TWELWH 02

Chapter 2.

The Husband Who Wishes His Wife Would Die

Essika slowly recalled her past life.

Essika Brigitte had been born as the only daughter of a merchant family that had bought its baronial title after achieving enormous success in the jewelry business. She had grown up like a delicate flower in a greenhouse.

Her two older brothers had learned the family business, but Essika had never been interested in such things.

Like most noble ladies, her goal in life had simply been to marry into a good family, have beautiful children, and live a life filled with love and happiness.

Then, during a visit to the capital, Torres, she had happened to encounter Duke Kallian Klaus.

She had fallen in love at first sight with his handsome appearance and refined manners and had constantly begged her father to let her become his wife.

Her father had tried to dissuade her, saying,

‘His mother, Leona Klaus, is not an ordinary woman.’

But Essika had refused to give up.

In the end, in exchange for providing an enormous dowry to the Klaus ducal family, which was suffering from financial difficulties, Essika had achieved her dream of marrying Kallian……

“What a fucking life it turned out to be.”

Looking toward the dark window of the north-facing room, Essika muttered in an elegant tone.

Putting aside the contempt of the head lady and the disdain of her husband’s family, Kallian had never once treated her like a wife.

The life Essika had dreamed of had come crashing down.

She had confided everything in letters to Yuri, her childhood friend, and begged her to come to her.

Yuri, the daughter of her nanny and her playmate since childhood, had willingly entered the Klaus Duchy as her maid……

In this place where she had nowhere else to turn, Essika had relied solely on Yuri.

It did seem that her reputation had somehow deteriorated even further after Yuri arrived, but she had still been the only person Essika trusted.

“If I had recovered my memories sooner, I wouldn’t have foolishly let myself be deceived.”

When she had lived as Cheon Yeongryeong, there had been more people who had stabbed her in the back than she could count on her fingers.

If she had possessed the instincts she had back then, she would have realized the truth simply by watching the way Yuri blinked……

Yet she had foolishly allowed herself to be deceived for years.

Essika sat down at her old, dust-covered desk.

Then, so that no one would be able to recognize what she was writing, she began writing in the characters she had used in the Central Plains.

‘First, I will recover my strength.’

In her previous life, Cheon Yeongryeong had possessed formidable martial arts as the daughter of the leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.

‘I know now that I cannot protect myself with a man’s love.’

This body had never trained before and was frail, but fortunately, the qi in this world seemed to be much denser than that of the martial world.

At most, it would take ten years.

If things went well, she could recover half of her former strength within five years.

‘Second, I will turn this family upside down, pickle them in salt, then drain them dry and throw them away.’

Kallian and the Klaus ducal family had planted too much resentment in her heart for her to simply divorce him and forget everything.

Here, she would simply have to destroy them in the refined manner of this world, right down to their very souls.

Because she remembered reading the novel, Essika knew the weaknesses of the Klaus ducal family well.

And the memories of everything she had seen and heard while living as the dull-eyed Essika were now falling into place like pieces of a puzzle, from the smallest details to the largest.

It would take time, but the result would undoubtedly be satisfying.

‘Third…….’

As Essika thought about her final plan, the corners of her lips curled upward in a sinister smile.

This life had to be different.

It had to be completely different from the fate Essika Klaus had been destined to suffer in the book she had read.

And then, there was a knock on the door.

“I’m coming in.”

It was Sella, one of the maids who had tormented her.

Her voice was completely devoid of sincerity.

“P-Please…… spare me…….”

Sella was certain that an outside assassin had infiltrated the room.

The Duchess had disappeared without a trace, and someone exuding an unknown aura was holding something sharp against her neck.

Her entire body trembled violently, and she was gasping for breath as though she were about to die.

“Do you know who I am?”

A chilly voice she had never heard before came from behind her.

It sounded neither distinctly male nor female.

Sella squeezed her eyes shut and whispered in a trembling voice.

“I…… I didn’t see anything……. Please, spare me…….”

The Klaus Duchy had strict security and vigilant guards.

Anyone capable of breaking through them had to be an extraordinarily skilled assassin.

“If I let you live, you’ll immediately run to the Klaus demon and tell her everything that happened here.”

The “Klaus demon” was slang referring to the head lady.

“N-No…… I won’t say a word if you let me go. Please…… show me mercy just this once.”

Sella shook her head vehemently.

The sharp object against her neck felt as though it could pierce her flesh and take her life at any moment.

“Sella.”

The moment she heard her own name from behind her, she flinched.

