Chapter 003: The Rejected First Night
-How could you do that? We were friends for so long. And I thought we shared our hearts for a long time. Was that just my own delusion?
Before Roanne regained consciousness, what surfaced was a quite painful feeling of heartbreak. She gasped and opened her eyes, startled by this unfamiliar emotion.
At that moment, a cream-colored ceiling came into view, and tears trickled down from her wet eyes.
‘This is… Roanne’s emotion.’
Though she had already departed for the world beyond, it seemed her emotions remained embedded in this body like sharp fragments, surfacing one by one.
Roanne sat up, wiped her wet face, and looked around. After starting life anew in Roanne Eleanor Heartwood’s body, this was the second time she had lost consciousness and had to assess the situation.
‘This place is…….’
It was an unfamiliar room, yet one decorated quite luxuriously. She had thought Roanne’s original room was more than enough, but the splendor here was worlds apart. Roanne, waking up in the middle of a room decorated so brightly it was overwhelming, felt dazed.
“You seem to be quite the unwanted child yourself.”
Just then, a sarcastic voice was heard from somewhere.
‘This wonderful voice!’
Roanne’s head turned reflexively. Turning her head back, she saw Alexis standing in a crooked posture by the window with a cigar in his mouth, leaning against the frame.
“To dispose of a daughter who fainted during her wedding like this.”
He let out a hollow laugh and slowly inhaled the cigar. That languid movement was so captivating and decadent that Roanne instinctively blushed.
‘He really is incredibly handsome.’
However, unlike his brilliant appearance, the vitriol and attitude coming from that face were extremely crooked. Roanne took a breath and tried to speak calmly.
“Where is this?”
“The bridal chamber.”
“Oh my.”
Roanne turned her head slightly as if she were quite shy.
‘I have that much tact, too.’
Alexis, interpreting Roanne’s turned head differently, continued slowly.
“Don’t worry. I only intended to leave after seeing you wake up.”
At those words, Roanne’s head throbbed.
‘What do you mean? We just got married; you don’t necessarily have to leave!’
However, Roanne, who couldn’t bring herself to say those words out loud, just sat there forlornly with her head bowed.
“How much must you hate it to faint twice?”
That wasn’t my intention!
Roanne wanted to protest, but she didn’t know what kind of excuse to make, so she just moved her mouth wordlessly. Hey, don’t misunderstand. It wasn’t me.
“Then, get some rest.”
“Wa-wait!”
Roanne desperately grabbed Alexis as he tried to leave after stubbing out his cigar. In that instant, Alexis’s brow furrowed. She had grabbed him without thinking, but flinching at his reaction, Roanne quickly withdrew her hand. A look of deep loathing spread across Alexis’s face the moment her hand touched his body.
“St-still, we are married, so if you leave like this……”
As a flustered Roanne stammered, Alexis laughed coldly.
“Married? Please.”
It felt as if a cold chill were rising from his body.
‘Ah, it’s that energy again.’
Roanne felt like she was going to get dizzy again. This strange and overwhelming energy, what is it? This aura radiating from him that cannot be explained in words…….
“Since we’re both abandoned anyway, there’s no need to live exhausting lives.”
One corner of his mouth twisted upward.
“You probably married because you wanted to survive in your own way. I have to look out for myself too, so—”
Then, staring intently into her eyes, he murmured softly.
“Let’s each find our own way to live.”
With those words, Alexis didn’t look back at Roanne even once and strode straight out of the room. Left alone, Roanne bit her nails in anxiety and nervousness, then curled her legs up to hug them as she traced her thoughts.
‘Jerk.’
Even so, I have to survive now that I’ve escaped my original place; it would be better to get through it together on good terms.
‘There’s no need for a married couple to be so distant!’
In fact, rather than him touching her body, she was more afraid and terrified of being left alone to spend time in an unfamiliar room. Although it was a marriage in name only, perhaps Roanne wanted to endure it together since they were in the same situation, just as he said.
‘I guess I should wake up from that dream.’
