Newlywed Life Begins with a Mistake - Chapter 74

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

Chapter 74

“It seems you’ve finally recovered your memories.”

At the moment Evelyn recalled her forgotten past. Cecilia, who had been watching the pale Evelyn from afar, opened her mouth.

“The situation you wanted has come. How is it?”

Cecilia cast her indifferent gaze toward the man beside her.

The man, his body hidden by a robe, kept his eyes fixed on Evelyn as he slowly parted his tightly closed lips.

“It’s still not enough.”

The place thick with the smoke of the burned scene.

People in the midst of chaos.

Evelyn, standing in the center of it all, looked ready to collapse at any moment.

But she was still looking at Casian. Just like himself, blindly staring at Evelyn.

“Even with casualties from this reckless attempt, it’s still not enough?”

Cecilia spoke to him.

A sneer escaped through her dry lips.

She had used her meager power to try to prevent casualties, but there were still victims.

Yet the man beside her didn’t even bat an eye.

“It couldn’t be helped. Bell needed to feel déjà vu to realize something.”

The man who had ordered his subordinates to set fire to the empty houses and grain fields replied somewhat irritably.

To restore Evelyn to her original state, he had deliberately manipulated the situation.

To make it similar to what Evelyn had done in the past.

“The Princess doesn’t seem to have any intention of leaving the Duke’s side.”

“Bell is just calmly assessing the situation.”

When Cecilia pointed out the facts, the man, unable to contain his displeasure, glared at her and retorted.

But despite his words, he couldn’t help but tense up.

“What am I enduring all this for…”

The man gritted his teeth and muttered menacingly as he looked down at the scene.

Clearly the picture he wanted was complete. Yet Evelyn was showing an unfamiliar side.

“There were no deaths related to the fire accident, but some of our subordinates died.”

While he was focused on Evelyn, Cecilia reported the death of their subordinates.

But the man didn’t care.

Rather, he just let out a scoff.

“Is there any reason I should pray for their souls?”

They were gathered by Evelyn anyway. What’s the problem?

“Generally, when people die, mixed emotions arise. You wouldn’t know since you’re not human.”

When Cecilia explained calmly, the man answered ambiguously.

“Well. From what I see, they received salvation, so they did what they were supposed to do. They just had an accident in the process of repaying their debt.”

Isn’t it natural for people to die on the battlefield anyway?

The man with a bloody smile looked at Cecilia as if she were making a fuss and left a cold warning.

“Remember this. They, including you, are people who live and die by Bell’s will.”

With those words, the man turned his eyes away from Cecilia and looked down at Evelyn.

“What should I do.”

She wouldn’t come willingly if he tried to take her right now.

His transformation might be undone from using too much power.

So the man pondered for a moment, then muttered quietly toward the air.

“Bell. Next time, I hope you return to the form I knew.”

* * *

After returning from the neighboring town’s festival.

Evelyn had a long dream.

More precisely, she faced the forgotten truth through her past self.

Evelyn was born in the North and raised in the North.

Like other young ladies, she loved shiny things, but wanting to live like her mother, she walked a different path.

Because she acted without hesitation when she had something she wanted to do and maintained her convictions, people called her a weed.

They found fault with her to somehow bring her down, but she was proud of even that.

It meant she could endure any trial that came her way.

“Mother!”

“Grandmother!”

But the situation changed after her steadfast grandmother collapsed.

“Bell, remember this from now on. We need to change. If we continue living like this, we’ll spend our entire lives being used by others and die.”

Her brother, who had dreamed of being a scholar, threw the fountain pen he always carried into the trash after those words and picked up a sword.

Her mother, who went to the battlefield as routinely as eating, and her father, who worried about such a mother, gradually withered away.

The Ducal House, struck by misfortune, saw family members and employees die silently after grandmother’s death.

Evelyn was the same.

She even had thoughts like these.

What is life?

Why is it so futile?

Is there a reason to hold onto a life of repeated frustration and resignation?

She wanted to find a clear answer, but Evelyn couldn’t find the right answer anywhere.

Would someone solve her curiosity?

She threw questions at people with faint expectations, but they only saw her as an odd lady and didn’t give her the answers she wanted.

“Life? Since we’re born, life exists, doesn’t it?”

“Life exists to seek happiness.”

“Everything is God’s will. Life is a blessing bestowed by God, so we must be grateful for what we’re given.”

Stuffy and obvious statements.

Anyone could say that much, couldn’t they?

Evelyn, who had hoped for fresh answers, thought today was another failure and stood up from her seat.

Evelyn’s daily routine was consistent.

“Princess, did you cough?”

“Yes.”

“Then I’ll prepare your washing water.”

In the morning, she washed her face in water with floating rose petals and ate salad with fruit and rye bread accompanied by clear soup.

“I’ll help you dress. Which dress would you like?”

“Anything.”

After finishing her meal, she returned to her room, changed clothes, then went to the Temple to pray. After prayer ended, she returned to the manor to eat lunch and attend lessons.

“Today we’ll continue with etiquette lessons from last time.”

In the afternoon, she studied etiquette under the teachings of her tutor, Marian. She had to show the appearance of a refined lady.

“This is salad with tomatoes and almonds.”

For dinner, she consumed only small amounts of food to maintain her weight. After that, she soaked her body in water laden with fragrances to end her day.

Sometimes her schedule would change, but Evelyn repeated almost the same day. Because her Brother wanted it that way.

As always, since she left the Temple, she should return home to eat and meet her tutor.

If she went to the entrance, a carriage would be waiting…

‘…How long must I live like this?’

Evelyn, who was going through her given schedule as usual, stopped walking at the sudden question that arose.

Looking back, it wasn’t like this from the beginning.

She too had freedom.

Going hunting with Mother, wandering alleys having trivial conversations with Father, or betting with Brother on who could ride horses faster.

She had choices about how to spend her day.

But unfortunately.

‘If only it weren’t for that damn bastard…’

This wouldn’t have happened!

Because the Emperor proposed marriage, Evelyn’s daily life changed completely.

“How fortunate. To think your reputation has risen enough for that man to propose marriage. Do as you wish.”

“Still, you should be united with someone you love…”

Mother was indifferent, and Father showed a disapproving reaction.

And Brother, who heard the marriage proposal news, lit up his eyes.

“Bell, if you don’t have a lover in mind, it’s not a bad choice. Rather, it could be an opportunity for us. We must make those who made us like this pay the price.”

Ian earnestly urged her to thoroughly enchant and then kill the Emperor if she married him, as if he wanted to make her a courtesan.

He said it was for revenge.

“Isn’t this telling me to live as the Emperor’s puppet?”

Unable to see her increasingly withering appearance, everyone was now desperately trying to make her into the perfect bride material.

She tried rebelling to betray her family’s expectations, but it was useless.

“Kyaak! Princess of Seldian! What is this behavior?”

“I was passing by when wine spilled, and a lady happened to be in that spot.”

She acted unreasonably and deliberately damaged her reputation, but Ian immediately handled it as if it were laughable.

“Don’t worry. I took care of this incident. But if you keep going astray, I won’t stay still anymore. So cut it out.”

Despite the cold warning, she stubbornly ignored it and caused trouble, but ultimately she was a bird trapped in a cage.

Evelyn, who learned resignation and despair, tried to comply with her given fate. If only it weren’t for that alien existence that suddenly appeared.

“What’s this? This half-made little thing.”

“Hey! Are you done talking? How dare you, do you know who I am!”

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