IBEOS CH 02

Chapter 02

Among all the romance fantasies Seo Hwirin had ever read,
<I’m the Demon Duke’s Cute Niece> was the first one that truly blindsided her.

A doting Northern Duke who acted indifferent to the world but melted in front of his precious niece,
an adorable, sweet little heroine,
and a loyal, puppy-like male lead who fell for her.

Even the synopsis was nothing but pure fluff.

‘…Fluff my foot!’

Every time she thought about it, her blood pressure spiked.

Contrary to its cute title,
<I’m the Demon Duke’s Cute Niece> was the ultimate dark, depressing, suffering-fest.

Not just confinement, obsession, or angst.
No—this story had zero dreams, zero hope.

The tragedy began when the Duke and Duchess of House Retis—the rulers of the Northern Empire—died in a sudden avalanche during a trip.

The female lead, Eleanor, was only five years old.
With no choice, her uncle Thermion succeeded the dukedom in her parents’ place.
He was the illegitimate son of the previous duke—Eleanor’s grandfather.

The only blessing was that he loved his niece like his own daughter.
The problem?

‘Thermion was only seventeen.
How is a kid supposed to raise another kid?’

While staying in the capital’s townhouse, Eleanor called her uncle through the communication sphere because she missed him.
But exhausted from work, Thermion accidentally raised his voice.

Crying, Eleanor ran outside into the garden, wandered alone, fell asleep from exhaustion…

…and was kidnapped and abandoned deep in a remote forest.

‘Up to this point, I could accept it.’

But Eleanor was then imprisoned and brutally abused by the witch living in that forest for nearly two months.

When Thermion finally found her, he killed the witch immediately.
But even while dying, the witch didn’t stop her cruelty.

She used her soul to cast every curse she could onto Thermion.

The duke, who had finally rescued his niece, soon began losing his sanity.

By the time Eleanor turned sixteen, after enduring the curse for over ten years…

Thermion finally went completely mad.

‘And that’s when… the story truly dives into chaos.’

After cursed Thermion’s death, the second half of the story got even worse.

Anytime a problem seemed close to being solved—
Someone died.

Every episode ended with at least one major or minor character being gruesomely killed.

Even the male lead, who had stopped Thermion’s rampage in Part 1, was infected by the curse.

He, too, died in Eleanor’s arms.

‘And the epilogue after the male lead dies?
Peak depression.’

Having lost everyone she loved, Eleanor locked herself inside the duchy.

One dawn, wasting away day by day, she walked alone toward the deep, snowy mountains…

And that was the end.

‘…But still, I loved this story.’

No, to be exact—
She loved Eleanor and Thermion too much.

Eleanor, who lost her parents young but grew up receiving boundless love from her uncle.

Thermion, who cherished Eleanor more dearly than anything—like Hwirin’s own aunt.
Even their twelve-year age gap was the same.

In the final episode of Part 1, when Thermion—drained of life by the curse—cried helplessly…

He hated the fact that he would die so young, leaving his niece alone.
He couldn’t close his eyes peacefully, worrying about Eleanor.

“Sorry… Ellie…”

“Uncle, please! Don’t sleep! Open your eyes! Open them!”

“I… wanted to make you… happy…”

“You promised! You promised you’d walk me down the aisle! Name my kids! Teach them swordsmanship! You liar! Liar!!”

“Second prince… please… take care… of our Ellie…”

“…Uncle? Uncle!”

Hwirin reread that scene dozens of times.
It felt exactly like watching her last moment with her aunt—
So she cried every time, unable to stop reading.

After recalling the original story, Hwirin let out a long sigh and stood up.

“…Nothing is going to change right now anyway.”

Staring at the lake wouldn’t solve anything.
Now that she understood the situation, she had to find a way to survive.

Get it together, Seo Hwirin.
You’re going to let Thermion kill you?

The witch who cursed Thermion was the root of all evil.

If the witch hadn’t cursed him, Thermion wouldn’t have gone insane, and the rest of the tragedy wouldn’t have happened.

And that witch… is me?

Actually, this might be good.

She knew the entire original story—
which meant she might be able to rewrite the massacre ending into something else.

Preferably a happy, warm, hopeful ending where everyone lived.

Why did I transmigrate? Who cares? It’s not like I want to go back.

In less than thirty years of life, she had experienced nearly every hardship a human could.

Losing her parents before even hitting puberty.
Just starting to stand on her own as an adult when her aunt died too.
And now… thrown alone into a strange world.

This had to be a sign telling her to leave her miserable original life behind.

Forget the unlucky past.
Start a new life in a new world.

“Alright, let’s do this!”

For the first time in a long while, she felt alive.
Her voice burst out with energy.

* * *

With a hopeful heart, she waited and waited for the original story to begin.

One day passed.
Then a week.
Then a month.
Then a year…

And nothing happened.

“…Should I just enjoy my isekai life instead?”

Growing tired of waiting, Aylesia traveled to another continent—completely unrelated to the original plot.

She studied countless fields, mastered many skills, became a graceful noble lady in high society, enjoyed adventures as an explorer, and even built a massive trading company and lived in luxury.

After finishing all that fun, she returned to the forest and devoted herself to magic.

And before she knew it… she had reached today.

Maybe I should go check on them?
Why wait forever?

If they never appeared, that would be an even bigger problem.

Just as she was deep in thought—

“GROOOAR!”

“Woof! Woof! Woof!!”

What was that noise?

She snapped her head toward the sound irritably.

A huge brown bear—about five meters long—was pushing away the wolves and stealing their meat.

Normally, she would’ve laughed it off.
But she was in a bad mood today.

Aylesia’s eyes flared as she stormed into the yard.