I Became The Terminally Ill Sister Of Final Villain

Chapter 1.

This body was weak.

So weak that I coughed violently dozens of times in just an hour.

“Cough—!”

I covered my mouth, but when I pulled my hand away, it was soaked in blood. A healer dressed in white hurried to my side and muttered something under their breath. As soon as they finished speaking, a white light emerged, instantly stopping the blood rising from my throat.

Was this the miracle of ‘magic’?

I stared at the gradually fading light with slight fascination.

Meanwhile, the man standing beside me tapped his staff irritably against the floor.

“When did I call for you? And yet you only arrive now?”

“M-my apologies! I-I just came through a warp—”

“Will you make such excuses when my daughter is dying?”

Thud—!

With force, the staff that had been striking the ground suddenly came to a halt.

At first glance, he seemed like a father who was excessively devoted to his daughter.

But I knew the truth about this ‘father.’

“How much longer does my daughter have to live?”

“At most, a year.”

That ‘father’ wasn’t worried about me. If anything, he was worried about something else.

“……Leave us. I want to be alone with my daughter.”

“My apologies, Count.”

The healer bowed and exited, closing the door behind them.

The vast hall-like room was filled with only the most expensive and luxurious items.

Now, only my father and I remained.

He looked me over—not with the eyes of a parent concerned for his child’s health,

But with the gaze of a man assessing the condition of his merchandise.

Elias, my father, examined my condition and muttered in an emotionless tone.

“A year should be enough time for you to get married.”

“Marriage?”

“It’s hardly surprising news, is it? You’re already engaged to Viscount Malek.”

I lowered my head, hiding my crooked smile. Not that my father cared about my reaction in the first place.

“You must marry Viscount Malek and bear a magician. The Elias family must be restored.”

To him, only the family mattered.

But what was so great about a name that was merely four meaningless syllables?

Before long, my father left the room.

Now alone, I climbed out of bed and stood before the mirror on my frail legs and feet.

Reflected in the glass was a woman with long, white hair and pale eyes—a fragile beauty.

A woman bearing the surname Elias.

She smiled, just as I willed her to.

Because the terminally ill Lady Elias was me.

And I was the terminally ill Lady Elias.

“What a great start.”

I had possessed the body of a dying noblewoman in a novel.

I died.

To be precise, I was hit by a car and killed while walking home after buying a revised edition of a novel.

Ironically, the title of that novel was Still a Happy Ending.

Compared to its hopeful name, my own life had ended in the most absurdly anticlimactic way.

Was the novel so good that I couldn’t even notice an oncoming car?

If I had to be honest… not really.

As a dedicated reader of the novel Still a Happy Ending, I found its plot predictable, following classic clichés.

The story revolved around a heroine born with the destiny of a saint. She awakened her powers, broke the curse placed on the crown prince—the male lead—and ultimately saved the empire from an impending catastrophe.

To me, it wasn’t anything particularly unique.

But there was one thing in the novel that I found special and truly loved.

The final villain of the story—the silver-haired, red-eyed villainess, Ardin.

Born as an illegitimate child, she was abused simply for having red eyes, a color deemed demonic in the empire.

Despite possessing exceptional magical talent, she was brainwashed by a mind-controller and used as a tool of destruction to kill humans.

However, what truly captivated me was that, even after being freed from the brainwashing with the heroine’s help, Ardin never ran away from her sins in the final act.

Even though the atrocities she committed weren’t of her own will, she took full responsibility for them.

In the end, she absorbed all the destructive magic that could harm others into her own body and deliberately allowed Ernst to stab her.

And that was why I came to love this tragic yet noble character.

Then, one day, the author announced on social media that Ardin’s POV had been added to the revised edition of the novel.

As a devoted fan, how could I not buy a version that included my favorite character’s story?

Of course, I never even got the chance to read it.

Because the moment I bought the book and headed home, I died before I could open it.

But after death, when I opened my eyes again…

A new world unfolded before me.

I awoke in a white nightgown trimmed with lace, surrounded by extravagant furniture adorned with gold. Beside me stood a woman dressed in a maid’s uniform.

In this entirely unfamiliar world, I struggled to sit up in my frail body and asked the maid,

“So… where exactly am I?”

“You are inside the Elias Count’s estate, in the Licht Empire.”

Licht Empire. Elias family.

Those two names came straight from Still a Happy Ending.

Feeling a creeping sense of disbelief, I asked again,

“Then… who am I?”

“Amila Matia Elias. The eldest daughter of House Elias.”

And the answer I got?

Apparently, I had possessed a terminally ill extra who was only mentioned in a few lines of Still a Happy Ending.

At first, I thought it was some kind of hidden camera prank.

In my previous life, I had worked as a PD (producer) who occasionally appeared on TV, and variety shows often pulled pranks on producers as well.

