Chapter 01
It had been quite some time since web novels first became popular in Korea.
Among them, “Romance Fantasy,” commonly called RoFan, had become the most dominant genre in female-oriented web novels.
One day, when RoFan’s popularity was reaching an explosive peak, the Yellow Platform came up with a groundbreaking idea.
What if we made a game that directly targets RoFan fans?
The platform decided to place the male leads from thirty so-called “million-seller” romance fantasy novels into a single game.
“Raise the RoFan male leads who once made your heart flutter…?”
Just as the advertisement suggested, the game allowed players to choose one of the male lead characters, raise him, and unlock various endings.
Of course, since it was a female-oriented game, romance and marriage endings were also possible.
Hypnotized by the advertisement, I ended up buying the game without hesitation.
“I’m going to raise Johan!”
Among the thirty male leads was my absolute favorite—Johan Veloster.
“I’ll raise Johan’s affection to 100 and get the marriage ending with him.”
Before starting the game, I set up my profile.
My randomly generated name was Siena Willow.
I’ve lived with black hair my entire life in reality, so I’ll set my appearance to ash-brown hair and golden eyes.
After pressing the Start button, I remembered nothing.
Which meant…
After starting the game, I had actually become Siena Willow inside the game.
I had clearly been playing <Male Lead Maker>, yet instead of raising a male lead, I ended up being raised as a count’s daughter.
* * *
My name is Siena Willow, the youngest daughter of the Willow Count family, and I have lived in the Carnon Empire for nineteen years.
For the past few years, I had been helping with the business run by my second older brother.
And then, suddenly, Johan Veloster appeared—and that was when I realized the truth about my past life and this world.
This is insane… I had amnesia for nineteen years…
How could that possibly make sense?
The shock left me completely speechless.
At that moment, Johan spoke.
“Um… is something wrong?”
Only then did I snap back to my senses.
“…Ah, I’m sorry. I was briefly thinking about another matter. I must have been rude to you, Marquis.”
“No, it’s quite all right.”
“…”
“I would like to request a service from the Willow Counseling Center. Would that be possible?”
Johan’s blue eyes sparkled like stars right in front of me.
Seriously… he’s unbelievably handsome.
Those melancholic eyes… those perfectly sculpted features…
His soft silver hair looked like drifting dandelion seeds, and his broad shoulders were as wide as our mansion’s door.
And then there was Johan’s trademark dimple, which drew my gaze immediately.
Ah… I could die falling into that dimple.
After nineteen years, I had finally met the male lead I once wanted to raise as my favorite.
Needless to say, I was completely out of my mind.
Suppressing my wildly beating heart, I asked him,
“What exactly is the request you mentioned, Marquis?”
“Well…”
Johan hesitated for a moment.
I could see the tips of his ears gradually turning pink.
“…To be honest, there is a woman I have secretly loved for quite some time. But I never had the courage to approach her.”
“….”
“So I came to the Willow Counseling Center in hopes that you could help arrange a natural meeting between us.”
At that moment, it felt as though a massive stone fell onto my chest.
Thud.
The woman he secretly loves…?
To be honest…
I had already guessed something like this the moment Johan came to see me.
Why?
Because the place where I worked was a “romance counseling center.”
My second older brother, Chase Willow (Baron Izet), was extremely famous.
To the point that there wasn’t a single person in the Empire who didn’t know him.
Because he was an incredible Casanova.
Honestly, it felt like he must have dated at least three hundred women by now.
“Sir Chase, please give me just one more chance. I can’t live without you.”
“Baron Izet, why do you keep shaking my heart like this? I can’t even live my daily life because I keep thinking about you.”
Even while getting hurt by my brother—who refused to be tied down—women continued to follow him.
Apparently, a man like that is impossible to forget.
Yes.
My brother was a master of romance who had enchanted hundreds of women.
Anyway, a few years ago, the man with this extraordinary talent for romance suddenly made a shocking announcement in front of the family.
“I’m thinking of starting a business.”
Naturally, the reactions from the family—including me—were terrible.
After all, Chase’s personality didn’t seem suited for business in the slightest.
“…A business? From someone who can’t stick to anything for more than three days?”
“Three days? Come on, brother. Be fair. When I start a new relationship, I last at least a week.”
