Chapter 002
The villainess Annette.
That was the name she had been given in the world she was reincarnated into.
In the novel, Annette was destined to commit repeated atrocities of sin and destruction to match her reputation as a villainess.
So, after being shocked by the beautiful face reflected on the mirror’s surface, the reincarnated woman had to think about the novel’s plot and find a way to change her life so that the people around her would love her.
But she didn’t have much time to alter her fate, because as soon as she opened her eyes in Annette’s body, she was locked away in a mental asylum.
It wasn’t that she suffered from any real mental issues.
Of course, the mental state of the villainess Annette was questionable, but at the very least, the reincarnated Annette was sane.
Nevertheless, Annette was imprisoned due to complicated circumstances, and the Odentia Empire was unfamiliar with the concept of a mental ward; thus, there was no proper knowledge or treatment for mental illnesses.
Elysia was described more as a detention camp than a mental asylum.
Cold air seeped from the walls even in the middle of summer.
The exposure to this chilling air could make even the sun lose its rays, let alone cause the inmates confined there to develop genuine mental illnesses.
There wasn’t much to do in such a place. All Annette did while imprisoned in Elysia Asylum was stare at the ceiling and walls, then sleep.
So today would have been just another day like yesterday…
If only that man hadn’t come.
Just before that “man” appeared, Annette, as usual, was staring at the dimly lit walls, persistently trying to decipher the shapes of the moldy patches that resembled towers.
Creak—
At that moment, the heavy iron door opened with a terrifying sound.
Annette closed her eyes, shielding them from the bright light that flooded the room, and then the man standing at the door spoke.
“It’s time to take your medicine.”
His voice was as harsh as the hospital bed, yet softer than the screams of the deranged woman coming from the next room.
When Annette didn’t respond, the doctor finally forced her to sit up.
His irritation was evident in the rough movements of his hands.
When she was forced to open her eyes, Annette’s face was beautiful but expressionless.
If one were to search for emotions on her face, they would find only lethargy enveloping the corners of her features.
It was a face that reflected her resigned acceptance of death.
“Swallow it.”
“I am a marchioness, and you cannot treat me with such disrespect. If my father, Marquis Cheringen, is dead, doesn’t that make me the marchioness now?”
For the first time in days, a cracked voice emerged from her chapped lips.
The doctor’s expression twisted.
“Did you kill your father with your own hands just so you could be called a marchioness?”
“I didn’t kill him.”
“No one believes that. The major daily newspapers are still talking about the murder of Marquis Cheringen.”
“You don’t see any announcements about my disappearance in the papers, do you? Kidnapping and imprisoning a beautiful woman like me deserves a knighthood.”
“You’re not imprisoned. You’re in custody because you’re not in your right mind. We’re saving your life because you could be executed if you went to court.”
“They can’t send me to prison without evidence, so they treat me like I’m insane and lock me up in a place like this.”
Annette’s light green eyes flashed intensely.
The doctor blinked, almost believing in her innocence.
‘She’s a witch.’
It wasn’t clear whether she was a murderer or not, but it was certain she had some strange manipulative power.
As Annette said, there was no evidence that she had committed the murder.
However, under these circumstances, she was the only plausible culprit.
Because beside the dead Marquis, Annette was holding a pistol.
There were some mysterious aspects, but all the clues pointed to Annette being the killer.
“We spoke to your relatives, and they said you’re the murderer.”
“They’re after my title and wealth.”
Marquis Burhardt Cheringen loved his daughter exceptionally and promised her all his titles and possessions.
After Annette became his successor, there was discontent within the Cheringen family, the reason being that they couldn’t entrust the family’s fate to a woman.
So they seized this opportunity and acted like hyenas to take Annette’s position.
“I don’t understand why they’re so greedy for my position when the Cheringen family will be destroyed in the future without a trace anyway.”
“The Cheringen family will do just fine without you.”
“No, they’ll be accused of treason and slaughtered down to the youngest member. That’s the fate of the family that gave birth to a villainess.”
“Are you saying you’re a seer who knows the future?”
“You said you’re a doctor, but how can you be this foolish? I don’t know the future, but this world exists inside a book, and I know the ending of that book.”
The doctor laughed.
Annette had said crazy things about this world being a fictional world in a book and that she already knew its ending.
How could she claim to be from another world when she couldn’t even leave the asylum, sane or not?
“If you keep saying things like that, you’ll never get out of this place.”
Of course, Annette knew exactly how she appeared to the doctor when she started talking about reincarnation and transmigration.
She knew what she knew, but she decided to give up speaking and be patient.
She hadn’t intended to ask the doctor to believe her, so her stance wasn’t affected, and she didn’t lose her composure.
But there was something about the realistic way she spoke that turned people’s emotions upside down.
