The Villainess Enjoys Her Married Life
Chapter 2
Chapter 2
Episode 2. A Husband Wishing for His Wife’s Death
2023.12.02.
Eshika quietly looked back.
On the life she had lived until now.
Eshika Brigitte. Born the only daughter of a merchant family that had purchased a baron’s title after striking it rich in the jewel trade, she had been raised like a flower in a greenhouse.
Her two older brothers learned the family business, but Eshika had no interest in such things.
Like any ordinary noble lady, her life’s ambition was simply to marry into a prominent family, bear beautiful children, and live a life brimming with love and happiness.
Then, during a visit to the capital of Torres, she caught sight of Duke Kalian Klaus. Smitten at first sight by his striking looks and impeccably refined manners, she constantly begged her father to let her become his wife.
Her father tried to dissuade her, warning that his mother, Riona Klaus, is no ordinary woman to deal with, but Eshika refused to bend.
In the end, by offering a colossal dowry to rescue the Duke of Klaus’s house from financial ruin, Eshika achieved her dream of marrying Kalian, and……
“And that was the start of this dog of a life.”
Gazing out the dark window of the north-facing back room, Eshika muttered in an elegant tone.
Setting aside the Grand Duchess’s open contempt and the in-laws’ blatant disregard, Kalian had never once treated her as his wife.
The life Eshika had dreamed of came crashing down, and she had poured her heart out in a letter to her childhood friend, Yuri, begging her to come.
The daughter of her wet nurse and her companion since childhood, Yuri willingly entered the Klaus Ducal House as her maid, and……
In this desolate place where she had no one to lean on, Eshika relied solely on Yuri.
Though her own reputation seemed to plunge even further after Yuri’s arrival, she remained the one person Eshika trusted.
“If only I had regained my memories sooner, I wouldn’t have been played for such a fool.”
Back when she lived as Cheon Yeong-ryeong, the people who tried to stab her in the back were too numerous to count on both hands.
Had her sharp instincts from that life been intact, she would have seen through Yuri with a single blink of an eye…… yet she had lived for years in foolish deception.
Eshika sat down at her dusty, battered desk.
Then, writing in the characters of the Central Plains so that no one here could ever decipher them, she began to set down her thoughts.
First, reclaim my strength.
In her past life, Cheon Yeong-ryeong had been the daughter of the Heavenly Demon Cult Leader, possessing formidable martial arts.
I know all too well that a man’s love cannot protect me.
Though this body was frail and had never undergone cultivation, the natural qi here felt far denser than in the Murim.
At most ten years, at best five, and she would be able to recover half of her former power.
Second, tear this ducal house up by its roots, salt it down, bleed it dry, and cast it aside.
Kalian and the Klaus Ducal House had planted a grudge far too deep for a simple divorce and clean departure.
In this world, she would consume them down to their very souls, with all the elegance demanded of high society.
Having the memories of reading that book, she knew the Klaus family’s weaknesses inside and out.
The things she had seen and heard while living as the dim-witted Eshika were falling into place like puzzle pieces, from the trivial to the critical.
It would take time, but the outcome would undoubtedly be satisfying.
Third…….
As Eshika considered the final step of her plan, the corners of her lips curled into a wicked smile.
This life had to be different.
It had to diverge entirely from the fate Eshika Klaus was destined to suffer in that book.
Just then, a knock sounded at the door.
“I’m coming in.”
It was the insolent, unbothered voice of Sella, one of the maids who had tormented her.
**
“P-please…… spare me…….”
Sella was certain an assassin from the outside had broken in.
The Duchess was nowhere to be seen, and someone radiating an unknown, chilling presence had a razor-sharp edge pressed against her throat.
Her entire body shook violently, and her breath hitched as if death were already upon her.
“Do you know who I am?”
A cold voice she had never heard before came from behind.
It sounded neither distinctly male nor female.
Sella squeezed her eyes shut and whispered in a trembling voice.
“I…… I didn’t see anything……. Please, have mercy…….”
Security and patrols throughout the Klaus Ducal Estate were ironclad.
Anyone capable of slipping through them had to be an assassin of terrifying skill.
“If I let you live, you will run straight to the Devil of Klaus and report everything that happened here.”
The Devil of Klaus was the servants’ private moniker for the Grand Duchess.
“N-no! If you let me go, I won’t breathe a single word. Please…… just once, have mercy.”
Sella shook her head frantically in denial.
The sharp edge pressing against her neck felt as though it would pierce her flesh and end her life at any second.
“Sella.”
