Instead of My Beloved Sister, I Married a Monster - Chapter 1

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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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Chapter 1

One deep night, a couple crossing the snowy mountains lost their carriage in an accident and faced mortal danger.

In the darkness and cold, as they desperately prayed for divine grace to reach them, a monster appeared before the trembling, terrified pair.

The monster smiled with satisfaction and said:

“I shall grant that wish, but in return…”

* * *

Let’s die. If that’s what everyone wants, then let’s die gladly.

There’s nothing to cling to anyway. This is apparently the life I was meant to live all along.

Walking relentlessly toward her death, Evnia resolved to die with each passing second.

The white dress that had been torn and soiled while pushing through the forest path was already beyond recognition from its original state.

A bride covered in dirt and cold sweat.

What a ridiculous sight.

It would have been better not to wear such a hollow costume in the first place.

How laughable would her soon-to-be fiancé find this appearance?

That monster would mock the foolish sacrifice and her family before swallowing her whole in one gulp.

It would be an ending that satisfied everyone.

The only victim, the bride, would melt away in the monster’s stomach, unable to voice any more complaints.

“So die in my place, Eve. That’s better, isn’t it? If you die, no one will mourn you…”

Pushed countless times by the voice that repeated endlessly in her head, Evnia finally reached the front gate.

The entrance to the decrepit old castle was rusted with peeling paint here and there, just like the walls she had passed earlier.

When she pulled the door handle with force, the pitch-black interior was revealed through the gap.

Though it was still daylight outside, no light entered the manor at all, as if some kind of boundary had been drawn.

Evnia stepped forward without hesitation into the darkness where she couldn’t see an inch ahead.

There was no need to fix her appearance or catch her breath.

She knew that no matter how dignified she acted, this could never be a noble death.

“Eternal master of Ritberk Land, I have come to fulfill the ancient contract, so take the promised price!”

As soon as her feet crossed the threshold, the door closed with an eerie sound as if it had been waiting.

Hearing her own last words echo in the air, Evnia closed her eyes in resignation and waited for the monster to swallow her whole.

How much time had passed since then?

An angry roar crashed down from above like lightning.

“Foolish human! Knowing that countless of your kind have died, did you come all this way to sell your life for mere gold?”

Evnia reflexively hunched her shoulders at the thunderous voice.

Had her family’s ancestors not only owed their lives to the monster but also received gold?

To obtain one living sacrifice, it had saved two people and even given gold.

For a deal with a monster, it seemed excessively generous.

“As the price for that petty greed, you will soon die with your limbs torn apart! The sword you raised for plunder will aim at your neck, the helmet that protected you will become a blood basin, and the armor you trusted, no, the dress, the dre…”

“…”

“…Dress?”

Like an actor who had forgotten their lines, the voice that had been correcting the word several times suddenly cut off.

Evnia quietly opened her eyes.

She could see the previously dark interior flickering brilliantly with red light reminiscent of hellfire, but she didn’t feel particularly frightened.

Before she could even grasp what the scene was, the surroundings became as bright as midday.

From the center, someone appeared with a sound like a large firecracker.

At this unprecedented supernatural sight, Evnia found herself staring at the figure in a daze.

What emerged from the thick smoke was a man wearing an exaggerated mask like a performer in a masquerade.

As if to indicate he wasn’t the master of this manor, he wore formal attire that a butler might wear.

The man, who had been silently looking Evnia up and down for a moment, suddenly spoke.

“You’re wearing a wedding dress, like a bride.”

It was an elegant voice, unbelievably different from the one that had been hurling curses just moments before.

At his questioning gaze demanding explanation, Evnia stammered a reply.

“Because I am… a bride?”

“I definitely didn’t hear the sound of a carriage arriving… There were only undignified footsteps like those sneaky rats who slip in after treasure.”

“That’s… I’m sorry, it’s my first time walking through such a forest path, so it was difficult…”

Evnia’s cheeks burned at the unexpected criticism.

The man snapped his fingers lightly with a dubious expression. Simultaneously, the tightly closed door swung wide open, revealing the empty foyer.

Pointing to the desolate outside, he asked.

“Where are the carriage and coachman, or at least luggage, and where did all the maids go?”

Evnia pondered the meaning of that question in a daze.

Had they been planning to have the people the bride brought as snacks too?

Evnia answered in a dampened voice.

“They ran away.”

“So you really walked all that way here on your own two feet? That long distance, in that outfit, a new bride, alone?”

“Yes.”

“Without even a maid?”

He emphasized the word “maid” particularly as he asked.

She had brought one maid from below her, but it was a girl she had planned to send back anyway.

Even if those who came with her hadn’t abandoned her and fled at the forest’s entrance, that child would never have stayed here.

A woman about to die had no need for a personal servant.

Evnia answered with a small wheeze, “Yes.”

At that, the man’s voice suddenly became serious.

“Hmm, this is troublesome. The coachman aside, I hired exactly one maid thinking you’d bring your own staff…”

“You hired a maid?”

“Yes.”

“…Why?”

Evnia asked with a face that showed she didn’t understand.

Then the other party adjusted his mask as if he found it even more absurd and asked:

“…I’ve been stuck in the countryside for about 200 years, so I’m wondering—is it fashionable in high society now for ladies to be independent without servants?”

She couldn’t understand what he was talking about at all.

Evnia decided to end this confusing conversation here.

She didn’t know what this situation was, but after being devoured by the monster, all these trivial questions would become meaningless anyway. It didn’t matter.

“…I’d like to see Lord Ram first.”

“Ah, of course. Since the new bride has arrived, she should naturally see the groom’s face first. Please forgive with a generous heart the mistakes I made due to earlier misunderstandings.”

The man, who first offered a polite apology to Evnia’s request, gestured toward the second floor as if to follow him.

Though he had become noticeably kinder compared to before, Evnia still didn’t forget her true purpose.

Look at how skillfully he had threatened intruders.

He was simply being cautious not to disturb his master’s meal.

If there was any difference between other victims and herself, it would be that they were killed by the monster’s servant at the front gate while she would be devoured directly in the monster’s quarters.

The process had become more cumbersome, but the result was ultimately the same.

“The master is here. Please go in.”

The man’s steps stopped in front of a room located in the center of the second floor.

When he reached out to point to the destination, the massive double doors opened by themselves.

Evnia felt rather relieved as she walked into the room.

If it was a life she was going to give up anyway, she wanted to die without having time to look back.

Before her hard-made resolution could waver, before useless thoughts could make her afraid, before she could pathetically want to live again.

‘Now finally, I can really die.’

Evnia looked around the room with determined eyes.

Since the furnishings in the room were quite sparse compared to its size, Evnia was quickly able to spot the person she was looking for on the bed.

However, instead of approaching him, Evnia hesitated and stopped in her tracks.

She had stepped forward with good momentum, but suddenly doubted whether what was before her eyes was really the person she was looking for.

And for good reason… the master of this room was curled up in a corner of the bed, wrapped up like a cocoon in white blankets.

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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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