Chapter 1.1

I stared at the man’s face, a face without a brand, and collapsed onto the floor.

I had to admit that I was now inside the popular novel, <Love Without a Brand>, the one I had been reading just before I was called out by my mother-in-law.

I was certain I had been lying on a cold cement floor, but the damp earth, wet with morning dew, seeped through my clothes. The knights approached to help me up, but there was no sign of urgency in their movements. It would have been better if they had just said they were doing this out of obligation.

However, before they could reach me, I blurted out, “Hurry, hurry, release that child.”

Just then, I heard the sound of someone spitting directly behind me. It was a clear, unmistakable show of contempt. I suppose it made sense, considering how much malicious mischief this Claire had caused. She had bound him and forbidden anyone from giving him even a drop of water, so the knights must not have been comfortable seeing the man tied up all night.

Two knights came forward and roughly untied the male lead’s arms. But, having received a higher education under South Korea’s college entrance exam system, I was baffled. Wouldn’t it be better to untie the legs first, let him get his footing, and then release his arms so he could come down properly? My thoughts, however, were not as quick as their hands.

And, as if on cue, the male lead began to tumble forward. I sprang to my feet with lightning speed and rushed forward to catch him. Thankfully, I was able to catch him before he hit the ground.

The surroundings fell silent, as if doused with cold water. I held him and awkwardly smiled at the people around me. “Hahaha, it’s just instinct. You know, action and reaction?”

But the most helpless person in this situation was the one in my arms. He was stiff, frozen, and didn’t move a muscle. As soon as his legs were free, he jerked away from me as if he had fallen into a disgusting cesspool.

Yet, his will failed to move his body, and he stumbled to the ground again. I immediately knelt down, squeezed my body under his shoulders, and begged the two startled knights standing by my side.

“Hey, I’m sorry, but can you move this kid—no, this man—please?”

They stared at me with wide eyes, as if I had asked for something they couldn’t possibly grant. I had no idea that their shock was not due to my request but to the simple fact that I had said, “I’m sorry.“

After a moment of hesitation, the knights roughly pulled the male lead away from me and began dragging his legs on the ground.

“Wait, what are you doing? His legs are dragging! The friction will give him cuts on his bare feet. You know friction, right? That thing that makes things hot. So, isn’t there a stretcher, or something like a stretcher?”

The knights glared at me with piercing eyes before slinging the male lead over their shoulders. At least this time his feet weren’t dragging.

“But… where are you taking him now?”

“…We’re taking him back to his room, of course.”

“No, no. Treatment comes first. Take him to my bedroom.”

“My lady! Where are you taking that filthy wretch?”

“Be quiet, maid. My life is on the line right now…” I growled in the maid’s ear. “Go get a doctor.”

Just then, a man pushed through the knights and appeared. After seeing the male lead’s beauty, this man didn’t exactly make my heart flutter, but his face was definitely handsome enough to get a few love calls from an entertainment agency.

“Take Adrian to the lady’s room at once!”

“Oh!” The way he gave orders made it clear that he was the captain of the knights. Oh… oh… what was his name again? He was one of the female lead’s devoted admirers.

While I was regretting not remembering his name, Adrian lost consciousness and went limp over the knights’ shoulders. His back, as he was carried away, was so tattered that it was unbearable to look at. The marks from the flogging I had only read about were far more horrifying than I could have imagined.

‘You insane bitch. You beat him to this state, so you deserve to be branded and killed. You have no one to blame but yourself.’

I shook my head to clear my thoughts and hurried after them. This was no time to be dazed.

Adrian was laid face down on my bed, still unconscious, and I paced beside him, not knowing what to do. The doctor who arrived a moment later also widened his eyes at me, which suggested that Claire was disliked even by the family physician.

Well, anyone with a sound mind would obviously hate Claire for doing this to such a beautiful person. I was starting to feel hopeless about my future here.

***

Claire Ianster first appears as a main character. I don’t remember the exact process of her going to the orphanage, but Claire was an orphan, and the orphanage was, to put it mildly, a horrible place.

While I don’t know exactly what went on inside, the children were terrified of the director, and the maids condoned his actions. But for some reason, the director left Claire alone. Perhaps he knew she was the illegitimate child of a high-ranking family.

But even being left alone didn’t mean she was treated properly. Her circumstances were no different from the other children. Yes, this novel was a dark one. All the characters, except for the male and female leads, were described as gloomy and sinister.

