Prologue:
People were very interested in the private lives of nobles.
Even while pretending not to be, they kept their eyes and ears open to the nobles’ private affairs.
Even this small rural village received all kinds of rumors, such as that Madam Antoire had committed adultery, or that Marquis Paladen had taken a new wife.
They especially exchanged news on the day of weekend service. After the service ended, people gathered here and there and chattered excitedly.
Today as well, people were gathered in front of the church. Among them, the fastest source of news was Mrs. Hemschmidt, who was wearing a red hat.
“I wonder if Duke Caliberg is all right.”
A born storyteller had a talent for setting the stage.
If she mentioned a subject everyone was interested in and even added a plausible gesture, people’s attention would gather all at once.
“Why? Did something happen to His Grace?”
“It’s not that.”
Mrs. Hemschmidt groaned as she continued the story.
“It’s been a long time since His Grace entered seclusion.”
News about the most attractive man in the Empire spread faster than any other news.
“They say he’s been wasting away in grief after his wife passed away, having fallen into shock.”
At the tragedy that befell a man in love, all the villagers wore worried expressions.
“Oh my. He must have really loved the Duchess.”
“It started as a political marriage, but in the end he fell in love. How pitiful.”
“This is why love is scary.”
Listening in on the women’s conversation, I snorted.
‘This is why rumors can’t be trusted.’
Why would Kalhan shut himself away in shock? By now he should be meeting Elizabeth and making love.
The cold-hearted man would turn into a devoted romantic in front of Elizabeth. With such a one and only love, why would he waste away in grief?
“The Duchess must have been very ill?”
“They say she had bad lungs since she was young. She barely held on, and in the end she passed away.”
One of the women listening to Mrs. Hemschmidt’s story even became teary-eyed.
Listening to the women’s conversation, I kept snorting. How could every single thing they said be wrong?
Whether the rumor was true or not, how would I, just a country woman, know?
Because I was that ‘dead Duchess.’
I faked my death and ran away from Duke Caliberg, Kalhan Maxitern, to escape his side.
***
“Duke Caliberg has come to Histri!”
“What? Histri is right nearby!”
I thought Kalhan would be living well after meeting Elizabeth Stein.
But he showed behavior different from what I expected.
Starting with seclusion, he went to war, gave up his official duties, and went down to his territory, showing a series of strange actions.
It was certainly different from the novel’s development that I, who was terminally ill, did not die.
But I thought at least Kalhan, the male lead, would fall in love with Elizabeth.
However, instead of meeting Elizabeth Stein, Kalhan rampaged across the Empire like a madman.
‘What? What on earth?’
“I heard His Grace has been wandering all over the Empire lately. Maybe he received an order from His Majesty?”
“I don’t know about that, but they say he’s looking for someone.”
‘No way. That can’t be it.’
A chilling sense of unease ran down my spine, but I thought it couldn’t be related to me.
“Hey! This is a scoop!”
At that moment, a well-built woman came running from the forest, panting. She had run so urgently that her face was bright red.
“Right now, huff… huff… oh, I’m dying. Do you know who’s entering our village right now?”
“Who is it?”
“Duke Caliberg! They say His Grace is entering our village right now!”
‘No way… is it because of me?’
I thought I had disguised myself perfectly.
‘Did he find some clue somewhere? Is he angry that I deceived him and came to kill me? Then should I run away right now? Should I grab my belongings first and hurry off?’
“For what reason would His Grace come to such a small village?”
Trinitys, where I currently lived, was a quiet village that was moderately developed. There was a physician who could be called in emergencies, and there were decent shops.
However, to nobles who enjoyed luxurious lives in the Capital, it was a very stifling village. It was especially not a place a Duke with power second only to the Emperor would visit.
“Could he be coming to meet Lord Gerold? Scholars usually come around this time to seek his advice.”
I thought Mrs. Brierton’s words made sense. The famous scholar Sir Gerold Gritold had left life in the Capital and returned to his hometown.
He was an old man close to ninety, yet still wise and insightful. Even now, many people came to seek his advice.
