I was just an ordinary high school girl.
Maybe I was smart, but on the outside, I was nothing special… just a plain, simple girl.
All throughout my school life, I was bullied in every possible way.
Perhaps the only thing that kept me going was telling myself: "This is just a trial from God… one day, things will get better."
Maybe my true comfort, the only thing that saved me from my loneliness, was watching anime and reading stories.
That day, I was rereading my favorite manhwa, "When the Duke Cried at My Grave."
It told the story of a noble heroine who suffered countless injustices despite her kindness and intelligence.
In the end, she died betrayed and broken.
Only after her death did the duke realize her worth—he fought in her name, slaughtered her enemies, and finally died kneeling at her grave, as if declaring that her love was the last thing that gave him purpose in this world.
Even though I had read the story many times before, it still filled me with overwhelming emotions every time… as if I were reading it for the first time.
Helpless… weak… scared… loving…
No matter how good, smart, kind, or forgiving you are… in the end, this cruel world spares no one.
Suddenly, a sharp pain pierced through my chest.
It felt as if all the sorrow and grief I had locked away finally shattered the seal holding it back.
My vision blurred.
Darkness consumed me.
When I opened my eyes again, I saw a ceiling I had never seen before.
A room that was nothing like my own.
"Wait… this place looks familiar…" I whispered.
The door opened, and a maid entered with a polite bow.
"Good morning, Lady Alice."
My heart skipped a beat. That face—!
It was Nina, Alice Nicolai's personal maid!
I staggered toward the mirror, trembling.
The reflection staring back at me wasn't mine.
It was her face.
Alice Nicolai.
The tragic heroine of that manhwa.
"Huh?! Wh-what?! D-don't tell me… I reincarnated as the tragic heroine?!"