship to fund his entertainment.”
“Oh…”
I’d thought the cattle-like treatment on that passenger ship was odd.
To think it was hiding such a purpose!
I shuddered with betrayal.
“Feeling a bit better now?”
“…Yeah. So what happens to me going forward?”
In a few days of sleep, I lost the coach who’d been guiding me.
‘Is this for real?’
But it’s reality, so I had to accept it. Just like I convinced Song Sun-young and Choi Kang-min, who denied reality and clung to dreams.
I’m no exception.
“I don’t know either. How about partnering with me?”
“Didn’t you say I’d become an idiot?”
What’s with scaring me about brain cell damage and then suggesting this?
Realizing her slip, Dr. Seo looked away and said,
“Generally, yes, but your recovery is abnormally good, so you’ll be fine.”
“Look me in the eyes when you say that.”
“Oh! Aren’t you hungry? You’ve been reading nonstop since waking up.”
“…I am hungry.”
Giving up on arguing, I rubbed my empty stomach.
‘So weird.’
After waking from the dream, I immediately read ‘I Became the Youngest Daughter of a Count’s Family’.
I’d planned to skim the start and rest, but…
“Was the novel fun?”
“No. The guys obsessed with the protagonist were so unrealistic it broke immersion.”
They were ready to offer their souls to a woman whose only emphasized trait was her beauty!
I couldn’t understand how someone with such a pathetic attitude could rule a territory and be respected.
“You’re criticizing it, but you seemed pretty engrossed while reading.”
“…”
I couldn’t argue with Dr. Seo’s jab. It was true.
I couldn’t stop and read all five volumes.
‘Completely hooked!’
Curious about how she’d resolve her tangled relationships and who she’d marry, I read to the end, only to be hit with an open-ended, irresponsible conclusion.
Utterly dumbfounded…!
“Mr. Kang Moon-soo, let’s go out. My treat.”
“The coach said it’s dangerous outside the hotel…”
“It is. That wasn’t a lie. But the area around the hotel is patrolled by guards and police, so it’s relatively safe for tourists.”
“Oh!”
Dr. Seo, now in casual outing clothes, led the way.
“Follow me.”
“Thank you for coming.”
“Don’t mention it. The chemical formula you brought from the future is worth it.”
“Even if you say that…”
As a non-expert, I couldn’t grasp its value.
“It’ll change the world. Like P’s aptitude test machine did.”
“That much?”
I hoped that day would come soon.
***
It wasn’t long, but I gave a bitter smile at the fact that the coach, who’d supported me, had deceived me.
‘My karma?’
Through Song Sun-young’s dream, I learned he saved swimmers and approached him deliberately.
Calculating that talent would trump aptitude!
But the world wasn’t kind enough to follow my plans.
“Coach: I’m sorry.”
A short text had arrived on my phone.
Ring~ Ring~♪
I called immediately, but no matter how long I waited, he didn’t answer.
Click.
“Sigh…”
“Still thinking about the coach?”
“Of course.”
“Hmm~ You value relationships, Mr. Kang Moon-soo.”
“Is that a compliment?”
“Half and half.”
“Ugh.”
But I couldn’t mope forever.
After filling up on exotic cuisine and returning to the lodging, we dove into serious research.
What research?
“The dream’s timeline feels like the latter half of volume 2, where tensions rise with the duke’s family over the betrothal.”
“Odd. If the patient read up to volume 4 and acted like the protagonist, there shouldn’t have been a war.”
“It seems the war escalated after her fiancé caught her kissing the guard knight.”
“That’s not in the novel.”
In the original, the protagonist, Angelina Chimac, tearfully holds back the guard knight who’s leaving after sorting out his feelings.
But there was no kiss, and the fiancé didn’t catch them…
‘Is it because the core is different?’
The original protagonist was lucky enough to have a new handsome man help her in every crisis.
But the patient, despite looking the same, didn’t have that luck.
