I Married the Mad Duke Who Killed My Husband - Chapter 1
“Sob, I, I didn’t see anything……”
Let only the innocent throw stones at the pitiful widow.
The funeral of my husband, the Marquis, was a mess. He had many illegitimate children but no heir, causing collateral relatives eyeing the fortune to grab each other’s collars and raise their voices in front of the coffin.
Meanwhile, I alone was pretending to be sad, dabbing at my tears.
“Sob, sob, Marquis. How could this happen!”
How? It’s all because of the male lead, of course.
Of course, I did provide a little assistance. There might have been other ways to avoid my death from the original story, but who would want to live with an old, decrepit Marquis?
“What am I supposed to do now that you’re gone like this? Ah……”
That old Marquis who lusted after young women simply reaped what he sowed.
As I watched from the corner of my eye the gazes softening bit by bit at my performance reaching its peak, I recalled the shocking first night when I remembered my past life.
***
“……Miss….. Miss! Wake up!”
An unfamiliar maid shook my bare shoulders violently. She looked like she was about to slap my cheek, and I wanted to tell her not to hesitate and just do it.
“Geez, you said you wanted to bathe alone, so we left you, but do you know how scared we were thinking we might have to remove a corpse? It’s no use, so stop washing and come out!”
“Corpse……”
“Don’t think strange thoughts and come out. The Marquis has finished his meal!”
She roughly pulled me out of the bathtub as if I were her subordinate, not a noble, and started scrubbing me vigorously with a soapy brush.
“Miss, you just need to lie still. Don’t resist at all……”
The subsequent instructions were humiliating, but I was too busy thinking about the dream I had in the bathtub.
Two or three more maids approached and stood me in front of a mirror after washing me. Then they started slathering fragrant oil all over my body.
My face and naked body reflected in the mirror are beautiful. It’s because I’m seeing it with objective eyes, not as the complete ‘me’.
‘Possession? Or is this reincarnation?’
A faint sense of reality stopped my voice from screaming out loud. I clutched my head as I realized I had been reincarnated into a book, not in an unfamiliar ceiling but in a huge bathroom.
“Miss! I told you it’s no use!”
Perhaps it only appeared as if I was despairing about my first night with the Marquis, as the maid shouted sharply while reapplying fragrant oil to my disheveled hair and combing it. The pulling scalp from her inconsiderate touch made me realize this was reality.
I had been reincarnated as an extra in the novel “I Only Treated the Injured” that I had read in my past life.
And as the wife of the villainous Marquis who doesn’t even get a line of dialogue and dies early on!
Born as an illegitimate child of a fallen viscount family, I was forced into marriage by my family’s pressure, and today, my first night, happened to be the day the male protagonist in the original story attacks the Marquis.
The Marquis survives the male lead’s attack by using me as a shield, while the male lead, failing in his attack, flees wounded and is picked up by the female lead, falling in love – that was the story.
Me? My role was to be pierced by the male lead’s blind sword.
“Aaargh!”
“Miss!”
The maids’ hands struck my back sharply. This was my reality.
I was scheduled to experience my first night and death in a few hours.
***
“Phew….. They say even if you’re caught in a tiger’s den, you can survive if you keep your wits about you.”
Dressed in thin, short clothes, I recalled a proverb I didn’t even know a few hours ago.
“If it’s an ambush, he should hide and do it, why make a fuss coming in from outside.”
If the male lead had been hiding in the room from the start, I would have suggested joining forces before the bathed Marquis arrived.
But he sneaked into the room at the height of the first night.
“I can’t die like this.”
I looked in the mirror again.
Soft pink hair flowing down to my waist, large gray-blue eyes with a hint of purple. White and soft skin. Anyone would see a pitiful beauty.
To think I was born with such looks but wouldn’t get to enjoy them.
Without my past life’s memories, I didn’t even know I was pretty because I was intimidated by my position as an illegitimate child.
Perhaps the reason the Marquis could noticed the male lead’s attack while spending the night with me was because I had turned into a wooden block from fear.
“Otherwise, how could he be distracted while facing this beauty.”
As I flipped my hair, emitting an almost numbing scent from the thickly applied fragrant oil, the goddess in the mirror moved with me. I decided on a plan without hesitation.
“The method is seduction.”
A very classic method that’s been around since ancient times.
But that doesn’t mean I actually intended to sleep with the Marquis. Just to entice him slightly, very slightly.
“Is it possible…… No, it has to be. You can do it, Asil!”
