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Chapter 3
Kaien de Siegfried Elision.
He has a wife he married ten years ago. The daughter of Duke Dermis, who died three years after their marriage.
But it’s difficult to easily shake off a connection once made.
Even after the daughter’s death, Duke Dermis continued to send people and try to cultivate friendship with him. Friendship, they called it, but in reality it was closer to harassment.
At times, he would say and do things to provoke Kaien’s sense of guilt. Because of the connection as his wife’s family, there were more than one or two instances where Kaien nearly got entangled in Duke Dermis’s schemes.
How many readers were frustrated by that? There was a flood of complaints—what kind of suffering is this because of one dead woman, please, when is that person going to be dealt with?
Of course, if this were a setting attached to the protagonist, there would have been an uproar. But he’s a supporting character, isn’t he?
The extent of that wife’s mention in the novel was exactly that much.
A necessary existence for the story’s plausibility, but a nuisance that would have been better off not existing—a chicken rib.
“The problem is that I’m that very wife.”
Haha, I let out a hollow laugh and rolled around on the bed. The bed was so wide I felt like I could roll from one end to the other three times.
I slowly traced my face with both hands. Unlike usual, there was nothing in the way.
If I had to name the first impression I had after my thoughts settled:
“Not needing to wear glasses is a good thing…….”
Thinking of the past when I’d had astigmatism since middle school and couldn’t walk a single step without glasses, I was deeply moved.
“From now on, I’ll treasure and take good care of you.”
My small and precious eyeballs, I’ll try to only see pretty and good things. I’ll also make sure to eat things that are good for the eyes. If I still go blind after that, I can’t take responsibility.
“……But I really don’t know.”
How exactly do I end up dying?
In the original work, it just says that the Grand Duchess died early. And it only describes how much our family torments the Grand Duke through that connection called the Grand Duchess.
It was described as a terminal illness, but thinking of it as simply dying from a disease doesn’t fit—I’m currently very healthy. I get a cold maybe once every two years at most.
If this were just reading a novel, the process of deducing would be fun. But since my life is on the line, I couldn’t laugh.
As if reflecting my frustrated feelings, muttering kept pouring out endlessly. But it felt like I could only breathe if I vented this helpless feeling at least a little.
Yeah, there’s no one here anyway, so what does it matter. Even if someone saw, they’d just think I’m crazy.
“Maybe there’s some other external factor after all.”
Could I be poisoned? Like someone putting poison in my food, or the possibility of being assassinated. Or maybe a sudden illness develops within three years.
Just in case, it might be good to ask a physician for an examination later. It could also be a magical illness, so I should consider that too.
However, even if I somehow resolve the cause and survive, the most important problem remains.
But honestly, thinking that far was too tiring and sleepy.
I’d woken up early in the morning to get ready for the wedding, put on the heavy dress and accessories, entered the ceremony hall, and walked around all day—the aftermath hit me all at once.
Lying on the soft bed, maybe the tension released because I’d thrown off the dress?
“Living beautifully is truly hard work…….”
Muttering worries I’d never once thought about when I was Joo Ha-yeon, I slowly closed my eyes.
“……ma’am.”
“Mm…….”
Something kept bothering me. As if swatting a mosquito, I slowly tried to wave my arm. But there was nothing to catch.
“Ma’am!”
“……Huh?”
As I slowly lifted my now-refreshed eyelids, sunlight was streaming through the window of the now-bright room. Tweet tweet, the sound of birds came from far away.
As I blankly looked to the left and then turned my head toward the ceiling, my eyes met those of a red-haired woman looking down at me with round eyes.
Blink blink.
Blink blink.
As if competing over who could blink less, we stared at each other intently, and eventually I was the first to speak.
“Who…… are you?”
“Ah.”
The woman, still in that position, smiled brightly and exclaimed.
“Hello, ma’am! I’m Fiona, and I’ll be serving you from today onward. It’s a pleasure to meet you!”
It was a greeting as cheerful as the sunlight streaming through the window. At that, I finally came to my senses and sat up in bed.
Looking at the unfamiliar room, memories from the previous day suddenly flooded in.
The chaotic wedding, the past-life memories that suddenly returned, the utterly cold husband.
Seeing how I’d drifted off to sleep in that situation, I must be quite the easygoing person.
“I’m the one who should ask for your help.”
Rubbing my half-awake eyes and nodding my head, Fiona quickly asked.
“Shall I prepare water for washing?”
“Yeah. Could you also bring me clothes to change into? And prepare breakfast after that?”
“Yes! Ah, His Highness had business today and left early.”
“Is that so?”
Going out to work the day after the wedding—he must be quite diligent. If it were me, I’d have used that as an excuse to play for a week.
Anyway, that works out well.
“Fiona.”
“Yes!”
I lightly cleared my throat.
“Could I ask you for a tour of the estate?”
After changing into appropriate clothes and starting to walk around the estate, the gazes directed at me were quite noticeable. Though when I looked back, they’d immediately turn away and pretend to be doing something else.
The Grand Duke’s estate was quite large and beautiful. Well, the home of one of the empire’s foremost powers shouldn’t be just any place.
There were an enormous number of rooms, and the number of servants seemed to exceed a hundred just by eyeballing it.
After touring the estate to my heart’s content, I went to find the butler, Orendo. A man who looked to be in his mid-thirties, with his hair swept back to reveal a neat forehead, greeted me politely.
“Welcome, ma’am. Did you sleep comfortably last night?”
“Thanks to you, I slept very well and woke up refreshed.”
As I smiled brightly in response, he looked at me with a puzzled expression. Well, I suppose I’m too energetic for a bride who was snubbed on her wedding night.
“I received prior notice from His Highness the Grand Duke. If there’s anything you need, please ask for anything.”
Unlike his kind words, there was a fair amount of wariness in his eyes directed at me. Of course, I had no intention of making things difficult for him, so I stated my business right away.
“That’s great! Then may I ask right now?”
I demurely clasped my hands together and looked up at him slightly. Hoping to appear as calm and ladylike as possible.
“What I’d like is…….”
“Welcome back, master.”
Orendo politely greeted his master returning to the estate after half a month. Kaien, who had handed him his removed cloak, casually undid the button choking his neck.
“Did your business go well?”
“It did.”
Only the smell of wind lingered on Kaien’s cloak. Hard to believe he’d returned after quelling a localized conflict on the outskirts of the Grand Duchy.
It wasn’t originally a disturbance he would have needed to handle personally, but if it could serve as an excuse to leave the estate somehow, it didn’t matter.
He didn’t know how much the Duke would rage, but that wasn’t his concern. What he’d promised was only to marry the daughter of Duke Dermis’s house—he hadn’t agreed to any attitude after that.
Suddenly, Kaien thought of the silver-haired woman who had boldly stared at him. And the audacious words she’d spat out after that.
Kaien tossed out a question as if passing by.
“So, how is that woman doing?”
“That is…….”
Hem hem, Orendo cleared his throat low and reported without hesitation. As if he’d been waiting for this moment.
“She is studying, I’m told.”
“I see.”
The impression up to that point was ordinary. Until the butler added more.
“Yesterday she tended the flower beds with the gardener, and today she’ll be in the kitchen. She said she wanted to learn to cook. The day before yesterday, she learned arithmetic from me before leaving. She’s a very quick learner.”
Words he couldn’t comprehend at all flowed from the butler’s mouth. Thanks to that, Kaien spent a moment processing them.
“……What?”
“I’ve stated only facts, without a single exaggeration.”
What on earth was this about now. After a brief silence, Kaien asked seriously.
“Is she perhaps insane?”
“I wonder…….”
