IBVS 02

Chapter 2

<After the glorious Hellarium Empire achieved victory in the war against the demon race 500 years ago, they permanently sealed the four portal gates located in the east, west, south, and north of the Empire so the demons could never cross into this world again.

For a brief moment, they believed peace had finally arrived. Unfortunately, there was always danger lurking beneath the shadow of peace.

As the sealed portal gates began to break apart, the demon race once again invaded this world, throwing the Hellarium Empire into great chaos.

Among them, the three genius siblings of the noble Glade Ducal House—one of the Four Great Ducal Houses responsible for guarding the four portals, as well as the Guardians of the South—rose to prominence, and through their achievements, peace finally returned to the Empire once more.>

If I remembered correctly, that was roughly the plot of The Children of the Silver Deer Family.

And the body I had possessed, ‘Sierra Hecas,’ was a woman who entered the Glade Ducal House as the Duke’s second wife. She desperately longed for the Duke’s love but was never loved in return. Instead, she vented her hysteria on those around her and eventually even laid her hands on the three protagonist siblings, becoming a terrible child abuser.

And most villains in novels never met a good ending.

Especially villains who harmed the protagonists.

“Ha… hahaha… damn it.”

Possessing myself into my favorite novel should have been a blessing, but honestly, I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

If I had to transmigrate, couldn’t I at least have become some passing extra character?

But no—I became the villainous stepmother destined to be killed by my favorite characters! A stepmother! A stepmother! A stepmother…!

“Milady!! Are you alright?”

The nameless maid who had been making a fuss earlier came running from afar. Beside her was a man wearing something resembling a doctor’s coat.

“No… I’m not alright.”

The maid looked startled after seeing my face and hurriedly wrapped a shawl around my shoulders. Judging by her behavior, she seemed to be my personal maid.

The biggest clue was that the other servants, who had been hesitating nearby without daring to approach me, completely stopped trying once she appeared.

“Why are you outside instead of resting in your room? Oh dear heavens, you’re barefoot! Milady, even in spring it’s still cold. Doctor, we need to escort Milady inside immediately.”

Since she had gone to fetch the doctor, the woman seemed unaware of what had happened earlier. She removed her own shoes and carefully placed them in front of me.

“They might be a little dirty, but please wear my shoes for now, Milady.”

“And what about you if I wear them?”

“I’ll be fine. I can just change my socks later. As your servant, I can’t allow my mistress to walk barefoot on the ground.”

Strangely enough, this nameless woman was incredibly kind to me, the villainess. Would rejecting her kindness hurt her more?

Thinking that, I reluctantly slipped on the pair of black flats she offered me. I could feel the hard ground through them.

Shoes that hardly felt different from being barefoot.

If I managed to survive in this world, the very first thing I’d do would be to buy this woman a proper pair of shoes.

As I walked back into the mansion, I asked her,

“Maybe because I’ve been sick lately, my memory’s been hazy. I suddenly can’t remember your name. What is it again?”

Usually, when someone transmigrated into another body, memories from the original owner gradually surfaced.

But I hadn’t remembered a single thing.

Right now, the only thing I could do was desperately piece together fragments from the novel I had read.

Which meant I needed to know the name of this woman who showed endless kindness to me—or rather, to the original Sierra.

“My goodness, Milady… We really should’ve called the doctor sooner. Ah, my name is Jane. Jane Elric.”

“I see, Jane. Let me ask one more thing. How long have you been serving me?”

“I’ve been attending to you ever since you arrived here, so it’s been a little over six months now.”

“That must’ve been hard. Serving a master like me.”

Silence briefly fell.

Then Jane answered in a trembling voice, almost as if she were about to cry.

“…No. Please don’t say such things. It’s true that when you’re unwell, Milady, you sometimes take your anger out on me, but… I’m truly alright. I know your true nature is kind. No matter what the other servants say… I will only serve you.”

Whether it was loyalty or some strange form of brainwashing, Jane was unbelievably devoted to Sierra.

Maybe Sierra hadn’t treated her own people badly after all?

In the novel, Sierra only appeared briefly at the very beginning and was occasionally mentioned in the protagonists’ flashbacks.

With the limited information I knew, there was no way to predict what would happen to Sierra in the future. As I walked while deep in thought, I eventually arrived at my room under Jane’s guidance.

The moment we entered, Jane practically forced me onto the bed for an examination.

Naturally, the results showed nothing unusual.

Insisting that couldn’t possibly be true, Jane demanded another examination and eventually began arguing with the physician, accusing him of being a quack. The noise became unbearable, so I ordered both of them out.

“Phew… finally, some peace and quiet.”

Alone in the silent room, I stretched lazily and glanced around before sitting in front of an excessively luxurious vanity decorated with countless jewels.

