Chapter – 02
People keep calling me by this name.
Luisa Messena.
I’ve heard that name before.
“In a novel.”
In the fantasy novel I was offered to adapt, the protagonist faced many villains blocking his path.
Among them, the one with the worst ending was Luisa Messena.
She was the sole legitimate heir of the Messena Duchy—once the most prestigious ducal house in the Empire.
In modern terms, she was like a chaebol princess. Surrounded by luxury goods and art from childhood, she never came to her senses even after her family collapsed. She drowned herself in gambling, alcohol, and indulgence.
And the thing she indulged in the most—was men.
Handsome men, specifically.
Since she grew up obsessed with “beautiful” things like designer clothes and jewelry, she loved and hunted beauty.
Because of that, she became obsessed with the male lead—an exceptionally handsome man—and eventually turned into a Misery-style lunatic who even imprisoned him. She was later executed on the streets by said male lead, who eventually became Emperor.
“All beautiful things belong to me!”
That was her final line, if I recall.
In other words, she was a deranged collector—practically a psychopath.
Thanks to that, her fiancé was also chosen to be a man known as one of the Empire’s most striking beauties: Count Arno Dienche.
Arno Dienche.
White hair, violet-tinged eyes.
A slightly arrogant gaze, just like in the illustrations.
“Luisa.”
That very illustration is now speaking in front of me.
Speaking—to me.
“Do you truly wish to protect the late Duke’s legacy, and that is why you bought the theater? Or is it—”
This man—
Head of the Empire’s wealthiest merchant family, a cold-blooded businessman who only invested in ventures with guaranteed profit.
That’s why he didn’t refuse an engagement with ill-tempered Luisa.
Because he considered the engagement a beneficial business deal.
For the Dienche family—rich but rumored to have bought their noble title—an alliance with a duchy of long-established prestige was a valuable opportunity.
But with the Messena Duchy now ruined, his “investment” had failed.
In short, although he is supposedly my fiancé, ever since the duchy fell, he’s been protecting the wicked Luisa only out of reluctant obligation.
And after I just raised that paddle and bought the theater, HE ended up paying for it.
“So it was just an impulsive act? Luisa. A theater is not something you buy on a whim like a dress or a hat.”
No wonder he looks exhausted.
I grasped my situation within an hour of realizing I had been transported into the novel.
The Auction of the Duchy’s Heritage.
One of the brief villainous episodes involving Lady Luisa.
When the Messena Duchy collapsed, Luisa—short on money for her luxuries—gathered the duchy’s creditors and auctioned off all of its heritage.
Among the items were centuries-old historical artifacts and even the late Duke’s personal diaries entrusted to her.
This lunatic sold her family’s heirlooms through a public auction as soon as her grandfather died.
Naturally, the creditors gleefully snatched up the duchy’s treasures for cheap, and Luisa’s reputation tanked.
Previously, her antics had been excused as childish immaturity—but now she was condemned as the villainess who shattered and scattered cultural heritage across foreign lands.
“Not that I can’t understand it—just a tiny bit.”
Honestly, if I desperately needed money, I’d sell stuff too.
An ancient sword or Grandpa’s old diary doesn’t feed you.
But there is a time and a place.
Auctioning off her family’s legacy immediately after the Duke died, in the worst way possible? Absolutely not.
Because of that, even the Count’s family—who had been sheltering her—cast her out.
Her last remaining line of support abandoned her. Later, when she was executed on the street, the Count didn’t even spare her a glance.
That kind of ending? No thanks.
My picture-perfect life filled with smartphones, air purifiers, luxury clothes, and designer handbags—how did it turn into this antique fantasy world?
And now I’m supposed to be executed on the street?
Absolutely not.
Use your head, Shin Geurim.
No—Luisa Messena.
From now on, I will act as Luisa.
If film is the art of editing, then theater is the art of acting.
And stage directing requires knowledge of acting too.
Knowing that early on, when I studied theater in New York, I took far more acting classes than required.
Thanks to that, after a small cameo appearance, I even received a casting offer for a minor film role once.
Not only because of my acting—but because the camera liked my face.
Back then, I judged my own face objectively.
Thanks to my actress mother’s genes, I wasn’t lacking in beauty—but my face wasn’t versatile enough for a variety of roles.
My birth mother once told me when I was young:
“You take after me—you’re pretty, but sometimes I can’t read you at all. An actress can’t be like that. You can look mysterious, but emotions must come through. You look like a doll—empty.”
A doll.
Funny choice of words.
I wonder who raised me like one?
