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Translator: uly
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: A Perfect Life... Until Yesterday
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The talk of the town, the celeb Juliet Karennina.
Born to a Korean mother and a British father.
Her beauty, befitting the title of "global beauty," led to a dazzling debut as a Hollywood child actress at the age of six.
Through various works, she grew into a powerhouse actress, sweeping the Golden Globes with Best Actress awards in drama, film, and musical categories—three crowns in total.
Not stopping there, leveraging her unique sense and fashion flair, she successfully launched her personal brand [Blanc de Juliet] at age 21.
The very existence of "Juliet Karennina" was the brand's value.
The skyrocketing sales of [Blanc de Juliet] repositioned her as a businesswoman with annual revenues in the billions, and at 24, she was named to The New York Times' list of "The World's Most Influential Young Tycoons."
[If someone wants to talk about a perfect life, have them look up at Juliet Karennina. —Director John Egerton, *Celeb Lady*]
[Is there anything in the world that doesn't go her way? —Claire Collins, exclusive promotional model for [Blanc de Juliet]]
Her life, drawing the attention, envy, jealousy, love, and admiration of people worldwide, had been perfect from birth, without a single failure.
It was a life that perfectly suited the phrase "smooth sailing."
...Until yesterday.
"What the...."
Hold on. Proper words, polite words.
Mother taught me to watch my behavior, given the spotlight I was under.
"Mom, sorry."
But no, I can't help it. This situation is unbearable without swearing.
I stared into the mirror, kneading my chubby cheeks this way and that.
"Oh, she's a cute pig."
...What?
No matter how generously I looked, this wasn't a cute pet pig but a premium-grade, well-fed porker.
The vibrant red hair, enigmatic golden eyes, and lively milky skin exuded aristocratic elegance, but that was it.
Her face, vast as the Manchurian plains, rendered her features pointless no matter how much they asserted themselves, and the double chin below hid any boundary with her neck.
Even in a loose A-line dress, my back, waist, and belly were squeezed so tight I could barely breathe—I had no idea what or how much I'd been shoveling in.
The astonishing fact was that this girl looked no older than middle school age. Even more astonishing...
"Calm down, Juliet."
Was that this chubby girl was none other than me, Juliet Karennina.
"Height under 160, but weight 80? No, easily 90?"
I muttered, grabbing and releasing my mountainous belly.
Whether 80, 90, or 100, I'd never weighed this much, so it was hard to gauge exactly.
"No doubt morbidly obese. Not just for looks—dieting is essential for health. A heart attack from hypertension tomorrow wouldn't be surprising."
Like a doctor diagnosing a stranger, I advised the girl in the mirror with a bitter expression.
Still, my mind wouldn't calm.
Stranger, my foot.
"And this is...."
I clung to the ornate mirror frame, on the verge of tears. The despair was indescribable.
"...me."
I'd opened my eyes in this hopeless situation exactly eight hours ago.
* * *
So, until I'd woken up in this body, I'd been in Korea.
"I want to show you the life of Juliet Karennina not as an actress on screen, but as a simple human being."
Ugh, my retirement announcement—nailed it.
After the shocking retirement statement that plunged my countless global fans into despair, I'd pivoted to a modest daily vlogger with my mother in her homeland, Korea.
Vlogging is the trend these days.
[JulietTV hits 10 million subscribers in one month]
[Juliet Karennina: How long will her influence last?]
[Global celeb Juliet Karennina... 200 million SNS followers alone.]
[Juliet Karennina: 2 billion per SNS promo post? Still the 'it' girl.]
Every video racked up at least 100 million views, hitting 10 million subscribers in a month—my second act was just beginning in Korea when...
As always, right after posting on SNS, I scrolled through thousands of comments to find one from 'Rubette_pig.'
Rubette_pig You're so pretty. I'm so jealous. Your life is nothing like mine.
Rubette_pig Beautiful face, slim body, surrounded only by people who love you. I'm envious. I'm the Cinderella today too.
Rubette_pig I want to live just one day as you.
From the weird ID, Rubette_pig seemed mentally unstable—hard to tell if fan or hater.
The last comment I saw was deeply worrying.
Rubette_pig I've decided to die today, Juliet.
Feeling uneasy, I'd asked my manager to look into 'pig Rubette's' info, gone to bed with a heavy heart—that was my last memory.
"Ah, Miss! You're awake!"
When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was a young girl dozing by the bed.
Having been famous since childhood, I'd dealt with rumors, death threats, dangers ordinary people couldn't imagine.
At first, I thought, 'Kidnapped this time...' and tried to stay calm.
"What do you want?"
Money, obviously, no need to ask.
"...Pardon?"
But the girl, after confirming I was awake, fetched a white-bearded old man who stared at me like I was crazy instead of stating demands.
The old man, called 'Doctor,' sweat profusely, asked questions, gave an absurd diagnosis, and left.
"You seem to have lost your memory from the shock."
Kidnapping a sleeping person wasn't enough—they had to treat me like an amnesiac too? At first, I wondered how elaborate a scam this was.
But after a few talks with the girl, I was convinced: this wasn't a normal kidnapping—it was surreal.
"So my name is... Rubette something? Not Juliet Karennina?"
"Miss..."
"Mirror. Can I see a mirror? No, I'll look myself."
I'd glimpsed my swollen, sausage-like fingers but refused to believe until seeing the mirror myself.
Things like this only happen in movies—not to someone living peacefully in the 21st century.
"Oh, shit...!"
Reality was cruel. This wasn't a dream. Between sleep and waking, I'd become a total stranger—a girl.
She'd fainted after falling into a pond for some reason and had just woken up.
There were more problems.
If it'd been a body swap with a fat girl from Earth-adjacent—still absurd—it might've been somewhat believable.
Body-swap fantasies have been a staple in movies across eras and cultures.
But...
"Decard?"
"Yes, Miss. You are the sole lady of His Excellency Leonard Diorus, Duke Diorus the 8th, from the Diorus Ducal House—one of the four great ducal houses of the Decard Empire. Lady Rubettria Diorus."
The girl—Rebecca, her name, maid attending this body—had repeated this twenty times, no sign of impatience.
Rebecca seemed to truly believe this chubby miss had amnesia, looking pitying.
Frankly, I deserved pity.
This place...
Didn't seem like Earth!
I'd studied history diligently to avoid "empty-headed celeb" jabs, so I was sure.
Decard Empire? No such nation in all Western history from past to present.
"So you don't know... Korea..."
"Korea?"
"UK, USA, anything?"
"Pardon?"
Even primitive tribes know Britain or America.
The body possession was unreal enough; accepting this wasn't my world was easy.
But accepting and coping with the shock were different.
I sat blankly on the bed forever, hoping it was a nightmare; Rebecca patiently stayed by my side.
"If she's awake, fine—why show our faces in her room?"
"Hey, Lillia. She's still a duke's daughter; we have to keep up appearances. If we don't go, we get blamed."
Then, when I could no longer deny this as reality, my 'first' unwelcome visitors arrived here.
"Did you think pulling a suicide stunt would get attention? You really try everything, huh."
Thirteen or fourteen? Blonde with golden eyes—a girl of dazzling beauty—snapped at me upon entering.
"You woke up nicely. If it were me, I'd rather die than live fat like that."
A boy her age dragged a chair like it was his room and sat.
The two, radiating clear hostility, looked strikingly similar. No need for introductions as siblings.