ITDHC 01

Chapter 1

1. The Young Duchess

A few days ago, twenty-year-old Seo Yuna died in an unexpected accident and opened her eyes in the body of twelve-year-old Elissa.

“Miss Elissa, His Grace the Duke is looking for you.”

The maid who had come at the Duke of Rubellin’s summons led Elissa to the duke’s office.

As she followed the maid, Elissa stared blankly at her unfamiliar reflection in the window.

A cute twelve-year-old girl with dazzling blond hair and fresh, light-green eyes.

There was no sign of twenty-year-old Seo Yuna, with her black hair and black eyes.

I’m Elissa Rubellin…?

It had only been a few days since she had transmigrated into this body.

Apparently, Elissa had been dying after a carriage accident. The one who had saved her was the Duke of Rubellin.

However, her mother had died at the scene, and her father, Viscount Loengrin, had already passed away three years ago, leaving Elissa an orphan.

Unfortunately, there were no relatives willing to take her in.

Viscount Loengrin had squandered his fortune on business ventures during his lifetime, leaving Elissa with absolutely no inheritance.

From her relatives’ point of view, she was nothing more than an unwanted burden who had nothing to offer them.

The Duke of Rubellin had taken Elissa to his ducal estate.

Just as he had promised Elissa’s grandfather, he said he would marry his grandson and granddaughter.

But when Elissa heard the name of the young duke who was to become her husband, she was horrified.

Richard Rubellin.

He was the father of Hannes, the villainous second male lead in Bird Cage, a bleak 19+ romance-fantasy novel Elissa had read in her previous life!

In other words, Elissa was going to become Hannes’s mother.

The novel, whose title alone sounded ominous, had been one of the novels Elissa had actually enjoyed reading in her previous life. But they say life is a comedy when viewed from afar and a tragedy when seen up close.

This is completely different from just reading about transmigration!

And on top of that, she was an extra who was already dead by the time the original story began!

In the original novel, Elissa had lost both her parents at a young age and grown up in the cold, loveless ducal family.

Because of her lack of affection, she became abnormally obsessed with her husband, Richard, and eventually met a miserable end at his hands.

I don’t want to die like that.

Elissa clutched the hem of her dress. She did not want to end her second life so pointlessly.

Fortunately, there were still ten years before Elissa was supposed to die. Ten years was enough time to change her fate.

By then, Elissa and the maid had arrived at the duke’s office.

As she entered, she saw a well-built old man with a stern expression sitting behind a desk.

Albert Rubellin.

The undisputed holder of the greatest power in the empire, and the head of the Rubellin ducal family, known as the “Rubellin of the Storm.”

Yet he was also an unfortunate man who had lost his only child, his son and daughter-in-law, a year ago.

The Duke of Rubellin looked at Elissa with indifferent eyes, put a cigarette between his lips, and got straight to the point.

“Marry.”

“……”

“That is the reason I am taking someone as insignificant as you into our family.”

Elissa immediately found his words suspicious.

As he said, compared to the Rubellin ducal family, the only ducal family in the empire, Elissa’s family was insignificant.

Indeed. Why would the only ducal family in the empire want to take a girl from an obscure viscount’s family on the outskirts of the empire, especially an orphan, as their granddaughter-in-law? There must be countless nobles who would love to become the duke’s in-laws.

She had no idea why they had specifically chosen her, but one thing was certain.

He may call me insignificant, but if he chose me over all those noble ladies, it means he needs me for something.

Quickly assessing her position, Elissa calmly met the gaze of the old man sitting across from her and smoking a cigarette.

Albert gazed thoughtfully at her light-green eyes, which stared straight back at him without a trace of intimidation, and continued.

“A woman’s life is quite easy, you know. All she has to do is give birth to children in a comfortable home and she gets to enjoy everything her husband has accumulated.”

He seemed determined to diminish Elissa’s value and make her obedient to him.

He’s telling a girl who has only just begun menstruating to have children.

A girl raised in this world, where patriarchal values dominated, might have accepted his words without question. But Elissa, who had memories of her previous life, was different.

She casually ignored Albert’s continued nonsense and sneered inwardly.

Men have it pretty easy, too. They can wander around doing pointless things under the excuse of working outside, then come home and enjoy the happy family their wives have built for them.

But she barely swallowed the words that had risen to the tip of her tongue. The second life she had been given was precious.

“Your Grace.”

At that moment, someone knocked and entered the room. It was Albert’s aide.

A man wearing priestly robes followed behind him. Apparently, he had been called to witness the marriage vows.

