Chapter 3

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(Renée’s POV)

‘This….. I really need to do something about this.’

The maid cried as if she was moved that she didn’t receive a beating from me.

I feel really sorry for her, but….

‘This is my chance.’

This is the perfect opportunity for me to change their bad perception of Renée Blair that has built up over the years.

‘If I comfort her well, wouldn’t she assume that I’ve become a nice person?’

I’m a bit worried.

Still, I took advantage of the situation and comforted her gently while the maid cried in an awkward manner.

And then…

Everything went smoothly after that.

The maid, who felt that I’ve become kinder and gentler than my usual self, generously helped me prepare my morning routine.

Renée Blair is definitely evil. How could she torment such an innocent person?

Anyway, there’s still hope. All I did was pretend to comfort the maid with a gentle hug, and that brought her guard down. It’s just a matter of time before I’d be able to get along well with everybody else.

However….

As I glanced up into the air, I rolled my eyes.

Today’s Mission

‘Hit the servant girl on the cheek.’

Accept / Reject

I stared at the translucent window with anxious eyes and sat down on the bed.

I sent out the maid a long time ago, so I was all alone in this spacious bedroom.

Thanks to this, I carefully reached for the translucent without having to worry about someone seeing me and thinking that I was acting strange.

Soon after, I felt something cold on my fingertips.

“Oh My God.”

To my surprise, I was able to touch the translucent window shaped like a rectangle that was floating in the air.

It’s cool to the touch like glass. I unwittingly rubbed the surface.

The translucent window is undoubtedly real.

‘It seems that I’m the only one who can see and touch it.’

The maid passed through this translucent window before, and I was certain that it was invisible to her.

But, how come it’s only visible to me?

“Wait, it can’t be?”

Is it possible that this is the reason for Renée Blair’s vicious behaviour?

The window literally said the word ‘Mission’ on it.

What if this unknown thing is what caused Renée Blair to commit evil deeds? Does this mean that I need to continue her act to accomplish the mission written on this window?

‘Hmm…. No, I think I can choose not to do this. There’s a ‘Reject’ button, after all.

Since there’s no way to ignore it, then maybe I’ll just reject it. It’s not like I took pleasure in tormenting other people.

‘And most of all, there is no guarantee that this task window even existed before I possessed Renée’s body… And nothing was mentioned about this in the original story, right?

I brushed off my endless worry and slowly raised my hand.

I’m not sure what will happen, but my decision will not change. I knew that the only way for me to make this window disappear is for me to choose to either Accept or Reject.

The words in ‘Today’s Mission’ implied that this would be a daily task. That means it’s not only invisible to others but troublesome as well. But…

When I clicked ‘Reject’ in a tense state, the task window immediately disappeared.

“Uh-huh, good thing it’s gone. If it keeps popping in front of me while I’m walking it would bother me a lot. I might even collapse from nervousness.”

A sense of relief came rushing in. But this was not the time to dwell. I need to appease and be kind to everyone as soon as possible to change my stereotypical villain persona.

While thinking of going back to square one and pondering on what to do next, I heard something beside my ear.

Ting. Ting.

It was the same sound that I heard earlier.

I kind of knew it at the back of my head. For some reason it made my spine shiver.

Please please please, I hope that I’m just hallucinating. I really hope it’s not what I think it is!

I cried out desperately inside my head, and then I took a deep breath, then slightly turned my neck and looked into the air.

Second Mission Of The Day

‘Reden Blair is out of the house! Tear off the garden’s document file inside the Oval Office.

Let’s go.’

Accept / Reject

Aaaah, why is it popping up again?

I’ve barely recovered from the dizziness I felt from turning my head. Once again, I slowly stretched out my hand to touch the task window.

And what did it say? Second mission? I’m reluctant to trust that my eyes are correct in seeing these new words on the task window right now.

“Does it mean that it won’t disappear until I accept a mission…?”

I felt goosebumps from the thoughtless words that I just said. I came to my senses and read the task written on the window. There’s a name specified in the instructions.

Reden Blair.

Unless my memory is wrong, Reden Blair is Renée Blair’s older brother.

‘And one of the male lead candidates…’

I still struggle to remember the entirety of the contents of the novel. I shook my head, frowned, and finally looked at the task window with utter vigilance as if I was about to encounter possible danger.

One thing is for sure. All the missions would definitely be something horrible.

‘Then that means all of the evil things Renée Blair did was because of these unknown missions?’

First of all, I had no intention of going to Reden Blair’s office and doing such nonsensical things. Without having to think twice, I pressed the rejection button. And the window disappeared without a trace, once again.

I continued to stare into the nothingness without pulling off my hand that had recently pressed the reject button.

