"How can she be so adorable?"
"She looks like an angel."
"Those genes are truly remarkable."
Awakening to the sounds of conversation, Kim Ji-hye regained consciousness. She should have been in a traffic accident, but instead, she found herself surrounded by unfamiliar women looking down at her.
'…Where am I?'
"Poor child, since your mother passed away, I'll take care of you as your nursemaid."
"It's a shame the Duke, no matter how cold-hearted, hasn't visited once to see your face. He's so indifferent…"
A Duke?
As words straight out of a novel were exchanged, Ji-hye voiced her confusion.
"Baby talk."
'Eh? Why am I talking like this?'
Startled, Ji-hye reached out her hand, only to see a tiny infant's hand. It was impossibly small and delicate.
"Oh my! Our little lady is awake!"
The woman who called herself the nursemaid quickly stopped talking to attend to the baby's cooing.
Ji-hye gradually realized that she, in a crib, was indeed the small baby.
'Reincarnation?'
Somehow, she had been reborn in an era that was clearly not modern South Korea.
Through the conversations of the nursemaid and maids, Ji-hye learned a lot.
A week passed, and Ji-hye turned her head at the sound of a door opening. Expecting a chatty maid, she was surprised by the heavy footsteps of someone else.
'Who is it?'
Curiosity was short-lived.
A voice, void of warmth, spoke up.
"Is this the child?"
A shadow loomed over the infant Ji-hye.
"Yes, Duke. Isn't the lady beautiful?"
Colorless gray hair and eyes, devoid of any vivid hues but creating an enigmatic aura due to the man's deep features.
Ji-hye was about to marvel at the man's beauty when he spoke.
"Adelin Credion, that is her name."
Severus Credion, the man, did not bother to hold his own flesh and blood, his daughter. He merely left her name and departed.
'Credion?'
That day, Ji-hye acquired a new name.
Having never known parents in her past life, Adelin felt indifferent to the indifferent Duke, only pondering where she had heard the name Credion before.
Adelin, born as the only daughter of the Credion Duke, gradually realized she was in the Soltarius Empire.
'Soltarius Empire.'
The sense of déjà vu from the familiar empire name and family name soon clarified.
She was living in the world of the romance fantasy novel she had glimpsed right before dying in her previous life.
Adelin, who Ji-hye had reincarnated as, was…
'The Lady of the Credion Duke.'
The third fiancée of the insane Crown Prince and destined to die by his hand at the young age of 24, a minor character in that crazy novel.
The Credion Duke's family was not always a prestigious noble family.
After the previous Credion Earl's demise, Severus Credion became the new head and elevated the family to ducal status.
Suddenly gaining immense power in the central government, the Credion family became well-known in the empire.
Generation after generation, Credions possessed cold, gray eyes.
Though icy and chilling to behold, people said they were undoubtedly the descendants of a fallen angel.
The beauty of the Credion family was renowned, not just among the nobility but also among commoners, to the extent that there was hardly anyone who didn't know of their appearance.
This was true not only for the Duke Severus but also for his only daughter and heir, Adelin.
In this life, she was blessed with wealth and a high status.
Even resembling the Duke, she possessed a stunning appearance, seeming to have it all.
Yet, Adelin was constantly anxious.
Because she remembered a line from a novel just before her death.
Being a mere supporting character who would end her flower-like life at 23, despite being born into the infamous Credion family, was her foreseen future.
Unaware of the full content of the novel, Adelin was deeply troubled by that one line she saw right before dying.
"I can't just die like this."
Adelin began to prepare to avoid the future that might actually happen.
She had no intention of staying in the Credion household, knowing she might die.
She planned to leave the Credion household if necessary and started creating personal wealth for that purpose.
Being her second life, it was easier for her to amass personal funds.
Adelin diligently saved money, utilizing her allotted allowance and expensive jewelry.
She also made efforts to understand the world of the novel.
To do this, she recalled comments she had read in her past life.
People had criticized the Crown Prince, suspecting he wasn't the real male lead. If indeed the Crown Prince, who would kill Adelin in the future, was the male lead.
"I must avoid an engagement with the Crown Prince at all costs."
She couldn't recall all the comments she had seen.
However, one particular comment stood out among the many.