I'm Being Raised by Villains - Chapter 1
<Chapter 1>
Has anyone ever mentioned that every new day you have yet to experience is like eating new shit?
I completely agree with that.
A year ago, I locked myself up in my room and cried while reading a novel as usual. After that, I fell asleep.
When I woke up in the morning, a medieval European-like landscape appeared before my eyes.
The bed was so comfy that it didn’t suit my room, which was dark and contained things someone else used.
You think there’s a lack of context?
That’s right, most of the things in this world don’t happen without context.
Anyway, even in such a nonsensical situation, I steadily got up from my seat and looked around the room.
Then, a light bulb suddenly flashed in my head.
The intuition of a person who had been a romance fantasy reader for 1n years was telling me that…
I have possessed someone’s body.
‘Transmigrated, huh…’
I’ve read hundreds of romance fantasy novels, but never thought that I would possess someone in one myself.
“…Huh? This sounds crazy?”
A good 23 year old woman who suffered from discrimination along with persecution from her family; recently managed to become independent and went to college after receiving a scholarship in recognition of her abilities.
If you’re curious about who I am, then I’m assuming that’s the answer!
Although I suddenly transmigrated, my soul is still the same!
There’s only one truth!
And it’s the fact that I’m Cha Miso!
…Forget it.
I fell into a strange world and became a four year old child out of nowhere.
Did I possess that X child?! Yes, I did!
* * *
…A year has passed since I denied the reality of things.
‘Does this even make sense?’
While I was denying this nonsensical reality, I was able to uncover a shocking fact as a result of diligently collecting information.
It was the fact that this was a place I had read about in my past life…
No, to be specific, it was my favorite novel titled ‘I Thought I Was Adopted, But That Could Just Be My Misunderstanding!’
You’re asking me about how I know?
I didn’t want to come to know about it either.
However, it’s a novel I’ve read dozens of times, over and over again, so there’s no way that I could not know about it.
There was no way I wasn’t aware of the descriptions and backgrounds, which consisted of repetitive typography.
The dragon embellishments and seals placed everywhere confirmed my doubts.
What was more conclusive was the fact that this family’s name was ‘Etam’.
Etam.
The reason why I remember this trivial name is because…
Firstly, this was the setting of the novel, ‘I Thought I Was Adopted, But That Could Just Be My Misunderstanding!’
Secondly, the notorious and various insane acts committed by the Etam family were depicted extremely cruel and ruthless in the novel.
Since it’s of the childcare genre, then would I understand it if I was 17?
‘I Thought I Was Adopted, But That Could Just Be My Misunderstanding!’, which had the other name of ‘Adopted’, was a story about a heroine who lived in hiding with her mother. When she was in despair after her mother died, the duke suddenly appeared and said, “I’ve finally found you. I’ve been looking for you for a long time.”
However, the heroine misunderstood that she was adopted by mistake along the way, and was prepared to leave the house on her own. But the duke’s men, who noticed it, stamped their feet in anxiety.
Like all novel heroines, the heroine of ‘Adopted’ too, caused many readers pain with her distinct innocent and calm manner as she prepared to leave the house.
Not only that, like all novels, this family had a plaintive secret.
Since members of the Etam family inherit the blood of the dragon, they were born with much greater healing prowess, strength, and five senses, than that of ordinary people.
But because of just how powerful they were, there were, of course, side effects.
That’s right.
The Etam family suffered from a chronic disease called ‘mania’. It was a phenomenon in which their magic powers ran wild, resulting in the urge to kill.
The purer the blood, the more severe the ‘mania’.
The heroine had the ability to quell this mania.
A rare heroine who was like the sunshine, and had the ability to quell the rigid family’s ‘mania’ problem?
There was no reason for the family to not love the heroine.
So that meant that ‘Adopted’ was about a girl who fell into the illusion of feeling happy upon looking at the common keywords, such as childcare, life lessons, and skill.
Of course, it later turns into a reverse harem battle.
Additionally, it was a family full of crazy men who all had different methods. They only treated the female protagonist warmly, and were cold to everyone else.
There’s nothing more dangerous than going along with something you don’t agree with.
