I Became the Wife of the Hero Who Killed Me - Chapter 3

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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 3

‘Reality is truly cruel.’

It was even more so for a poor orphan of common birth.

To avoid being dragged to the orphanage, I worked desperately during the day to earn living expenses, and at night I studied tenaciously, stabbing my thigh with a clothing pin to stay awake.

After becoming a bureaucrat, my circumstances improved somewhat, but even then I never spent a penny carelessly.

Anyone watching would have clicked their tongue at how pathetic I was.

But that kind of life is over now. All of Elisia’s vast fortune is mine!

My heart felt like it would burst with excitement.

“Are my parents’ graves still there? First I’ll change the tombstone to something big and nice, and properly move the burial site to the Inner Wall Church…!”

My excited, animated voice suddenly died down.

It was because I caught sight of myself in the mirror.

There stood a girl so splendid and beautiful that she couldn’t even be compared to my past self.

If I rushed to my parents’ graves looking like this, at best I’d be treated as insane, and at worst I’d be sent to the Inquisition Court.

“…”

I dry-washed my face and slumped back down onto the sofa.

When I pulled out the rustling object from under my bottom, I saw the documents the chamberlain had brought this morning.

[Lombard Population Census Report]

As I absentmindedly fiddled with the cover, a sudden thought made me quickly flip to the very back of the documents.

It was to check the signature of the person in charge.

‘Originally my name should be written there…’

Now there was a completely different name written there instead of mine. It was a bureaucrat from another department whom I only knew by face.

‘Then where am I really?’

No, do I even exist in this world?

If so, what happens to ‘me’ who was revived in Elisia’s body? There can’t be two of the same person.

My head felt like it would explode from the endless chain of questions.

“Damn it.”

After cursing, I got up from the sofa.

I didn’t want to fret over vague speculation. Just sitting and racking my brain didn’t suit my temperament either.

So I had no choice but to confirm it with my own eyes.

When I opened the door, the servants waiting in the corridor all bowed their heads in unison.

“Guide me to the Castle Keep.”

“…Pardon?”

At their master’s sudden command, the servants just blinked their eyes.

They seemed unable to understand the order to guide me not to the treasury where the family treasures slept, but to the Castle Office Building which would have no value to a noble lady.

Then I’d have to make them understand.

I viciously kicked the bedroom door and shouted.

“What, you dare question my orders?! I want to meet the bastard who wrote this garbage report, so guide me to the Castle Keep!”

“Yes, yes, my lady!”

My toe that hit the door seemed to be crushed, but anyway, seeing the servants turn pale and bow frantically, my villainous acting seemed to work well.

‘Sigh, it’s hard to make a living.’

To think that I, who prided myself on being quite smart, had to do such stupid antics – it was quite a reality check.

Of course, thinking of the vast fortune that came as a bonus was somewhat comforting.

No, it was quite comforting.

‘Hmm.’

To make a final correction, I found myself wanting to continue this stupid act in the future.

* * *

I was currently inside the Castle Office Building.

I strode boldly while the bureaucrats were in chaos, and whenever someone blocked my path, I kicked walls and threw tantrums to neutralize them.

The place I arrived at was the Administrative Office where I used to work.

‘Sigh.’

Since I came during lunch time, there was no one there as expected, but I was still a bit nervous as I entered.

It was because I wondered what I should do if I happened to encounter the original ‘me’.

But even after thoroughly scanning the organization chart on the wall, my name wasn’t there. It seemed the ‘me’ of this world hadn’t become a bureaucrat yet, unlike before.

‘But I can’t give up like this. Someone who might know my whereabouts…’

Considering how Lombard was wary of me, it would be difficult to enter the Castle Keep again after today. The control would become stricter.

As I looked around, I caught a bureaucrat who happened to be passing by.

“Who’s the bastard who wrote this garbage report?”

“Uh… pardon?”

“Question me one more time and I’ll pluck out all your whiskers. Why wasn’t there a single person who pointed out problems while this garbage report was being sent up!”

While saying this, I threw down the population census report and trampled on it thoroughly to establish dominance.

Intimidated by my fierce momentum, the bureaucrat cautiously began to speak.

“But who might you be, my lady…?”

“Who am I? Still don’t know even after seeing this?”