But a week later, I realized the truth.

After all, I had spent seven days coughing up blood and checking my reflection in the mirror dozens of times.

This wasn’t a hidden camera prank.

It wasn’t a dream either.

I had really possessed a character in the novel.

So, how did I feel when I finally accepted reality?

Absolutely thrilled.

Sure, the body I had possessed was terminally ill.

But I was a reader who had finished the entire novel.

And the body I possessed belonged to a noble.

No debt. Good food. High-quality furniture all around me.

My face looked a bit sickly, but it had a delicate, innocent beauty, so it was bearable.

Besides, in my previous life, I had already been hurt enough by people.

The only person I had ever loved was long gone.

I had no lingering attachments to that life.

And on top of all that—Amila Elias was the older sister of my favorite character.

“Cough!”

Ugh, another coughing fit.

No matter how great my situation was, this weak body was a bit of a problem.

Not to mention, aside from my favorite character, the entire Elias family was a bunch of scumbags.

“Oh my, sister.”

Ah. Here comes Scumbag #1.

Unlike me, she had dazzling platinum blonde hair and striking features. She wore a deliberately sorrowful expression in front of me, but I knew the truth.

That girl was only pretending to pity me—when in reality, she was looking down on me.

Look at her. She couldn’t even fully hide the smirk twitching at the corners of her lips.

“Aren’t you feeling too unwell? Why don’t you go back to your room and rest?”

But it didn’t bother me.

Compared to the people I had encountered as a PD in my past life, this noble lady—who couldn’t even conceal her expressions properly—was nothing.

After dealing with industry seniors who smiled while subtly undermining me and entertainers who believed popularity was absolute power, this was no different from dealing with a particularly bad-tempered cat.

“Hey, Lieselotte. What if she actually dies after you say that?”

“Oh, come on, Lobid. If she’s sick, she should rest. She has no place at a family gathering anyway.”

Scumbag #1, Lieselotte, had joined forces with Scumbag #2, Lobid, to pick a fight with me.

For the record, these two were my younger sister Lieselotte Elias and my older brother Lobid Elias.

Amila’s mother had died giving birth to Lieselotte, and as for our father—

“Enough. No need to make a scene during a family meal.”

He was the Earl of Elias, who viewed his children as nothing more than tools.

I gave my so-called family a dispassionate glance and came to a conclusion.

What an absolute mess.

Meanwhile, the Earl of Elias examined each of his children one by one, evaluating them like livestock.

“Lieselotte, you seem to have gained some weight. Are you properly preparing yourself to make a good impression on His Highness the Crown Prince?”

“I’ve just… had some things frustrating me lately. I’ll start managing my appearance again.”

Lieselotte Elias, the most beautiful member of the family, was being raised to become the Crown Princess.

“Lobid, your law tutor mentioned that your grades have been slipping. You must improve.”

“Y-yes, Father. I understand.”

Lobid Elias, the eldest son, was being trained as the future heir of the Elias family.

And as for me, Amila Elias—

“Amila, how is your relationship with your fiancé, young master Malek of the Marquis’ family?”

“We’ve been exchanging letters regularly.”

“Just letters?”

My father’s frown told me everything I needed to know.

My purpose was to form a bond with the Marquis Malek’s family, a prestigious lineage of mages, and eventually give birth to a mage.

But since I remained indifferent to my fiancé, my so-called father had once suggested that I use a love potion or something similar. Ah, that knowledge came from the memories of the original Amila Elias before I took over this body.

This was the kind of man my father was—urging me to throw myself at the Marquis’ son, all for the sole purpose of producing a mage heir. Again, this was something I recalled from the original Amila’s memories.

What a hellhole of a family. I need to leave as soon as possible.

And yet, I was still here.

For two reasons.

One, because I was still a terminally ill patient who required care.

And two—well, that reason was about to appear very soon.

As if on cue, Lieselotte Elias clapped her hands together.

“The mood has gotten a bit heavy. To lighten things up, would you like to see the gift I prepared, Father?”

“What gift are you talking about?”

“You tasked me with the education of that ‘lowly thing’ in the clock tower, remember? I wanted to show you the results of my efforts. May I?”

“Go ahead.”

“Thank you, Father. You there, bring it in.”

Receiving my father’s approval, Lieselotte gestured as if she were the lady of the house.

The two male servants near the door immediately obeyed, opening it and dragging someone inside.

A young girl with silver hair and red eyes was forcibly brought into the dining hall.

She wore a single, tattered white dress, and her hands and feet were caked in dirt, making her look utterly pitiful.

But this girl—she was the other reason I was still here.

Because this girl was my favorite character, Ardin.

And I had already made up my mind.

I was going to make my favorite character the happiest person in this world.