Feeling insulted by the idea of being manipulated by her, the doctor harshly placed the pills in Annette’s hand, filled with resentment and spite.
“Swallow them. You deserve to go to prison for killing the Marquis, but luckily for you, you were admitted to a mental asylum.”
Annette stared at her hand holding the sedative; it was paler than the white pills.
Her flawless white skin was so delicate and translucent that she thought her bones might be visible under sunlight.
Annette looked at the pills and tossed them into her mouth.
The doctor smiled, observing Annette’s smooth face.
It was too fine a face to die in a place like this.
She was now dressed in tattered clothes, but the woman who once wore the finest garments and adornments was so beautiful that the word “flower” wasn’t enough to describe her beauty.
If it weren’t for the complicated situation they were in, he would have tried to touch her.
Annette sensed the doctor’s lingering gaze fixed on her.
For a moment, a different light flashed in Annette’s otherwise empty eyes.
Ptoo—
Annette spat the medicine onto the doctor’s face.
Her spit and the pills stuck to his eyes.
“I told you not to look at me with those filthy eyes.”
The doctor hurriedly wiped his face with a disinfectant, then grabbed Annette’s face and forced her mouth open.
“Argh!”
“Damn you, you harlot, how dare you spit in my face! Swallow it. Swallow this medicine!”
“Mmph…”
The doctor poured the entire bottle of pills into Annette’s mouth.
Annette tried to cover her mouth with both hands, but her weakened body, deprived of food, couldn’t withstand the man’s strong grip.
The doctor was now choking Annette.
Unable to breathe, Annette struggled, trembling.
His anger had flared up too much this time, crossing all boundaries.
Finally, her tightly shut mouth opened, and the pills went in.
The doctor dropped the bottle with a clatter and stepped back.
Annette coughed violently as her choked breaths escaped; then she heard a faint voice, weaker than her coughing, coming from nearby.
“How dare you do such a thing to the Grand Duchess?”
A tall man was striking the doctor relentlessly.
The doctor trembled helplessly as each swift, brutal punch flew toward him without mercy.
“You kept my missing wife confined in a place like this.”
His missing wife?
It seemed the man, who appeared more like a beast than a hero, was trying to play the role of a husband punishing the villain who had harmed his beloved wife.
Under these circumstances, that wife was Annette, but Annette didn’t know who he was.
Since Annette’s fate was to die young for harassing the heroine, she hadn’t had time to marry or have a husband.
While she wondered if Annette in the novel had a secret lover, she watched the doctor being beaten until his back was softer than his belly.
The man’s fists flew in every direction.
‘I think stabbing him with a knife would be more merciful.’
The man was ruthless, as if he were born to inflict pain on others.
Perhaps it was because of his silver hair that swayed with every swing of his fists, but Annette strangely recalled a certain name over and over again.
A crowd of onlookers gathered at the door, but no one dared to stop what was happening.
Soon, the doctor passed out, and Annette’s coughing stopped around that point.
The man threw the swollen doctor against the wall and approached Annette.
He also reminded her of someone with a sharp jawline that contrasted with his soft, flowing hair, like a bird’s feather.
‘This can’t be… Could this man be that person from the novel?’
As the man approached and knelt on one knee, Annette instinctively recoiled, but he was faster and embraced her.
His action was utterly unexpected.
“My dear Annette.”
His voice was calm and gentle.
It was hard to believe such a tone came from the mouth of someone whose knuckles were stained with blood.
“Who are you…”
“It’s me. Your husband, Theodore. I’ve finally found you.”
Theodore.
Annette’s body stiffened at the mention of that name.
If this was the Theodore she knew, the collapsed doctor should be grateful there wasn’t a knife in this man’s hand.
If Theodore had a small weapon, he would surely have killed him.
When the name she had imagined matched the one the man spoke, Annette felt suffocated again.
Perhaps sensing Annette’s tension, Theodore drew closer to her.
A sharp voice, completely different from the gentle tone he had just used, pierced Annette’s ear.
“You, a being who came from outside this world. If you want to get out, pretend to love me.”
It was clearly a threat disguised as a suggestion.
This man knew that Annette was reincarnated.
“Do you understand what I’m talking about?”
Annette nodded.
Who is this man? How does he know who she is?
He wanted her to pretend to love him if she wanted to get out? Did he mean getting out of here? Would he be her savior?
If he was the villain in this novel, she should push him away immediately and not even breathe in his presence.
But Annette had no other choice.
She had to take his hand to survive in this cold mental asylum.
“You finally came here. I’ve been waiting for you to find me.”
Annette gave a bright smile as she wrapped her arms around the neck of the husband she had just met.
She decided to become the devil’s wife in order to live.
