I Don’t Know the Original, I’m Too Busy Trying to Make a Living

Three months ago, the Emperor died. His head was severed cleanly by the hand of the Third Prince, an illegitimate child.

The original story had gone completely off the rails, but Penelope didn’t pay much attention to it.

She was too busy trying to survive.

When you’re in a situation where you have to worry about food for the next week, things like "romance" and "fantasy" are luxuries you simply can’t afford.

“The price of turnips has dropped again,” the steward of the lord’s castle reported in a trembling voice.

“Again?”

Hearing that the value of "turnip coin" had crashed once more, Penelope felt her vision go dark.

“What about herbs?”

“The farmers harvested the last of the green herbs yesterday. Selling those might get us enough emergency food for three days.”

“Only three days?”

The fact that green herbs, the main ingredient in basic healing potions, were now practically worthless made Penelope’s hands tremble with frustration.

The steward, oblivious to her burning anxiety, added fuel to the fire.

“At this rate, we might not survive the winter this year.”

“This can’t be happening…”

“What should we do?”

The retainers sighed, their faces heavy with worry.

Penelope buried her face in her hands.

“Damn that heroine…”

It was a wretched and cursed connection she couldn’t shake off.

Calling it merely unpleasant didn’t do it justice—it was enough to drive her mad.

Unfortunately, the world Penelope found herself in was from the romance fantasy novel I’ll Choose the Second Male Lead in This Life!

Keywords: regression, revenge, and catharsis.

The plot revolved around a regressed heroine who, after being used and brutally killed by the Emperor, sought revenge by seducing the second male lead and destroying everything in her path.

While the heroine was busy taking down the Emperor, the final villain, and placing the Third Prince, an illegitimate child, on the throne, Penelope had married a rural lord in the northern provinces.

One month after their wedding, her husband died, and the shock of it caused her to recall memories of her past life in South Korea.

“How traumatic must it have been to become a widow right after the wedding for my past life to come flooding back?”

Penelope could still vividly recall that day.

It had been late at night, and under the dim candlelight, she was mending her husband’s clothes.

The lord’s castle was so impoverished that they couldn’t even afford a single magical orb. Squinting her strained eyes, she threaded the needle.

Suddenly, the commotion outside the castle grew louder, and a knight burst into the room. His armor, illuminated by the pale moonlight, was dripping with bright red blood.

“Baroness, please, don’t be alarmed by what I’m about to say…”

Of course, Penelope was utterly alarmed.

When you hear that your husband has been half-devoured by a monster, who wouldn’t be? She wanted to meet anyone who could stay calm in such a situation.

A sharp sting brought her attention to her hands—her finger, pricked by the needle, was bleeding.

“Should I just die like this?”

That was the thought that crossed her mind at that moment.

The baron’s estate was so destitute that even the baroness herself had to mend her husband’s clothes.

If one were to rank noble poverty, her situation would undoubtedly be at the bottom.

Returning to her family wasn’t an option either; they were just as destitute. Only a daughter from a poor noble family would marry a destitute lord.

Meanwhile, the price of herbs continued to plummet, and now the retainers and peasants of the estate would all turn their eyes to her.

“I can’t do it.”

An overwhelming fear gripped her heart.

She wasn’t capable of shouldering the lives of so many people.

“Baroness!”

That was the last thing Penelope heard before she fainted on the spot.

And on that day, she remembered her past life.

Her mind flooded with memories of an advanced civilization.

Semiconductors, space exploration, computers, artificial intelligence, and new materials—scientific marvels that were hard to believe even existed.

Finally, the life of a single insignificant woman, nothing more than a speck of dust in the universe, passed through her mind.

Her past life could tragically be summarized in just three lines:

Lee Soon-jung (eldest of three siblings, one brother, one sister).

Graduated from a prestigious university. Employed at a major corporation.

Died at 27 (from overwork).

She had worked tirelessly to escape her circumstances, studying relentlessly to secure a job at a major corporation, only to meet a sad ending—death by overwork.

And now, as if that wasn’t tragic enough, she had somehow transmigrated into a romance fantasy novel she used to skim through during her commutes.