I prepared my posture in case the task window popped out again. Once it shows up, I’ll immediately press the reject button with no hesitation, without even reading its contents.

As expected, there was another ringing sound as if I was going to have a neurosis soon, so I immediately stretched out my finger.

However, things were different from before.

The Last Mission

‘Are you sure that you want to say no?’

Yes / No

Instead of disappearing, a new window popped up immediately after I pressed the last task window without reading. Moreover, the statement in this window feels a bit ominous.

‘Wait , what? Why is this coming up again?’

I felt sick all of a sudden. I was afraid because it sounded like a warning that something would happen if I refused for the third time.

However, this might be an absolute clarification that the mission was an evil task and meant to scare me.

Again, without hesitation, I clicked ‘Yes’ to the last option.

The window completely disappeared.

“Finally!”

I could finally stretch my body with a light heart. I jumped out of bed and started humming without realizing it. Maybe because I felt relieved.

‘When am I going to see Anastasia? Should I go and look for her today?’

While I had such a carefree thought.

Ting. Ting.

I heard the same notification sound penetrate into my ears once again. My body immediately hardened involuntarily.

‘Wait, I thought that would be the last mission? What is it this time?’

When I looked into the air, I was greeted by the same task window that I’d become accustomed to after seeing it a few times.

However there is a difference…. It’s a little bit bigger and a bit redder than the usual pink window. And it’s giving me a warning.

I sensed that something was odd, so I read the text slowly with trembling eyes.

You Will Be Given A Penalty For Rejecting All Of Today’s Missions

– Penalty: Fever-

– Time: One week (6 days 23 hours 59 minutes)-

– Missions do not occur while receiving a penalty-

“…….What? Penalty?”

Just as I was rereading the same thing over and over like an idiot, a sudden headache hit my head.

It wasn’t just that.

My skin got hot and my body trembled as if I was getting a fever all over. And suddenly it was cold.

“What’s wrong with me all of a sudden?”

I grinded my teeth while I muttered and looked down at my trembling hands. And my hands were shaking mercilessly.

‘Ugh! Why is this happening? What’s wrong with me? Am I really getting a penalty?’

As if everything just stopped functioning, the thoughts that were running through my mind became dull. Blood rushed through my head, and it felt like my eyes were about to pop out. Even my bones were throbbing as if I had been beaten up.

“It hurts…”

My vision was distorted as if it were being sucked into one place like a tornado. I suddenly became sad because I didn’t know where it all started.

At that moment, I leaned over and collapsed helplessly on the bed. A red task window was glimmering in my sight.

‘This is why I’m sick.’

I tried to reach out for the task window without thinking about what to do next, but I couldn’t move even the slightest bit.

I just realized how funny this situation is. I felt like I was hit and run over by an unknown ruler of this novel.

“It’s a relief that I have a bed, though.”

Because if it wasn’t for the bed, I would have collapsed on the floor.

At the end of my mumbling, I passed out.

-ˏˋ ━━━━━━ ʚ🌸ɞ ━━━━━━ ˊˎ-

(3rd PERSON POV)

Anastasia Solen.

Unlike usual, she was lost in her thoughts wearing a serious expression while doing her work inside the royal palace.

The hand that was holding a pen towards the paper didn’t move an inch. At first glance, she appeared to be enthralled by something. No, right now, she’s definitely stunned.

However, the look that she had right now was like a work of art.

And there’s someone who was looking at her picturesque posture.

It was Aiden Burwars, her colleague sitting at the other desk. He was staring at her for a bit and then affixed his gaze back on the documents.

As he started talking.

“Ana, your hands aren’t moving. ”

“You just saw me move right now.”

He was startled by her statement.

Aiden clicked his tongue and pushed the completed documents aside. He looked at her again.

Despite his remarks, Anastasia still had a distracted expression on her face.

Her golden eyes that were out of focus seemed a bit strange. She had been that way for a while, which is why he’s been blatantly worried about her.

“What are you so worried about that you’ve looked so troubled all day?”

“Don’t worry, we can get this all done by the end of today.”

“That’s not what I meant. What are you so worried about?”

The way he spoke to her just now was very unusual. He was always hesitant but friendly towards her. It was the same for Anastasia.

“……”

Anastasia remained silent as if she had not heard him. Aiden shrugged and  fiddled with his pen on the other hand.

“You don’t want to tell me either?”

Only then did Anastasia’s gaze reach Aiden.

Aiden motioned for her to speak without avoiding her gaze. If anyone had seen this friendly behavior, they would have doubted their eyes in surprise.

Haa, she sighed.

When Aiden noticed that the first thing that came out of her mouth was a deep sigh, he immediately stopped fiddling with his pen.

But the first word that came out of her mouth disgruntled him.

TO BE CONTINUED……