The sudden sound of her name spoken from behind made her flinch violently.
It startled her so severely she nearly opened her eyes.
How does this person know my name?
“Your mother and younger sister live in Achembel. You send half your wages there, but finding it insufficient, you occasionally help yourself to the Grand Duchess’s storeroom.”
Sella’s heart pounded like mad.
The gifts presented to the Grand Duchess were listed on ledgers so vast that even she could hardly keep track of them all.
Stealing an insignificant ring or bracelet among them was practically effortless.
“Your companions Anis and May are involved in this as well, and yes, Dave covers for you.”
Hearing Dave’s name nearly made Sella faint.
Dave, one of the senior guards, was someone with whom she shared a delicate, mutual affection.
“If you trouble me, your crimes will be laid bare for all to see, and you and your friends will be cast out on the street.”
“…….”
“Which means the lives I can effortlessly claim will number four.”
The assassin’s words sent a deep shiver through Sella’s entire body.
Four…… that meant her family in Achembel, Dave, and herself.
The only place offering her any protection was inside the Klaus estate.
Could this assassin…… be an insider……?
Otherwise, there was no way anyone could know about petty thefts occurring strictly between maids and guards.
Sella’s heart thudded wildly in her chest.
“I will never say a word. Please believe me.”
Keeping her eyes shut, Sella bowed her head low.
She had no idea why such a person was lurking in the Duchess’s chamber, but to keep her life—and prevent her world from unraveling—she had no choice but to obey completely.
“I shall let you leave alive. Take this stale bread, and in its place, bring warm soup and proper food to set before my door.”
At last, the sharp object digging into her throat was drawn away.
“Did you say…… food?”
“Indeed. Bring the very best for every meal.”
The spot where the blade had pressed still stung, but Sella finally felt she could breathe again.
For an assassin’s demand, it was strangely ordinary, sparking a flicker of doubt.
Could this assassin…… be an acquaintance of the Duchess?
That made no sense. The Duchess had no friends other than her maid, Yuri Anesis.
And after the Duchess had assaulted Yuri in front of His Grace, the rift between them seemed utterly permanent.
Or perhaps they are blackmailing the Duchess over some weakness.
That seemed far more plausible.
A seasoned assassin with intimate knowledge of the estate’s internal affairs would surely possess endless leverage over a foolish, indolent woman like the Duchess.
Perhaps they were extorting her to stay in this room together while she recovered from her head injury…….
Seeing no trace of the Duchess in the bed, she might even be tied up somewhere out of sight.
Not that it matters to me……. I have my own neck to save.
Sella would have to carry out the orders given by the assassin inside the Duchess’s room to the letter.
In any case, no one in the ducal estate cared in the slightest about the Duchess’s condition.
Clutching the dry bread and water she had brought, she slowly turned and walked out of the room.
**
“Relief for Sorbet? Isn’t His Highness the Crown Prince being far too blatant in his extortion? Things in Pelope aren’t well either. Damn it all, there’s no decency left in business.”
In the rose garden of the Klaus Ducal Mansion.
Gaben Pelope, Kalian Klaus’s close friend and the ruler of the Pelope territory, furrowed his brows and voiced his frustration.
Instead of answering, Kalian merely signaled his agreement with a hardened expression and heavy silence.
Though the famine in Sorbet had reached its worst following the poor harvest, the Klaus treasury was hardly overflowing enough to fling its doors open for relief.
The cost required to maintain and train their military forces was always astronomical.
“By the way…….”
Gazing out over the rose garden, Gaben casually broached the subject with Kalian.
“I heard your wife suffered an injury. Is her condition any…….”
“Let us speak of that another time.”
Kalian cut Gaben off with a frigid glare.
The biting chill in his tone made Gaben’s hand freeze around his teacup.
Kalian Klaus had been a cold, unfeeling man from birth, but toward his wife, he was exceptionally cruel.
Even if the marriage is bad, there’s no need to make his disgust so glaringly obvious……. Tsk.
Kalian looked into the distance, his brow heavily furrowed.
That dreadful woman, Eshika, who had lunged at him with her eyes rolling back in fury.
They said she had woken after burning with a high fever for an entire week.
Ten days had already passed since then.
That woman, who once busied herself flaunting her extravagant jewelry across the gardens, had reportedly not stepped a single foot outside her room since regaining consciousness.
What had gotten into her? There was no reason to wonder, nor did he care.
If only she would never come out of that room again.
Kalian thought, his brow tightening further.
No. Better yet, if only she would simply drop dead.