“My husband’s death alone is enough to drive me insane, and now you’re telling me this is a novel? And at the climax, no less?”

The Emperor was dead, and a new one had risen to the throne—clearly marking the "resolution" phase of the narrative structure.

Of course, she hadn’t believed it at first.

Who in their right mind would immediately think they had become a character in a novel?@@novelbin@@

Especially when there was no mention of a character named "Penelope" in the original story. Not even as a side character.

But when the names of the deceased Emperor, the current Emperor, the Empress, and the historical context all matched the novel perfectly, she had no choice but to acknowledge the truth amid her confusion.

“Out of all the nouveau riche and nobles, I end up as the wife of some rural lord in the northern countryside? At this point, the heroine’s pillow has more significance than me.”

Honestly, Penelope was more shocked by that realization than anything else.

Not even a supporting character, not even a background extra in the capital—just someone living a two-week carriage ride away in the middle of nowhere.

In the context of the original story, she was nothing more than a speck of dust.

“Ah, life…”

If only she had remembered her previous life three months earlier, she wouldn’t have had to marry a man doomed to die young.

“If I’d remembered a year earlier—or two years, no, even ten years earlier…”

Penelope sniffled and banished such useless thoughts from her mind.

It wasn’t something she could change now, nor was it worth resenting.

At the time of her husband’s death, the lord’s castle had barely two months’ worth of emergency provisions left. It was practically a death sentence. The fact that the estate wasn’t in debt was nothing short of a miracle.

“First, survive.”

She set survival as her primary goal. With that clear and simple objective, her mind began to focus.

“Use whatever you can to live like a proper human being.”

Her knowledge of the original story was an enormous stroke of luck. Add to that her modern mindset, and she had a strong foundation to build on.

In other words, it was a winnable fight.

If she could achieve her goal, becoming wealthy in the process would be even better. After all, being rich was never a bad thing.

She had already experienced a life of struggle and poverty in her previous life, growing up as the eldest of three siblings under a single mother. That pain had followed her throughout her entire life.

“I’ll revive this territory, leave behind a prosperous estate, and retire while I’m still young.”

Adopting one of Baron Halo’s distant relatives would make the inheritance process smoother.

“This time, I’ll finally live my dream of being young, rich, and carefree.”

In an instant, her life plan was complete.

Penelope realized for the first time just how ambitious she truly was.

And so, at this moment, Penelope had a perfectly valid reason to resent the heroine, who stood in the way of her life plan.

The impatient steward abruptly shouted.

“I told you we needed to find alternative sources of income beyond herbs long ago!”

“And how is that my fault? How was I supposed to know trade with the Eastern Continent would suddenly open up?” the treasurer retorted, veins bulging in his neck.

“Ah, yes… Life could never be simple, could it?”

According to the original story, it was the heroine who had established a new trade alliance with the Eastern Continent.

Merchant ships from the East brought in massive quantities of cheap, high-quality herbs, causing the price of northern herbs to plummet overnight.

The citizens of the empire praised the heroine for making potions more affordable, but small northern estates that relied on selling herbs were pushed to the brink of bankruptcy.

Just like now.

“How long are we going to waste time blaming each other? We need to focus on how we’re going to survive!”

“Did you just call me disgraceful? Then why don’t you share your brilliant solution?”

“Oh, you want to keep talking?”

“Yes, I do!”

The increasingly desperate retainers began barking at each other like rabid dogs, tearing into one another in their panic.

Penelope, her head throbbing, raised her hand to massage her temples.

The steward, veins bulging in his forehead, shouted.

“Enough! How dare you act so disgracefully in front of the acting lord?”

“Well, I wasn’t trying to…”

“Show some decorum! Watch your tongues!”

“Ahem!”

The retainers, now thoroughly chastised, exchanged embarrassed glances and turned their eyes to Penelope.

To the people of the estate, Penelope was a composed and pragmatic woman.

Even after losing her husband in a monster attack two months ago, she hadn’t returned to her family but had instead taken it upon herself to manage the estate. Her sense of duty and dedication was beyond question.

Embarrassed by their behavior in front of their new mistress, the retainers grew visibly subdued.

At last, Penelope opened her mouth to speak.