Chapter 01.
“Divorce me.”
Times had changed a great deal, but divorce was still considered a stain. As a divorce lawyer, not many people looked kindly upon me.
Then one day, an entirely unexpected client appeared.
“Didn’t you hear what I said? I told you to divorce me.”
“…Excuse me?”
“What? Aren’t you a divorce lawyer?”
“No, I mean… Are you saying that Your Majesty the Emperor wishes to divorce? And you want me to help with that?”
“Yes. If you succeed in finalizing my divorce, I’ll make you the Empress. That should be sufficient as a retainer’s fee, don’t you think?”
When I was in trouble because my father was trying to sell me off through marriage, the Emperor extended his hand to me.
“…Are you serious?”
“Yes. But make it the most flawless divorce imaginable. If you fail, I’ll ensure you never practice as a divorce lawyer again—by hanging your head as a decoration in the marketplace.”
Is it really okay for me to accept this case?
Three months earlier—
I died in the exact same way as the man I hated most: the one I had to call my father.
That bastard had spent his life drunk, beating his family. One day, after wandering the streets while intoxicated, he collapsed and died alone. And I, too, met just as hollow an end.
On my way home from working late, I helped an elderly man cross the street at a flickering crosswalk. Ever since becoming a lawyer, I’d developed an annoying sense of morality. That meddling kindness got me hit by a truck.
As if to prove that my efforts meant absolutely nothing.
“The old man… he’s gone too.”
Through my fading vision, the elderly man I had saved was nowhere to be seen. I understood then—this world was forcing me down, as if to say I had no right to live.
And so, I died.
“It’s unfair… This is unfair…”
Someone had been hit by a car! Isn’t she dead?! The voices of the shocked onlookers grew distant.
I had no family, no loved ones, no friends—but I had just landed a job as a lawyer, and my job satisfaction had been at its peak.
“I want to live.”
Unable to move even a finger, I died like that.
And then, when I opened my eyes again—
“Get married!”
I found myself in a bizarre situation.
A white table sat in the middle of a sunlit garden. Across it sat two men and one woman: an elderly man and a younger man, both with red hair like spilled paint, and beside them a silver-haired woman who could do nothing but silently sip her tea.
And sitting beside her—was me.
“…What?”
“How dare you talk back!”
I tried to ask what was going on, but he didn’t even give me the chance.
He simply shouted in rage.
At that moment, unfamiliar memories flooded into my mind.
—
I lived my entire life doing what my family told me to do. They worried not about my sick body, but about the youngest daughter of the count’s family being too unhealthy to sell off. I hate this life. If I get married this time, it’s really the end. I don’t want to live like this. I want to live like everyone else.
—
“So this is possession.”
The memories of the body I now inhabited flowed clearly into me.
Both she and I had wanted the same thing: to live.
I didn’t know if that desire was what caused our souls to merge, but one thing was certain.
“This is the worst.”
Rabiel Avalon, the youngest daughter of the Count of Avalon. Sickly since childhood, she had lived confined to her room. Only after reaching adulthood did her health improve slightly. She wanted to live like others—but as things stood, the Count was intent on marrying her off to an old wealthy man before she became ill again.
“Anyway, prepare yourself. The only way for you—who has wasted the family’s money all these years due to illness—to repay the family.”
I wasn’t the one wasting money.
“……”
“Why aren’t you answering?!”
If this had been the original Rabiel—someone who had been gaslit her entire life and never once obtained what she wanted—she would have said yes.
But I am not Rabiel.
I don’t know why I became her, but I do know this: I wasn’t given a new life just to live that kind of existence.
Calmly, I set down my empty teacup.
“You need to invest if you want returns.”
“What?”
“Like this empty teacup—what’s the point of appearances alone? Father, you can’t expect profit without investment. Therefore, I have no intention of marrying that old man.”
“Do you think you have a choice?”
“Yes.”
At my refusal to back down, the Count’s fury exploded. He sprang to his feet.
“You little—!”
“If you wanted to marry me off to an old man, you should’ve done it a year earlier—when I was still a minor and had no choice. That’s what I would’ve done.”
I thought he might strike me, but instead—
He threw a teacup.
I instinctively turned my head, but the cup struck me squarely.
The Count was violent—whether drunk or sober. He beat his family whenever things didn’t go his way. Servants were no exception.
“Ah.”
“D-dear! What are you doing to the child?!”
The Countess, who had been quietly drinking her tea, rushed over. Her cold hands trembled as she touched my head.
“Rabiel… are you okay?”
“You fools are all the same! This is because you failed to educate your daughter properly, you idiot!”
His violence turned toward his wife. He grabbed her by the hair.
“How dare you defy me!”
“Please… Rabiel is sick… so please, don’t do this to her…”
“Don’t do this? She’s disobeying her father—the man who raised her!”
When the Countess tried to protect me, he struck her without hesitation.
“Disgusting trash.”
My father from my previous life and the Count of Avalon were the same kind of men.
Unrecyclable garbage. Men who used violence on their families because things didn’t go their way weren’t worth acknowledging.
Before I could finish that thought, he yanked her hair again and again.
“Stop.”
I stepped between them.
“What, you want to take her place? Rabiel. I spoiled you because you were sick—did it rot your brain?”
There was no need to dwell on Rabiel’s tragic life.
Instead, I lifted my face toward his raised hand.
“Go ahead. Hit me.”
“What?”
“Yes. Hit me instead of Mother.”
“Fine! If that’ll knock some sense into you—!”
I had no intention of letting him have his way.
“But can you handle the consequences?”
“…What?”
“If you lay a hand on my face and leave a mark, will that be okay? Your precious merchandise will be damaged.”
“…Hah.”
“That thick ring you’re so proud of—what if it leaves a scar? What if you break a bone? My body’s already weak. If I become crippled, you won’t even be able to sell me.”
The Count’s expression cooled.
“You’re clearly sick in the head.”
“Then what will you do? Every time you try to hit Mother, I’ll step in. I’ll gladly offer my face.”
Only then did he turn away.
“You’ve ruined my mood. Just behave yourself and stop doing stupid things. I’ll set the wedding date as soon as possible.”
“Sure, sure~”
I nodded casually and looked at the Countess behind me.
“Mother. Let’s go inside.”
“Rabiel… are you really okay? Marrying someone like that…”
She looked anxious as she leaned on me. A powerless mother—but one willing to sacrifice herself to protect her child.
I couldn’t call her ‘Mom’ with genuine affection yet, but a small seed of warmth began to form.
“She doesn’t have a choice. A woman should know how to sacrifice for her family.”
The Count’s eldest son—Caleb, who looked exactly like him—spoke up.
How could a person spew such filth so naturally?
“Then you should try sacrificing a little for the family too, brother.”
