I Became the Wife of the Hero Who Killed Me - Chapter 2

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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#Episode 2

“That woman is alive?”

Upon hearing the chamberlain’s report, Duke Edwin Nazar La Lombard’s brow furrowed in bewilderment.

Receiving that sharp gaze, Bertol stammered his response.

“I-I don’t understand how this happened either…”

Elisia was a precious princess who inherited the blood of both the Valdin Imperial Family and the Marcen Royal House, and judging by bloodline alone, she was a noblewoman that any family would covet as their mistress.

However, the Duke had used any means necessary to prevent this marriage that had been decided by imperial decree.

‘Though I understand my master’s feelings…’

The Imperial Family was Lombard’s enemy.

The Former Duke Lombard had died in battle because of Elisia’s father.

House Lombard had protected the Empire’s peace for generations from the Black Continent, the habitat of monsters beyond the Northern Wall.

Then one day, a major earthquake caused part of the Northern Wall to collapse.

The Former Duke urgently requested aid from the Imperial Capital, but Elisia’s father, who was Crown Prince at the time, ignored the request with various excuses.

This was because he had always been wary that Lombard’s mighty military force would someday threaten the Imperial Capital.

After a grueling process, the situation was barely resolved. However, the Duke who had fought on the front lines returned as a cold corpse.

Bertol could never forget the look in his young master’s eyes as he gazed down at his father’s coffin.

So when the marriage to Elisia was decided under the Emperor’s pressure, he couldn’t bring himself to refuse the Duke’s order to obtain deadly poison.

‘We’ll dispose of that woman’s corpse tomorrow morning.’

‘What shall we list as the cause of death?’

‘Sudden death from excessive drinking, perhaps. Anything is fine, just make it convincing enough that the Imperial Capital won’t be suspicious.’

The Duke had returned after the wedding ceremony ended and he headed to the bridal chamber.

He recounted in a calm voice how he had given the new bride wine mixed with poison.

He had avoided fast-acting poison since organ damage could lead to an autopsy, but it was the type that would be difficult to survive beyond twelve hours.

Since it was poison that Bertol had personally obtained, he was confident she would be found as a cold corpse by morning.

“Then why is she alive?”

“I-I’m terribly sorry…”

Was the amount of poison in the wine insufficient? Or was the poison wrong from the beginning?

The more he thought about it, the more bewildering it became, so Bertol couldn’t provide a proper explanation even under his master’s reproachful gaze.

“This is just my personal speculation, but could she have had immunity to poison? It’s not uncommon for those from the court.”

“That sounds plausible. That woman is a successor to the throne, after all.”

“Indeed…”

Bertol recalled this morning’s events once more.

The original plan was to enter under the pretense of delivering official business, discover the Duchess’s corpse lying cold in a corner of the bedroom, and handle the situation.

The Imperial Family in the Imperial Capital would naturally raise questions, but if they conducted an autopsy first, created an appropriate cause of death, and held the funeral, the matter would be resolved.

However, she had greeted Bertol without even a change in complexion.

She had even pointed out problems with the documents he had brought carelessly and warned him not to test her anymore.

Truly, the more he thought about it, the more bewildering it became.

‘According to our prior investigation, she was completely illiterate…’

This was another problem.

Lombard’s intelligence network was among the finest in the Empire.

Moreover, the target wasn’t military secrets but merely a collateral princess. The investigation should have been simpler than breathing.

‘What if.’

The chamberlain suddenly thought of a certain hypothesis.

What if everything she had lived until now was an ‘act’?

As the only successor left by the dead Crown Prince, she had her own difficulties, and so to survive, she had deliberately lived pretending to be stupid?

Considering that she had secretly built up poison resistance, it was quite a plausible hypothesis.

‘Such useless thoughts, I must be getting old.’

Nevertheless, the chamberlain immediately dismissed the hypothesis he had just formed.

Bertol was confident in his ability to judge people.

From when he first saw her at the Imperial Palace until they came up to Northern Lombard together and held the wedding ceremony, the Elisia he had seen was ‘stupidity’ itself.

She was like an empty cart making noise, so empty that hitting her head would make a clanging sound.

‘It must be coincidence.’

Bertol, having cleared his thoughts, continued speaking.

