CHGD 01

Chapter 01

Fate—it means the fortune of a lifetime.

So when you are reborn, you expect that fate to unfold anew.

If you suffered in your past life, you’d be happy in your next—I hoped for that kind of story. But as is often the case with tragedies that open with stale hopes, reality flowed in the opposite direction.

“……Is this the right place?”

Our family’s sole coachman nodded his pale face repeatedly at my question.

“Yes, yes. This is definitely the place.”

Even from our estate, which was already deep in the backwoods, it took a week by carriage. Crossing mountains and valleys, the place we arrived at was… a wasteland so desolate it was hard to believe anyone could live there.

‘*Wasn’t this supposed to be a Count’s house?*’

No matter how war-torn the Empire was, and how many nobles had fallen, a family with the title of Count didn’t seem like they’d have their domain in a place like this.

Looking closer, I saw a castle rising abruptly in the middle of the endless wasteland.

‘*So my husband lives there.*’

Fifteen years had passed since I was reborn as the daughter of a poor noble family. I had been practically sold off, bound by marriage to the Count of that castle.

There was no wedding ceremony, not even a formal meeting—just a contractual marriage.

The man who had bought me as his bride with a hefty sum of gold lived right there.

‘*I knew noble marriages of this era went like this, but it still doesn’t feel real.*’

Still, I thought they’d at least put up a token resistance since I was their only daughter. But they sold me off without a second thought for a stack of gold coins.

The faces of my utterly heartless parents came to mind anew.

The moment the marriage talk came up, they kicked me out.

As soon as the letter arrived—the one proposing the marriage with a pouch of gold—they called me in and said:

*Congratulations, daughter. Now get out.*

To them, gold was more important than their daughter.

Thanks to that, I couldn’t even say goodbye to my childhood friend and ended up setting out on the road with only the coachman for company.

In the modern world, these people would be locked up in prison side by side. I let out a sigh.

‘*Who is the groom, I wonder. They seem desperate too… An old man who missed his chance at marriage? A scoundrel whose wife ran away? Or maybe…*’

As we got closer, unpleasant imaginations began to bubble up.

“Oh, Miss. I think I should turn back here.”

“Excuse me? You’re leaving me to go the rest of the way alone?”

My eyes widened at the coachman’s sudden words. It looked like at least half a day’s walk remained. The coachman stroked the back of the aging horse and bowed his head.

“The horse seems unwell. It looks like it might collapse if we set foot further in…”

His words weren’t a lie. The horse was snorting nervously, looking at the castle beyond the wasteland. There was even foam at its mouth—not a threatening display, but as if it were genuinely sick.

If I forced it to go on, it really looked like it might faint.

“……Alright, go back.”

“Th-thank you!”

It wasn’t just the horse; the coachman was also old enough that I was grateful he’d brought me this far. His complexion wasn’t good either, after the long journey.

Besides, he was the only one at the main house who’d taken my side. I didn’t want to push him.

Half a day’s walk—I’d just go on foot.

I waved my hand, telling him to go safely, and the coachman bowed repeatedly before leaving.

“Alright, then… Let’s go.”

Fortunately, I didn’t have much luggage. The other side had said they didn’t need a dowry, and I didn’t have many possessions to begin with.

A few dresses, a jewelry box left by my grandmother, a self-defense item from a friend—that was the extent of my belongings.

Carrying the bag with those things in one hand, I walked slowly toward the castle.

“It’s farther than I thought.”

I’d expected to arrive in half a day, but the sun was already beginning to set.

By the time I reached the castle gate, it was already evening.

I was out of breath, and my clothes clung to me unpleasantly with sweat.

This was supposed to be my first meeting with my husband, but I wasn’t making a very good impression.

“Hello— Is anyone there?”

Standing before the massive castle gate—incomparable to my family’s home—I looked around. There was no door knocker, and no guards in sight.

Was I supposed to push open this giant door myself? I reached out and placed my hand on it.

Creak—

The gate began to slowly open.