“Enough of that. What kind of business are you planning?”
“Something I’m good at and you’re not.”
And with that ridiculous confidence, he opened a romance counseling center.
My eldest brother, Soren Willow, was extremely displeased.
“A romance counseling center? Honestly, what nonsense…”
But even he was forced to shut his mouth before long.
Because the business became an enormous success.
“If you go to the Willow Counseling Center, you’ll definitely end up marrying the person you love!”
People in this world who were hopeless at romance blindly worshipped a Casanova.
After running the business for some time, however, Chase grew bored of it—just as expected.
And so…
He started sending me to work at the center instead.
“Brother, why do I have to go to the center? It’s already the third day.”
“Well, your big brother is busy, but our Siena has nothing to do anyway.”
Busy, sure.
He has at least four dates with women every day…
Still, it was also true that I had plenty of free time.
I had no real argument against him.
So I ended up becoming the acting director of the counseling center in his place.
To be honest… he gave me so much allowance that I couldn’t refuse.
The work at the Willow Counseling Center was simple.
First, romance counseling.
Second, ghostwriting love letters.
Surprisingly, I turned out to be quite talented at the job.
And the employees my brother had hired were also very capable.
However…
Because of Johan, who suddenly appeared today, a problem arose that had never existed before.
Because his request was something we had never done before.
“So… what you mean is…”
“…”
“Marquis Veloster wants us to manipulate your romantic relationship with the woman you love?”
Johan’s lips curved into a gentle smile, and the small dimple appeared beside them.
“That’s correct.”
Another stone slammed into my chest.
First hit: my favorite male lead visiting the center.
Second hit: him asking us to connect him with the woman he loves…
I had heard of one hit, two kills.
But this was my first time seeing two hits, one victim.
Johan… when did you even start liking someone?
The moment I had finally met my favorite male lead after nineteen years…
I had basically been rejected on the spot.
Rationally speaking, I should have refused Johan’s request.
We were already busy with love-letter writing and delayed consultations.
Taking on more work would only make things worse.
But…
Just who was standing in front of me right now?
It’s Johan Veloster.
How could I possibly turn him away…?
I couldn’t bear to imagine watching him leave with a disappointed expression.
Eventually, I let out a small sigh.
“…Please fill this out first.”
As I handed him the form, Johan’s eyes curved beautifully.
“Thank you, Director.”
His dimple bloomed once again.
My chest felt tight.
Romance manipulation, huh…
How on earth was I supposed to explain this to the staff?
* * *
6 PM.
I gathered the four employees who were about to leave work right on time.
“Sorry for stopping you right before you go home. But I have an urgent announcement.”
After I explained Johan’s request to them, a cold silence fell over the room.
It was a natural reaction.
Even I still can’t believe it… how much worse must it be for them?
The first person to break the silence was Heaven Delgado.
“…You’re saying Marquis Johan Veloster asked us to manipulate his love life?”
“Not a love letter—but a meeting… in other words, a situation?”
Next to him, Isadora Mendoza pushed up her glasses as she asked again.
I nodded silently.
Then Finn Harbor frowned.
“How are we supposed to do that? That makes no sense.”
Honestly, I agreed.
We weren’t magicians—how could we manipulate encounters between people?
If I could control the game system, maybe it would be possible.
But unfortunately, I’m just Citizen No.1 living in the Empire.
Of course, it was true that our center was famous for having a 99.9% romance success rate.
Johan must have heard the rumors and come to us.
But we only helped couples who already knew each other reach marriage.
And none of the staff had ever successfully created a romance through real-world action rather than words or letters.
I silently clicked my tongue.
…How am I supposed to tell them we already accepted the advance payment?
Everything was my fault for losing my rationality when my favorite male lead appeared.
Just then, a voice suddenly spoke.
“Romance manipulation… sounds interesting.”
My team and I all turned toward the back at the same time.
A tall figure leaning casually against the doorway.
Naturally falling black hair.
Calm crimson eyes.
And a strikingly handsome face wearing a relaxed expression.
The moment our eyes met, my eyes narrowed.
…I was wondering why he’d been so quiet.
His name was Rian de Vichel.
Even though he spoke informally all the time…
Ironically, he was both the youngest member of our center and the oldest person there.