Life is solitary anyway. Her heart had weakened for a moment, making her want to lean on that incredibly handsome man, but there was no way if he was going to be that crooked.
Roanne, who had no intention of agonizing over it for long, searched every corner of the room and suddenly discovered the food prepared on the table.
‘Yes, this is it!’
The best thing about possessing someone else’s body in another world was the delicacies she could enjoy every day. The food prepared for the couple facing their first night consisted of very sweet items.
‘Alcohol!’
And there was alcohol, the most optimal tool to signal the start for a couple facing their new marriage.
‘Look at how luxurious the bottle is.’
An expensive-looking wine bottle was showing off its figure at a glance. Roanne, whose only experience was having a few drinks handed to her by the boss during staff dinners at her part-time job, excitedly opened the bottle and poured it into a glass.
“Mmm……”
The scent is good.
Excited at the thought of tasting what she assumed was expensive liquor, Roanne wet her throat with the wine while putting a finger food topped with salmon and caviar on fluffy white bread into her mouth.
“Mmm…… since it’s expensive, it must be good for the body.”
Roanne drank one after another without even thinking about controlling her intake.
“Mmm……”
Even though she didn’t know much, every time she poured a drink into her glass, she would savor the aroma first as if she were in a TV show, and after drinking, she would act sweet as she monopolized the food on the table alone.
‘I don’t know if I’m full or if I’m drunk.’
Soon, she staggered toward the bed and collapsed. The soft texture and fragrant scent embraced her whole body.
‘Ah, this is nice.’
In my original life, I couldn’t even imagine such luxury. No matter how much money I earned, I never dreamed of sleeping while rubbing my cheek against bedding like this.
Roanne rubbed her cheeks, flushed from the alcohol, against the pillow.
‘My body is comfortable, I’m eating delicious things and I’m full, so this is heaven to me.’
Since she had lived such a poor and unlucky life, Roanne didn’t think falling into this unknown world was all that bad. Although the life of this Roanne she possessed didn’t seem very easy, it was like paradise compared to the time she lived desperately for survival.
‘Right, for now, today passed safely…….’
She gradually drifted into a slumber, soaked in the effects of the alcohol.
‘Let’s think about tomorrow’s work tomorrow.’
Like Scarlett O’Hara. Tomorrow is another day.
* * *
However, what awaited her the next day was a terrible hangover.
‘Please save me…….’
It was a type of pain she had never experienced in her life. Roanne forced herself up at the sound of a careful knock on the door. It was an instruction to quickly attend the breakfast where all the people of the Count’s house gathered.
‘Of all times… at a time like this…….’
Roanne, nodding with a completely haggard complexion, barely changed into a new dress with the help of the maids and went down to the dining room. Only then could she realize once more that the scale of this mansion was incomparably wider and more splendid than the Viscount Heartwood house where she used to stay.
‘Did I still technically move up in status?’
As long as the groom isn’t a total scoundrel… Roanne chuckled to herself and entered the dining room. As soon as she entered, she quickly scanned the people sitting at their places.
‘They said it’s a place where all the people of the Count’s house gather…….’
Yet her own groom was nowhere to be found. Roanne bowed her head in the razor-sharp, solemn atmosphere and sat down according to the servant’s guidance.
“Good morning, Lady Heartwood.”
An elderly lady sitting at the head of the table spoke.
“No, you are a person of Glister now that you’ve become Alec’s bride. I made a mistake. May I call you Roanne?”
“Yes, of course.”
Roanne replied briskly. The first person to speak to her was the Countess. At Roanne’s unexpectedly composed attitude, the Countess’s eyes narrowed slightly. Roanne quickly observed the people at the table.
Including her, there were a total of five people present. At the head of the table were the Count and Countess of Glister, and across from her sat two young people side by side.
‘In my estimation, those people are…….’
Roanne’s mind was working quickly.
“I’m finally greeting you. I am Francis, Alexis’s older brother.”
A man with a quiet impression offered her a greeting. Roanne smiled back kindly and peeked at the woman beside him. She was holding a water glass with a cold expression.