But there was no harm in being careful. It seemed better to leave Trinitys right away.
“Hanna?”
At that moment, Mrs. Hemschmidt called me.
“You look pale. Are you all right?”
The people here thought I was something like the daughter born to a noble’s mistress. It wasn’t a noble family’s mansion, but a young woman living alone in the most luxurious house in Trinitys drew attention.
So the people of Trinitys showed me kindness while also being curious about what kind of life I had lived.
Of course, I didn’t tell them.
How could I say that I was the Duchess of House Caliberg from those rumors?
“I think I might be coming down with a cold. I’ll go in and rest first.”
“Oh dear. Drink some warm tea and go to bed early.”
“Thank you for worrying about me, Mrs. Hemschmidt. I’ll be going now.”
After exchanging greetings with the people, I hurried back to the residence. My maid, Jodin, looked at me in confusion as I came in and shut the door with a bang.
“My Lady?”
“Jodin, I think we need to leave Trinitys urgently. Can you prepare?”
“Yes, understood.”
Jodin looked like she had many questions, but she moved quickly without asking anything. Still, I had to at least roughly explain the situation to her.
When I went up to the second floor to pack my belongings, I heard a knock at the front door.
While changing clothes, I suddenly looked outside the window, and when I saw the familiar carriage, I almost screamed.
“Yes, coming!”
Jodin’s voice was heard.
“Jodin! Wait.”
I hurried down the stairs to stop her, who was about to open the door without even checking who it was. But Jodin had already opened the front door.
“Hanna.”
The dry, flat voice was the same as ever. His face, thinner than before, caught my eye.
And why did the way he looked at me seem so sorrowful?
“So you were alive.”
It was Kalhan.
Chapter 1:
‘Today is the day I die.’
More precisely, it was the day Hanna Sestrain, the former wife of the novel’s male lead, died.
After possessing Hanna’s body not long after her marriage, I eagerly waited for Founding Day, when she would die according to the original story.
“Jodin, today is Founding Day, right?”
Possessing a noble’s body was nice and all, but at this point I wanted to return to my original world.
I had to go back for the sake of the qualifications I had built up with blood, sweat, and tears, and for my family.
I wanted to enjoy happiness as my original self.
“Yes, since midnight has passed, today is indeed Founding Day.”
Hanna suffered from a lung disease called Chronit, which was considered incurable in this world. And on the day she was supposed to die, she even had cold symptoms, and her body shivered with chills.
So no matter what happened in the original story, it wasn’t my concern. Even if the heroine Elizabeth married a man other than the male lead, I would just think that was how life went.
The most important thing was my own safety.
A protagonist like Elizabeth would be fine without anyone worrying about her. The one who should be worried about was me, who had suddenly come to another world.
“The fever needs to go down somehow by morning.”
Jodin, the maid Hanna had brought from House Sestrain, murmured worriedly.
“It’ll probably work out somehow.”
I believed that once today passed, I would return to my original world.
Hanna’s death on Founding Day, unlike fickle human emotions and actions, was something that was bound to happen. Only then would the novel begin.
It was impossible for someone with an incurable disease to recover for no reason.
Unless a priest of light performed a miracle, Hanna would die on Founding Day.
“Jodin, you should go to sleep too. You must be tired.”
For a patient with a lung disease, dying after symptoms worsened due to a cold was the most plausible and reasonable death. In fact, the original story didn’t explain in detail how Hanna died. It only said that her condition worsened on Founding Day and she died.
“Are you really all right? Should I give you a little more medicine?”
“I said I’m fine.”
Maybe when I opened my eyes in the morning, I would be back in my original world. Everything that happened here would feel like a dream.
It had already been two months since I possessed Hanna’s body. During that time, I had felt uneasy and distressed.
Living as someone else was not an easy thing.
“Have good dreams, Jodin. And be happy.”
“Pardon? I do not know about good dreams, but be happy?”
It was something I said as a farewell in my own way. But it must have sounded strange to her.
