Chapter 3

When Cedine first moved into the Wintermore viscounty residence, her first task was to choose the viscountess’s private room. Ivlik said that while they would share the bedroom, Cedine could choose any room she liked for her daytime activities.

“There are many empty rooms, so take your time choosing.”

Ivlik, who had said she could have one or two rooms as she wished, actually frowned when Cedine chose the room she had used before her regression.

“Why that room in particular?”

“…Why not?”

“There are many other rooms.”

“I like this one the best. We just need to touch up the wallpaper a bit. Oh, and bring in some furniture.”

“……”

“Is there a reason I shouldn’t choose this room?”

Ivlik shook his head slightly and smiled.

“No. Do as you like, Cedine.”

Life in the mansion was pleasant. Since coming to the mansion, Ivlik hadn’t made any s*xual advances. Of course, he still came to bed n*ked every night, but he just slept and left the bedroom in the morning. It was fortunate for Cedine, if anything.

The dazzlingly beautiful wedding was already a week past. Cedine, who had been staying in the viscounty residence all this time, left the mansion to meet Karen after a long while. This time, she would be the one lavishing money on her sister, as Karen had done as the viscountess of Wintermore in her previous life.

‘Now I understand why Sister had such a joyful expression.’

After spending a good time with Karen, she was on her way home. She was deliberately crossing through the park to enjoy the fine weather.

‘Is there something on my face?’

Every passerby was glancing at Cedine. When she made eye contact and smiled, the reactions varied. Some hurriedly returned an awkward smile, some fumbled, not knowing how to respond even as Cedine passed by, and others startled and turned away, pretending not to have seen her.

‘Something’s up.’

Cedine opened her parasol. She slightly adjusted the angle to cover her face and secretly followed behind the whispering people.

Five minutes later.

Cedine realized that while she had been secluded in the viscounty residence, rumors of the newlyweds’ boisterous first night had spread throughout the neighborhood. As always, the people she disliked never did just one thing wrong.

Cedine mentally gave the middle finger to the Army Ministry headquarters. Those vulgar men with loose lips. They must have excitedly exaggerated their stories at the tavern tables, beyond what they actually saw.

‘Bluebeard’ wasn’t just sadistic in the torture chamber, they said. After the viscount couple checked out, the hotel had to throw away all the bedding because of the traces of intercourse and blood scattered everywhere, they said. All sorts of stories were spreading, but they wouldn’t much tarnish Ivlik’s reputation. For him, vicious rumors were like medals of honor.

But it was different for Cedine. In a situation where few people knew about her due to her lack of social activities, she suddenly appeared like a comet and secured the position of the Viscountess of Wintermore. It was a position many in high society had coveted.

A young and handsome viscount with only more success ahead of him in the military, the family fortune greatly increased since his grandparents’ generation, the vacant positions of parents-in-law who had passed away years ago. Moreover, Ivlik was an only child, so there was no need to worry about his siblings trying to leech off the husband’s wealth.

Yet that position, which every family with a daughter would have envied, was seized by a 21-year-old whose name they had never heard before.

Furthermore, Ivlik, who had rejected all marriage talks until now, was said to be smitten with his bride even before the wedding, and the tiara alone that would adorn the bride’s head was worth ten luxury cars.

Cedine became the center of attention in high society overnight. Even before the wedding, the narrow mailbox of the monthly rental where the Liere sisters lived was about to burst with invitations from tea parties, book clubs, tennis clubs, and so on. But in other words, this meant she had become a subject ripe for everyone to gossip about and criticize.

‘Should I use the skills I learned at the Intelligence Bureau after a long time?’

Cedine moved without making a sound. Even as she hid in a spot perfect for eavesdropping on the ladies’ conversation, the other party remained unaware. Honestly, if Cedine wanted to, it was also a suitable position to eliminate them with poison needles.

‘Poison needles. Really old-fashioned.’

But wouldn’t using poison needles be a much more rational choice than firing a gun in broad daylight in the park? Thinking this, Cedine unfolded a tabloid newspaper.

