THSDR 01

Chapter 01

The Husband Who Was Supposed to Be Dead Came Back.

When I first realized I had possessed this body, she already had a husband and a son.

Before I could even accept that fact or do anything about it, I was locked somewhere and then put onto a carriage heading south.

There was no way to jump off the carriage, and no place to run in a land I had no connection to. So what could I do? If I wanted to survive, I had to take care of my body first.

My first meeting with my husband was also unusual.

He was holding a one-year-old child in his arms, staring at me with sharp, alert eyes, like I was going to hurt his son.

“Listen carefully to what I’m going to say from now on. There will be no grand wedding.”

“Yes. That’s fine.”

I was too exhausted. I didn’t even expect to suffer from motion sickness all the way here.

So I just nodded without any resistance. Honestly, a grand wedding didn’t matter to me. I just wanted to lie down on a comfortable bed and rest.

“Don’t even think about acting like the lady of the house and interfering in the family affairs. I won’t give you any information.”

“……That sounds great too.”

Not working and just living comfortably sounded wonderful. And I had no intention of getting involved in political struggles.

The body might belong to the daughter of a hostile family, but my soul didn’t.

“Don’t even think about harming the child. There will be no intimacy between us, so this child will be your only heir.”

“Of course. The baby is really cute.”

Again, I answered weakly. Intimacy? I had no intention of sharing a bed or having a child with a man I just met.

And harm a child? Such a beautiful baby? I wasn’t insane. I had already decided to become a new kind of stepmother.

The husband adjusted the baby in his arms and looked at me again.

“……Are you sick?”

“It’s not that—I—ugh!”

In the end, I reached my limit and vomited.

I reached out my hand toward my husband, whose face had turned pale and stiff.

“P-please… save me…”

I have really bad motion sickness…

* * *

After placing his new wife, Roana, in the bedroom and having a doctor examine her, Cheres asked seriously:

“Is she seriously ill somewhere?”

“It seems the journey here was very uncomfortable. She also seems to suffer badly from motion sickness.”

Cheres slightly frowned.

After handing the child to the nanny, he had personally carried Roana to the bedroom.

She had gone so pale, like a wax doll, and collapsed so helplessly that he had been shocked. The lobby had turned chaotic in an instant.

“D-Do not tell me… the duchess!”

“She’s not dead, right?”

“Nonsense! She’s still breathing, thankfully.”

In that chaos, Cheres hadn’t felt comfortable leaving the almost-dead-looking woman to someone else.

“She was lighter than a branch. Is she really not ill?”

Maybe the Hezest family sent a sick daughter on purpose. If she died here, they could blame him for everything.

He felt bad for thinking that about someone sick, but Cheres was the lord of the south and head of the Beleidon Duke family. He couldn’t ignore any possibility.

“It could be her constitution, or the long two-week journey. But she doesn’t seem to have any serious illness right now.”

Cheres nodded seriously.

“Make sure she takes her medicine. She needs to recover quickly. Tell the head maid to take care of her as well.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

After dismissing the doctor, Cheres leaned back on the sofa.

A sudden marriage, and everything that happened today—it was all exhausting.

This marriage was not his will at all.

If not for the complicated situation involving the imperial family and both houses, this would never have happened.

This marriage had to continue smoothly and end at the right time.

So that Hezest would have no excuse to complain.

Roana was simply someone who should stay quietly and leave quietly. That was all he expected of her.

* * *

She slowly opened her eyes.

She must have acted terribly in front of her new husband, but thankfully she was alone.

If he had been here, it would’ve been very embarrassing. She sat up while coughing lightly.

In the novel “The Grand Return of Duke Beleidon,” she was the villainous stepmother.

Right after her husband died in the war, she ran away with all the wealth.

And once the male lead grew up, he came to find her, reclaimed the inheritance, and killed her.

That male lead was the cute baby she saw earlier.

His name was Hayden Beleidon.

“There is absolutely no way that will happen.”

A villainous stepmother? No way. She would become the kindest stepmother in the world.

She had no intention of opposing her husband either. Wars were not something she could control anyway.

Even if she knew the future, there were things that couldn’t be changed.

The original Roana bullied her husband, leaked information, and ignored him—but she didn’t want that.

She wasn’t crazy enough to torment a dying man.

Live quietly… and leave quietly.

That was her goal. At most, she had six months.

* * *

Cheres saw Roana again in the dining room. He frowned slightly at her clear face and bright eyes.

Roana was a problem thrown at him by the imperial family.

The marriage between Hezest and Beleidon was arranged by the Emperor himself.

Hezest was a powerful northern duke family influencing the center, and Beleidon ruled the south.

Roana’s father, the Duke of Hezest, had originally planned to marry her to the Crown Prince.

But to punish Hezest’s ambition, the Emperor sent Roana south to marry Duke Beleidon instead.

Why Beleidon had to be dragged into this was beyond him.

“Good morning. Oh, what should I call you?”

The woman chirped energetically. Unlike yesterday’s dying state, her voice was bright.

“…Whatever is comfortable.”

Cheres answered coldly.

“Your Grace?”

He said nothing.

“…Cheres?”

He sighed.

“Darling?”

He frowned.

“Hmm, what should I call you?”

Cheres stared at her coldly. The woman scratched her cheek.

“Cheres. Call me Cheres.”

“Okay, then I’ll call you Cheres.”

Roana smiled awkwardly.

“Thanks to your care yesterday, I slept very well. The bed was nice.”

“……Do you remember what I said yesterday?”

“I do! Of course I remember! First, no wedding expectations. Second, don’t interfere in anything. No leaking information. Third, don’t approach Hayden. Right?”

“I’m glad you remember.”

“Yes. I’ll definitely follow them.”

Her determined face was strange. She said it while smiling?

He expected her to be offended, but instead she filled the quiet dining room with noise.

“The soup is really good. Crab soup? It feels calming.”

“……Good.”

“Oh, mashed potatoes? I didn’t know they made this here. Cheres, you should eat more! The chef is amazing.”

As she spoke, she looked at Cheres with strangely gentle eyes.

What was that look?

Cheres frowned deeply.

But the expression disappeared before he could say anything.

“Cheres, want more of mine? I’ll give you some.”

“…No. I’m fine.”

He didn’t understand her at all. Yesterday she collapsed like she was dying, and today she wouldn’t stop talking.

What kind of daughter did Hezest send?

Hezest had four daughters. The eldest was married off with a live-in son-in-law, the second—Roana—was meant to marry the Crown Prince, the third was rumored to become a marquis’s wife, and only the youngest remained.

The third daughter had just had her wedding recently.

Truly an ambitious family.

Hezest was full of schemes, so Roana must also have hidden intentions.

Even her behavior was suspicious. Noble ladies usually bring maids from their family when they marry.

But Roana had sent hers back immediately.

So Cheres planned to assign her new maids and uncover every hidden intention she had.

“Wow. The salmon steak is amazing! Salmon is really healthy. Cheres, eat more.”

How could she act so familiar already?

This must also be part of her strategy.