One day, when she was eleven, Adrian appeared in Claire’s pitch-black life like a ray of light.

“Oh, wow! You’re handsome.”

For some reason I can no longer remember, Claire was the first person to see Adrian as he was about to pass out in front of the orphanage. The moment she saw Adrian, with his silver hair and blue eyes, Claire became intensely intrigued. Never having been loved by anyone, she became obsessed with his beautiful looks.

“What’s this filthy wretch?”

The orphanage director appeared just as Adrian collapsed against Claire’s shoulder.

“Director, this child’s name is Adrian. He suddenly collapsed in front of the gate.”

“Adrian?”

The director grabbed a fistful of his hair.

“The child has such an ominous look. Take him to the ‘Room of Peace’ and lock him up.”

Claire, who was a head shorter than Adrian, dragged him to the Room of Peace. Claire gritted her teeth and moved Adrian, afraid that if she made a single sound, the director might change his mind and feed him to the wild beasts in the forest. But when he came to, he remembered nothing.

When Adrian collapsed, he was holding a bloody dagger that was set with a rare and expensive gem. The director, who coveted the jewel, took Adrian in. The dagger also had a date engraved on it, which was presumed to be Adrian’s birthday. But Adrian wouldn’t be tamed by anyone, so he was always the number one target for hatred at the orphanage.

“If you don’t listen to me, you’ll go hungry all day!”

Adrian gave no answer or reaction to the director’s words. The director would then always lock him in solitary confinement. The children’s greatest fears were darkness and cold, but Adrian was not afraid at all. In those moments, Adrian was like a living doll.

Whenever Adrian was confined to solitary, Claire would save a portion of her own meal and bring it to him.

“Adrian, try to eat this.”

Claire would slide a piece of hard bread through the hole under the locked door. But she received no response other than a pained moan.

“And please, when the director hits you, just say ‘I’m sorry.’ That way you’ll get hit less.”

Claire was genuinely anxious, but Adrian never gave her even a glance. Yet, because they were both powerless at the orphanage, Claire couldn’t physically torment Adrian.

Then, when she was fourteen, her biological father found her.

***

Hubert Ianster, Count of the Ianster family, was one of the twelve noble families in Hesse and was so powerful that even a flying bird would fall if he willed it. Claire was the count’s illegitimate child.

Several years ago, the Count had lost his beloved daughter, Celine, during a hunting trip. Honestly, it doesn’t make any sense. How could a child from such a prestigious family get lost at a hunting ground when they had so many servants? When I read it, I had no complaints, but now that this is my life, I have to question the plausibility.

Anyway, fearing that the family line would end, the Ianster family decided to bring in an illegitimate child to inherit the family name. In the novel I read, Claire’s mother was a maid who worked in the Ianster household. She was quite beautiful for a maid and apparently went to great lengths to catch the Count’s eye.

She eventually gave birth to Claire and became quite dissolute. She also envied and was jealous of Celine’s mother, who was the countess. Celine Ianster is the female lead of this novel. And like a proper female lead’s mother, Celine’s mother was a kind and beautiful woman.

One day, Claire’s mother poisoned the countess’s tea. Thankfully, the countess didn’t drink much and her life was not in danger, but after that, her health noticeably weakened. Hubert Ianster truly loved his wife, and as a result, Claire’s mother was driven out of the count’s mansion along with Claire and died in the streets.

“Claire, Claire… if you had been a son, if you had been a son, I wouldn’t have been abandoned by the Count. So it’s all your fault, understand?”

Just before she died, Claire’s mother left her with those last words. To Claire, it was a fundamental rejection of her very existence, something she couldn’t change.

But, for better or for worse, Claire Ianster had raven-black hair like the night sky and mysterious violet eyes. This was one of the signature traits of the Ianster family. As soon as she returned to the family and had her position confirmed, she went to the orphanage and took Adrian to her home.

He was fifteen when he came to this house, which meant he had already endured two years of unspeakable abuse from Claire. Of course, Claire didn’t torment Adrian from the beginning.

“Adrian, this is the room where you’ll be staying.”

“Adrian, try some of this. You’ve never had something like this before, have you?”

But no matter how kindly Claire treated Adrian, he remained expressionless. Then, one day, Claire went to the market and bought some clothes for Adrian.

“Adrian, I bought these because I thought they would suit you well. Do you want to try them on?”

Adrian, who had been staring at Claire with a blank face all this time, finally opened his mouth. Claire’s eyes sparkled as she waited for what he would say.