I firmly grabbed the bureaucrat’s elegant mustache.

I knew this person.

His name was Count Baron, and all he was good at was forming factions and sucking up to superiors.

Moreover, he monopolized achievements while pushing all responsibility onto subordinates, and showed exceptional talent at grinding down his inferiors like breathing, squeezing them dry like rags.

Old memories of working overtime every day because of the Baron and getting chest pains from stress came flooding back.

‘I always wanted to do this at least once.’

Namely, plucking out all the whiskers that the Baron managed with all his love and devotion.

Actually doing what I had only imagined in my head was quite thrilling.

I felt like I was discovering the true taste of villainy…

“Ah, haha! How could I not know you, my lady?! You are so beautiful that I lost my senses and spouted nonsense, so please forgive me!”

“Is that so?”

“Indeed it is! You have beauty as if an angel descended to the mortal world!”

The Baron added at length that his earlier question was just to confirm whether I was human or an angel.

He truly deserved to be called a master of bullying the weak while fearing the strong, and flattery.

“Actually, we are severely short-staffed. Even when we ask for new people to be hired, they won’t listen at all, so we’re suffering from chronic manpower shortage. Do you see that empty seat over there?”

As expected, what the Baron pointed to was the seat my parents had used when they were alive.

Since manpower shortage was an excuse he always had on his lips, I thought if I kept pressing him, the topic would naturally shift in that direction.

“That seat has also been without an owner for a long time. The previous owners were insignificant low-level bureaucrats named Theo and Daisy…”

“Insignificant?”

“So busy they had no time to see stars, working diligently.”

Count Baron, who cleverly changed his words, continued his explanation.

The Baron added that Theo and Daisy had truly peculiar personalities, but seeing my glittering eyes, he changed his words again to ‘people as outstanding as stars’.

I snorted and finally got to the main point.

“Bureaucrat positions are lifetime appointments, so why is the seat empty? Did they cause some problem?”

“Ah, that is.”

Count Baron showed a troubled expression for the first time.

“Because the couple died instantly in a carriage accident. It was tragic at such a young age.”

“How unfortunate.”

Even though I already knew this fact, hearing it from someone else’s mouth made me feel bitter anew.

Anyway, I confirmed that my parents died in an accident just like in the past. Now it was time to confirm the most important thing.

I asked back with a deliberately calm expression.

“If they died at a young age, their children would still be young.”

“Theo and Daisy had no children.”

“…What?”

“I know that family’s circumstances quite well, and no matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t have children and eventually gave up. I wonder if this is unfortunate or fortunate.”

It was like an instinctive realization.

Though I cannot fathom all of God’s will, another ‘me’ does not exist in this world.

‘Yes, it’s better this way. If another me had existed here, the situation would have become more complicated.’

That concluded the business.

“That’s enough, so get lost.”

“If I could be of even the slightest help to Your Grace, it would be a tremendous honor that would be passed down through generations in our family. If you need anything in the future, please call upon Count Baron…!”

I let the flattering words of the sycophant go in one ear and out the other as I lowered my gaze.

The documents scattered across the desk were all a mess.

No, they weren’t just a mess—they were garbage.

The tax records were haphazard, land management was utterly sloppy, the judicial records made me wonder if the judges and jury had collectively lost their minds, and the finances… let’s not even talk about that.

I could vividly picture the suffering faces of the territory’s people.

‘I want to fix it. I want to tear apart and rebuild all that damn garbage.’

I squeezed my eyes shut and turned away from the devil’s temptation.

I wouldn’t do anything anymore. I would stay away from headache-inducing work and just live comfortably without lifting a finger.

…Even as I thought this, my eyes were naturally finding problems in the reports.

‘Even though my body has changed, my brilliant mind remains the same.’

I felt proud for a moment, but still, I would absolutely never use my brain for work again.

Just as I was feeling overwhelmed thinking about the fortune that would last a lifetime even without working, sharp footsteps echoed from the corridor.

“What are you doing here right now, wife?”

A man accompanied by knights stopped in front of me.

Ah, it was a terrifyingly familiar face.

A man I once believed without doubt would be a lifelong friend, and another enemy who had allowed Elisia in my previous life to torture and kill me.

Duke Lombard, Edwin Nazar La Lombard.

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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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