“You must never look into his eyes.”

“…Yes.”

“You must not speak to him, and if he speaks to you, you must not answer.”

“……”

When there was no response, the footsteps echoing in the hallway stopped. Reyna, who had been following nervously, quickly halted.

“Answer.”

“Yes… I will do so.”

The dark hallway. An uneasy atmosphere enveloped her whole body.

‘I have to stay alert.’

The only reason she had entered this cloister disguised as a closed ward was to earn a lot of money.

“You will be paid as you were told. I do not know how many days you will last.”

At the ominous words that followed, Reyna, who had parted her lips slightly, quickly followed the woman. The woman walking ahead turned back in front of a long hallway.

“From here, you will go alone.”

“…Yes.”

The tray in her hands trembled. It was just delivering soup and bread, yet it made her this nervous. Reyna’s eyes began to glisten with moisture.

Though she had entered the cloister for money, it did not mean she felt no fear.

Her poor situation was unfair, but she had no way to change reality. Earning money quickly to change her life was her only option.

As she walked slowly down the hallway with complicated feelings, Reyna shivered with instinctive fear.

At the end of the hallway, a large black door appeared before her.

‘Shouldn’t I knock first…?’

After a brief thought, Reyna raised her hand.

Knock knock.

Holding her breath in case she heard anything, she waited. But there was nothing in return.

‘…I guess it’s okay to go in?’

Reyna cautiously turned the doorknob.

The door slowly opened, and a faint light spilled in. Taking a deep breath, Reyna peeked through the crack.

Luxurious furniture and a plush carpet. A subtle scent of tea lingered at the tip of her nose. It looked just like a wealthy noble’s room, if not for the strange iron bars blocking the way.

Inside the golden bars, someone lay languidly. Sensing her presence, the man slowly turned his head. Reyna, who was looking at him without thinking, quickly lowered her gaze.

Disheveled black hair, sharp red eyes, a gaze like a wild beast.

“……”

She had no time to even think about stepping back from him. She didn’t realize that the man who had been lying down was suddenly right in front of her.

Clang.

The plate fell miserably to the floor. Reyna frantically stepped back.

But it was too late. ‘He’ reached a hand outside the iron bars, bound by chains.

“P… Please… spare me.”

A rough hand gripped her slender neck. A little more force and she might die.

Reyna pleaded. Please, at least spare her life.

That was her first encounter with him.

***

The moment Lee Juyeong, now Reyna, possessed the fallen noble’s daughter, she thought:

‘Why is this happening to me…’

Reality had been hard enough, and now she possessed a fallen noble’s daughter.

If she had possessed a princess, how nice that would have been. She just wanted to live comfortably, but reality was nothing but cruel.

And the novel she possessed was a ‘horror novel.’

The male lead was the VIP of a psychiatric ward disguised as a cloister. He hid there temporarily to seize an opportunity in the battle for the throne. Pretending to be insane, of course. And… she didn’t know what happened after that.

If only she had read the whole book.

She had only read a few pages before falling asleep, and then she ended up inside the novel. She had no way of knowing how the rest of the story unfolded.

All she knew was that the Reyna she possessed had no parents or siblings, only debt.

And that to repay that debt, she would be dragged to the psychiatric ward disguised as a cloister.

The moment Juyeong possessed her was after everything had already been decided. Reyna Hessel, the only daughter of a ruined barony, made the worst choice to repay the ever-growing debt.

She decided to serve the VIP of the cloister, the second prince.

There was no way to escape the situation. She desperately wanted to avoid being taken to the cloister, the center of events. But it was impossible to escape from a moving carriage. Still, she couldn’t just sit there.

‘First, I’ll run away.’

The moment she entered the cloister, she was as good as dead. Even though she had read little of the book, she knew that meeting ‘him’ in the special ward would mean her death.

She kept the carriage window slightly open, waiting for the right moment.

Just before the carriage stopped and the cloister door opened. That would be her only chance.

‘…No…’

But Reyna’s hope was mercilessly crushed. As if reading her mind, the carriage never stopped even once. It entered the cloister at the same speed.

Clang.

The main gate of the cloister closed. A large chain was locked, and Reyna buried her face in her hands.

“Come out.”

A metallic voice came from outside the carriage. Thinking she had no choice but to comply, Reyna slightly opened the carriage door. At that moment, a pulling force was added. Reyna was practically dragged out.

A white-haired woman in monastic robes. Her age was impossible to guess, but her eyes were far from ordinary. She stared intently at Reyna.

“Stand properly.”

“Are you… speaking to me?”

“Is there anyone here besides you?”

The woman, drawing a firm line, sent Reyna a cold gaze.

She must be Ruth, the master of the cloister.

Ruth El Cromfin, a royal by blood and the master of this mysterious cloister.

Reyna quietly brought her hands together.

Without the slightest idea of what was about to happen to her.

***

“Name?”

“Reyna Ter Hessel.”

“Hessel… is that the barony I know of?”

“…Yes. I believe so.”

Reyna’s father, Baron Hessel, was quite a famous man. Though he had amassed wealth through trade, he ruined the family with his gambling.

Falling into ruin in an instant, he disappeared into drunkenness and went missing, while the Baroness Hessel passed away from grief. The only one left was their only daughter, Reyna Hessel.

Even after losing her parents, Reyna Hessel could not escape her past glory and spent money thoughtlessly. As a result, what little she had quickly dwindled.

Such an entertaining story could not stay in one place. Word of Reyna spread from mouth to mouth. The result was that Reyna Hessel became a well-known figure in the streets.

“I understand you came here because of a large debt. And that it was half by force.”

“……”

“I can give you plenty of money. That is, if you properly carry out your task.”

“…You mean… attend to him?”

“Attend…?”

The woman trailed off.

“You could call it attending.”

The end of her words was accompanied by a smile. A smile that could not be ignored.

“Your task is to assist the guest of the special ward.”

What could be hidden behind the words ‘assist’? Reyna unconsciously shrank back.

If she knew exactly what she had to do, she would feel less afraid. But fear consumed her whole body.

Reyna closed her eyes. Blue eyes, long blonde hair, and delicate features were enough to draw attention. However, the deep worry overshadowing her beauty was evident.

“Rest for today. I will give you work starting tomorrow.”

“…Yes.”

As if there was nothing more to discuss, Ruth rose from her seat. Reyna quickly stood as well, then cautiously looked at Ruth’s back.

‘She seems less frightening than I expected.’

Then, as Reyna glanced around the room she was in, she felt a chill from the eerie atmosphere.

She had possessed a character in a horror novel. The fear of not knowing when something bad might happen gave her a headache.

For someone who had possessed not just anyone, but the fallen baron’s daughter ‘Reyna,’ the fact that nothing bad had yet happened only made her more afraid.

‘How did the story go again?’

She hadn’t read more than ten pages of the novel. Still, she could never forget Reyna, one of the side characters.

Reyna was killed as soon as the novel began.

By the mysterious guest of the special ward, the psychiatric ward VIP. The moment she met that man.