BEW 1

Serafina Richter was weak-willed.

She was so weak-willed that after marrying the Duke of Richter, known as the Monster of the North, she secluded herself in her room for over three months.

She spent her days alone in a curtained room, curled up under the blankets, sleeping all the time.

Occasionally, she would wake up to eat and then go back to sleep.

Her appearance was utterly lethargic.

The only time she showed emotion was when she would flinch in surprise upon seeing her husband, the Duke of Richter, and avert her gaze.

Unlike the large-framed and muscular northerners, the new lady was pale and slender, growing paler and thinner each day.

The servants of the Richter household felt sorry for the new lady.

Living under the bright southern sun and now under the gloomy northern skies must have made her quite depressed.

And that wasn’t all.

She was practically abandoned by her family.

The Duke of Richter was called a "monster" throughout the empire, including the capital.

A man cursed by a demon.

A cruel beast.

The Monster Duke.

No woman wanted to marry such a man.

It was only natural that no parent wished to give their daughter away to the Monster Duke.

Thus, for generations, the ladies of the Richter family had been women essentially sold off.

In exchange for a hefty payment from the imperial family who wished for the Richter lineage to continue, the women were disowned by their families and sold off.

So, how could they not sympathize with the poor lady?

Sold off by her family, married to the Monster Duke, withering away in the cold northern lands.

Of course, not everyone felt that way.

"But isn't this a bit much?"

"What is?"

"The lady. Doesn't it seem like she doesn't even see us as human? The lord isn't that scary, but she flinches like she's seen a monster whenever she sees him."

"Shh, Sienna. Someone might hear you."

Marie tried to hush Sienna but secretly agreed with her.

While she felt very sorry and pitied the lady, she also felt mixed feelings about it.

Having worked at the Richter estate for a long time, seeing someone lose the will to live and tremble so much...

It felt like being the minion of a monster who kidnapped a princess from a fairy tale.

They were just ordinary servants satisfied with good benefits and a high salary.

But the unpleasantness was short-lived.

Looking at her gaunt face and increasingly dull eyes,

"...I just hope she adapts soon."

That was all they could hope for.

And then, some time later.

Marie remembered her previous prayer as she looked at the scene before her.

Did she pray too fervently?

No, honestly she didn't pray that diligently.

It wasn’t even really a prayer.

Just a light hope of 'I wish she would adapt quickly.'

But why, then...

“Marie, look! My Sandra plants have sprouted! I’m so proud. I think I have a knack for herb cultivation.”

...had she adapted this much?

Marie awkwardly smiled as she looked at the lady crouched in a corner of the garden.

Wearing a casual commoner's one-piece dress and a straw hat that looked picked up from somewhere.

Instead of shoes, she wore boots, and her silk gloves were covered in dirt as she held a trowel.

The beginning of this strange change traced back to just three weeks ago.

I had a dream.

It was a dream from my childhood that I had forgotten.

A time when my mother and grandmother were still alive, before I was sent to my biological father, Count Adeline, and suffered an abusive life.

In the dream, the young me was rolling around in the dirt.

I rolled around on the soggy ground after the rain had just stopped, and I burst into laughter at the sight of the mud covering my entire body.

"Serafina! You’re covered in mud again. I just can’t handle you."

"What can we do? You were exactly the same when you were little."

"...Mother. I'm your daughter."

After that exchange, my mother and grandmother laughed heartily.

I shifted my gazes between them, then laughed along too.

The sound of our loud laughter filled the air.

It seemed even the rustling leaves were imbued with our laughter.

I woke up to the echo of our boisterous laughter.

"…Ah."

Tears welled up in the corners of my eyes, and an unerasable smile lingered on my lips.

And then, I recalled the things I had forgotten.

My happy childhood.

The lessons and teachings my mother and grandmother left me.

And even my past life.

…Oh, this is a bit sudden.

Honestly, I had no idea why I suddenly remembered my past life.

Maybe, as the forgotten memories burst forth one after another, they uprooted everything like a string of sweet potatoes with long roots?

Ah, that could be it.

Whatever it was, it wasn’t a bad situation.

After all, the memories of my past life and childhood had pushed away the lethargy and depression that had consumed me since my marriage.

The root of my depression lay in my life at Count Adeline’s estate.

After my mother died in an unfortunate accident, and my grandmother began nearing the end of her life,

My grandmother took me to my biological father Count Adeline.

Even though I was an illegitimate child born from a one-night mistake, she thought he wouldn’t abandon his daughter.

A child needed a guardian, after all.

I was thirteen years old at the time.

