Episode 1
Ilia Avery.
The villainess who abandoned her young, terminally ill husband and ran away after stealing his entire fortune.
That was the role of Youn Minji, the woman who had suddenly become Ilia.
After her younger brother died of leukemia, Minji had lost any attachment to life. Every day she was chased by debt collectors, slept only three hours from exhaustion, and then dragged herself into another part-time job. No matter how hard she worked, the debt only grew, tightening around her neck like a noose.
Her misfortune didn’t end there. On the day of her brother’s funeral, she was hit by a car and died too.
So entering a novel might have been a better deal.
If only she hadn’t become Ilia Avery.
Ilia Avery was an illegitimate child of the imperial family, shunned by the empress the moment she was born. The empress had tried everything to make Ilia’s mother miscarry, but Ilia survived thanks to her mother’s stubborn protection.
Since Ilia was someone the empress hated, she was a princess who could die at any time and no one would question it.
She had never been invited to a single imperial family dinner. Her movements were restricted to her small palace, and hardly anyone visited. Only one old head maid and one overly kind young maid existed in her life.
Ilia was royalty, yet not treated as one at all.
The royal family gave her an education because they planned to use her as a bargaining chip later, but they never brought her out to social events. Nobles avoided mentioning her, afraid of angering the empress. She was alive, yet treated like she didn’t exist.
And then this “invisible” Ilia got arranged to marry the sole heir of the Grand Duke’s family.
That happened because a huge disaster had struck the Grand Duke’s house.
The Grand Duke and his wife had died on the same day while trying to stop rebels. They left behind only young children. The eldest was barely ten.
On top of that, both children were sick. The Grand Duke’s estate was a sinking ship.
But the imperial family couldn’t ignore the sacrifice of the Grand Duke and his wife, who died protecting them. So they decided to save face by sending the unwanted princess Ilia to marry into the Grand Duke’s household.
Ilia knew exactly how unwanted she was, so she took all the money she could and tried to run away.
And then the male lead found her and killed her.
Luckily, when Minji opened her eyes in Ilia’s body, that tragic part hadn’t happened yet.
Ilia hadn’t married the male lead.
While Ilia was still clueless about her situation, the girl who kindly showed up to greet her was the female lead.
“Ilia. Are you alright?”
Rijien asked gently. Even in the novel, Rijien was always warm and cheerful. She naturally cared for people who were struggling more than she was. Apparently, even as a young girl, she treated her cousin Ilia with the same kindness.
Or maybe it was just curiosity.
“Yeah… I’m fine…”
Ilia mumbled. Of course she wasn’t fine. She had just realized she was trapped in the body of a doomed villainess. But she forced a reply.
Rijien smiled brightly.
“You’re getting married soon. I know you’re still young, but it will be alright. If anything gets difficult, I’ll help you.”
Her voice was soft and comforting.
“Ilia, you didn’t forget what I told you before, right?”
Ilia blinked. Rijien and the original Ilia must have talked about something important, and Ilia was supposed to remember it.
But in the novel, their relationship was never described in detail.
So maybe it wasn’t that important.
Ilia cleared her throat. She needed to check.
“I don’t really remem—”
“Ilia.”
Rijien cut her off.
“Pretending you forgot again? It wasn’t even a big request. It was something for your sake too.”
Rijien shrugged with a playful smile, as if she couldn’t understand why Ilia was being difficult. Her overly bright face somehow irritated Ilia.
What did she ask for anyway?
Rijien pouted.
“This isn’t the place to talk about it. Too many people are around. Anyway, Ilia, I trust you. I’ll get going. Your wedding is soon.”
She smiled and handed Ilia a box.
“This is a wedding present.”
Inside was a big, flashy necklace. Something Ilia would never be able to own, but Rijien could buy without a second thought.
It looked… extremely tacky.
Large pearls lined the chain, and at the end hung a giant heart-shaped ruby. It looked like something a magical fairy from a Korean children’s show would wear. Still, Ilia couldn’t reject it.
It was a gift from the female lead. Ilia needed to maintain a good relationship with her.
Ilia swallowed and said,
“Thank you, Rijien.”
“It’s nothing.”
Rijien left the palace, and Ilia sat alone, sinking into her chair. She felt like she had been sucked into a whirlwind and dropped in the middle of nowhere.
Rijien’s mysterious request wasn’t mentioned anywhere in the novel.
Tomorrow…
Ilia was going to get married.
She had never even done that in her previous life.
At least she hadn’t ruined her relationship with the male lead yet.
Was that really a good thing?
Ilia finally realized she was inside the novel when she heard the male lead’s name. The moment Rijien said “Lihil,” all her confusion cleared.
Since Lihil, Ilia, and Rijien were all present, this was definitely the world of “On the Edge of Revenge.” The author claimed it was a mix of romance and mild angst, but Ilia always thought the suffering was intense.
The male lead’s story was already heartbreaking.
He lost his parents as a child, and because of Ilia, he lost his younger sibling too. A lonely boy struggling to survive at the bottom of society. He barely made it back alive.
As soon as he recovered, he was thrown onto the battlefield.
That he grew up without becoming twisted was a miracle.
Even if Ilia herself had lived his life, she wouldn’t have survived mentally.
In the original story, Lihil returned from war, killed Ilia, and met the female lead. They could have lived sweetly afterward…
But no. The imperial family kept using him like a dog until he eventually rebelled. He overthrew the empire and became the emperor.
That was all Ilia remembered from the novel.
She always assumed he must have been happy after that.
But what did it matter now? All she wanted was to see her younger brother again. She had no desire to repeat the original villainess’s crimes, and certainly no plan to steal money from the Grand Duke’s house.
What should she do now?
Her worries ended very suddenly the next day.
“Hah…”
The moment Ilia saw the sick child crying, she remembered her own dead brother.
She knew instantly that she could never harm the Grand Duke’s family.
“M… mom…?”
The child was burning with fever and barely conscious.
Forget the wedding with Lihil. The boy looked like he could die any minute. His illness came from being exposed to magic. The Grand Duke couple had died instantly in the same incident. The children were exposed to the magic but survived because their parents shielded them with their last breath.
Then Lihil blinked and reached out a hand toward Ilia.
“Mom… I missed you.”
His lips trembled as he whispered.
This was something the novel had never shown. The original Ilia’s part in Lihil’s life was short and cruel. She stole his money, caused his younger brother Ruel’s death, and pushed Lihil into darkness. She was the reason he turned against the imperial family.
But right now, Lihil was seeing something else in Ilia.
He was seeing the shadow of his mother who died protecting him.
Minji remembered how her brother would look for her with the same expression whenever he had a high fever.
Ilia could not ignore Lihil.
She gently placed her cool palm over his burning eyes.
“Yeah. You should sleep now.”
She lowered her voice, trying to sound more like a comforting adult woman. She wanted Lihil to rest peacefully at least for tonight.
“Don’t go anywhere… mom…”
Ilia didn’t answer. Instead, she stroked his hair.
Don’t worry.
She stayed by his side, brushing his hair softly until he fell asleep.