This body, despite appearances, is well over forty if you add the years from my past life….. Still younger than the Marquis though. What a crazy old man.
Of course, he’s aged quite well for his age, probably from living comfortably, but he’s still an old man. He should act his age, not take a bride less than half his age. He must be senile.
“Ugh, it’s disgusting.”
The thought of having to hold onto that senile old man until the male lead arrives made me want to retch, but fortunately, I had eaten almost nothing just before. Barely calming my stomach, I sat back on the bed, and gradually heard footsteps approaching.
The footsteps, unusually loud as if joyful, were disgusting.
Bang-
“Asilia- my wife.”
“……Marquis.”
Soon after, the door opened and the Marquis, Keldrick, entered. I stood up from the bed and was about to curtsy out of habit by lightly lifting my skirt, but realizing the dress I was wearing was shorter than usual, I quickly let it go.
“Beautiful indeed.”
The senile old man smiles as if he’s so happy to be remarrying.
Come to think of it, the maid told me not to resist while bathing. Should I act as if I’m scared but accepting? Ugh. My stomach is turning again.
“Did you wait long? Your skin is cold.”
“……No, Marquis.”
His hand naturally caressing my exposed shoulder feels unpleasant. But suppressing any sign of dislike, I endured by turning my head sideways as if only embarrassed.
“But you’re trembling. If it’s not from the cold…… Is it from anticipation?”
Ah, damn, I want to wash my ears right now. I wonder if the male lead is climbing up the castle walls by now. I hope he arrives before I throw up.
“How could I not be nervous serving the Marquis?”
“Indeed. Your heart is as beautiful as your face.”
He pressed down firmly with the hand that was caressing my shoulder. My body fell backward under the strong force that seemed to say he wouldn’t tolerate any resistance.
“Marquis……”
“I’m not just the Marquis now, but your husband. After today, you’ll no longer be Asilia Cornel, but Asilia Vant.”
I wanted to punch his leering face as he asked if I wasn’t happy. To buy even a little more time, I avoided his lips approaching for a kiss and whispered shyly.
“This is all new to me……”
“Hoho. My poor wife. You just need to leave everything to me.”
“I’m only afraid I won’t be able to please you, Marquis.”
My line seems to have struck the senile old man’s heart just right. Seizing the moment, I forced my eyes to well up with tears. The moist, shimmering eyes must have looked beautiful.
“Ooh, Asilia…… I shall be considerate of you.”
Beyond my blurred vision caused by the forced tears, I saw the opposite window had grown darker than before. The male lead had arrived.
“I’m only happy to have such a kind Marquis as my husband.”
I quickly embraced the Marquis and whispered in his ear. And I didn’t take my eyes off the slowly opening window.
“……”
“……Ah, Marquis……”
Our eyes met.
Damn male lead, getting caught by entering so obviously.
I looked at him with cold eyes while fabricating a sweet voice.
“So you’re happy about our marriage too, Asilia.”
From the crazy male lead to the senile old man, they’re all ridiculous.
The Marquis seemed to hesitate slightly when I hugged him tightly, even though he liked the shyness. I clung to him in panic.
Then I frantically signaled with my eyes to the masked male lead.
Hurry! Hurry! Now!
“Please look upon me favorably, Marquis……”
“Asil…… Ugh–!”
The male lead, who had been looking slightly suspicious, finally drew his sword. The moment the blade, glinting in the moonlight, stabbed the Marquis, I quickly turned my arms and pressed his face into the pillow behind him to muffle the sound.
The male lead’s red eyes, visible outside the mask, widened. Don’t strain your eyes, strain your arms, you fool.
“–, -, —”
The Marquis, not dying instantly as he was stabbed from behind, struggled, but only for a moment. After an instant that felt like an eternity, the corpse slumped onto my body.
“Leave it, idiot.”
The male lead, still eyeing me suspiciously, reached out as if to pull me away, but I refused.
A chilling thought struck me – was he actually trying to eliminate me, not help?
“……”
Fortunately, it seemed he possessed some semblance of moral integrity as a protagonist. He refrained from pointing his weapon at me and slowly retreated.
“I’ll give you 10 seconds. Run.”
After removing the pillow, I smeared myself with the Marquis’s blood to look more pitiful.
The male lead, understanding my intention, quickly disappeared beyond the window. Now it was time to show off my diaphragmatic breathing.
“Kyaaaaaah—! The Marquis, the Marquis!!!”
