Can An Enemy Become Salvation? - Chapter 1

Episode 1. A Secret Hidden in Indifferent Eyes

“Milady… Lady Nel, Lady Ivnel.”

At the sound of her name being called repeatedly, the crimson eyes that had been indifferently gazing out the window at the swiftly passing scenery turned toward the person sitting across from her.

“Are you all right?”

A young girl with a youthful face looked at Ivnel with concern in her eyes.

Ivnel remained silent, her lips tightly shut. With her emotionless expression, it was impossible to tell what she was thinking.

Seeing this, the maid, Ria, made an effort to lighten the mood with an intentionally cheerful voice.

“Don’t worry. No matter what anyone says, you are the noble daughter of House Istella, one of the most prestigious ducal families in the Aodin Empire. Nothing will happen to you.”

At that moment, Ivnel’s lips slowly parted. Her voice, slightly hoarse from disuse, flowed out softly.

“Do you really think so, Ria?”

“Of course.”

At Ria’s confident reply, Ivnel said nothing more and turned her head back toward the window. As if the carriage felt stifling, she opened the window wide.

Because of that, her platinum blonde hair fluttered in the wind. Gazing at the now-changed scenery from when they first departed, she muttered quietly to herself.

“We’ll be arriving soon.”

At the same time, a thought crossed her mind—one that would have made Ria faint had she heard it.

“Then it’ll soon be time for me to die.”

For some unknown reason, Ivnel was certain of her impending death.

Yet, strangely enough, her eyes held no fear—only indifference. As though she had been desperately waiting for that moment.

“I’m so tired.”

Leaning deeply into the seat, she closed her eyes. She simply wanted to escape from this world—whether it was a dream or a delusion—as soon as possible.

As Ivnel closed her eyes and darkness enveloped her, vivid scenes flashed through her mind—like memories from just yesterday.

Every moment of her life as Ryu Arang, a professional shooter, before waking up in this novel’s world.

“And then I woke up… in this ridiculous world.”

When she first opened her eyes in Ivnel’s body, sunlight just as bright as now had shone down on her.

The morning sunlight poured in brightly as Arang’s eyelids slowly fluttered open. She weakly pushed herself up from the bed.

“It’s morning again.”

Without much thought, she turned her head toward the sunlight—and the moment she saw the massive terrace window filling her vision, the last traces of sleep instantly vanished.

“What the…?”

She quickly looked around. This wasn’t the room she had been in before falling asleep.

“Lady Ivnel, you’re awake?”

Before she could even begin to understand what was happening, the door opened and someone entered the room—a girl who looked about high school age, with short brown hair.

The moment Arang saw her face, her lips moved on their own.

“Aran?”

“Huh? I’m sorry, what do you mean all of a sudden?”

The girl approached with a puzzled look. As Arang got a closer look, a wave of disappointment washed over her eyes. Although the girl looked and felt familiar, she wasn’t the person Arang knew.

“Well… of course she’s not. Because right in front of my eyes, you…”

Clenching the sheets tightly with her trembling hands, she shut her eyes, trying to calm herself.

“Milady?”

At the voice calling her again, she barely managed to open her eyes and look at the girl closely.

What caught her attention first was her outfit—something straight out of medieval Europe. In short, clothing that had no place in the 21st century.

“Who are you…?”

“Why are you suddenly asking my name? It’s Ria, of course. I’m your maid, milady.”

“Ria…?”

Arang could hear her clearly, but none of it registered in her mind. The word milady, the idea of serving someone, even the name Ria—none of it made sense.

Now that she thought about it, even the words coming out of her own mouth were in a language she’d never heard before. And yet, she was speaking it fluently—without the slightest hint of strangeness. As naturally as if it had been her native tongue from birth, like Korean.

“Am I still dreaming? But this feels way too real.”

The warm sunlight on her face was proof enough—it wasn’t a dream.

Trying to understand the situation, Arang got up from the bed. Just then, she noticed a large full-length mirror standing in one corner of the room.

“Milady?”

Ria looked on in confusion as Arang acted so out of character. But as Arang stood in front of the mirror, words failed her.

Long, platinum-blonde hair that cascaded down to her waist. Piercing red eyes that immediately drew attention.

Snow-pale skin, so light it almost seemed fragile. Hands without a single callus. A delicate frame that looked as if it might collapse at any moment. Every part of her appearance felt unreal.

“Who is this person?”

Half in disbelief, she slowly reached out toward the mirror. The beautiful woman in the reflection mirrored her movement exactly, and their hands aligned.

There was no more doubt. She had woken up in someone else’s body—in an unbelievable situation.

“Why are you acting so strangely, milady?”

“Because I’m not this ‘milady.’”

Until just recently, Arang had been a member of South Korea’s national shooting team—a gold medalist in the pistol category at the Olympics.

She had discovered shooting by chance when she was young, and it had opened up an entirely new world for her. The deafening sound of the gunfire, the smell of gunpowder—none of it had ever bothered her.

The moment she first laid eyes on a pistol, she instinctively knew: this is my path.