Curious who might be opening it, I tried to look up at the battlements. As I raised my gaze, my eyes met something through the gap in the door.

‘*Eyes…*’

A colossal eye protruded from the gap.

Not a metaphor—a literal, enormous eyeball.

A bizarre sight, like a snail’s eye on a long, slimy stalk, fixed its gaze on me, and my body froze.

An eyeball bigger than my head was staring straight at me.

Beyond it, I could see the castle wall gripped tightly by slimy fingers. I made a point of not counting how many. No matter how you looked at it, they weren’t human fingers.

“Who…….”

A voice resonated—not in my ears, but directly in my brain.

A monster I’d only ever seen in movies was right in front of me. The thought that I should run and the intuition that it was already too late swirled chaotically in my head.

“Intruder……?”

Just as I felt a bizarre killing intent, as if the creature was about to recognize me as an enemy, my tongue moved on its own.

“I’m the new lady of the house. I’m moving in. Let me in, okay?”

I spoke like someone who’d just learned the Imperial language for the first time. I even mixed in some Korean at the end.

‘*What the hell did I just do?*’

Even if I was shocked, saying something like that instead of running away… Did fear make me blurt out nonsense?

“…….”

But whether it understood my words or was simply considering how best to eat me, the giant eyeball silently looked me up and down.

After an eternity of a few seconds, the gate opened wider.

“Lady…… come in…….”

For a moment, the massive eyeball seemed to smile.

I heard a wet, squelching sound from something huge, but I did my best to ignore it.

[Kihih-]

“……!”

At that moment, my feet moved on their own, carrying me into the castle.

I felt a chilling sensation, as if someone was lurking behind me.

Like a rabbit’s instinctive leap to escape a predator, I jumped and landed inside the castle.

“Wh-what?”

I hurriedly turned around, but the wasteland beyond the gate was empty.

Instead, I heard a ‘*kdaddeuk*’—something grinding its teeth—and a eerie ‘*kihihi*’ laughter.

Blood turning cold, I stared outside, having dropped my bag. As if my entry had concluded its business, the gate closed on its own.

At the same time, the unidentified noises abruptly stopped.

‘*…Wait, where did that monster go?*’

Coming to my senses, I frantically looked around.

The giant eyeball that had opened the door for me was nowhere to be seen. Near the gate, there was only emptiness, as if no one had ever been there.

Whether I was possessed by a ghost, or under some spell, I had no idea. I stood there dumbfounded for a long time.

‘*This is strange. This is still the human world, right?*’

It was such a bizarre experience that I wondered if I’d wandered into a different world altogether.

“Hm? A guest?”

After standing there for what felt like a while, just as my cold sweat was starting to dry and I began to feel the chill, I heard a man’s voice from inside the castle.

Relieved to hear a human voice after so long, I turned my head happily… and…

‘*Oh, shit.*’

I squeezed my eyes shut at the sight of the man who finally appeared.

The voice belonged to a man who had octopus tentacles instead of human legs.

If it were just his legs, it might have been less shocking than the giant eyeball. But his gruesome appearance made me break out in a cold sweat again.

He was holding a raw, bloody liver in one hand. Bits of what looked like innards were stuck to the corners of his mouth, and his clothes were stained with an unidentified liquid.

He looked exactly like someone who’d been in the middle of devouring a person and had rushed out.

What was strange was that his face itself looked relatively gentle.

“That’s odd. There’s no way a human could get in at this hour.”

‘*He said human just now.*’

The tone confirmed he didn’t consider himself human. A different kind of fear than the giant eyeball crept up my spine.

“Well, no choice. Before the others see, I’ll just have to dispose of—”

“Excuse me.”

“Huh?”

If I stayed put, this unidentified octopus-man might just “dispose” of me.

Sensing a survival crisis, my tongue moved on its own once more.

“You know, eating raw liver isn’t good for you.”

“Uh…”

“You could get food poisoning, and there might be parasites. Unless you buy it from a certified place, you should cook it.”

I didn’t even know what I was saying myself.

“O-Oh, really?”

*And why are you buying it, you fool?*