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Chapter 3
Every night, she was afraid to fall asleep because of the nightmares that visited her. Ellen had barely managed to fall asleep again that day, close to dawn.
The next morning, she woke up in a strange room.
Not in her own body, but in Anais’s.
The first thing that came to mind was Anais’s words about wanting to switch bodies.
Had Anais cast some kind of curse? Did such things even exist? What did those horrifying dreams mean?
“First, I need to find Anais. She’ll know what’s going on.”
But… how could she find her? She couldn’t move at all in this body…
While Ellen was lost in confusion, the wedding had taken place, and now she was here.
A little later, the maid returned after seeing off the executor and draped a scarf around Ellen’s neck, snapping her out of her thoughts.
“You’ll need to cover up a bit.”
“Hmm, hmm, alright.”
“Did you really spend your first night in that body?”
The maid, Dorothy, glanced over her as if displeased. Ellen had already somewhat expected this while reading the newspaper—because Anais had claimed the great Duke Debesser, she had become a public enemy.
“Duke Debesser is lucky. He even has a loyal maid like this.”
She let out a quiet chuckle.
“Tell me the details?”
“Ah, no… it’s nothing like that.”
Dorothy pursed her lips several times.
Ellen wanted to scold the cheeky maid, but since Anais would return soon and she would leave anyway, she decided to ignore her.
‘I’m neither Anais nor the Duchess.’
She gestured toward the thing that kept drawing her attention.
“Bring the wine from the table.”
“Wine? You want to drink wine?”
To the determined Dorothy, hands on her hips and huffing, Ellen replied calmly:
“My mind is restless, that’s all. Could you read the Bible to me? Or just turn the pages—I like reading, I could spend all day doing it.”
Being a noble had its perks. There was even a maid who would serve you wine.
“One more glass.”
“Isn’t that too much?”
“Nope.”
Once she regained her body, she thought she’d give up being a saint and just live drinking wine.
The wine eased her anxious heart. For this moment, her worries and pressures disappeared.
Perhaps that’s why, even drinking from someone else’s hand, the wine went down smoothly.
The maid frowned at her, but Ellen was too absorbed in this taste of indulgence to care.
The surroundings spun, her body didn’t move as she wished… Ah, of course, I can’t move. She giggled to herself when her husband arrived.
“Are you drunk?”
Even as his face frowned as if confronting someone unpleasant, her thought was:
“Looking good~.”
The expression on his face was genuinely moving and rather charming.
As Ellen blinked and giggled, his irritation shifted toward the maid.
“There are two empty bottles. Did you make her drink all of that?”
“The Duchess asked me to… and, if I didn’t, she threatened to kick me out, so I had no choice,” Dorothy lied, assuming Ellen was drunk.
‘Nasty maid… but whatever. I’ll be back in my own body soon.’
Perhaps irritated by Ellen’s calm, detached smile, one of Licio’s eyebrows lifted slightly.
“No choice? Isn’t it your job to take care of Anais?”
Licio gestured to his assistant, Alex.
Ellen sensed from his expression and Alex’s rough grip on the maid’s arm that Dorothy was about to be thrown out of the Duke’s residence.
“I’m sorry, Duke! Please forgive me just this once! Duchess, please help me!”
Although the lie annoyed her, she couldn’t lose the maid who paired so well with her wine. She forced her eyes open and pretended to be sober.
“Leave the poor maid be.”
“Is anyone more pitiful than you?”
Pretending to be sober failed instantly. One of her eyelids slipped closed, and a laugh escaped her lips.
“Hehe… indeed.”
Getting drunk wasn’t so bad. Even Licio’s cold words sounded amusing.
Sighing, Licio ordered the maid to be released and sat beside her as she continued laughing uncontrollably.
“Being able to laugh in this situation, and becoming a drunk who can’t move… impressive. Drink.”
Alex returned with a mysterious green liquid in hand, which he offered to her.
As it neared her lips, a bitter scent reached her nose.
“This smells strange. Is this… poison?”
“Huh? Drink it before I pour it, Anais.”
Seeing her tightly close her mouth and shake her head, Alex chuckled awkwardly and explained:
“It’s a hangover cure. You’ll feel better, Duchess.”
“Ah, alright then, I’ll drink it.”
Unlike Licio’s earlier warning of pouring it all at once, it trickled slowly, making her wonder when she would finish it.
Soon, the bottle emptied, and as her face contorted, Licio took something out and placed it in her mouth.
“Hm? What is this?”
“Drunk enough not to even tell candy apart?”
“Oh, candy! I want to see it. Show me what it looks like.”
She rolled the candy in her mouth, unable to move her hands.
Frowning, Licio took the candy from her mouth and held it up before her.
Perhaps because it was in his large hand, it looked even cuter.
“Do you think candy could be poisonous too?”
Ellen was too absorbed in the candy to pay attention. It was clear like glass, with beautiful colored stripes.
“It’s like a jewel… so pretty. Huh, I feel like I’ve seen this before…”
“If someone saw this, they’d think you couldn’t even buy candy.”
“I couldn’t.”
“Why not?”
“Why? Well… I was too poor as a child, and as an adult, I lived ascetically.”
“Drunk people talk nonsense.”
“Tch, don’t be like that. I’ll leave on my own soon enough.”
“…Leave. You?”
“Yes! I can’t help it now, with this body. But when I get my original body back…”
Why was he staring at her again? His gaze felt sharper than before.
“Do as you please. No one will stop you.”
Licio turned away coldly. Ellen shouted toward his indifferent back:
“Candy! Put it back in my mouth!”
Though lazily tossed into her mouth, the sweet taste brightened her mood.
“Delicious. Thank you.”
“Your head may be injured; we should have a doctor check.”
Then he tossed something to her body.
Only able to move her neck, she struggled to confirm it: a bag full of candy.
“Wow! Thank you!”
She shouted as he left, but he ignored her.
Later, when maid Dorothy came to prepare her for bed, Ellen asked for more candy, but after the wine incident, she refused.
“Then, instead of candy, could you grant me one favor? If you do, I’ll give you one of my jewels.”
“A favor? You can just order me… hehe, what should I do?”
Why were her cheeks suddenly warm? Too simple-minded, maybe.
“Dorothy, you lied earlier. I covered for you. Remember?”
“Yes… I’m sorry.”
Dorothy bowed deeply.
“Go to the temple and bring Saint Ellen here. If you do it well, I’ll forgive your mistake entirely—and give you a jewel too.”
“Really? I’ll go to the temple tomorrow.”
Dorothy perked up, and Ellen’s lips curved into a soft smile.
Blushing, Dorothy carefully cleaned her teeth and laid her in bed. She left the candy bag on the bedside table and left the room with a grin.
Why candy there? Even though it was right in front of her, she couldn’t eat it—frustrating.
If only she had her holy powers…
Suddenly, her eyes lit up.
“I just need to use it. Holy power!”
Why hadn’t she thought of that before? Healing this body would solve all her problems!
Ellen’s eyes sparkled, and a satisfied smile spread across her face.
Having finished his tasks quickly, Licio returned to the room where Anais was.
“Already asleep, huh.”
He paused as his hand, tidying Anais’s bedding, remembered something.
“She’s a precious child… cherish her for life, you said, Father.”
Did her father deserve to say that? Licio snorted.
Even as he watched his mother go insane suspecting infidelity, he visited that place daily—
The secondary residence of Duke Marcel, notorious for its vile rumors.
Apparently, he collected beautiful women from commoner families there.
Disgusting.
And her father had unilaterally arranged this engagement.
