Prologue 0. Possessed Into a Novel
I got possessed into a novel.
Of all things, into a romance fantasy one whose title I could barely remember.
The original story? I knew it roughly. And roughly was the problem.
I think the protagonist was a blonde countess's daughter, and her rival was a black-haired villainess.
Honestly, that was it. I'd dropped the novel after reading just the first volume.
But there were two things I knew for certain.
This body's previous owner was the fourth son of a duke's family. And I had hypnosis.
Hypnosis wasn't anything special. Just a hint of suggestion in my voice. Putting people to sleep, easing their tension. All I'd done was add massages to the mix and open up shop.
...But.
"Teacher."
The first customer, a maid from a baron's house. Right after the session, she'd said it with flushed cheeks.
"Can I introduce my friend? She's been on edge lately too..."
The friend she'd brought. The friend's older sister. And then even the lady those sisters served—the countess's daughter.
"Um, counselor?"
There she stood at the door again today.
Her eyes were shadowed with exhaustion. She clearly hadn't slept a wink.
Yet her voice carried a strange, feverish heat.
"Is the next session available...?"
"It was just three days ago."
"Yes."
"And before that, five days."
"...Yes."
"Lady Chloe Levantia, that's not counseling. That's addiction."
"No."
She took a step closer.
"If it were addiction, I wouldn't be trembling like this."
"Trembling is the sign of addiction—what are you—"
She didn't let me finish.
She pressed right up against me, whispering in my ear with a face full of desperate pleading.
"After a session, my fatigue just melts away. My skin's improved. My shoulders don't ache anymore."
"......"
"But strangely, Teacher's face keeps floating in my mind, and I can't sleep."
Ah. This wasn't what I intended.
"So you have to take responsibility."
Beneath her languid smile, I quietly shut the counseling room door.
I'd thought I could scrape by somehow.
But maybe not.