And that instinct had proven true. As soon as she began shooting seriously, her genius became undeniable.
She swept medals not only in Korea but also in numerous international competitions, and at the age of just eighteen, she was selected as a member of the national team. Even at her first Olympics, her unwavering skills astonished the world.

Even now, when most people would have fallen into panic, Arang managed to stay remarkably composed—and it was likely because of that experience. After all, shooting was as much a mental game as it was physical.

There were times she had to fire 60 rounds consecutively, so remaining calm and steady under any circumstance had become second nature to her.

Quickly shifting her mental gears, she realized she needed to gather information about this body and the world she was in.

And the most likely person to provide that information was the girl standing in front of her—Ria.

“Where… is this place?”

“Huh? It’s the Istella Ducal Estate, located in the capital of the Aodin Empire, of course.”

“Aodin Empire?”

Strangely enough, the name felt oddly familiar. Her travels as an athlete had taken her to many countries, so she was sure it didn’t exist anywhere on Earth.

Ria’s face showed a flicker of concern as Arang asked such a random question. After a moment of hesitation, she cautiously opened her mouth.

“Did something from yesterday shock you, milady?”

“Yesterday?”

Arang had no idea what had happened the day before, but her instincts told her it was something important—something related to this body.

So she nodded calmly.

“Yes. I think the shock messed with my memory a bit. Could you explain it to me again?”

Ria was taken aback. Just yesterday, her lady had been crying and hysterical—yet now she was calmly asking questions. But considering how serious the matter was, she was quick to accept it without suspicion.

At the same time, she felt sorry for her. Just how shocking must it have been to lose her memory like that?

“You had agreed to go to the Caries Empire at their request.”

“The Caries Empire?”

“Of course. You know that the Aodin Empire has had strained relations with them because of past conflicts.”

There was no way Arang could know any of this. And yet, strangely, the name Caries felt just as familiar as Aodin had earlier.

Still, she couldn’t afford to let it show that she knew nothing, so she nodded along as calmly as possible.

“Right.”

“They said that if the Caries Empire were to show sincerity, they should at least send someone from a noble family with status and name recognition. As you know, Aodin wasn’t really in a position to refuse.”

Arang tried to grasp the situation with as little information as possible. Thankfully, Ria didn’t seem suspicious at all.

“So… to show this so-called sincerity, they decided to send me?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Why me, of all people?”

“As you know, milady, the Istella Ducal House is one of the noble families that have passed down special abilities through the generations. That’s why, as the duke’s eldest daughter, Lady Ivenel…”

“Hold on.”

Arang cut her off there. Because at that very moment, the pieces of the puzzle clicked into place. The sense of déjà vu she’d felt when she first heard the name Aodin finally made sense.

“No wonder it sounded so familiar.”

“It’s from that novel Aran told me about.”

Aran had a particular fondness for romance-fantasy novels and would sometimes share the stories with her.

‘At the start of the novel, Aodin sends a noblewoman from a ducal family, and the male lead—who’s the emperor of Caries—throws her to the monsters as food, and she ends up dying. Then they send her corpse back to Aodin. Isn’t that so satisfying?’

‘Why would he kill an innocent person?’

‘Because just being someone from Aodin is a crime in Caries.’

Arang could never understand that logic. To her, it seemed like nothing more than a petty and senseless act of revenge.

Even if there had been a complicated history between the two empires…

“And then, unexpectedly, a heroine appears in Caries—one who can see the cores of monsters…”

“Okay, that’s enough. I don’t get it anyway.”

“Why don’t you try taking an interest in something other than shooting? Even the only books you read are about guns.”

Arang had always been solely interested in shooting, so she’d let those words slide back then. But thanks to them, she now knew who this body belonged to.

Ivnel Istella—a character who dies a gruesome death to monsters early in the novel.

Could it be… did I miss Aran so much that I ended up waking up in a place like this?

“Are you all right, milady?”

Ria looked at her with concern. After all, she had fainted when she first heard she’d be going to Caries. Just then, while lost in thought, Arang asked a sharp question.

“Is that really all there is to it?”

“Pardon?”

“I mean the reason I’m being sent there. Feels like there’s more to it.”

“Well…”

Ria seemed hesitant to speak, and rather than press further, Arang simply returned to the bed.

“I want to rest.”

“O-oh. Yes, of course. I’ll make all the preparations for your trip to Caries. I’ll be going with you, so you don’t have to worry.”

After Ria left and Arang was alone again, she turned her head and blankly stared at the sunlight pouring in through the window.

“So I’m going to die soon.”

Knowing she was playing a character doomed to die didn’t bother her as much as she thought it would. And there was only one reason for that.

“Either way, I’m still alone here.”

If she couldn’t meet Aran again, then she didn’t particularly want to change anything.

“Maybe that’s actually a good thing.”

She started to cling to the faint hope that dying here might let her meet Aran again.

“I miss you so much…”

The grief of losing her only family was more painful than dying at the hands of some monster. That much, she was certain of.

Having already lost everything once, Arang—no, Ivnel—decided to just let everything flow as it would. Even if that flow led to her own death.