~Chapter 3~
Is there no such thing as an afterlife?
Why, the moment I died, did I end up possessing a woman who is destined to die again?
Eliana refused to accept her situation.
If she was to be brought back to life, should she not at least be given a chance to live?
She had died unfairly in the prime of her youth—only to be told to die once more.
The reason she was so distraught was simple: she had possessed Eliana.
Eliana Musieux.
The only daughter of Count Musieux, and a small-time villain who would eventually fall under the wing of the Empress Dowager Hera.
In short, an insignificant extra.
One whose sole role was to be brutally murdered by the hidden mastermind, Verkley.
“Unbelievable…”
Eliana muttered, curled up under the blankets.
The woman she met yesterday was Finn, Eliana’s personal maid.
A maid who had served her since childhood—and who would later play a crucial role in delivering her to Hera.
Her brother, after all, worked under Hera.
After thoroughly interrogating Finn the previous day, Eliana had learned two crucial facts: that Eliana was currently twenty years old, and that she was soon to be married to the Marquis of Valkyrie.
Unfortunately, her groom was not a bachelor.
He was a man at least forty years older than her—she was to be his second wife.
Even if I am only the powerless daughter of a count, isn’t this a bit much? I died without ever having a proper romance, and now they want me to spend the rest of my life nursing some old man?
She beat her fists furiously against the bed.
According to Finn, Eliana had lately been saying she wanted to die.
No wonder. In her right mind, who would want such a ridiculous marriage?
In the novel, Eliana had grown up without her father’s love.
Her so-called father was a shameless drunkard and gambler who abused her whenever he was displeased.
Growing up under such a man, her personality twisted beyond repair.
In the end, Finn was the only servant who cared about her.
Everyone else found her a nuisance.
Such was the treatment reserved for a difficult young lady no one wished to handle.
Even yesterday, she had apparently fainted after being beaten by her father—and Finn was the only one who came to see her.
She needed a way to stop this marriage, in which she was being sold off like livestock.
Eliana thought hard, sifting through the original story.
The Owen Empire, where the novel was set, was a cruelly stratified society.
Daughters of noble houses were confined within their estates, and their treatment changed drastically based on the innate abilities revealed at birth.
In such a rigid world, the original Eliana had been born without any ability at all.
Had her father been a proper human being, he might have raised her with love. Count Musieux, however, was not.
He thoroughly isolated and neglected her.
The only time she had ever truly left the estate was when she ran away after being unable to endure his abuse—only to be dragged back.
By some miracle, however, Eliana’s dormant power awakened when she turned twenty.
In rare cases, abilities did manifest later in life, and Eliana was one such case.
She had rejoiced when she finally gained the strength to stand confidently before others.
In her joy, she ran straight to her father.
She planned to tell him that his daughter had become a mage—a mage of the natural element, at that.
That now, perhaps, he could cherish her.
How foolish.
A man who despised her for having no power would not suddenly love her because she gained it.
But after years of isolation and desperate longing for affection, Count Musieux’s praise and attention would have meant everything to Eliana.
It was not hard to understand her heart.
Yet when she sought him out with a face full of hope, she instead overheard something that crushed her completely.
He intended to sell her to the Marquis of Valkyrie.
That day, her heart caved in on itself.
No matter how much he abused her, she had still believed that, as his only daughter, he would keep her close.
Instead, he treated her like an object.
After that, she lost all will to live, wandering like a living corpse. One day, as she pressed an ice blade to her own neck, determined to die, Finn caught her.
“I refuse to die as pointlessly as the Eliana from the original story.”
She would not become a foolish woman who, despite gaining power, fell into despair simply because a man who had never loved her continued not to love her.
Nor did she intend to redirect that yearning toward Hera and grovel for her favor.
The thought had never even occurred to her.
Or rather—it would not, because:
She would not be loved by anyone.
She would only be betrayed.
And in the end, she would be killed.
Eliana gently stroked her aching abdomen.
