TMDHB Chapter 05

Chapter 5

“Where is Lady Iclonia?”

Dex entered the office with a tired face and asked.

Karl, who was reading a report, answered without even looking up.

“Mind your manners. You should call her Mistress of the house, or Lady Klone.”

Karl corrected the way Dex referred to her.

“It doesn’t come naturally.”

That was just an excuse. Karl knew the people of the ducal house looked down on Klone.

The duchy’s people lived on harsh land, but they were proud of protecting the empire from monsters. And the Reinhardt ducal family had always lived righteously to protect that pride.

Mercy and devotion were the spirit of House Reinhardt.

So when they had to accept a duchess who did not fit that spirit at all, Karl had expected some conflict.

But he had only expected conflict within a manageable range. He had never imagined that Klone would run away from home, get kidnapped, and end up imprisoned.

‘The duchess abandoned the duchy and ran away from home!’

Not only was the entire ducal house thrown into chaos, but even the retainers who had never liked Klone were furious.

The closer they were to Karl, the stronger their anger was. To be honest, Karl had also been angry the moment he saw Klone’s letter.

I do not like this dark, gloomy castle, so I am going back home. Goodbye.

The letter was written in such light, careless handwriting that it showed not even the slightest sense of responsibility as the duchess.

But even if she had disappeared, he could not simply be happy about it. No matter what, he had married her, so Karl had to do his best as her husband.

In every way.

Karl waited for her to return, but Klone never came back. She did not even go to her father’s count’s house.

In the end, Karl went looking for her himself. He searched for around two months.

To find the missing Klone, he even summoned the Silver Forest Knights, a force usually called together only when there was monster trouble.

Thanks to the Silver Forest Knights searching tirelessly, they finally found where Klone was.

A prison.

She had been captured in a place that did not belong in the same world as her.

Once they discovered her location, the Silver Forest Knights stormed the prison.

“Send a doctor first. Check whether she is hurt and treat her well. And make sure she does not leave again.”

“What do you mean, treat her well? She should be the one making an effort to adjust.”

Dex’s words were not unreasonable, but Karl could not simply push Klone harder for not adapting to the duchy.

‘It was not a marriage either of us wanted.’

He still could not forget the look on Klone’s face when they had their formal pre-marriage meeting.

‘It looked as if I had gone there not to propose, but to deliver a death sentence.’

Karl had not liked the marriage either. But it could not be helped.

Count Iclonia’s family was rich, and in exchange for marrying off his wild daughter, the count had provided a huge dowry. It was money the duchy desperately needed while its people were dying from famine.

No matter how she behaved, Klone was the duchy’s benefactor.

“Even so, keep an eye on her. And if anyone bothers her, report it.”

Karl kept wondering how to make life in the ducal house easier for Klone, how to keep her from getting hurt there.

But that concern turned out to be completely useless.

The moment I opened my eyes that morning, the physician came to see me.

“You are perfectly healthy.”

The examination took a long time, but the result was simple.

“Are you certain? She was in the Pink Stone Mine, that terrible place.”

Was his name Dex?

The man who seemed to be Karl’s trusted aide pressed the physician aggressively. Dex looked very intimidating, but the physician was not an easy man either. He nodded firmly.

“That is correct.”

He answered through gritted teeth, sounding almost like, “Thad id correcd.”

At this rate, they were going to start fighting. So I stepped in.

“That is enough.”

I understood why Dex did not trust the physician.

When I first reincarnated into Klone’s body, it had been a complete wreck. And the food the guards gave us was basically garbage from a nutritional point of view—and from a taste point of view too. The labor was also extremely harsh.

On top of that, the guards had been violent. Realistically, there was no way Klone, who had been born a noble and never suffered a day in her life, could still be healthy.

But after I reincarnated into her and built up internal energy through breathing and circulation, things changed. Since I could not explain all that, it was best to end the conversation here.

“I am tired, so all of you may leave.”

Ah, my way of speaking.

I realized too late that I should be careful and flinched a little, but Dex was so focused on doubting the physician that he paid no attention to how I spoke.

Dex stared suspiciously at the physician for another moment, then bowed his head.

“Please get some good rest. If you feel anything wrong with your body, just tell a servant.”

Dex went out and took the physician with him. Finally, it was quiet.

How wonderful silence could be!