“I meant, have happy dreams.”
“Yes. Then you too, Madam.”
Because Jodin was here, the past two months weren’t entirely painful. If she hadn’t been here, I probably wouldn’t have been able to adapt to this place.
I was grateful to her, so I left one last farewell.
“Have good dreams.”
“Mhm.”
Cough, cough. Not long after Jodin left, a fit of coughing broke out.
It was a body in perfect condition to die. Perhaps my fever had already risen, because my vision spun.
Hoping desperately that when I opened my eyes I would return to my original self, I closed them.
***
“…Huh?”
Until last night, I had been breathing heavily from a high fever. But when I opened my eyes, not only was there no fever, I didn’t even cough.
‘Why does my body feel so fine?’
Could it be that I wasn’t going to die on Founding Day?
“I am so glad your fever went down!”
‘Did I get the date wrong?’
“Thankfully, you will be able to attend the Founding Day banquet. It is an important occasion you must attend with His Grace.”
After taking the medicine Jodin gave me and receiving preparations to attend the party, I fell into something like a panic.
‘What if I don’t die like this? If I can’t return to my original world, do I have to live here forever?’
No. A terminally ill patient could worsen at any time. A body that was fine in the morning could suddenly get worse in the evening.
“No way.”
A sudden thought that I might not be able to return to my original world made me anxious.
That was how desperately I wanted to return to my original self.
No matter that I was a Duchess, a terminal life was painful. I, who had been perfectly healthy without minor illnesses, had suddenly become a patient with severe lung disease.
Even a little strain made my breathing grow short. I, who loved exercise, couldn’t even take a light walk anymore. People’s worried gazes and nagging always followed me.
If I had been sick from the start, that would be one thing, but it felt unfair to suddenly possess someone else’s body and even gain an illness.
“It is done, Madam.”
When I looked in the mirror, an unfamiliar face was reflected.
A delicate beauty with smooth honey-blonde hair and sparkling green eyes appeared.
“You look beautiful today as well.”
Even though I had possessed the body of a woman beautiful enough to make one’s eyes widen, it still felt unfamiliar to the point of discomfort.
Jodin, who had finished dressing me, said we were running late and led me to the entrance. Then the man standing in front of the carriage noticed me and greeted me lightly.
“Hanna.”
A cold gaze turned toward me. One of the reasons I wanted to leave this place was precisely because of this man.
A man with jet-black hair and sharp golden eyes like a bird of prey.
Kalhan Maxitern. The male lead of the original story.
“I kept you waiting.”
“It’s fine. I can wait as long as needed for you.”
He said that, but he disliked me. More precisely, he disliked Hanna Sestrain.
For some reason, Kalhan considered Hanna extremely bothersome. Our relationship had only improved somewhat after I possessed her.
When I first met him, he didn’t even make eye contact with me and treated me with contempt. No matter what I said, he only got angry.
From what I heard from others, Hanna was a kind-hearted person who took care of those beneath her, a very compassionate woman.
‘Why did Kalhan hate someone like her?’
“Come, let’s go now.”
Conscious of the servants, Kalhan whispered gently and held out his hand. The servants blushed and let out small gasps.
Until the carriage we boarded departed, Kalhan acted like a husband in love.
“Kalhan, do you know your acting keeps getting better?”
“A flattering compliment. We have to act like a harmonious couple at the banquet anyway, so it was just a light rehearsal.”
For political reasons, Kalhan was careful not to let rumors of discord between me and him spread, since I came from the powerful House Sestrain.
The carriage that departed from the ducal estate soon entered the Imperial Palace.
“You must get used to this. It would be troublesome if others noticed.”
When the carriage stopped, Kalhan said this as he held out his hand to me.
Yes, this was exactly the extent of our relationship.
In public, we acted like an affectionate couple, and in private, we sneered at each other or traded pointless remarks. A hollow relationship like that.
“Do not worry. I will make sure no one notices.”
‘Anyway, once I leave this world today, it’s goodbye to Kalhan too. That aside, I really am going to die today, right?’
