Chapter 2
To sleep with her leg over a sick person.
Alice hurriedly moved away.
No, why did her sleeping habits remain the same even after being possessed?
“I’m sorry.”
It was an apology he wouldn’t hear, but Alice whispered softly to her husband.
Then she stared blankly at her handsome husband’s face for a moment.
Black hair that seemed to hold pure darkness and a sculptural face with clear lines.
“Handsome even in the morning. Well, handsomeness doesn’t go away just because it’s morning.”
But what’s the use of being so handsome?
This man, lying with his eyes closed like a painting, was the husband she had to kill.
And when this man dies, she dies too.
Alice Dearrut, the ill-fated character sacrificed in the novel’s trashy plot.
The first thing she did after realizing the truth last night was to bang her head against the wall.
Hoping this reality was an illusion, she hit her forehead about five times, but only her forehead reddened while reality remained unchanged.
Even when she turned her head from the wall, her husband was still lying on the bed.
At that moment, that handsome face seemed to transform into the face of a male lead in a horror movie.
Well, anyway, that’s how Alice first showed a rejection of reality, and then experienced a state of despair and madness.
‘They say I have to kill you, and then I die too. I’ve already died once, and now they want me to die again? Hohoho…’
Alice Dearrut kills Duke Dearrut as her mother-in-law ordered.
And then she takes all the blame for poisoning the Duke and is sentenced to death by hanging.
She’s discarded by her mother-in-law like a hunting dog that’s outlived its usefulness.
That miserable ending was the fate of the Alice she had possessed.
So how could she not be dazed?
If she was going to be possessed anyway, why couldn’t it have been when Alice was a little girl before marriage?
Then she could have at least run away before getting married.
To become Alice on the wedding day, and in the bridal chamber at that.
This is… like God personally setting the table to serve me shit.
As she was complaining while looking at her unconscious husband’s face, Alice couldn’t fight the overwhelming sleepiness.
How could one resist one of the three basic human needs – the desire to sleep?
Alice resigned herself and crawled onto the bed.
They were still too distant to share the same bed, but Kylus was unconscious anyway, so he wouldn’t know even if she snored or ground her teeth.
Lying on the soft bed, she turned to her side and looked at her husband.
‘He’s disgustingly handsome… But they say he has to die. And I’ll be hanged…’
Alice muttered with a drowsy mind.
Then,
‘If you miraculously wake up… could I live?’
With that last thought, she fell asleep.
And she even had a strange dream.
A dream of being chased and caught.
It was an ominous dream.
Was it a dream foretelling her future?
That even if she runs away, she’ll eventually be caught and hanged…
“Ah! No!”
Alice shook her head vigorously, feeling a chill down her neck for no reason.
“It’s just because I was too stressed.”
It’s natural to be stressed when you become a different person overnight.
Alice tried hard to shake off the ominous feeling.
And she covered her husband with the blanket that had slipped down due to her restless movements.
During all her bustling about, Kylus Dearrut didn’t move at all.
He was lying exactly as she had seen him before falling asleep.
“…”
A state of being alive but not alive.
The young Duke who had collapsed from his stepmother’s poison, who had been exceptionally talented.
In the end, he never opened his eyes until his death.
It was just a few lines in the book, but seeing him lying like this made her feel strange.
What would it feel like… to just lie there waiting for death?
Is it fortunate that he’s unconscious?
Just as Alice was feeling a bit melancholic, as if she had already grown attached,
-Knock knock
The sound of knocking on the door broke the silence of the bedroom.
“Madam, are you awake?”
It was an unfamiliar woman’s voice.
Alice flinched and answered as she got off the bed.
“…I’m up.”
The door opened and a maid with brown braided hair entered.
“Young Madam, I pay my respects. I am Maris, the maid assigned to serve you from now on.”
Maris raised her head.
A stiff face and eyes that clearly showed her disapproval of Alice.
Alice sensed it.
This maid was sent by her mother-in-law, Madam Quillian.
It was only natural to assign a watchdog, given that Alice had become the Duke’s wife to carry out Madam Quillian’s orders.
And Maris seemed to dislike her very much.
“I’ve brought the washing water.”
Maris said, not bothering to hide her insolent expression.
Alice lowered her gaze to the silver tray Maris had set down.
That must be what she meant by washing water.
But for some reason, Maris just stood still after saying that.
She didn’t approach Alice with the silver tray.