As I scanned the vanity, my reflection in the mirror caught my attention, startling me.

The face of Sierra Glade—the face I was seeing for the first time since arriving here—was breathtakingly beautiful.

Glossy black hair like ebony, thick eyelashes, a sharp nose bridge, and ruby-like red eyes. Her upturned eyes gave her a cold and arrogant appearance, yet she possessed the captivating beauty of a black cat.

“What the heck? She’s prettier than I expected.”

For a villainess, she was absurdly gorgeous.

But after admiring the face for a while, I grabbed my head in frustration.

No matter how beautiful I looked, it didn’t change the fact that I was destined to die.

And this pretty face wouldn’t help me survive.

Sighing repeatedly, I rummaged through the vanity drawer and discovered a document covered in unfamiliar writing.

The moment I saw it, my vision wavered slightly, and a memory suddenly flowed into my mind.

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“It’s a marriage contract. Sign where marked.”

The voice was low and pleasant to hear.

But despite how nice it sounded, it was so cold it sent chills down my spine. There wasn’t even a trace of warmth in it.

The handsome man standing before Sierra was Vine Glade, head of the Glade Ducal House and Guardian of the South.

Sierra picked up the document and signed it with a pen.

Watching her expressionlessly, he spoke.

“So we’ve become husband and wife in name. I look forward to working with you. As long as you properly fulfill the conditions stated in the contract.”

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The memory ended with those emotionless green eyes staring back at me.

I blinked blankly for a moment, and suddenly the words written on the document became perfectly readable.

The paper I had found was the marriage contract from the memory.

It contained numerous clauses regarding the rules of the Ducal House.

Among them, one line stood out the most:

‘Neither party shall harbor feelings of affection or romantic attachment toward the other.’

Just as the Duke had said, Sierra and his relationship was nothing more than a formal marriage without affection.

Even in my memories of the novel, Vine Glade—the father of the three protagonist siblings—never forgot his first wife, who had died from illness.

He had only married Sierra because his retainers pressured him endlessly into doing so.

In the end, Sierra was nothing more than a placeholder Duchess to him.

In other words, she was basically a decorative scarecrow.

The reality suddenly felt even more hopeless, and I let out another deep sigh.

Should I try seducing the Duke?

The thought crossed my mind briefly, but then I remembered the handsome face that had stabbed my heart with such cold words earlier, and I immediately shook my head.

Come to think of it, the biggest reason Sierra died in the first place was because of the Duke.

She loved him too much. She couldn’t control her feelings for him, so she took out her frustrations on the children instead.

And when those children grew up, they dragged her into the underground prison of the Ducal House and took revenge.

Cruelly.

Painfully.

In the end, the only way for me to survive was obvious:

Don’t torment the three siblings. Raise them properly. Then, when they become adults, find the right opportunity and divorce the Duke.

I’d never had children before transmigrating here, so I didn’t know what it meant to have a mother’s heart.

But maybe, if I devoted myself to the children with the same passion I once used to fangirl over my favorite characters, they would someday understand my sincerity?

“But I wonder what the siblings looked like as children? They must’ve been little angels. Maybe being a stepmother isn’t so bad after all. I get to fangirl over my favorite characters right beside them.”

Maybe I should find some parenting books?

How old were Valentio, Briana, and Belcas again?

Excited by the thought, I called for Jane.

“You called for me, Milady?”

“Jane. Could you bring me every kind of parenting book you can find?”

Jane’s eyes widened in shock.

“Parenting books… all of a sudden?”

“Yeah. There’s something I need to study.”

“Milady wants to study… Ah! I-I apologize. I spoke out of turn.”

“No, it’s understandable. Just bring them as quickly as possible.”

“Yes, Milady.”

Jane bowed and turned to leave, but I suddenly remembered one last thing I wanted to ask.

“Oh right, Jane. How old are the children right now?”

“You mean the young masters and young lady?”

“Yeah. My memory’s a little fuzzy lately. You know I haven’t been feeling well.”

“As expected, we really should summon the physician again. No, that doctor is clearly a fraud. I’ll bring someone else.”

“Jane, I don’t need a doctor. I’ll recover if I just rest a bit. More importantly, could you answer my question?”

“Ah, yes. Young Master Valentio is fifteen this year, Young Lady Briana is twelve, and the youngest young master, Belcas, is five years old.”

“Mhm… I see.”

Jane looked at me with a puzzled expression, as if my behavior seemed strange.

Well, if I were her, I’d also think it was odd for someone who hadn’t cared whether the children were alive or dead for the past six months to suddenly take interest in them.

But whether it was for my own survival or for the children’s future—

I intended to care about them a great deal from now on.