“Smile, Hanna.”
As the doors to the banquet hall opened, Kalhan placed his hand around my waist. I hadn’t expected him to go as far as physical contact, so I shot him a glance.
“What are you doing?”
“Did I not tell you? Today we have to imitate a newlywed couple.”
“Even so, this is too much.”
“There is nothing that naturally shows a loving relationship as well as physical contact.”
Kalhan looked down at me and sneered. With an attractive smile, he said something that scraped harshly at my pride. Annoyingly, he whispered in a voice too quiet for others to hear.
“And your face is fairly pleasant to look at.”
‘Oh?’
“Do you know people call someone who enjoys this kind of acting a pervert?”
“No one would think that when they see the Duke and Duchess standing side by side.”
Still smiling shamelessly, Kalhan raised his eyebrows. What kind of stupid expression was I making for the Duke to look so smug?
Getting flustered just because he wrapped an arm around my waist. My pride couldn’t allow that.
Seeing Kalhan’s crooked smile irritated me. Was he enjoying my reaction right now?
I wasn’t going to just let it slide.
So I went a step further. Smiling even more beautifully than before, I leaned my head softly against his chest.
“…!”
Kalhan sharply inhaled.
“What? You said there is nothing that expresses a natural relationship better than physical contact.”
Smiling shamelessly, I leaned even more into his arms.
“Do not tell me you are shaken right now? Did your heart flutter?”
I felt Kalhan snort.
“Now it is your turn to lose sleep thinking about me.”
‘I’m not the type to avoid a challenge out of fear. If anything, I strike back.’
Kalhan made a bewildered expression at my face, which was smiling brightly without the slightest agitation.
“Are you asking for it right now?”
“You started it, Your Grace.”
I smiled innocently and placed my hand on his back. If I could, I wanted to claw at his bare back through his shirt.
“Smile. We need to keep up appearances.”
Even if it was my last day, I intended to protect my pride to the end. If I didn’t land a blow on Kalhan, I felt like I wouldn’t be able to return to my original world out of sheer frustration.
“How bold. I did not know you were this kind of person.”
“I am naturally quite charming. The more you dig, the more new charms you discover.”
I tended to be strong against those who were strong. I never bowed my head. Rather, I was weak toward the weak or toward children.
Especially people who were powerful and treated me badly, I never let them off.
“Madam, you may not know this, but I am not used to losing.”
Watching me boldly strike back, Kalhan said with a snort.
“When we return, I will not let this go. Excuse me for a moment.”
He whispered in my ear, then left me alone by the wall of the hall. Saying he would briefly greet the Emperor, he strode toward the high seats.
There was no one in the Empire who could look down on Kalhan Maxitern. Not even the Emperor.
The man who became Duke by luck after all his brothers died achieved great merit in war, then set up the twelve-year-old young Emperor as a puppet and wielded absolute power.
“Duke Caliberg.”
He was such a cold and cruel man that rumors even circulated that he had been involved in the previous Emperor’s death.
Even high-ranking nobles lowered their heads without daring to meet his eyes.
No one blocked his path. They all stepped aside.
And then—
“I heard she was ill, yet she attended the banquet today.”
“Wasn’t she said to have collapsed not long after getting married?”
Unlike Kalhan, sharp glares were directed at me.
For some reason, Hanna Sestrain was an outcast in high society. What on earth had she done, despite being terminally ill, to be ignored by people including Kalhan?
Moreover, Hanna’s birth family, House Sestrain, wielded great power through wealth accumulated over generations.
I couldn’t understand why someone like her had been abandoned by people, even by her own family.
After all, Hanna was quite respected by the servants.
“I want to go back quickly.”
But even if I wondered, what could I do? Today I would return to my original world anyway.
I could feel the gazes of people glaring at me even though I hadn’t done anything. On top of that, Kalhan treated me like a bothersome woman.
It wasn’t enough that I had possessed a terminally ill body — I even had to receive this kind of treatment.
I just wanted today to pass quickly.