Although Alice had never lived with maids in her previous life, thanks to her extensive reading of romance fantasy novels, she knew it wasn’t normal for a maid to just put the washing water on the floor and stand there blankly.
That attitude seemed to say, “I’ve brought the water, so wash yourself.”
Maris wasn’t acknowledging her as the Duke’s wife.
Does she think of her as just a minion of the Grand Madam, sold from a lowly count’s family?
“Madam, I said I’ve brought the washing water.”
Maris said, furrowing her brow as if to say, “What are you doing?”
Although it wasn’t pleasant to be so blatantly disrespected, Alice wasn’t in a position to educate a maid sent by Madam Quillian.
Alright, let’s just let it go for now.
Alice suppressed her rising irritation and smiled faintly.
“Okay.”
Maris’s expression soured at Alice’s compliant attitude.
She probably thought Alice would get angry. Then she would have scurried off to tattle to Madam Quillian.
The madam would have then come to scold Alice.
Well, the previous Alice might have been angered by the maid’s bullying, but she was someone who had experienced all sorts of bullying in her previous life.
This was nothing.
Alice put the washbasin on the table herself and washed her face demonstratively.
She had expected the water to be ice-cold or scalding hot, but perhaps Maris didn’t have the guts for that, as the water was surprisingly just the right lukewarm temperature.
After refreshingly washing her face and wiping it with a cloth, Alice smiled brightly at the blankly standing Maris.
“The water temperature was just right. Thank you, Maris.”
As Alice gave her a fresh smile, Maris’s face soured even more as she snatched the cloth away with a loud snap.
“If you’re done washing, go to the dressing room over there and change quickly. The Grand Madam is waiting.”
Although her hand was scratched by the rough action, Alice didn’t even feel the pain at the mention of the Grand Madam.
Madam Quillian.
The person holding her life in her hands.
It was a meeting she would avoid if she could, but she couldn’t.
“Alright.”
After changing her clothes, Alice headed to Madam Quillian’s room with Maris.
* * *
“Grand Madam. The Young Madam has arrived.”
As Maris knocked on the door and spoke, a reply was soon heard from inside.
“Come in.”
Alice swallowed hard and entered the room.
Reflecting Madam Quillian’s taste, the room was filled with very shiny furniture.
Unlike Kylus’s simple room.
Looking at the room alone, it seemed as if Madam Quillian was undoubtedly the owner of the duchy.
Perhaps that wasn’t an incorrect assumption.
It had been over six months since the Duke collapsed, so the real power had probably already shifted to her side.
As Alice rolled her eyes around, her gaze met Madam Quillian’s.
Alice recalled the etiquette from her memories and greeted Madam Quillian.
“Mother, did you have a peaceful night?”
“Enough with the greetings, don’t stand there stupidly, sit down.”
“…Yes.”
She’s still awful even when greeted properly.
Alice swallowed her inner words and sat down in front of Madam Quillian. Then, she furrowed her brow.
“Why isn’t Helkin here yet?”
At the irritated voice, the maid standing behind Madam Quillian bowed her head and said,
“I’ll go check.”
“Do that. How long does he intend to keep me waiting…”
“Grand Madam. Doctor Helkin has arrived.”
Just before Madam Quillian finished speaking, a voice was heard from outside the door.
Doctor?
If it’s a doctor… why would they call a doctor?
At that moment, the man who entered the room bowed to Madam Quillian.
“I pay my respects to the Grand Madam.”
“Tsk, get up. I sent for you ages ago, why are you only coming now?”
“Haha, I apologize. I spilled a precious poisonous plant pot suddenly and had to clean up, so I’m a bit late.”
The gray-haired man said with a sly smile.
And the moment Alice met the man’s brown eyes, she recalled a passage from the book.
[Doctor Helkin was an eccentric genius who created bizarre poisons. Thus, even the great Duke Dearrut ultimately fell victim to his colorless and odorless poison.]
Yes, it was the poison made by this very man that had caused Kylus to collapse.
And…
“Ah, so this is the person.”
“Yes. That’s right. The person who will kill my precious eldest son along with you.”
“Pleased to meet you, Duchess. I am Doctor Helkin Spence.”
He was another hunting dog that would be discarded by Madam Quillian once their job was done.
A fellow hunting dog…
The appearance of an ally she had completely forgotten about due to the shock of possession.
Perhaps a new path might open up.
Alice’s golden eyes sparkled as she looked at Helkin.
