Chapter 2

I have lived as “Louise Shannon” for 23 years now.

I was born as the eldest daughter of the Shannon Duchy in a neighboring country.

Before becoming Louise, I lived in my past life as an orphan who was adopted and then abandoned twice.

It was a lonely life.

The first family that adopted me abandoned me in less than two years after having their own child. In the second family, the adoptive mother passed away quickly, and the father abandoned me.

But I convinced myself it was fine.

“Most people only have two parents, but I have four.”

It’s better to have parents to miss and remember than not to have any at all.

Including my biological parents, I have six parents, right?

I shrugged my shoulders and forced a smile.

But the loneliness didn’t get easier, even as I reached 23 years old.

The people who were briefly my parents never looked for me again.

It’s so unfair to always be alone.

“…I want a real family too.”

As I reached adulthood and three years passed, the loneliness surged more intensely than ever before.

I wanted to have a boyfriend, but I couldn’t find anyone I was romantically interested in.

“I’m so lonely, but why are my standards so high?”

No ordinary handsome man would catch my eye.

When would I ever find someone I could truly love?

One night, while I was falling asleep alone, my biological mother appeared in my dream.

Surprisingly, she was also searching for me.

“Follow me here, and you’ll be able to see me.”

What? I can see my mom?

In my dream, I walked outside as if I were in a trance.

“We’ll really meet, right? I’ll definitely come to you, Mother!”

Finally, I’m going to have a real family!

The feeling of my bare feet on the asphalt hurt, but I was happy.

I would even walk through thorny flames if it meant I could meet my real family.

But then,

*Bang!*

“You should have told me I needed to cross the Jordan River…”

I was hit by a truck while sleepwalking along the road. And then, I was born in a new world.

I cried with all my might, confused by the new surroundings.

“Louise, my dear.”

“Finally, I get to see your face.”

Mom?

The woman who gave birth to me approached and nuzzled my nose. She smelled soft and comforting.

Could she be the same mother I saw in my dream before I died?

I couldn’t remember her face no matter how hard I tried, but I believed that she had called me to this world.

“Finally, I’m where I belong.”

Day by day, I was happy.

As the beloved daughter of a noble family, I received abundant love and education.

Everyone smiled lovingly at my every meaningless gesture and expression, and everything I wore and ate was filled with care.

The dark shadows of my previous life slowly faded, and the brighter parts of me emerged.

But when I was thirteen, my mother passed away, and many things around me changed.

My father remarried to have a son, and soon a younger brother was born.

With a new stepmother who kept trying to isolate me and many bunny-like siblings being born, my father became more and more indifferent to me.

Though my stepmother prohibited me from even holding my younger siblings, I persistently doted on them and acted polite and kind towards my stepmother.

But she would always end up exasperated, saying, “Because of a shameless girl like you, I’m so stressed out,” and lay sick in bed.

At some point, she gave up tormenting me altogether.

But when I was nearing twenty years old,

“When will you finally accept a man’s proposal? Do you not know that if you wait any longer, you won’t be able to get married even if you want to? You’ll be twenty-one next year!”

My stepmother began to pressure me to get married every day, as I was reaching the age considered ideal for marriage.

But I couldn’t find a man I liked.

I attended countless balls, but they meant nothing more than a formality.

In my past life, I died having never dated anyone, and now I can’t find a man I like here either.

How is this possible when half the world is male?

While I’ve been rejecting men’s proposals, most girls my age have gotten engaged.

…Ah, I want to get married too.

No one wanted to get married more than I did.

I had dreams about marriage.

Or more precisely, I had fantasies about a sweet, loving relationship with my husband.

I had never experienced dating, love, or marriage, only imagined it in my mind.

I want to experience kissing and everything else… sob.

‘I’m so curious about how it feels.’

Just thinking about it made my heart race and my face flush.

I clasped my hands dreamily on the bed and walked through my dreams.

I wondered if a man’s lips were really softer than whipped cream, as I read in books, and if the first night would be fantastic and special.

‘If I get married, I could have a child soon, right?’

How beautiful would a daughter who looks like me be?

When I get married, I’ll have a ‘real family’…!

A real family I’ve wanted since my past life.

Amidst this, my stepmother brought up a marriage proposal from Alec, a duke of the neighboring Rilt Empire.

My stepmother was anxious that I wouldn’t marry anyone and would become a burden to the family.

It seemed she looked abroad since I couldn’t find a fiancé in our kingdom.

“He’s a very young and beautiful duke. They say he’s one of the most handsome men in the Rilt Empire. Just looking at his portrait, he seems quite dashing. Don’t you think he’s too good for you?”

I gazed at his portrait.

In retrospect, the portrait did not capture even a fraction of his true appearance due to the artist’s lack of skill.

He might seem handsome to others, but to me, he was just an ordinary man.

“…I think I’m the one who’s too good for him.”

“Oh, great. You must be so pleased with yourself.”

My stepmother seemed desperate to send me away, wrapping up such a common-looking man with all sorts of embellishments.

The Duke of Brent’s family expressed their desire to marry into our family in a very earnest and touching letter.

They said it was their long-held dream to have in-laws across the sea, that they wanted to honor and serve the noble Shannon duchy as their esteemed in-laws forever, and that the duke was so handsome and kind that my married life would be not just prosperous but blissful.

“Consider it the luck of your life to become this man’s wife and marry immediately.”

However, I couldn’t agree to marry someone from another country whom I hadn’t even met.

Moreover, the emperor of the Rilt Empire was notoriously crazy.

Yet, my father, who rarely visited me, came to me with a serious expression.

“Marry him. Only if you marry will our family be at peace again.”

Our family was in unprecedented trouble due to my father’s fraud and gambling debts, compounded by my stepmother’s extravagance.

The Duke of Brent’s family promised to compensate for our family’s deficiencies with their wealth.

But I absolutely did not want to marry for such reasons.

“I didn’t know you were this selfish. Don’t you care about your siblings?”

“If you just get married, everything will be solved easily! You ungrateful wretch!”

My father and stepmother pressured me to marry.

So they want me to sacrifice myself…?

Though the duke’s family was wealthy, I was shocked by how my family was so ready to discard me.

I felt the last bit of affection I had for the Shannon family disappear.

I knew they didn’t care about me, but I never expected to realize it so painfully.

I’m a person who isn’t needed.

I’m a daughter they could discard at any time.

I wanted to get away from here, no matter where.

Anywhere would be better than here.

At least if I get married, I could have my own children.

Anyway, I haven’t found a man I liked so far, but if it’s someone like the man in the portrait, he’s decent enough, right?

I married as if holding hands was my only escape.

It was for myself and my young half-siblings.

However, I did not expect to be met with shock beyond disappointment.

It was as if I had fallen into the schemes of my stepmother and mother-in-law.

“Now I see why you sent a marriage proposal all the way to a distant country. Isn’t this too much? There was no mention that His Grace the Duke couldn’t do this or that!”

“So what do you want to do about it? Do you want to return to your homeland now? If you want to divorce my son, read the marriage contract again! See how much your family has to pay in penalties!”

‘……’

Twenty times the wealth and land received from the marriage.

Ten days after our marriage, I tried to send a letter to my family.

The letters I wrote and then crumpled filled the room.

Anyway, there was no money in my family to pay the penalty. Even if I managed to collect the penalty, I didn’t want to return to that house.

And most decisively,

To give up my husband hastily like this……

He was incredibly handsome.