RAMHM - Chapter 2 < The Suspicious Countess >

I had a terrible nightmare. I was struggling to get out of the water where my feet couldn't touch the ground, and eventually, I ended up drowning and dying.

“Are you awake now?”

“Um, um-.”

I cleared my throat, which was still locked. My back was clammy as if I had had a nightmare. I started wiggling my fingers. Since I had a body like glass, I would wiggle my fingers first when I woke up in the morning. Because if I moved suddenly, my whole body would hurt as if it would really break.

“No matter what... you say you have to go out.”

Aside from the occasional crackling sound of Annie's voice, my mind was clear. I wondered if I had ever felt this good in the past few years. My head was very clear. Aside from a bit of cold sweat, my chest, which felt like it was on fire just from breathing, was fine.

“Are you listening to me?”

But, was Annie's voice that old? 

I couldn't control my body, which felt like it was submerged in deep water, and I forced my eyelids open and closed them again. Unlike my refreshed mind, my whole body felt like it had been beaten and hurt.

“Miss Blie!”

“...”

Bam!

“Ahh!”

Just as I was about to fall back to sleep, a tremendous force lifted my body out of bed in an instant. The awful herbal smell that had filled my nose every morning was gone. Instead, the scent of red roses lingered throughout the room.

“Annie, what the heck...”

“The Grand Duchess is dead.”

"...Annie."

Now, at the sound of Annie's voice talking about my death right in front of me, I... No, wait.

"Annie?"

“Who on earth is Annie that you’re looking for so badly?”

The grumbling voice of a middle-aged woman seemed strange to me like never before. Because it was truly strange. And my voice, which had always been choked by frequent coughing, was normal.

“Oh, what did you say just now?”

“What?”

“The Grand Duchess... The Grand Duchess is dead? Which Grand Duchess?”

Was there another Grand Duchess in this empire besides me? 

Only then did I see the scenery inside the room for the first time in my life. Unlike my room, which was all green, the room was filled with white and pink to the point of being overwhelming. For a moment, goosebumps ran all over my body. I ignored the woman with a bewildered expression reaching out her hand to me and hurriedly stood in front of the mirror.

"Ha-."

A sigh of relief. Green eyes sparkling in the sunlight, golden eyelashes. It was the reflection I had seen in the mirror so often that it was tiresome. Unlike my usual pale and haggard appearance, my rosy cheeks were a little unfamiliar, but I often had a fever in the morning.

“Did I collapse again yesterday?”

I've always had a sore throat and couldn't scream out loud, but today, for some reason, my throat felt like it could sing. Let's just stay still. But did I just get out of bed and run to the mirror on my own? 

My sturdy legs trembled for no reason.

“What are you talking about? You were lazing around all day yesterday and only woke up when the sun was high in the sky...”

"I...?"

I was dazed because my body was strangely healthy and strong, and the woman said something strange. I had been sick all day yesterday, and people used to say that I was 'loafing around'? 

This middle-aged woman, whom I had never seen before, gave me a pitiful look and straightened up the bed I had just woken up in. I felt a sense of discomfort in everything I saw and heard. The most uncomfortable feeling was my body standing alone, without any support. 

Knock knock-.

"Ma'am."

“...”

A servant who should have been called the Grand Duchess came into my bedroom without any trouble. And the middle-aged woman just watched him. It was not the Grand Duchess' residence, but a large hospital in the capital. Their impolite behavior was the only part of the situation that did not feel awkward.

“His Excellency the Grand Duke of Trovica has asked me to ask you whether you will attend his wife’s funeral.”

“... My husband?”

Phew. 

At that moment, a woman who had finished making the bed burst into laughter. I, who had completely escaped from the water, and everything in this room felt uncomfortable, froze as if I had been splashed with cold water at that laughter.

“Well, he could be your husband now, Ma’am. Now that Grand Duchess Trovica is dead, it would be fun to have Lady Blie take her place.”

“I, is Grand Duchess Trovika dead?”

Only then did I struggle with the memories that surged in like a tide. It wasn’t a nightmare. The two doors of the bedroom, which were always tightly shut, opened wide. The cynical maids’ expressions became thoughtful. The seizure was so severe that even Annie, who always teased me, ran out. My body was shaking so much that I didn’t even care about the strong scent of herbs that was so strong that it stung my nose. The nightmare that came the moment I smiled while thinking about the hot kiss with Noevian on that snowy night. No, reality. The rough hands that tried to make me swallow the horrible-tasting medicine that was given to me whenever I had a mild seizure. Struggling to handle the water that was poured into my mouth, and gradually turning my mind blank as I couldn’t breathe...

“Whew-!”

“Miss Blie!”

"Ma'am!"

I absentmindedly waved off the two hands reaching out to me and ran to the mirror I had been staring at earlier. My green eyes and sparkling golden eyelashes, nose, and mouth that someone had praised as beautiful. Everything was the same, but the names they called me by and my status were different. What the heck...

Wait a minute. As if possessed, I loosened my ponytail that was tied loosely behind me. At the same time, I took off the pajama hat that was on my head. The hair that fell down my back was not shiny blonde, but black hair like my husband’s. The naturally wavy hair was now sensually thick and wavy.