In my previous life, I died unfairly because of that psycho senior. And now they want me to die again? No. I don’t want to die.
Her expression hardened as she clenched her fists.
First, she needed to speak to Finn again.
If Eliana had died at Verkley’s hands because she was Hera’s pawn, then there was only one answer.
She had to reach him first.
That was the only way through this.
Just then, as Eliana was racking her brain for a way to escape the house, someone abruptly yanked away her blanket.
“Let go of me! I said no!”
She protested as the maids roughly stripped her and began dressing her.
No matter how fiercely she struggled, the maids did not so much as blink.
The three maids who had barged in without warning hauled her upright, saying the count was calling for her.
It seemed that, because the count treated Eliana so poorly, even the servants felt free to ignore her.
She had another reason for resisting so desperately.
She had overheard that the reason Count Musieux had summoned her was to introduce her to the Marquis of Valkyrie.
One of the maids holding her arms frowned.
“My lady, there’s no time for this. We cannot keep the marquis waiting.”
“I said no! I’m not going to meet him!”
Eliana shook her head and dug in her heels.
A shadow fell over her.
She looked up instinctively.
A woman stood before her, arms crossed, looking down at her with clear disdain.
“His Lordship said to bring you even if we must drag you. If you continue to resist, I will have no choice but to use the rod.”
The woman spoke coldly, a small whip in hand. Her clothes were different from the others’.
Eliana instantly realized she must be the head maid.
Under the guise of “discipline,” this woman would lash Eliana’s frail back as she pleased.
Eliana stared at her, dazed.
Right. The internal hierarchy in the Musieux estate was rotten to the core.
With no mistress of the house, the head maid played that role, enforcing her own rule.
The count trusted the head maid more than he trusted his own daughter.
The head maid was his favored woman—practically his mistress.
At last, Eliana dropped her resistance, her eyes weary.
She decided there was no point in struggling with the maids over something she could not change.
They quickly dressed her in a fine gown and adorned her with glittering jewelry.
Already beautiful, she now shone even brighter when deliberately polished.
Her expression in the mirror remained stiff, yet she was undeniably stunning.
“Hurry.”
At the head maid’s short command, Eliana was all but dragged to the drawing room where the count awaited.
It was hardly the treatment one would give a young lady who had fainted just the previous day.
Not a single maid asked whether she was feeling well.
The servants they passed in the halls barely spared her a glance.
Though she was second only to the count in rank within the estate, they did not even greet her properly.
Had she lived like this her entire life?
Had she borne such treatment since childhood?
Eliana fell silent, sinking into a deep, bitter musing.
In the span of mere minutes, she had witnessed more cruelty than she could stomach.
If she, as an outsider, was this enraged—what must the original Eliana have felt?
No. She needed to escape this place as soon as possible.
To do that, she would have to treat today as a tactical retreat and do as she was told—for now.
“Just this once, I’ll endure it.”
When Finn came later, she would reveal her ability and ask to be introduced to Pohn. Through him, she could easily gain an audience with Hera.
If she wished to reach Verkley, she had no choice but to go through Hera.
At present, Verkley was nothing more than a puppet emperor. Meeting him through Hera would be far safer.
If she tried to approach him directly, Hera might kill her first.
Besides, in her current situation, there was no way to reach Verkley without going through Hera’s faction.
“My lord, the young lady has arrived.”
From outside the room, the butler knocked and announced her.
The boisterous laughter within fell silent for a moment, then a cheerful voice invited her in.
“Let her enter.”
When the butler opened the door, Eliana saw a middle-aged man with golden hair and an elderly gentleman with graying hair inside the drawing room.
She immediately recognized the golden-haired man as Count Musieux.
His hair was much like hers.
His nose was already flushed from drink.
Is selling your daughter off really something to celebrate?
Eliana hesitated at the threshold, her body stiff, until the head maid pushed her forcibly inside.
The door closed behind her.
She reminded herself that she would obey, just this once—that she would endure it.
But the moment she faced them, her resolve began to waver.