The plot was obvious. It was as if I had seen it a million times; but it was still fun to memorize all the lines.
Of course, only the beginning revolved around childcare.
As time passed, the death of the Head of the Dragon…
Hm, I don’t want to say anything more.
Anyway, I really liked the heroine of the novel.
The heroine who was loved by everyone, unlike me, was enough for me to be immersed in the novel.
However?
First of all, the person I possessed isn’t the heroine of ‘Adopted’.
If you ask what my role is, then…
It was that of an extra.
A semi-extra who was born as an illegitimate child. Of course, in this kind of subject matter, semi-extras were usually timid.
Additionally, the Etam family was a family established by ‘Batad Etam’, who imprinted with the Black Dragon—he drank its blood and signed a contract with it.
The Dragon family.
Some addressed Etam as such.
They also resemble dragons in how they had difficulty reproducing, and their descendants were rare.
And I am an illegitimate child born outside of the Etam family through one of their branch families.
…If we consider that, then we’re complete strangers.
My dad… who is part of the branch family, had that misunderstanding, and actually seemed to be someone irredeemable.
‘I don’t know how he brought me here, but…’
From alcohol and drugs to issues with women, there was no end to the accidents he caused.
The Etam family, who never abandoned their blood relatives, couldn’t help but shake with rage and break off from him.
Fortunately, I was still young and didn’t know anything. The descendants of the Etam family were not abandoned due to how rare they are.
But…?
I’m a fake.
How do I know?
Firstly, I’m not an ordinary human.
Secondly, I’m a lizard beast.
And in the novel, I was used as a tool to display the ruthlessness of the Etam family at the start of the novel before I was kicked out.
This was because I had turned into a lizard at an important New Year’s meeting attended by everyone in the family annually. It was an opportunity for a blood test to be done.
While waiting for the results, I was kicked out due to an accident. Truthfully speaking, it was obvious without the test results.
Anyway, that’s not important. The end result is that I will eventually get kicked out!
‘…I’m only five years old. How am I supposed to survive in the outside world?’
Thinking about it disturbed me.
Again, why?
…Because tomorrow is the long-awaited day.
And who am I?!
Am I not a fantasy romance pro-reader and a true fan of ‘Adopted’?
So, for the past year, I worked hard to win favor at the Duke’s house by following the plot of the numerous childcare novels I’ve read.
I did so by trying to point out the dangers in the duchy, teaching them how to heal someone who might be on the verge of death in the future.
If there was a problem…
‘I’ve never even seen them once…’
Let alone the duke, I wasn’t even able to see any of the duke’s relatives. Even if I wanted to win them over, I didn’t have the chance.
That’s right.
Now that I think about it, I’ve read another novel with a character who also possesses someone.
“Oh my, why are you sitting here, my lady? It’s cold here.”
As I was sitting on a bench in the garden whilst reminiscing about the past year, running it through my head in a flash; my maid, Myla, ran towards me with her light brown hair fluttering.
“Ngh… Because living in this world is hard…”
“Pardon…? Pfft, oh my, what’s so hard for our young lady?”
“Tomorrow, I’ll be a year older and will turn five…”
“Ah, it’s because you will be turning five? That’s right, even our young lady will feel restless when turning a year older, right?”
No, it’s throbbing.
It feels like my heart is about to explode.
My small, dim life is like a lamp in the wind…
“Your heart must hurt a lot. What should I do to make our young lady feel better?”
Without knowing what’s on my mind, Myla gently caressed my cheek with a little laugh.
Of all the things I was given in this sorrowful other life, Myla was the best one.
Of course, Myla wasn’t friendly to me in the beginning.
Rather, it was bothersome. I couldn’t pretend to be oblivious due to my conscience. Perhaps it felt as if I was forcing myself to do it?
So I worked quite hard too.
[Myla! If you eat this your head won’t hurt anymore!]
When Myla was sick and unable to go to the clinic due to having no money, I used the knowledge I had accumulated as a plant fanatic when attending pharmacy school before transmigrated, and told her about medicinal herbs.