She was so startled that she nearly opened her eyes wide.

‘How does this person know my name?’

“Your mother and younger sister live in Achemvel, don’t they? You send half of your monthly wages there, but since that’s hardly enough, you occasionally steal from the head lady’s storeroom.”

Sella’s heart was pounding like mad.

The list of gifts received by the head lady was so enormous that it was impossible for her to keep track of every single item.

Therefore, stealing a worthless little ring or bracelet among them was easy.

“Your colleagues Anis and May are involved as well. And yes, Dave is covering for you.”

The moment Dave’s name was mentioned, Sella felt as though she might faint.

Dave, one of the senior soldiers, had a subtle mutual interest with Sella.

“If you become a nuisance to me, every one of your crimes will be exposed. You and your friends will be thrown out.”

“…….”

“That means there will be four people whose lives I can take with ease.”

Sella trembled from head to toe at the assassin’s words.

Four……

That meant her family living in Achemvel, Dave, and herself.

The only place where she could be protected was inside the Klaus Duchy.

‘This assassin…… might be an insider…….’

Otherwise, there was no way they could know about the petty theft taking place among the maids and soldiers.

Sella’s heart pounded violently.

“I’ll never tell anyone. Please believe me.”

Sella kept her eyes closed and lowered her head.

She had no idea why such a person was in the Duchess’s room, but if she wanted to preserve her life and prevent her entire life from being ruined, she had no choice but to obey.

“I’ll let you live. So instead of that stale bread, bring warm soup and good food and leave it in front of the door.”

At last, the sharp object pressing against her neck was removed.

“F-Food?”

“Yes. Bring only the best food for every meal.”

The spot where the object had been pressing still stung, but Sella finally felt as though she could breathe again.

The request was so ordinary for an assassin that she found it suspicious.

‘Could this assassin…… be the Duchess’s friend?’

That couldn’t be.

The Duchess had only one person she could call a friend: her maid, Yuri Anesis.

And after the Duchess had assaulted Yuri in front of the Duke, it seemed that their relationship had completely fallen apart.

‘Or perhaps this person is blackmailing the Duchess because they know some weakness of hers.’

That explanation made more sense.

An assassin this skilled, someone who knew even the internal affairs of the duchy, would undoubtedly know countless weaknesses of the foolish and lazy Duchess.

Perhaps the assassin was threatening the Duchess, who needed to recuperate after injuring her head, and intended to stay here with her……

Judging by the fact that the Duchess was nowhere to be seen inside the bed, perhaps she had even been tied up.

‘But that’s none of my business……. I’ve got enough problems of my own.’

Sella would faithfully carry out the orders given by the assassin inside the Duchess’s room.

In any case, no one in the ducal household cared about the Duchess’s condition.

She slowly left the room, carrying the stale bread and water she had brought with her.

“A charitable relief effort for Sorbet? Isn’t the Crown Prince’s attempt to squeeze money out of us a little too blatant? Things aren’t exactly good in Fellopé either. Damn it, he has no sense of business ethics.”

In the rose garden of the Klaus ducal residence, Gaven Fellopé, Kallian Klaus’s friend and the ruler of the Fellopé territory, complained with a frown.

Instead of answering, Kallian merely agreed through his rigid expression and silence.

Although Sorbet was suffering from an extreme food shortage due to a poor harvest, the Klaus family’s own finances were not comfortable enough to open their warehouses.

After all, maintaining and training their military forces always required an enormous amount of money.

“By the way……”

As he gazed at the rose garden, Gaven cautiously asked Kallian,

“I heard that the Duchess was injured. Is her condition a little…….”

“We’ll discuss that another time.”

Kallian cut him off with a cold gaze.

At his icy tone, Gaven’s hand trembled slightly as he held his teacup.

Kallian Klaus had been an inherently cold-hearted man from birth, but he was even more so toward his wife.

‘Even if their relationship is terrible, he doesn’t have to make it so obvious that he hates her……. Tsk.’

Kallian stared into the distance, his brows drawn together.

That terrible woman, Essika, who had charged at him with her eyes rolled back in fury.

He had heard that she had regained consciousness after suffering from a high fever for a week.

And now, ten days had already passed since then.

The woman who had once been too busy flaunting her extravagant jewelry while wandering around the gardens had not left her room since regaining consciousness.

There was no reason for him to wonder what had gotten into her.

‘I wish she would never leave her room.’

Kallian frowned as he thought.

‘No. Better yet, I wish she would just die.’