At thirteen, I was a disaster that had fallen upon the count’s estate.

The Countess could barely contain her distaste for me, and the Count himself looked at me like dirt.

Their daughter Laura was ashamed of my existence, yet delighted in it as well.

She was a child who found happiness in others' misfortune, after all.

Honestly, it was so unfair.

Yes, unfair.

My mother didn’t even know Count Adeline was married when she met him.

She met him by chance at a restaurant, he pretended to be a bachelor and seduced her, and my mother fell for it.

Count Adeline, despite his rotten core, had a decent outward appearance.

That’s right. My mother was merely attracted to his looks; she was not at fault.

After their one-night affair, when she found out he was Count Adeline and a married man,

my mother kicked him hard in the groin and left with my grandmother.

With me in her womb.

Based on this story, there was clearly only one perpetrator.

Count Adeline, my biological father, with his presentable exterior but rotten interior.

However, instead of confronting her husband, the countess chose to take out her anger on me.

A dirty attic.

Meager meals.

Mockery and bullying from the maids.

A barrage of verbal abuse and beatings.

Amidst countless acts of violence, I gradually forgot my bright and shimmering childhood.

As if the mold that bloomed in the sunless attic had overtaken my mind.

The end of the torment was my marriage to Duke Richter.

Everyone avoided the monster of the North.

In response to the emperor’s declaration that whoever married the monster and became his bride would be granted immense wealth and power, Count Adeline and the countess hurriedly drew a number.

It was a golden opportunity to sell me off at an exorbitant price, the thorn in their side.

And so, I was sold.

For the first time, they smiled at me.

‘Go and d1e.’

It seemed I heard such words hidden in their bright smiles.

I was afraid of my husband.

I was terrified of the monster duke who had bought me.

I couldn’t adapt to the cold North, and everything here seemed to strangle me.

It felt like this place was my final stop, abandoned by the world.

A vast abyss.

A vast swamp.

A hell that would endlessly drag me down until it eventually took my life.

My grave.

That was what the North was to me.

But now, it’s different.

"In truth, the real hell was Count Adeline's estate."

The life at the count’s estate had become my norm, overshadowing my lost childhood.

Despite having a more ordinary and peaceful life, I had come to accept that abvse as normal.

So, the moment I was cast out from that life, I perceived this place as hell.

In reality, the true hell was the count’s estate, while the people at Richter's were cautious and considerate towards me.

They fretted when I didn’t eat, worried I’d lose my eyesight from hiding under the covers all day.

They’d draw the curtains to let me see the sunlight, but if I flinched and seemed uncomfortable, they’d quickly close them again.

How could this place be hell?

Most importantly, there was clear evidence that this place couldn’t be hell.

It was a crucial realization I came to as I remembered my past life.

Precisely.

"Wow. My husband is the male lead?"

It turns out my husband, the monster duke, is the male lead of the romance fantasy novel 

"Water the Second Flower."

Then does that make me the female lead?

Absolutely not.

I was a supporting character.

The first wife whom the male lead eventually gave severance and a place to stay before sending her away, unable to bear her state any longer.

The ex-wife who drove the final nail into the male lead who lamented that no one truly loved him, before leaving.

Thanks to this, the main story became a barren field of heartache.

With the male lead’s self-esteem hitting rock bottom, he made a series of blunders, and the female lead matched him step for step in those blunders.

With both of them digging holes for each other, it was more like creating an underground bunker than a simple pit.

I remember vividly beating my chest in frustration while reading, realizing now that all of it was my doing.

I had no choice.

I must clear up my own mess.

Recalling the original story and comparing it to my behavior over the past three months, I was overwhelmed with guilt.

Imagining someone suffering great wounds and digging endless holes because of me made me feel incredibly sorry.

Moreover, truth be told…

I really liked that novel!

I cheered for the male and female leads as a couple.

I was thrilled when they finally stopped their digging and kissed passionately.

Anyway, what matters now is this:

I can stop the male and female leads from making those terrible mistakes.

A beautiful, trauma-free farewell.

We’ll part as friends, without any hard feelings, and I’ll support the love between the male and female leads from the sidelines.

…Wow, I sound like a Hollywood character.

I marveled as I stepped out from under the covers.

A faint light filtered through the curtains the maids had drawn.

It felt like a spotlight shining on me as I began a new life.

…Indeed, I must be a bit Hollywood-style after all.

Note:
할리우드 사람" (Hollywood person) is used metaphorically to describe someone who is dramatic, grandiose, or acts in a way that resembles the characters in Hollywood movies.

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