Well, even if my face weren’t an issue, if I’d tried to become an actress back then, Shin Seong-hyun would’ve foamed at the mouth trying to kill me.
But Luisa Messena is different.
This woman is—
“devastatingly” beautiful.
She is canonically the most beautiful woman in the Empire—and the Empire’s greatest villainess.
Even now, looking at this face reflected in the carriage window, the “mask” is excellent.
If she frowns, she looks like she’d burn a building down. If she stares blankly, she looks cold, elegant, and haughty—the perfect “villainess” face.
This is an actress’s face.
So using this image—
I must be cool, aloof, and composed.
“Would you believe me no matter what I say?”
I spoke, staring out the window with a resigned expression.
“……”
Arno said nothing.
I didn’t need to see his face to know he was thinking: Here she goes again with nonsense.
“When I was little, I once went to the theater holding my grandfather’s hand.”
That never happened.
…Though I did go with my mom.
It was a college play performed by her friends.
The theater was old and shabby—nothing like the blockbuster sets she usually filmed on.
But we sat side-by-side.
For once, the mother who always worried about being recognized removed her sunglasses and hat.
When the lights dimmed, she whispered in my ear:
“Are you scared?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll hold your hand. You’ll forget the fear soon—once you fall into the play.”
And with that, she held my hand. When the stage lit up, my fear disappeared.
“It was an unforgettable memory.”
With a nostalgic voice, I recalled that warm hand.
This is simply an acting technique called emotional recall—drawing on similar memories to induce real feelings. I absolutely, absolutely do not miss “her.”
Because I, Shin Geurim, cannot feel such emotions.
“Would you believe it if I said that even someone who sold off her family’s legacy… still had something precious to her?”
Then I turned to Arno, meeting his eyes with a calm expression.
The moment our eyes met—
“…!”
It was like in the theater, when you feel the audience reacting.
The moment I saw my fiancé’s face, I could sense his emotions.
Should I believe her?
Or not?
He was wavering.
People who act well can sense how others are perceiving them.
That’s why actors control even the ends of their fingers and toes.
Of course, no one’s going to believe the Empire’s villainess suddenly turned over a new leaf.
The script of the original story is already written.
The only thing left to change—is the direction.
To live as a villainess but not die as one.
I can’t change the fact that I possessed a doomed webnovel character, nor that Luisa held this auction.
But I can rewrite the details.
“I’ll repay the money—however I can.”
Arno’s expression stiffened slightly.
“I refuse to put a price on my memories. Not some… trivial sum of money.”
Hooked.
My performance landed.
Just then, the carriage stopped.
I stepped out, deliberately avoiding Arno’s gaze.
The moment my foot touched the ground, one thought hit me:
“The problem is—how on earth am I going to repay that money?”
Damn it.
“You truly intend to repair the theater, my lord?”
The auction that had shaken the Empire had ended.
The infamous villainess Luisa had sold off the duchy’s possessions—before her grandfather’s corpse had even cooled.
Everyone scorned her. Naturally, the staff of the Count’s household joined in.
“Poor Count, having to take on a woman who’s not only awful but now penniless!”
“Surely he’ll break the engagement now, right, Alfredo? The Count is strict about these things.”
“Be careful what you say. If anyone gossips about the Count’s business, you’ll be dismissed immediately.”
Of course, though the butler Alfredo scolded the maids, he secretly thought the same.
“The Count will break the engagement.”
Luisa had disgraced the Messena name. No one would blame the Count for ending the engagement now.
After all, she had abandoned them first.
Cold—borderline heartless—the Count had no reason to tolerate her anymore.
Based on the man Alfredo knew, he would toss her out onto the street without hesitation.
And yet—
“Yes. Respect the Lady’s wishes. Renovate the seats, rebuild the stage, hire actors as well.”
Instead of breaking the engagement, he wanted to remodel the theater Luisa impulsively bought at his own auction?
Alfredo couldn’t comprehend it.
Did the Count… have some lingering affection for Luisa?
For that Luisa—the woman who started her mornings by slapping a maid?
“So that’s his type…?!”
While Alfredo reeled, the Count set down his teacup.
Clink.
The tea inside was black tea he had recently imported from another continent—a product that had become a massive hit.
The Count had no artistic taste—but he had business acumen.
He carried the blood of the Dienche family.
Cold-blooded merchants.
Brutal and uncultured—the reputation followed him everywhere.
He knew those labels well.
He didn’t care about being insulted—money was what mattered.
But sometimes, that reputation got in the way of business.
“Then I must get rid of it.”
With that in mind, he began mapping out his next business venture.