[Myla! Don’t go anywhere tomorrow! You can’t go to the temple no matter what, okay?]
I made her avoid the mysterious terrorist incident which occurred in the capital’s temple, which I had known in advance through the novel.
[Myla, this is my gift for you! It’s shining! It’s pretty, right?]
And I took the opportunity to win her over by giving her a present which was a small chunk of a gold nugget. The heroine originally used it to win over the duke.
It was really small, so even if Myla was to sell it, it wouldn’t have raked in that much money. How trivial it must have been for the duke.
However, the scene where the heroine hands that item to the duke was also a scene which made many readers cry.
[Do you know, Your Grace? People love shiny stuff! Since Your Grace is always angry, as if something sad happened… I wanted Your Grace to see this and be happy…!]
At the words of the sunshine-like heroine, the novel’s comment section exploded.
‘…Of course, I was one of them.’
But no matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t say such cheery words. So, the words I said to Myla were the limit.
‘Because I’m not the heroine.’
Still, after such a tearful effort, Myla became my reliable supporter.
I’ve been procrastinating for the past year, saying, “Let’s do it tomorrow”, “Let’s do it tomorrow”, and “Since we still have a lot of time left, let’s take a few more days off…”
It was an escape from reality.
And as a result, I’ll be kicked out without a penny.
Even if I have Myla on my side, she wouldn’t leave the house with me.
‘Should I find a new home like in the other novels?’
As I thought about it, my sigh deepend.
“Ah, right! How about hot chocolate with marshmallows for today’s snack? I went to the main mansion for work today, so I got some marshmallows and chocolate powder.”
“Sure!”
Marshmallows and hot chocolate is the best way to replenish lost sugar.
‘How does it taste to have floating marshmallows on hot chocolate?’
I rolled my eyes as I thought about it.
It was a snack I had always wanted to drink in my previous life. But I never had a chance to, for my two brothers were the pens who always ate it all.
As I grew older, I never brought hot chocolate home, so I didn’t even have a chance to drink it.
After I became an adult, I didn’t want to buy nor drink it, even though I could.
‘Did she give me hot chocolate as my final present?’
Sob, my admirable maid.
“Myla, please live well, even if I’m not around…”
My efforts over the past year…
“Pardon? Why wouldn’t our young lady be around? I’ll always be on your side, my lady. I requested to work for Lady Ayrin this year too.”
“Really…?”
“Yes, if there are no other applicants, I will serve you.”
“Ngh, thank you.”
But Myla, the place you work at will probably disappear…
Even though it’s a little regrettable that I worked really hard to win you over, you can’t give up your life for my sake.
“I’ll be back with hot chocolate. Please wait.”
“Okay.”
I nodded obediently.
In order to somehow survive in the orphanage, I just have to eat well for now.
‘Come to think of it… I think there was a pretty good orphanage somewhere.’
Apparently, it was an orphanage run by the hero of the Holy War, who quietly retired.
‘Why can’t I remember it?’
What a strange thing.
Although I read the novel like that, I can’t believe I’m unable to remember it.
‘I think there was a list of orphanages in the library. I’ll have to go check it out.’
When I slowly turned my head, I saw my reflection in the nearby mirror.
By the way…
“No matter how many times I look at myself… I really am this cute.”
I touched the mirror slightly.
‘It’s different from reality, huh.’
Though all those of the Etam family are pretty and handsome, and I may not stand out…
The pastel-toned pink hair, chubby cheeks, and golden eyes as if filled with honey, were objectively lovely.
I’m a little smaller than my peers and have short limbs with a fairly small stature, but I’m satisfied with my appearance.
“But what’s the point of being cute…? I’ll be kicked out without being able to do a thing anyways.”
At most, there was nothing I could do, even after transmigrating into my favorite novel.
‘Because a novel is a novel after all.’
As I was pulling on my soft cheeks, depressed, Myla returned not long after.
I drank my hot chocolate and pretended to take a nap. When Myla left, I stepped out of the room.
‘Then, shall I get information about my new home?’
However, I did not know at the time.
That I’d meet one of the top five characters I should never meet in the novel, ‘Adopted’.
<To be continued>