Chapter 1

Prologue

I couldn’t bear to meet his eyes, so I glanced away. Did he know? Was he suspicious?

Setren’s gaze felt sharp, his cold suspicion cutting through me. His unreadable expression and the way his words tested me sent chills down my spine.

Silence stretched between us.

My heart pounded violently. My mind raced, desperately calculating how Setren might react.

What if he’d found out?

What if he already knew?

What did he think of me? Would he kill me?

As if sensing my panic, Setren remained seated, watching me in silence. Then, he reached out and gently touched my cheek.

His eyes locked onto mine—strange yet beautiful, as if they could pierce right through me.

His sharp features and faint, almost mocking smile were disturbingly captivating.

“Why don’t you drop the act and tell me who you really are?”@@novelbin@@

Setren’s voice dropped low, calm yet unmistakably threatening.

“Stop pretending. Before I lose my temper.”

My shoulders slumped as the strength drained out of me. What would happen if he lost his temper?

For just a moment, I saw a flicker of uncertainty in his eyes.

I hadn’t done anything wrong—I just wanted to survive. But he’d already misunderstood something.

I forced out a whisper.

“…Will you spare me?”

Setren cupped my cheek with his hand, leaning in close. His face, faintly glowing in the dim light, seemed both gentle and terrifying.

There was no pretense in his expression—only raw sincerity.

Even as he saw how frightened I was, his unreadable eyes seemed to trap me.

My fingers trembled as I clutched the hem of my dress.

Then, Setren leaned closer and murmured softly.

“Don’t be scared. But… endure it. You need to endure it, okay?”

His words hit me like a dagger straight to the heart.

*****

The Beginning

When I first realized I’d possessed a character in a novel, I couldn’t make sense of it.

Apparently, I had even gone through a wedding ceremony—but that wasn’t what shocked me the most.

The real surprise came the next morning, when the maids addressed me by name.

“So the idiot princess Evelyn really became the Crown Princess. Must be nice. Even an idiot can live a good life if they’re born noble.”

As they cleaned the room, the maids didn’t even bother to lower their voices. They ignored my presence completely.

I held my breath, pretending not to notice as I carefully listened to their words.

‘Idiot princess Evelyn?’

And… Crown Princess?!

In the novel Master of the Shadows, Evelyn was a tragic character. At the age of ten, she suffered a severe fever that left her mentally impaired.

Despite her condition, she managed to survive—only to marry Setren and meet a horrific end at his hands.

She was nothing more than a pawn in the grand scheme that turned Setren into the final villain.

Their arranged marriage, built on bribes and political maneuvering, only fueled Setren’s growing ambition and eventual descent into darkness.

And now, I was Evelyn—the fool destined to drive Setren over the edge.

‘If you listen to me, I’ll give you all this chocolate. You can eat it all by yourself, Evelyn!’

That was Evelyn. So naïve that she’d do anything for a bit of chocolate.

She even stole cookies from her nanny just to share them with the prince.

Who would suspect a child like that of having any survival instincts?

But Evelyn did survive, though she spent years locked away in the castle. The scheming empress, who had been slowly poisoning the prince, ultimately caused his death.

Setren’s rage at the loss led him to brutally purge the entire royal family, cementing his transformation into the villain.

And now it was my turn.

I had to stop him. I had to keep Setren from succumbing to the shadows.

Was this novel just one big excuse to mix tragedy and depravity? That didn’t matter anymore.

The real issue was—

I’m not an idiot.

After quietly observing the situation for a week, I pieced together a few critical facts:

I’m not actually an idiot. (Obviously.)

The Crown Prince hasn’t returned from the battlefield yet, but he’ll be back soon.

The male lead is only six years old right now—barely learning how to read.

There had to be a reason I was brought into this world at this point in the story. They wouldn’t have dragged me here just to die… right?

To make matters worse, Setren—the infamous villain feared as a monster—was very much alive.

But maybe, if I played my role as Evelyn carefully, I could survive.

After all, Setren never abandoned Evelyn. He kept her alive, even locking her away, because she was his wife.

If I spun that fact to my advantage, I might just be able to avoid becoming his victim.

A wife he wouldn’t harm… a wife he’d give a house, money, and food?

Honestly, it sounded like a pretty cushy deal.

But there was one problem.

What if Setren didn’t see me as an innocent fool?

What if he saw through my act?

I needed to keep up appearances—stay harmless, pitiful, and meek. As long as I didn’t provoke him, I could milk this situation for all it was worth.

That afternoon, Setren returned.

The war hero, who had crushed his enemies, was finally face-to-face with his wife.

For the first time, I saw my husband.

He was massive—standing like a towering wall, his presence suffocating.

And his face…

It was perfect, like a sculpture carved by the gods. But it wasn’t comforting. It was the kind of perfection that felt unsettling—inhuman.

The moment his eyes met mine, he turned away, opened the door, and locked it behind him.

What the hell?

Was he locking me in here?

I wanted to ask, but my heart was pounding too hard to speak.

Setren finally turned back toward me, his hand resting lightly on the door as his expression darkened.

Then he looked me over, slowly lowering his hand.

He stared for a long moment before finally speaking.

“Do five-year-olds like love stories?”

His deep voice rumbled, almost like a warning.

I froze, unsure how to respond.

I’ll play along. For now.