The aide approached Albert and delivered the news.

“The young duke encountered a band of bandits on his way here, so he will be delayed.”

At those words, Albert lowered the cigarette from his mouth.

“Bandits? Didn’t you say he arrived in the area yesterday evening?”

“Yes, Your Grace, but…”

“There shouldn’t be any bandits on the main road. Unless those fools have a death wish.”

“It seems that the young duke is coming by the mountain road.”

“Why would he take the mountain road when there’s a main road?”

“He said he wanted to personally ensure the safety of the territory…”

Albert’s brow furrowed.

Richard must have been extremely unhappy about this marriage. Otherwise, he would not be doing something so out of character just to waste time.

“What a pointless stunt.”

Albert clicked his tongue in displeasure.

Elissa, who had heard the news as well, hoped that Richard’s lateness would delay the marriage by a few days—or even just one day. She wanted a little more time to sort out her thoughts.

But the man who would become her grandfather-in-law was not particularly patient.

“He’ll arrive by evening at the latest.”

He casually signed the marriage contract on Richard’s behalf and pushed the document toward Elissa.

“Here. Sign it.”

The aide beside him took a quill from the duke and handed it to Elissa.

Richard’s signature box had already been filled with Albert’s signature. Once Elissa signed, the two of them would officially be married.

Elissa weighed the impoverished life she would have outside the ducal estate against the comfortable life she could have inside it.

There are still more than ten years before the point in the original story when Elissa dies. If I don’t have any children during that time and don’t become obsessed with Richard, won’t I be fine?

If she could stick to that, she could live comfortably in the wealthy and cozy ducal estate and then walk away with a hefty divorce settlement.

She did not need long to decide.

Elissa wrote her still-unfamiliar name in the signature box.

The priest who had been summoned as a witness to the marriage watched her quietly before speaking.

“Richard Rubellin and Elissa Loengrin are now husband and wife in the presence of the Goddess Arène. May the goddess’s blessing accompany them on their journey together.”

As she listened to the priest’s declaration, Elissa took a deep breath.

I’ll endure this family for exactly eight years, take a huge settlement, and get out.

And so, the marriage ceremony ended without the groom present.

That night, the maids who had helped Elissa bathe escorted her to her room and left.

The room she had been given was incomparably more luxurious than the guest room where she had stayed for the past ten days.

The guest room had certainly been luxurious enough to live up to the reputation of the ducal estate, but compared to this room, it had been small and modest.

So the room of the future lady of the house really is different.

Elissa looked around the bedroom.

The walls of the adjoining sitting room were decorated with swords that looked expensive at a glance. They were rather out of place as decorations in a noblewoman’s room, but Elissa did not think much of it and headed toward the bed.

The bed was wide and large, almost as spacious as the room Elissa had used in her previous life.

Elissa lay down.

As expected of such an expensive bed, it was soft and comfortable. Yet perhaps because she was sleeping in an unfamiliar place, she was wide awake instead of feeling sleepy.

It’s so quiet outside. Has he still not arrived at the estate?

Elissa thought about the husband who still had not come at this late hour.

I hope he doesn’t come tonight.

She was curious about the boy who was going to become her husband, but fear outweighed her curiosity.

In the original story, Richard was the head of a hostile family that opposed the male protagonist.

Since he had already died long before the original story began, Elissa did not know exactly what his personality had been like. But judging from Hannes’s memories, he had certainly not been a good person.

Now that she was married to him, she could not avoid meeting him forever.

Still, she wanted to put it off for as long as possible.

…I can’t sleep.

As Elissa tossed and turned, lost in various thoughts, midnight eventually arrived.

Yet the man who was to become her husband was still nowhere to be seen.

Maybe he really isn’t coming tonight.

The thought made her feel a little relieved.

With her tension finally easing, Elissa eventually fell asleep.

How much time had passed?

Bang—

Elissa suddenly woke at the sound of her bedroom door being thrown open.

It was a dark night, with the moon hidden behind clouds. Only three or four faint lights illuminated the room beneath the darkness.

The sound of the wind rattling the windows made Elissa’s uneasy heart tremble even more.

Who is that…?

Then, a shadow with the faint light behind it strode toward Elissa.

Slightly disheveled jet-black hair, skin so pale it seemed cold to the touch, and beneath it, terrifying blood-red eyes.

Gasp! A-a demon?

That was how he looked to Elissa, who had only just woken up.

The moment her eyes met those terrifying eyes looking down at her, Elissa felt as though she might faint from fear.

At the same time, her breath stopped.