Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I’m sick.

The Duke of Icard never visited me in the three months since I came to the dukedom.

In those times, I consistently went to the greenhouse and ate the fruit of Ocrasia. Thanks to this, my dizziness has completely disappeared, and my blood pressure has decreased a lot.

But I am not fully recovered yet.

“Cough!”

I coughed and spilled blood.

“Oh, blood again!”

My maid, Lisa, was surprised and quickly wiped my mouth with a handkerchief.

She’s a brunette with brown eyes. She is in her early twenties, but a relatively calm and capable maid.

“I-it’s all right.”

I replied, touching my forehead with my hands.

“What’s on the agenda today? Let’s start at the top of the list.

“But…”

“Quickly.”

Leaving the Icard’s dukedom. Today I have to go to the academy with my father-in-law to pick up Evan.

It’s going to be my first face-to-face encounter with Duke Icard after the funeral.

I’m bringing a new handkerchief.

He strode down the stairs.

‘You mustn’t upset the Duke of Icard, the ultimate villain in this world…’

Since the Duke of Icard is busy pursuing a shady business, he remained indifferent to his son.

Not only did he send Evan to the Academy as soon as he was six, the Duke even married me to him while he was still in the academy.

‘How surprised would Even feel…? Being married at the age of thirteen to a girl he had never met…as expected, he wouldn’t believe it.’

My marriage to Evan caused a great stir in the aristocracy.

On the outside, the reason for our marriage is simple. Both of our mothers were very close to each other, so if the Duchess of Icard was alive, she would have taken me in unconditionally.

Since everyone knew that Duke Icard cared a lot about his wife, no one would feel suspicious and would be very much convinced.

Though, of course, it was nothing but an excuse. The real reason he suddenly brought me in as his daughter-in-law is because…

‘The Duke of Icard knows when I’ll die.’

The fact that I had a fatal disease is a complete secret that only my mother knew.

However, the Duke of Icard overheard my mother, who went to Evan’s mother’s grave and vented about my illness.

That is why they brought me in soon after my parents died in a carriage accident.

Now, the Duke of Icard is under political scrutiny as his power began to grow frighteningly.

“The Duke of Icard is trying to control even the Imperial Seal’s marriage.”

Some are sure that he had stepped on a bud in the field of gold. Hence, those kinds of malicious rumors began to circulate.

And the rumor is true.

However, due to controversy, he remains as the Duke of Icard. He has yet to fully develop his strength as

So Duke Icard decides to use me to avoid that until his son grows up.

After Evan’s marriage to me, the other people were relieved, saying, ‘Icard didn’t intend to influence the imperial family.’

Based on this plan, the Duke of Icard was able to gain enough power to his heart’s content till the day I died.

‘In about seventeen years, the Icards will gather a small and powerful force, and there will be no reason to be wary of them.’

The final daughter-in-law he had in mind was not me, but Elani. She is the only person that has a direct impact on the Imperial family, and it will be a national marriage.

‘If I die, he’s planning on making the Princess and Evan marry each other.’

In fact, in the original book, Evan and Elani got married right after I died, and she became Princess Icard.

‘But the problem is…I will not be dying.’

I am far from the original plans of the villain.

‘But… what if I don’t die by the age of twenty-one?’

Under the Imperial Law, divorce is not acceptable. So I would be in a position where I couldn’t get a divorce. So what if I am still alive, should I still make Evan and Elani connect with each other?

How would the Duchess of Icard behave?

‘I became a daughter-in-law because he thought Evan would become a widower…’

It doesn’t matter if the original story goes differently, but it is quite scary to see the villain go insane.

If I don’t die by that time, maybe he might kill me then.’

My mouth went dry from all those rational thoughts.

***

“I apologize for being late.”

As I ran down the stairs, I noticed the Duke of Icard waiting with a cold pose.

‘Oh, he’s terrifying.’

The Duke of Icard has an immense presence.

“It’s all right.”

He spoke briefly, as he looked down at me with those cold eyes. Well, he couldn’t have been interested because I am just his daughter-in-law in name.

Even in the original story, I was stuck in the sanatorium like I am already dead…and ironically enough, I died soon after.

I am just a device to describe how much the villainous Duke wielded his child’s marriage to covet power.

A character who dies quietly, without any narrative or characteristic.

“You look better than the last time I saw you.”

I was startled after hearing the Duke of Icard’s words.

I just assumed the worst that I would be killed, if things aren’t going according to his plan.

‘I should keep this to myself.’

‘Never let anyone discover that I’m healing my illness by myself!’

Luckily, the fruit of the Ocrasia is working very well and helps improve my health rapidly.

The food here is delicious, so I eat well. The garden is also beautiful, so I often take walks…

‘If he knew that I’m not going to die later, he could kill me right now and call me the time-limited-honored daughter-in-law.’

My frivolous imagination about her time limit to prepare for the worst has been increasingly frightening.

Shaking inside, the Duke of Icard spoke carelessly.

“It feels like you’ve gained some weight.”

‘I’m screwed.’

He turned around to ready the horse without listening to my reply.

“F-Father!”

I desperately called out to him.

He slowly looked back at me.

“…Father?”

This is clearly a unique way of saying that this will be his title from now on, since I called him that when we first met.

“Yes, Father!”

I said with a desperately forced smile.

“I-if you don’t like the title…”

“No.”

I could barely breathe a sigh of relief when he said, ‘No,’ worried about possibly being humiliated.

“But why.”

His red eyes were fierce when he looked straight at me.

I should never back down, or else he will start doubting that I’m not actually sick.

Since we didn’t get to see each other quite often anyway, I decided a way to avoid suspicion is to show my most vulnerable sight. As I think I’m about to cough up blood.

“I-I’d like to ride the carriage with you.”

“…What?”

“I want to ride the carriage with you, father.”

“Why?”

Why not… I need to show you my coughs to make him think my time is limited.

Though I couldn’t tell the truth.

“It’s going to rain later, so I’m afraid you’ll catch a cold if you ride a horse…”

“Raining? The sky is clear.”

“Hahaha, you’re right. Tomorrow will surely rain…”

Still, he didn’t budge. You could even tell that he is currently dumbfounded.

Ah, is using the weather as an excuse a bad idea?

“The truth is…!”

So I decided to sell my soul.

“Just…now that we’re family, I want us to be closer.”

…Did it work?

As I waited with a throbbing heart, he strode to open the carriage’s door himself.

“Come.”

“What?”

“Get in first.”

Oh, it’s a success.

It is a little scary to ride a carriage alone with the most terrifying villain, but it is better than being suspected of getting healthier.

So I sat across from him and set off to the Academy.