“By the way, what’s your name?”

At that moment, Claire completely lost her temper. It was a rejection. A rejection of a reality she could not change.

Furious, Claire began to hit Adrian from that day on. This may have been the start of the tragedy they’re in now. Adrian endured Claire’s abuse without a single cry, and the more he did, the more Claire’s heart was corrupted.

“Shouldn’t you be grateful to me for getting you out of that hellhole? You ungrateful wretch.”

This was Claire’s main refrain. Claire wanted to be close to Adrian, but she had never been loved by anyone, so she didn’t know the right way to do it.

And that’s how this mess started. I felt a sense of relief that since I had entered this body before she branded Adrian’s face, I might have prevented the horrible ending where the male lead kills her.

But seeing the state of his back, a new sense of unease washed over me. The doctor gave him a diagnosis of excessive bleeding, dehydration, and sunstroke, and disinfected his back. When the blood was wiped away, the wounds looked even worse. But the doctor started to leave without any further treatment.

“Is that all the treatment you’re giving him?”

“…” 

“No, don’t you need to put some ointment on it and maybe stitch up the deep wounds?”

The maid whispered in my ear, “What’s wrong with you today, my lady? What doctor stitches up a slave’s wounds?”

But if he’s left like this, he’ll get an infection.

“This is an order. Treat his wounds further.”

At the word “order,” the doctor began to treat him without further argument. By the time the treatment was over, it was already night.

‘I wish I had some kind of electrolyte drink to give him; what if he gets into trouble from dehydration?’

Since he was asleep, I couldn’t give him water, and I felt more anxious. I moistened a clean cloth with water and continuously dabbed Adrian’s lips as he lay face down, thinking this was my only way to survive.

***

Later that night, it was just Adrian and me in the room. The servants were reluctant to leave us alone, thinking I might do something to him, but no one in the house could argue with Claire Ianster’s will.

It was just as I was bringing the water-soaked cloth to his lips again. Adrian’s face scrunched up slightly, and he let out a moan as he tried to get up. His eyes were still closed. He tried to sit up and lean against the headboard, but his back was in pain, so he couldn’t and just sat up. I quickly poured a glass of water and handed it to him.

He was so thirsty that he lifted his head to drink the water immediately, but the moment he saw my face, he spat the water on the floor.

“Is it poison?”

“Huh?” His voice was as luxurious as his looks. Right, when he came to kill Claire later, he had become someone of high status… what was he again?

“What are you up to?”

“Up to?” Barely regaining my senses, I snatched the cup from his hand and drank the water in one gulp.

“It’s not poison, it’s water. You have to drink water.”

I poured another glass and put it in his hands. Adrian was still wary, but he was so thirsty that he drank the water in one go. His lips were as dry as if they had been scorched by desert sand, so I poured him another glass.

Adrian drained the second glass as well. He must have been dying of thirst.

“Where am I?” After quenching his thirst, he came to his senses and asked sharply.

“Huh? My room. Your room wasn’t suitable for treatment.”

Before I could finish, Adrian got up. But from his ordeal, he was unsteady as he got off the bed. I reached out to grab him, but Adrian slapped my hand away.

“Don’t touch me.” His sharp tone made me raise my arms and back away from him.

“Oh, sorry, sorry. But where are you going? Your room isn’t suitable for treatment, and you need to rest a little more.”

“Don’t talk nonsense. And don’t touch my body.”

‘The situation is worse than I thought. Ugh.’

“Okay. Then you’ll go to the annex that’s being cleaned up right now, understood? I’ve already gotten rid of your old room.” The room Claire had been locking Adrian in was a place that couldn’t even be called a room. It was like a prison where not a single ray of light came in.

Thankfully, the maid came in, and I knew her name was Sally because the doctor had called her name earlier.

“Sally, please escort Adrian to his new room in the annex.”

Adrian kept glaring at the water bottle as if he was horrified that he had drunk the water I gave him.

And so, Adrian left my room, and my first day of transmigration came to an end. Despite the pressure to think things through, I was so physically exhausted that I collapsed on the bed. And as I fell into a deep sleep, I had a terrible dream.

In the dream, I saw my ex-husband, who might be infertile, sobbing while holding someone’s hand. I had taken the pacifier that my mother-in-law had left on the table after she brought the divorce papers and had a DNA test done.

‘I should have seen Hyuntaek’s face when he saw the results…’