“Since I’ve failed in my task, what should we do going forward?”

“…”

“Please give me your orders.”

The straightforward chamberlain immediately thought of the next move.

It would be difficult to attempt the failed poisoning again. As an alternative, confining that woman at an appropriate time seemed the most realistic method.

‘It would be nice if we could divorce, but…’

The Pope would not approve it. This was because the scriptures forbade severing the bond between husband and wife.

So nobles mainly used methods of naturally killing one party or confining them under the pretext of convalescence.

However, the Duke gave an unexpected answer.

“Let’s wait and see for now. She might have other uses.”

“Then…”

The chamberlain was surprised by the unexpected order but inwardly understood.

As his master said, that woman did have considerable political value.

Since Elisia was the only heir of the dead Crown Prince, her being present as Duchess wasn’t entirely disadvantageous to House Lombard.

If that woman lived quietly unlike in the Imperial Capital, it would be beneficial for Lombard to maintain her authority as Duchess rather than confining her.

‘What is my master thinking…’

Though Bertol had assisted the Duke from close by for a long time, this time he couldn’t fathom his young master’s thoughts at all.

While the chamberlain was confused, someone came from the castle keep.

A bureaucrat who had been running urgently shouted.

“M-Madam has stormed into the administrative office!”

“…”

The chamberlain saw the Duke’s face subtly contort for a moment.

It seemed they should prepare the tower where that woman would be confined in advance.

* * *

“My goodness…”

I was quickly flipping through a ledger as thick as a book, page by page.

It was a document organizing Elisia’s asset inventory.

“Is this a dream or reality?”

I slapped my own cheek.

Smack, with a sharp sound, the struck area stung.

Even so, I felt like I was floating on clouds.

“Oh God.”

I never thought I would say with my own mouth the phrase my devout parents used to recite habitually.

I looked down at the documents again.

First, the inheritance from Elisia’s father, the dead Crown Prince, was considerable.

To this was added the enormous dowry provided by the Imperial Family.

“But why is the dowry so large? Even for royalty…”

As I muttered absent-mindedly, I suddenly thought of Elisia’s succession rights to the throne.

Fourth in line for imperial succession.

The current Emperor had two children from his first wife, and one prince from his second wife. Elisia’s succession rights came after them.

‘If something were to happen to the Emperor’s children, the next throne would pass to House Lombard, where I married into.’

How many times in history had third parties obtained nations or territories for free in this manner?

So this meant that this enormous dowry included compensation for renouncing inheritance rights.

“When you think about it that way, isn’t the amount a bit stingy?”

My voice quickly became grumpy.

At first, I was filled with thoughts of wanting to escape this situation, but the moment I saw Elisia’s wealth, all hatred and resentment melted away like snow.

I had finished all preparations, body and soul, to live as Elisia.

“All I have to do is work hard at being a troublemaker.”

I couldn’t be more grateful that she had such a foolish and simple personality.

Even after seeing all this, there were still more pages remaining.

There was household money from House Lombard, modest dignity maintenance fees from the Imperial Family, rental income derived from existing assets, and financial income.

Literally, money was calling money.

Both real estate and liquid assets were steadily growing on their own without any intervention.

‘How much is all this?!’

A stifled scream escaped due to the excessive happiness.

From now on, I didn’t need to do anything. Even if I spent money lavishly and lived idly until the day I died, this enormous fortune wouldn’t even get a small scratch.

I thought of the books I wanted to read, the fountain pen and ink I wanted to use, and the high-end restaurants I could barely visit once on my birthday.

Originally, these were luxuries I could hardly even dream of.

“If only this had happened sooner.”

Suddenly, old memories came to mind.

It was the day my parents died in a carriage accident. A monk with a pale expression came running to me while I was studying at the monastery.

‘Master Filio? Why are you calling only me when class is still in session…?’

‘I’m truly sorry. It seems your parents have been in an accident.’

Perhaps my obsession with money started from here.

After my parents, who had lived faithfully their entire lives as officials of Lombard, passed away, their inheritance was completely stolen by relatives while I was too busy dealing with the aftermath.

All that remained for young me was the single house where I had lived with my parents.

That’s how I became completely alone in the world.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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