Chapter 3

Jane quickly approached and began helping me change. I threw off the trailing wedding dress and sat down in front of the vanity, feeling lighter.

It had only been a few hours since I possessed Vivi’s body, and for the first time, I was seeing her face.

Maybe it was the slightly upturned eyes or the striking pink irises, but the overall impression was cold and cynical.

Her skin was pale, as if she didn’t go out much, and her nose, though small, was straight. Her pastel pink, slightly wavy hair reached her navel.

While wiping off my makeup with a warm, damp towel, Jane asked,

“Shall I tell them to prepare dinner?”

“No, it’s fine.”

I was hungry, but had no appetite. Even though Seniel had left the mansion, I couldn’t relax. Somehow, I felt like Kid might barge in at any moment.

“Just prepare a bath.”

“Yes, understood.”

Jane glanced at me nervously, offering condolences for the fact that my husband wasn’t spending the wedding night with me. But that didn’t matter to me.

Instead, my exhaustion caught up with me and my eyes drooped halfway. Jane’s voice gradually faded away.

Right before I fell asleep, it occurred to me that if I was going to run away tonight, my nightgown and shoes had to be comfortable.

I should take off all my earrings and necklaces. It’d be best to wear nothing that could be grabbed.

If Kid were to yank the earrings or pull the necklace, I’d be at a disadvantage.

‘He might be far away, but it’s always better to be prepared.’

“Prepare the most comfortable nightgown you have. And shoes that are easy to run in.”

“Pardon? …Yes, I’ll prepare ones in your size.”

I knew that any preparation would be useless in front of Kid, but still, it was better to try something than nothing.

* * *

I dismissed the maid who wanted to assist me and sat alone in the bathtub. Even in the warm water, my body trembled.

Seniel’s wife stayed alive for at least a week. Probably because he stepped away like this.

‘How did Vivi end up dying?’

If Seniel kept leaving like this, there shouldn’t be any problems. As long as the servants followed the mansion’s rules, they wouldn’t die.

As long as they didn’t catch his eye.

‘Even if Seniel stays away, once Kid returns, it’s over. Did Vivi disobey and wander the halls at night?’

Or did Kid come looking for Vivi simply because she existed and annoyed him?

I tried to recall every detail I could about the original story and Seniel.

* * *

The novel Two Flavors had a very telling title: a thriller romance between Seniel, a man with a split personality, and the female lead, Ezette, who disguised herself as her brother.

The core theme: both had secrets they couldn’t let others discover.

At the center of it all was Seniel’s split personality. If he hadn’t had DID, the story wouldn’t have started.

The cause was his father, the former high priest, Marquis Case McCurt. Case was more ambitious than anyone else.

In this world, divine power was equivalent to authority. Becoming a priest meant gaining enviable honor and influence.

Among all ranks, none surpassed the High Priest. Only one person could hold that title in the empire. A position greater even than the Emperor in terms of wealth and fame.

You might think such power would tempt rebellion, but no priest ever revolted.

This was because the magnitude of holy power was proportional to one’s innate talent and character.

Even if born with immense divine power, acting selfishly rather than altruistically would make that power difficult to manifest. Not even 10% of their power would emerge.

Also, divine power naturally faded with age.

So, inherently, they had no reason or capacity to revolt unless they believed rebellion would be “justice.”

Seniel’s father, Case, was also a High Priest who once enjoyed serving others.

But as his divine power weakened, perhaps he became selfish, or perhaps it was the selfishness that weakened his power.

He began to resent the conditions required to use divine power.

Case did not want to step down from his position.

He wanted eternal light.

So, he thought: “If I could wield divine power freely for a lifetime, I could become a god.”

It was blasphemous, but he began gathering followers and conducted experiments.

“If we remove human evil, we can become gods forever.”

It was a ridiculous experiment. If evil were removed, people wouldn’t rule over others for personal gain. But Case, blinded by ambition, couldn’t see that.

He began experimenting on orphans. The experiments were conducted on a large scale, but failed.

“Why isn’t it working?!”

After being removed from the High Priest position, Case’s health deteriorated rapidly. He was desperate. He had to succeed quickly to heal and reclaim power. Or even divinity.

In that desperation, he even experimented on his own son.

Seniel had no way to resist the secret experiments conducted in groups.