I flopped down onto the bed and enjoyed the comfort of the feather blanket as much as I could.

Once my body relaxed, I had room to think.

After a martial arts novel, now I had reincarnated into the romance fantasy End My Life, the story that made people feel like they had swallowed five million sweet potatoes.

Honestly, I did not feel much about it right now. It was unfamiliar, but I was not frightened or overwhelmed.

‘Because I have already been through this once.’

The ending had been bad, but I had still conquered the martial world once before.

If I had not been able to build internal energy, maybe I would have been afraid. But fortunately, I could build internal energy in this world too, and I still remembered all the martial arts and realizations I had gained in the martial world.

‘It is just that I cannot use them properly yet.’

To use martial arts properly, I needed enough internal energy to support the forms, and building that energy would take time.

‘And breathing and circulation have limits when it comes to increasing power.’

On top of that, Klone’s body was a very poor vessel. In times like this, a spiritual medicine would help.

‘Does this world not have anything like that?’

As I lay there idly enjoying the sunlight, I tried to remember more about the world of End My Life.

Slowly, I repeated the name Klone Iclonia to myself and searched through her memories.

What I found was terrible.

‘Wow, she was really awful.’

The more I looked through her memories, the more self-hatred I felt.

The chocolate melted. Should I melt you down too, just like this chocolate?

—And after saying that, she made the cook carry a sack of flour and run twenty laps around the training yard.

You know I never wear the same earrings twice. So you could not have brought these on purpose. I suppose your eyesight must be terrible. I should wash your eyes out properly.

—And after saying that, she threw the water from a flower vase into a maid’s face.

I let out a sigh.

She had a pretty face, but she was really something else.

Mae Soyok from my martial arts life had not had a good personality either, but she was not this bad.

‘She must have had a lot of enemies.’

I had a feeling my life in this world was not going to be peaceful.

‘Well, what huge problem could there be? It is all in the past. Forget it.’

I tried hard to comfort myself and think positively.

So what if the old Klone’s past affected me a little? Goodbye, past Klone. Let’s start a new life.

All of her bad behavior had happened at the count’s house, and this was the duke’s house, so I could build new relationships here.

Getting along with people made life easier in many ways. I had already spent one whole lifetime living with my guard up just to survive.

‘Starting today, let’s do well. It does not seem like I have had any major trouble with the ducal household yet.’

But all of that was my misunderstanding.

Knock, knock.

I heard a knock, and then the door opened. A maid with a tall figure and a curvy body came in. The apron wrapped tightly around her waist was striking.

“I am Bella. I have been assigned to attend to Lady Klone.”

“It is nice to meet you.”

I smiled warmly and walked over to Bella. Then I held out my hand.

But Bella did not take it. She only looked at it.

‘Is shaking hands not a greeting in this world?’

Awkwardly, I pulled my hand back.

“Bella.”

“Yes.”

“That is a lovely name.”

If you want to get close to someone, start with a compliment.

I was carefully following the basic rules of social life. But maybe Bella just had a cold personality, because she gave almost no reaction.

Bella walked right past me as if I were not even there. She looked at my messy bed and let out a deep sigh.

“If you are already awake, you should have folded your blanket first.”

A lecture began to come out of Bella’s mouth—something I could not believe was coming from a maid.

For a moment, I just stared.

Bella sounded so confident that I almost folded the blanket myself out of reflex.

But wait. Does a duchess really fold her own blankets here? Even if this world is different, that did not seem right. So what exactly was Bella’s attitude supposed to mean?

‘Why the reason? What matters is that she just crossed the line.’

I decided to point out her disrespect gently.

“Bella. Folding the blanket is your job.”

Bella turned and looked at me. Maybe she wanted to glare, but did not dare, so only her eyes flashed.

Does she not understand when I use words?

I looked straight at her and picked up a flower vase holding wilted flowers.

“Change the sheets, and bring me some pretty flowers to put in this vase.”

That should have made it clear whether I was someone to be served, not someone who should serve her.

But judging by the way she still only blinked and showed no sign of moving, apparently not.

“If you are going to serve me, then do it properly. Look at the dust on this carpet.”

I moved around the room, giving orders one after another.

“Take the carpet outside, beat the dust out of it, and leave it in the sun to dry. This door is stiff too. It needs oil.”