“My guess is the patient didn’t perfectly remember the protagonist’s lines and actions.”
“Seems so. The original protagonist was passive with men.”
“Yet cunning.”
We deeply analyzed ‘I Became the Youngest Daughter of a Count’s Family’.
We tried to understand the characters better than the author who created them.
To predict the next moves of the patient possessed by the novel’s protagonist!
“But Dr. Seo, is this analysis meaningful? The war, which isn’t in the original, messed things up.”
“It is. If I were the patient, I’d try to mend the relationship somehow.”
“Why?”
“As a fan of this novel, I’d never give up the fiancé. Let another woman take him? Unthinkable!”
Dr. Seo spoke passionately with conviction.
“…You’re a fan.”
“I was satisfied except for the ending. I expected her to puppet all the men and peacefully unify the continent.”
“Uh, yeah.”
Cleaner than an open ending, but hard to agree with.
“The key is who wins the war.”
“Can you predict it?”
“…Their forces seemed evenly matched, so I’m not sure.”
“Then they probably just put on a show of fighting to save noble face and called a truce.”
“A show…?”
So many died senselessly. And their deaths were just to uphold noble pride?
Dr. Seo explained in a teacherly tone.
“Before cannons strong enough to break stone walls were developed, medieval castles were incredibly hard to conquer. They say you needed at least ten times the forces.”
“Why’s that?”
“If the two territories’ armies are similar, even a victory won’t take the castle. Unless you capture the lord or heir on the battlefield.”
“Oh!”
“And even if you win, heavy losses leave you vulnerable to neighbors. Would they just watch a golden opportunity to seize a weakened castle? A peace treaty from the powerless is worth less than paper. History proves it.”
“Makes sense.”
“Let’s assume a stalemate and plan the future.”
“…Let’s start.”
One absurd death from stumbling blindly was enough.
My brain cells are precious!
The patient’s memory, a variable despite roughly knowing the novel’s plot, was factored into our solid strategy.
One day, two days…
We mapped out the novel’s world, memorized character settings and relationships, and prepared step by step.
Finally,
“Let’s do this right!”
“Confident?”
“Enough that if I fail after this much prep, I’ll cleanly give up.”
“Bold resolve.”
“Dr. Seo, see you later. Say hi to the new coach for me.”
“I’ll explain it well. Oh! If you meet my favorite character, drop a hint.”
“About uniting the continent by toppling the empire?”
I thought it was a joke…?
“Please.”
“That’s… I’ll think about it.”
I set off again to meet the patient trapped in the novel’s world!
***
My second starting point was the middle of the wasteland where I’d died.
My clothes…
“What a beggar.”
It was the outfit I’d worn while briefly serving as a soldier.
Slightly better than the near-naked slave soldiers, I had leather clothes with a thin overcoat bearing the Chimac family crest.
But that was in the past.
‘How many people trampled my corpse?’
The tattered combat uniform, covered in footprints and bloodstains, had no intact spots.
And in this ruined battlefield, instead of soldiers, women and children were scavenging the ground like treasure hunters…
“Little miss.”
“Yes!”
A girl, about waist-high, answered energetically.
“What are you looking for?”
“Bodies!”
“…”
That’s not something to say with such an innocent smile…
Quickly shaking off the cultural shock, I asked,
“Why bodies?”
“Selling rings means Mom and Dad won’t starve.”
“…I see. Good girl.”
Her odd answer wasn’t hard to interpret.
“What’s big brother doing here?”
“I’m…”
“A secret?”
I patted the impatient girl’s head and said,
“I’m here to scold a naughty sister.”
“Where does she live?”
“Over there.”
I pointed to the city with the Chimac Count’s estate.
“Then why go the other way?”
“I need to prepare.”
“What kind?”
“A secret.”
I bid farewell to the pouting girl and hurried my steps.
To the Somaek Duke’s territory, home of the protagonist’s fiancé.