Some days, his throat burned so much it felt like his vocal cords would rip. Other days, he howled in pain as the slightest breeze peeled his skin in agony.

How many years passed like that?

“Father, so this is how the world truly is. I’ve longed for this moment.”

Due to Case’s drugs, Seniel’s personality split into good and evil. In short, the experiment had failed.

And so Kid was born. He murdered his father and all others involved in the experiment. Even those who merely got in his way.

He didn’t just kill them. He butchered them, splattering filth across walls and ceilings.

The public called it the “Kid case.” The crime scenes looked like a mannerless child had spilled ketchup everywhere.

Eventually, the killer himself was just called “Kid.” In the novel, Kid became the name of Seniel’s other personality.

‘A child and a murderer. What a ridiculous combo.’

Seniel loathed Kid.

He wanted to stop him but couldn’t. Even though Kid was him, he couldn’t fully block his actions.

Because they didn’t share memories entirely.

They only shared each other’s memories when they felt “intense emotion”.

That’s how Seniel knew when Kid first appeared. It was because of the intense pleasure from the first kill.

Seniel tried to reverse his father’s experiment to eliminate Kid.

If Seniel had been purely good, he would’ve killed himself.

However, Seniel wasn’t completely good. The imperfect experiment meant he was close to good, but not enough to bring himself to do it.

Kid wasn’t pure evil either to the point where he didn’t deserve any sympathy. But it was too dangerous to give him sympathy. He wasn’t completely evil, but close enough.

Seniel took every drug and abused himself in attempts to suppress Kid.

“But as you can see, it failed.”

Then he realized Kid only appeared at night. So Seniel avoided sleep. Divine power could relieve physical fatigue, but not mental exhaustion.

That only made Kid more violent and brutal. So Seniel gave up on staying awake.

‘And then the oracle told him to marry.’

Seniel had to marry because he could not defy divine orders.

So he married Vivi and she died shortly afterward.

Seniel, wracked with guilt, was about to kill himself. And that’s when he met the crossdressing female lead, Ezette.

Not a romantic encounter. It was a meeting between killer and pursuer.

‘Ezette was searching for the killer for a very personal reason.’

Ezette was after Kid, the murderer of high priests and nobles. If she caught him, she could restore her crumbling house and uncover the truth behind her brother’s wrongful death.

‘They even forbade public acknowledgement of his death just to silence it.’

Few even knew her brother was dead. Officially, he was marked missing.

To freely investigate, Ezette disguised herself as her brother, who was a knight, using a magical family heirloom, a necklace that made her appear as a man.

Thanks to the necklace, she could take on various roles without suspicion.

That’s how the two leads crossed paths and the novel began.

But the fact that I have to die for the story to start unsettles me.

‘I just died and reincarnated only to die again?’

Maybe a single change like me won’t alter the story drastically. But I don’t care. My life is more important than their love.

‘Should I report Seniel to the temple as the culprit?’

There was some evidence. But even if I did report him, it was questionable whether they would catch Kid right away.

‘They might just suspect me instead.’

Seniel was a High Priest, trusted for his power and character.

If such a man committed dozens of brutal murders, people would believe he couldn’t wield divine power anymore. That’s how things worked here.

‘Seniel might accept punishment, but would Kid stay quiet?’

Kid could cover up a murder in broad daylight. Could he not break out of prison?

‘Why did I have to become Vivi?’

Was it because that was the last book I read? Or because I prayed to be born rich but unimportant?

I sighed. Now’s not the time for introspection.

I searched Vivi’s memories and the original story again.There were no planes, so escaping by air was impossible.

No teleportation magic like other fantasy worlds.

‘The Albeta Empire, where Seniel lives, isn’t safe.’

Even ignoring Kid, the oracle made it dangerous to even live in hiding. They’d brand me a traitor. Just the thought was terrifying.

That left two options: flee by land or by sea.

But I couldn’t just walk out boldly.

As Seniel’s wife, I was bound to the temple. Leaving the empire required permission, so I’d have to escape in secret.

Crossing the land border wasn’t an option either.

According to Vivi’s memories, recent tensions at the border had led to stricter security.

Just climbing to the third floor was hard. I couldn’t avoid the military with this weak body.

That left one answer:

Stow away on a ship.