Prologue
Standing in front of the school gate always made countless thoughts flood my mind. Would I smell weird? Was my shirt untucked? What if I accidentally walked in while the kids were gossiping about me?
Of course, most of these worries were unfounded, but some habits are impossible to fix, even if you die and are reborn—let alone finding yourself transformed into a girl and thrust into a novel’s world.
Who would’ve thought that teasing a writer with a comment like, “Stop joking around about reincarnation curses” would actually get me reincarnated? No less into a plotline where the protagonist suffers isolation after a slip of the tongue. Harsh, isn’t it?
Not that I was ever ostracized in my previous life for saying something wrong. Attention didn’t bother me much—things like giving an introduction after transferring schools, or suddenly being inserted into an academy where the cliques had already been sorted the day after orientation.
Like today, when I would be shoved into a crucial moment: the first homeroom meeting of the semester, where the teacher and students meet for the first time. There I would stand, a misfit barging in uninvited and awkwardly introducing myself, “I wasn’t at the entrance ceremony, but from today on, I’ll be joining you.”
“Don’t panic, Dorothy… You’re just another student… just a student…”
Ah. But I’m the eldest daughter of a prominent family, for heaven’s sake. Yet even my homeroom teacher can’t remember my name properly. What little presence I have is utterly pathetic.
I could feel my pride being shredded in real time. If the teacher can’t even remember my name, would the students? They might think my name is weird, especially since everyone else here has western-sounding names, while mine has a distinctly Eastern flavor. Would they call me outdated? Mock me for it?
Do other people from the Eastern Continent even attend this academy? This world is rife with prejudice among species, as the novel frequently showed. Even as a child of a noble family, I might not escape discrimination.
The original story openly depicted prejudice against beastfolk. What’s to stop me from becoming a victim of this world’s rampant racism?
To make matters worse, every student here is either a noble or royalty. The very title of the story is A Commoner in the Noble Academy. What if I make a mistake in front of these elite heirs? Would they jeer, “A beast belongs in a cage!” and ostracize me?
But more pressing: how should I introduce myself? I was always terrified of public speaking in my past life and shoved the responsibility onto team leaders whenever possible. Now, my tail’s wagging on its own. While my father here taught me how to control my facial expressions and gaze, he never explained what to do about my tail.
Click.
The door opens. I must look like a prisoner being dragged to the gallows. I can feel their gazes piercing into me. White. Black. Their stares are suffocating.
The teacher seems to be saying something, but none of it registers.
“Uh… Miss Hoyeon? Could you introduce yourself?”
Oh, it’s here.
“…Eldest daughter of the Baek Imperial Family. My name is Baek Hoyeon.”
The room fell silent—so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Even the creak of chairs and students whispering ceased. So much for leaving a good impression and starting a cheerful academy life. My plan was completely ruined.
I’ll definitely be ostracized. Tomorrow, my desk will probably be scribbled on with words like gross, filthy, or stinks.
Still, since I’m in the middle of introducing myself, I should at least finish properly. Deep breath.
“…Haa. I look forward to working with you.”
I don’t remember much after that. The teacher broke the silence with some words, and I found myself assigned to a seat—next to the only commoner in the academy, who also happens to be the protagonist of this world.
—
I couldn’t tell if the story was derailing because of my presence as an irregularity or because this was no longer just a novel. Regardless, the character now standing before me, who didn’t exist in the original story, immediately grabbed my attention.
Especially since she appeared to be connected to the villainous faction in the second arc: the Baek Empire. A militaristic dictatorship that conquered over 85% of the Eastern Continent. In the original plot, the Baek Imperial Family had no children. If the story were following canon, the girl standing at the front of the classroom shouldn’t exist.
White hair, golden eyes, and an expression that screamed, I don’t care about any of you.
“…Eldest daughter of the Baek Imperial Family. My name is Baek Hoyeon.”
Every syllable dripped with disdain, as if even her own presence here annoyed her. While many students at this academy could boast impressive lineage, they all paled in comparison to her.
Readers of the original story often debated why the heroines were so insufferable, concluding that it was because they’d been spoiled from a young age. A popular line of reasoning was that their affluent upbringing made them accustomed to being pampered. After all, one heroine even famously exclaimed, “Not even my father ever hit me!” during a much-deserved comeuppance.
How arrogant would this girl turn out to be? Her sigh of reluctant civility as she muttered, “Haa. I look forward to working with you,” gave me a clue.
“Well, let’s see… an empty seat…”
The teacher—bless her for being the academy’s only source of cuteness—scanned the room before landing her gaze on the seat next to mine.
Ah. Crap.