Chapter 03
An Unexpected Problem
“Th-This isn’t… anything…”
Vivian tried to explain that it was just mud when Leon raised one hand sharply.
Strangely, at that moment, her words stuck in her throat. His gesture felt almost like a magical spell.
Standing stiffly behind her, Sigmund spoke in a calm voice.
“Welcome back, Your Grace. This is Miss Kihees.”
Following that introduction, all the servants greeted her in turn.
The atmosphere from the bowing servants felt subtly different than before.
Where they had previously bent at a modest seventy degrees in front of Vivian, they now bowed completely at over ninety degrees before Leon.
Leon’s expression as he looked at Vivian visibly twisted.
It was like the sour-sweet grimace one makes when biting into an unripe persimmon.
“Was the Kihees family a tribe of savages?”
His gaze gradually descended toward her.
‘What is he babbling about—introducing himself?’
Vivian scoffed internally.
Even his body was covered in blood.
Looking closely, the dark-red blood, long dried, had seeped into his black hair, face, cloak, and black clothing in patches.
His appearance was, if anything, far more gruesome than hers.
‘And he dares call anyone a savage?’
Yet everyone seemed at ease around him. Sigmund, too, naturally moved to offer him a handkerchief.
As Sigmund approached, Leon raised a hand.
The motion was graceful, almost like a dance, but in his bloodstained state, it was terrifying.
Even on his thick gauntlets, dark-red blood spots were visible.
His cold eyes pierced Vivian as if trying to consume her, dark as the void, a swamp from which there was no escape.
Leon stared at the frozen Vivian for a long moment, then spoke in a low voice.
“Disgusting.”
With that, he strode past her, leaving her standing dumbfounded.
The dry sound of his heavy boots echoed quietly through the mansion.
Vivian had anticipated his dislike, but experiencing it firsthand was another matter entirely.
Hatred and contempt.
That was the usual way Leon treated her.
Watching the scene, Sigmund hurriedly spoke to Vivian.
“The maids will guide you, Miss. Rest for a moment, and they will come for you soon.”
Two maids stepped forward, and Vivian followed them up the hall’s staircase.
She reached to grip the railing and frowned at her hands.
‘When did this get on me?’
Dark-red blood stains had marked her mud-stained velvet gloves.
The sight irritated her immensely.
Someone knocked at the bedroom door.
Appearing with a face full of worry was the head maid, Mrs. Mayfield.
She spoke with a troubled expression.
“Miss. The Duke has just gone out on another expedition.”
She delivered news that Vivian didn’t know whether to be pleased about or not.
Leon had gone out.
Meaning she was now alone…
‘Should I be glad?’
If he hadn’t left, Vivian would have had to endure sitting at the same table with the man who despised her, enduring all sorts of humiliation and insults.
She wouldn’t have been able to touch any of the delicious food in front of her.
Everyone would have found it odd that she didn’t eat, and they might have dismissed her as a spoiled bride from day one.
‘No, better to avoid that.’
In the novel, Vivian had died about a month after her marriage.
Perhaps she was already on the path to dying from the first day in the mansion.
Now, Leon’s absence seemed like a small blessing.
Rumors of the Duke leaving the new bride to go to the battlefield before the wedding had certainly spread throughout the mansion.
Vivian firmly refused the grand banquet, and the servants likely assumed it was a protest from the solitary bride-to-be.
But her real intention was simple:
‘I won’t eat.’
A possessed girl’s desperate struggle to survive.
The servants persistently hovered around her.
“Please eat, Miss… if you don’t like it, I can prepare fruits from the Far Kingdom.”
Their persistence was impressive, but by midnight, they seemed to give up and returned to their positions.
They would likely gossip about the stubborn prospective lady.
Still, it was better than eating poison.
She would survive, and she needed to return to the present to claim the 2 billion waiting for her.
That was all Vivian could think of.
Finally, the mansion fell silent.
The firmly closed bedroom door opened.
Creak…
Hungry, Vivian decided to sneak down to the kitchen while everyone slept.
A dark corridor stretched out before her.
She glanced dozens of times at shadows cast by statues lying here and there.
She held the mahogany railing and carefully descended the darkened stairs.
Reaching the first floor, the entrance area was thankfully a bit brighter.
Moonlight—or perhaps starlight—filtered through the large windows from the garden.
Hands trembling, she made her way toward the kitchen, stopping at the scent of food carried on the breeze.
‘Smells delicious.’
The kitchen was filled with aromas, as expected from a place that baked and cooked all day.
Relying on the faint light, she scanned the interior. It was the most charming place she had ever seen.
‘Cooking here would be truly enjoyable.’
The clean countertops held rolling pins, ceramic jars of spices, knives, and small cutting boards.
She felt an urge to reach out and touch everything immediately.
She needed to quickly prepare food and return to her room, but her attention was completely absorbed.
As a kitchen enthusiast, this was heaven.
She started looking for ingredients.
Yet, strangely, nothing edible was in sight.
All the delicious smells, yet no food in sight.
Grumbling, she approached a small wooden door stacked next to oak barrels.
It looked like a storage room.
A chill seeped from it, hinting that it would be perfect for food preservation.
After hesitating, she opened it.
“What’s this?”
Her eyes widened at what she saw.
Temperatures ranging from 5°C down to –30°C.
High-performance storage capable of maintaining even 50°C if needed.
From long-lasting packaged foods to freshly caught animals, perfectly preserved.
A cold storage room.
The space beyond the shabby wooden door was not a rundown storeroom but a high-performance cold storage, incredibly familiar to her—like those in a hotel.
Vivian realized it was hotel storage as soon as she noticed the padded jacket hanging on the wall.
A black jacket with a familiar logo, issued only to hotel staff.
So why was it here?
Her mind went blank as she stared at the impossible scene.
Her legs gave out, and she collapsed onto the floor.
The cold air still leaked relentlessly.
‘Maybe I can go back after all.’
At last, a door back to her world had opened.
She put on the padded jacket and stood before the metal shelving in the corner.
Staff-only instant noodles, cooking vegetables, fruits—all sorts of ingredients lay preserved in cold storage.
She picked up a bunch of bananas and some milk, feeling the chill in her hands, finally realizing:
She had returned.
Back to the world she belonged in.
Tears of joy almost fell.
Standing in the middle of the cold storage, clutching her pounding heart, she turned to the door.
She would open it, leave, and retrieve her prize money.
She opened the door with determination.
And then…
“Miss? Why are you here?”
A maid in pajamas.
One of the two who had guided her to the bedroom earlier now stood in front of the storage.
Vivian hastily hid the bananas and milk behind her back.
When she turned, the cold storage beyond the wooden door had vanished, leaving only the old, shabby storeroom.
Even the padded jacket she wore had disappeared.
Why now, of all times? Why!
She forced herself to smile, suppressing her rising anger.
“And you… why are you here?”
The maid’s face turned bright red.
“I’ve been getting hungry early every morning lately…”
Vivian smiled as kindly as possible at the blushing maid, though inside she was furious beyond measure.
“Oh, so you came because you were hungry.”
“…I was just about to go back. Are you all right, Miss? You must be upset since the Duke suddenly left.”
“No, it’s fine. He had a good reason. Protecting the country is more important…”
Even while speaking to the maid, Vivian’s mind kept returning to the vanished cold storage.
Why had it disappeared?
She needed to reopen the door.
‘First, let’s send her away.’
Rolling up her sleeves silently, Vivian’s eyes glimmered with resolve.
