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Chapter 1
“So, what is it you wanted to say?”
The Guardian of the South and head of the noble Silver Deer family, ‘Vine Glade,’ looked away from the documents in front of him and toward the woman standing before his desk.
The woman, who had entered his office saying she had something to discuss and had spent the last twenty minutes anxiously brushing back her long black hair, was named—
‘Sierra Hecas.’
The Duchess of the Glade household and Vine Glade’s second wife.
He had no idea why she was hesitating so much just to speak, but Vine assumed it was nothing important and gazed at her lazily.
At his question and gaze, Sierra finally seemed to steel herself and tightly clasped both hands together.
For a brief moment, Vine almost found the gesture rather cute.
But the words that left her pretty lips, her red eyes gleaming faintly, were more than enough to shock him greatly.
“Duke, please divorce me.”
“……”
Thinking he had misheard her, Vine stared at her face.
But the firm resolve in her crimson eyes made it clear that she was not joking.
Still, he couldn’t believe it.
Perhaps his disbelief had shown on his face, because Sierra repeated herself as if delivering the finishing blow.
“You didn’t hear wrong……”
After taking a breath, she continued,
“I want to divorce you, Duke.”
“……Why?”
Without even realizing it, the word slipped from his mouth.
Why?
Sierra’s red eyes trembled slightly, as if startled by his reaction.
“……You don’t love me. And… you never will.”
As Sierra spoke in a sorrowful voice, Vine’s emerald eyes shook violently.
‘Love.’
Just as she said, theirs had been a contract marriage from the very beginning, one without love.
Yes. At first, Vine truly couldn’t love her.
The void left behind by his former wife, who had died from illness, had simply been too great.
No one could force their way into his heart.
But at some point, Sierra had gradually begun to enter his heart and make a place for herself there.
It hadn’t been long since Vine had finally started to realize his own feelings.
He searched through his recent memories, wondering if perhaps he had hurt her somehow lately, but nothing came to mind.
Up until recently, their relationship had been good.
There had been nothing strange at all.
That was why Vine couldn’t understand why Sierra was asking for a divorce.
“……I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.”
Hiding his shaken eyes, Vine lowered his gaze back to the documents.
Not that he could actually focus on them.
At his stubborn refusal to acknowledge her words, Sierra finally let out a small sigh and pulled a sheet of paper from her arms.
“These are the divorce papers. They bear His Majesty the Emperor’s seal, so all you need to do is sign your name.”
With a rustling sound, a document labeled Certificate of Annulment was held out before him.
Wondering if it might somehow be forged, Vine accepted the document Sierra handed him and quickly scanned it.
But the moment he saw the seal of the Hellarium Imperial Family engraved with the golden dragon—
He had no choice but to accept it.
The fact that she truly wanted to divorce him.
“……Sierra. Are you serious? Do you truly wish to divorce me?”
For the first time in front of Sierra, Vine’s voice trembled.
Their gazes met.
The first to look away was Sierra.
Avoiding his eyes, she lowered her head.
“……Yes. I do.”
There was an unmistakable sadness in her voice.
Vine felt like his insides were burning.
If he could, he wanted to tear the annulment papers in his hand to shreds immediately, but documents bearing the Imperial Seal were protected by magic and could never be destroyed.
Another long silence passed before Vine finally spoke again.
“Sierra, I don’t understand. I could never—”
Bang!
Before he could finish speaking, the office door burst open with a loud crash.
Startled, both Vine and Sierra turned toward the entrance.
Standing there were the three siblings of the Glade family—children Sierra adored dearly.
Bright silver-gray hair, symbolizing House Glade.
Emerald eyes as green as fresh spring leaves.
The children looked at Sierra and shouted,
“N-No! You can’t divorce!”
All three of them looked as though they might burst into tears at any second.
For some reason, Sierra couldn’t understand why.
That day had been completely ordinary too.
I finished teaching at the taekwondo gym, dropped the kids off, and thought I’d go home, shower, and eat some fried chicken.
Since the next day was the weekend, I’d even planned to catch up on the web novels I’d been putting off.
Who could’ve guessed that such a normal day would become the day of my funeral?
If it weren’t for my damn nosiness, I probably would’ve lived a long and healthy life.
‘Still… anyone would’ve done the same if a child had been right in front of them.’
What kind of adult could just walk by after seeing a child about to get hit by a car?
Maybe some people could.
But my nosiness was about as wide as the Pacific Ocean, so I definitely couldn’t ignore it.
And the result was waking up in this strange room.
Instead of my gloomy apartment room, there were luxurious silk curtains, a soft mattress, sparkling decorations—
A room that looked like something straight out of a medieval noble’s mansion.
“Haha… so this is the reincarnation express train?”