It's clearly my face, but it's not my body.

“What the heck, what the heck is this...!”

Confused, I leaned my staggering body against the console full of cosmetics. And I reached out to the wads of paper that caught my eye. It wasn’t the Imperial Daily I usually read, but the “Back Alley”, a gossip magazine full of scandals. 

“The reason why the Grand Duchess Trovica was found dead at dawn? The life and scandals of the young Grand Duchess.” 　

"Ah..."

I stumbled, holding my head. A strong middle-aged woman held me up firmly and clicked her tongue.

“Are you so happy you want to faint?”

Adrienne Trovica. That's the name I died last night. That painful and strange sensation was not a dream, but reality.

“If you wish to attend Her Highness the Grand Duchess’ funeral, you will be able to do so only in the afternoon.”

And according to the maid, I was reincarnated into the body of the government my husband had met.

*** 

A magnificent meal was laid out on the table. I stared at it with a blank face. None of it seemed real. The dining room, which must have been the taste of the mistress of the mansion, was adorned with all sorts of art pieces hanging in rags. The gaps between the frames were filled with vases filled with artificial flowers as tall as a person as if the owner liked things to be full. It felt like I was sitting in a crazy artist’s storage room. 

Yes, if I were in my right mind right now, that would be the first thing I felt. The breakfast course, which started with a salad with brie cheese, ended only after a piping hot lamb stew was served in front of me.

“Are you not hungry?”

A middle-aged woman spoke as she expertly shredded the lamb in the stew with a huge fork and removed the bone.

“Hey, what’s your name?”

“...What kind of game is this?”

“I asked what your name was.”

The woman put down the fork she was holding, approached me with a serious expression, and examined my face. She looked as if she was looking at a crazy person.

“...This is unpleasant.”

“Are you really crazy?”

Oh my. Even though I was a hostess who was looked down on, it wasn't enough to be cursed at in front of me like this. The woman who owned the body I entered, this woman named 'Blie', was called my husband's mistress for some reason. The old lady was rude but treated me well enough. However, this kind of treatment from a woman who seemed to be a maid was not something I should be treated like. 

When I was speechless at the rudeness, she clicked her tongue and called herself 'Marge'.

“You had been locked in your room for days, laughing and crying and then going crazy, and then when you heard that the Grand Duchess had died, you suddenly got up and called my name again...”

And straight from the mouth of the last,

“If you’re going to be crazy, be a little more crazy.”

As soon as she said that, my appetite suddenly disappeared. If I get that kind of reaction just by asking her a name, if I tell her that I'm Grand Duchess Adrienne, she'll think I'm crazy. I just drank cold water.

'Countess Blie Acacia.'

The servant who came into the bedroom called me all the way down to the dining room. I had never heard of Blie, but I also knew Count Acacia. 

Count Acacia, is a vassal of the Grand Duke’s family but not in a central position. He was old enough that his hair was gray, so it wouldn’t be strange if he died at any moment. Since he was from a humble family, he was always in charge of running errands for my husband’s estates, so he seemed quite pitiful. I heard that he had a young and beautiful wife, but I was sick all the time, so I couldn’t attend his wedding. Of course, a woman as young as the Grand Duchess would not attend the wedding of a humble family just because he was a vassal. 

He wouldn’t have dared to covet the wife of his lord and live with a woman who looked so similar. I saw his face many times, but he couldn’t even look up at me, the Grand Duchess, and just kept his eyes down. 

Because I was not in good health, I could hardly attend any parties after my marriage except for one or two, so it was difficult for me to recognize the faces of not only the Count but also other nobles.

'For a coincidence, this feels really bad.'

If it weren't for the color of her hair and her overall appearance, this woman would look exactly like me. The image of a noblewoman can change in an instant with just one lip color or one feather hat on her head...

Since the only face I saw often was my own reflection in the mirror, there was no way I wouldn't recognize a woman who looked so similar.

“You are eating well.”

As I was thinking and putting food in my mouth, Margevkept smiling and pushing out plates. Her words were harsh, but she didn't seem like a bad person. Was she the nanny who came with Blie's parents? 

Oh, now that I think about it, I...

'How long has it been since I last ate a meal with my own hands?'

Blie's body must have been really hungry because it didn't feel full. I was putting food in my mouth like I had starved for days. It wasn't wrong. It had been a long time since I had eaten proper food due to the childish bullying I had suffered at the Grand Duke's residence. 

Yum yum. 

At first, I was distracted and ate mechanically, but at some point, eating with my own hands became so new that I couldn't help but keep eating. Blie's hands were white, thin, and long like mine, but their strength was completely different. Even though I had a sore body, compared to my previous body, this was 'a level of health that would never be repeated.'

“Excuse me, Ma’am. What should I tell His Highness...?”

The servant who had been sent from the Grand Duke's residence was standing restlessly at the dining table. He was waiting for my answer. 

'Will you attend the funeral of Grand Duchess Adrienne?' 

Is this Blie really my husband's secret mistress?

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