“To become a viscountess at 21, I guess you need to have that kind of ability.”

“She’s young, pretty, and smart, isn’t she?”

“She is young, pretty, and smart, but compared to the Lieutenant Colonel, her family has greatly declined. The Liere family’s fortune was transferred to other relatives along with the baronet title. Those sisters have nothing left in their hands.”

That’s not true. The Liere sisters received their parents’ research materials left behind during their lifetime, about 300 books from the study, and a piano.

The side that inherited the baronet title had been living a life far from academia. Perhaps that’s why he readily agreed to the sisters’ request to have the stack of papers that he couldn’t understand even if he read them. The handcrafted piano was quite valuable, but it seems it was at a level he could overlook compared to the wealth he would acquire.

‘And that piano is now in my cramped room in the monthly rental.’

It was originally in Karen’s room. As soon as Cedine moved out for her marriage, Karen quickly moved the piano to the empty room. Karen’s excitement at how much more spacious her room had become, saying she could even dance the can-can now, came to mind.

‘Come to think of it, Sister seems really happy about my marriage.’

If Cedine’s marriage partner had been an ordinary man, it would have been easier to understand Karen. However, Karen knows that the marriage to Ivlik is a sham. Yet Karen always reacted as if her sister’s marriage was ‘real’.

A few days after Cedine signed the fake marriage contract, she heard that Karen had visited Ivlik alone. Cedine hadn’t yet heard about their conversation that day.

‘Perhaps something important was discussed that day? Is that why Sister’s reaction changed?’

As Cedine was lost in thought, a truly surprising conversation reached her ears.

“Did you hear? They say leather whips and a muzzle were found under the hotel bed.”

Cedine almost crumpled the newspaper without realizing it. Just how distorted were these stories becoming? Where did the talk of leather whips come from, and even if such things were used, it wouldn’t make sense to leave them under a hotel bed.

“That’s different from what I heard.”

“Oh really?”

“I heard it was handcuffs. They were attached to the posts of the hotel bed, they say.”

“My goodness. How indecent.”

A third person abruptly interjected.

“A maid in our house knows a maid from that hotel.”

“Oh, really?”

“What did she say? Did you hear anything?”

Cedine leaned in, eager to hear more.

“I don’t know what they were planning to do on their wedding night, but they found rope and candles in the trash can. There were six barely used candles, and next to them…”

“And, and next to them?”

Cedine, who had raised an eyebrow at the mention of rope and candles, continued to listen intently to what would follow. Regardless of its truth, the third lady certainly knew how to tell a juicy story.

“Something so large and bumpy that it was almost grotesque…”

“Gasp.”

“No way.”

“There was a d*ldo, she said.”

The ladies listening each let out exclamations. They went on about how it was the end of times, and how she couldn’t have used such a thing on a virgin body, so the wedding night couldn’t have been her first time, and so on. The story kept growing more elaborate. By the time it had reached the point of mentioning vibrators, Cedine folded her newspaper and stepped forward.

“Did you know that the vibrator was originally invented as a medical device?”

“Oh my!”

“Eek!”

“Aah!”

Cedine, disregarding the ladies who were startled out of their wits, continued in a rather cheerful voice.

“At the end of the last century, a doctor invented it to treat women’s hysteria. The doctor claimed that symptoms like nymphomania, depression, and hypersensitivity were caused by hysteria. While the dedication to treating patients is admirable, I think it’s a fundamentally misguided opinion.”

Cedine criticized men who had no intention of properly researching women’s diseases in front of the ladies who couldn’t hide their embarrassment. When the ladies’ expressions returned to composure, she smiled brightly.

“But why do you think I’m the one being whipped?”

Until she winked and turned away, Cedine had no idea what consequences her reaction today would bring.

* * *

Two days later.

Ivlik, who had returned from work, said at the dinner table.

“Cedine, there’s an interesting rumor going around outside.”

“What kind of rumor?”

“A rumor that you dominate me mentally and physically.”

Cedine, who was about to put a potato dish in her mouth, blinked.

“I’m sorry, but I have no idea what you mean.”