The moment the words left my mouth, I quickly covered it with my hand.
In every possession novel, whenever the heroine said something like that, a maid would immediately burst through the door asking, “Milady, are you alright?!”
At least, that’s how it always happened in the web novels I read.
“Milady, are you alright?”
And cue the timing.
Sure enough, a woman in a maid uniform rushed inside.
As she approached me with a worried expression, I sighed internally.
If I died, couldn’t I have just stayed dead peacefully? Where the hell even is this place?
Or maybe I’m not dead yet. Maybe I’m in a coma?
Then is this all just a dream?
“Should I call the physician after all…? If I knew you were this sick, I would’ve called him sooner. Oh dear, Milady, look at all this sweat.”
While I sat there blankly lost in thought, the woman calling me “Milady” took out a handkerchief and gently wiped the sweat from my forehead.
Oddly enough, her touch felt far too vivid to be a dream.
Before I realized it, the words slipped out.
“Um… can you hit me?”
The woman looked utterly shocked.
Then she nervously fidgeted with her hands before blurting out in alarm,
“Pardon?! Milady, what do you mean by that? Are you in unbearable pain? Do you want to distract yourself with another kind of pain? Please wait! I’ll fetch the physician immediately!”
“N-No, that’s not what I mea—!”
Before I could finish, the unnamed woman bolted out of the room as if afraid I might stop her.
That’s a misunderstanding though.
Now I have no choice but to pinch my own cheek.
I really hate these kinds of cliché situations that feel completely predetermined.
Though… I guess I could jump out the window—
Wait.
Actually, that might work?
It’s not even my body anyway, and people always say falling is the fastest way to wake up from a dream.
Maybe it’d even wake me from a coma.
Thinking that, I quickly got up and decided to put the plan into action.
When I reached the window, I realized this room wasn’t that high up.
At worst, maybe I’d just break a leg?
I threw the window open wide.
A refreshing breeze drifted inside softly.
Looks like spring had arrived here.
As I climbed onto the windowsill, servants passing below spotted me and began whispering among themselves.
Someone screamed.
Someone ran off somewhere in a panic.
Others simply stared anxiously upward.
The breeze fluttered against my nightgown.
My black hair, flowing down to my waist, danced in the wind.
Taking a deep breath, I leaned forward.
The moment I dropped, screams rang out everywhere.
Honestly, it wasn’t even that serious. Everyone was overreacting.
Worst case scenario, I’d just land properly and avoid injury.
I used to be a taekwondo athlete—how hard could a proper fall be?
Please.
Wake up.
Wake up from this dream.
I’m going back to reality.
With a loud thud, I shut my eyes.
The ground felt much more solid and firm than I expected.
And warm.
…Warm?
“You’ve finally gone insane, haven’t you?”
At the cold, eerie low voice, I opened my eyes.
Standing before me was a handsome man glaring down at me—
No, not just handsome.
Ridiculously handsome. Dangerously handsome.
If heaven exists, is this it?
Are you perhaps an angel?
Silver-gray hair swayed gently in the spring breeze.
Straight brows flowed into a sharp nose bridge, and his clear, flawless skin looked so perfect I almost wanted to ask what foundation he used.
And those emerald eyes, green like fresh forests—
Though it might’ve been better if those eyes weren’t looking at me like they wanted to kill me.
The man who had caught me lifted me upright and whispered coldly near my ear.
“So you finally lost your mind trying to get my attention. Attempting suicide now?”
No, actually.
I want to live more than anyone. I want to go back.
“If you wish to continue living in this House Glade, even as a duchess in name only, then stop these pathetic tricks and live quietly. Even if I die, I will never love you, Sierra Hecas.”
His icy words were enough to make my eyes sting with tears automatically.
Not because of me.
This body was reacting on its own.
Still, the name he spoke—
‘Sierra Hecas.’
It sounded strangely familiar.
As I stood there blankly trying to remember where I’d heard it before, the man turned away coldly without even looking back at me and ordered the servants,
“Escort the Duchess inside.”
Sierra…
Sierra Hecas.
Where had I seen that name before…?
I vaguely remembered a similar name from the web novel I’d recently enjoyed the most, The Children of the Silver Deer.
No way.
There’s no way I’m actually inside that novel—
Chuckling at the absurd thought, I glanced at the silver deer crest embroidered onto his blue cloak.
And the moment I saw it—
It felt as though someone had smashed me over the head.
My blood ran cold, my legs gave out beneath me, and I collapsed onto the ground.
“Ah, damn it.”
The impossible had become reality.
It seemed I had somehow transmigrated into my favorite novel, The Children of the Silver Deer.
And not just anyone—
But the evil stepmother, ‘Sierra Hecas,’ who gets brutally killed by the protagonists.
