I Transmigrated into the Nameverse, and My Name Came with a Time Limit - Chapter 10

Chewing over the bitter aftertaste, she returned to her room. She knew very well that, intentional or not, this incident wouldn’t just end without any backlash.

And sure enough. After waiting for quite a while, evening came, and Duke Wittgen, furious enough that his face had turned bright red, kicked open her door and stormed in.

“Have you lost your mind or not? You dared to throw hot tea on His Highness the Crown Prince? What if something serious had happened to His Highness!”

“But Father, it was an accident! I absolutely didn’t do it on purpose!”

Mina clasped both hands and tried to put on the most pitiful expression she could. As always, no matter what came out of Wilhelmina’s mouth, the Duke wouldn’t believe her anyway. But that didn’t mean she could just sit there and take it.

As expected, Duke Wittgen deeply furrowed his brow and glared at his daughter as if there was no chance.

“Nonsense. For the next three days, you won’t take a single step out of this room!”

Fuming, the Duke left the room and added sharply to Hannah as well.

“Give her nothing but water and a piece of bread for all three days!”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

The moment Hannah managed to answer in a shrinking voice, the Duke slammed the door and left. He shut it so hard the doorframe shook, and even the items on the table beside the bed rattled loudly.

Mina soothed Hannah, who looked miserable and apologetic, and sent her out. There was nothing a mere maid could do about the Duke’s orders.

Hunger was something she was used to from her previous life, so she was fine. The hard, dried-out bread would be a little difficult to swallow, but she could soak it with water and chew slowly. Besides, the Duke would have no choice but to lift her confinement for the victory commemoration ball in three days.

‘How do I naturally approach a childhood friend I broke ties with?’

Mina curled up, buried in her bed, and sank into thought.

* * *

Rose slumped on the sofa in her room and stared hard at the ceiling. Right now, she was carefully retracing Mina’s movements again, starting from the lake incident.

‘Why are there still no symptoms?’

By now, Mina should have shown something, paralysis or some other symptom, something obvious. Rose recalled again the moment she’d heard that shocking line from Mina.

“I think my Name manifested.”

“What? Whose name is it?”

“L-Leo. It’s written as Leo.”

Rose ground her teeth, biting down on her lips.

My god, Leo!

It was unbelievable. Being pathetic to the very end really was just like Mina. Even when she’d read it as a novel, it had annoyed her to no end because Mina only ever picked the stupidest things to do.

After transmigrating and ending up breathing and living under the same roof with that girl, that irritation only grew. It honestly felt like swallowing a whole truckload of sweet potatoes. I didn’t transmigrate into this world to watch this kind of thing!

It was truly incredible luck that Kim Ria, the so-called notorious neighborhood bully, had been sucked into this fantastical novel world one day.

It wasn’t just that she was the beloved daughter of a noble and wealthy ducal household, she was the female lead, no less! Wasn’t she basically the strongest being in this world, someone no one could possibly belittle? She was so happy.

She’d thought, finally, the original story is going to flow properly…

If only that damned Wilhelmina hadn’t manifested a Name!

Everything that happened in a novel was, by rights, supposed to revolve solely around the female lead. Wilhelmina was an extra who clung to the male lead and then disappeared. So how dare she, without knowing her place, engrave Leopold’s name onto her body?

‘Hmph! It’s been how long since you were stripped of being his fiancée, and now you suddenly…!’

Mina didn’t deserve to be Leopold’s match. The protagonist of this novel was clearly Rose, no one else but herself.

Leopold needed a partner who would make him shine even more, and that person was obviously her alone. Mina, lanky and scrawny, didn’t suit standing at his side at all. By Leopold’s side, he needed a petite, cute woman who fit snugly in his arms, someone just like her.

Rose recalled the first day she’d seen Leopold. To think someone could shine so brilliantly! He really was the male lead of a novel.

Light flaxen hair that shone with a hint of silver, and blue eyes that sparkled like jewels. A dazzling appearance worthy of myth, and a splendid man with chivalry etched into him. And on top of that, he was the Crown Prince, the next Emperor! He couldn’t have been more perfect.