Prologue

“Is it a ghost?”

“It’s a person.”

As soon as Charlotte could ask a question, the servant next to her, Lars, answered as if she was in shock.

“There is no such thing as a ghost in this world.”

“Then how do you explain that unmoving shadow in this cold weather?”

When Charlotte, pouting with embarrassment, asked again, Lars glanced at the figure outside the window, took another look, thought about it for a moment, and then continued.

“Perhaps someone has come seeking an audience with the Viscountess, but considering the late hour, they might not be a guest to be taken lightly?”

“It’s past 2 in the morning, so it’s a really plausible assumption.”

The title of Viscountess came with no estate to manage but allowed Charlotte to comfortably enjoy the privileges of the class without having to worry about the responsibilities of nobility. A steady income came in constantly, thanks to her being the owner of the most famous franchise cafe in Lohadin. It was a life that was perfectly suited to do as she pleased.

Today was a satisfying day, like any other day,  just like it was a part of that life. Charlotte was having a drink in celebration of the next day, which was a holiday.

Herringen was particularly beautiful in the middle of winter when it snowed. Charlotte, who was enjoying the scenery outside the window while slightly intoxicated, noticed someone leaning in front of the mansion’s gate.

Not at night, but at dawn. It was well after midnight, and the sight was enough to make her feel wary.

What’s that…?

At Charlotte’s suspicious gaze, both Lars and another servant, Lida, also turned to look at that place. Soon, the person who had been standing there for a while collapsed to the ground.

There was no way he was an assassin or a spy. If that were the case, they wouldn’t be out in the open.

As Charlotte was about to have a debate with Lars, Lida came in carrying a thick cloak.

“Be careful, Viscountess.”

“Okay, Lida, stay here. I’ll go with Lars.”

“Okay.”

Charlotte put on the cloak given to her by Lida and went outside with Lars.

Squeak.

When she passed through the garden and opened the gate, there was a person crouching down. He looked like a strong adult male, and his clothes were torn here and there, as if he had been in an accident, and his exposed body was covered in wounds.

After she exchanged a meaningful glance with Lars, Charlotte mustered up the courage to raise her voice.

“Excuse me?”

“…”

Hearing her cautious voice, the man flinched, held on to the wall, and slowly stood up.

The brooch on his coat seemed familiar to her, one that she had seen before. At the same time, an unknown, ominous feeling swept over Charlotte’s entire body.

“If you stay here, you’ll freeze to death–”

Eventually, when their eyes met as he staggered to stand straight, , Charlotte had no choice but to stop what she was saying.

A face she thought she would never see again.

“…Erhen?”

Blue eyes that looked straight at her even in the dark.

“Charlotte.”

When Charlotte, frozen in shock, barely opened her mouth, the blood-covered man fell into her arms, calling Charlotte’s name as if he had been waiting.

Thud.

As she barely caught him as he fell, she felt something heavy fall down beneath with a thud. The breath that touched her ear was faint. Along with that, the damp smell of blood she smelt from Erhen in her arms.

“Uh, ah… ah.”

“Eh, yes?”

Charlotte shouted again with all her strength to Lars, who was also in shock.

“Get the doctor, Lars!”

It had been a year since she signed the divorce papers and went from being the Duchess of Rosenheim to Charlotte Linz.

Charlotte was reunited with her bloodied ex-husband.

The day when Charlotte met her ex-husband again was, coincidentally, a particularly pleasant day among the satisfying days of her new life.

“Viscountess.”

A sweet voice called Charlotte. When Charlotte turned her gaze to the person who had called her, a cup of coffee was placed in front of her with a clattering sound.

“These coffee beans are being sampled this time, and the scent is really good. It’s good enough to be put on the menu right away.”

The owner of the beautiful voice was Emmett, a barista at a cafe. As he said, the coffee smelled really good.

Charlotte put down the document she was looking at and smiled.

“There’s nothing I can’t trust when it comes to Emmett’s judgment.”

When she answered with a grin, Emmett smiled embarrassedly and continued talking.

“These are coffee beans from the Lamarbel region. It has a uniquely sweet scent, so I think it will be popular with female customers.”

“Thanks to your good looks, female customers are already lining up outside the front door every day? Look over there.”

Emmett’s face instantly turned red as Charlotte giggled.

But what Charlotte said was true. It was an eternal truth that the face of a cafe clerk boasted of the highest efficiency in attracting customers.

As a manager, she really liked the employee named Emmett, seeing how much Emmett’s outstanding appearance helped sales.

“It’s a joke. As you said, the coffee smells really good. I’ll think about the coffee beans.”

“Yes. Thank you!”

Charlotte playfully looked at Emmett, who was walking away with a smile on his face, and then looked out the window.

It was art. The sunlight broke into white waves decorating all sides of the cafe like a famous painting.

Being able to enjoy the beauty of the Herringen Sea through full-length windows was a pride that only the Herringen branch of Cafe ‘Blumen’ could find anywhere else in Lohadin.

Charlotte grabbed a warm cup of coffee, visually feeling the coldness of the winter sea.

“It is perfect…”

Yes. Her life was perfect now. This was the life she had longed for in her past life.

Even after being reincarnated into good conditions, it took a long three years for her to feel at peace with her current life.

It was a really eventful three years.

Charlotte drank coffee and looked back on the past three years.

Although she was not a noblewoman, she was ‘Charlotte Rothschild’, the famous daughter of the Rothschild family, who ran ‘Sone’, the largest construction company in the Lohadin Empire. To borrow an expression from her past life, she guessed she would be the youngest daughter who grew up in a chaebol family and received a lot of love. The conditions of being literally reincarnated were good.

Except for one thing: she was about to die.

“I wonder if it’s inevitable to avoid death in the cycle of reincarnation?”

The place where Charlotte was reincarnated was the world in the fantasy coming-of-age novel The Brilliant Rebellion, which she had read on the recommendation of a graduate school senior in her previous life.

The content of the novel was the story of how the just Northern Grand Duke launched a rebellion for the sake of the people suffering under the tyranny of Rufus, as he succeeded to the throne as the Emperor of the Lohadin Empire and ruled the country.

Her role here was that of the Empress of the overthrown tyrant. She was an extra who appeared briefly in the middle of the work and then left.

The tyrant, who practiced not only tyranny but also extravagance, appointed Charlotte, a commoner, to the position of empress, after he had left the country’s treasury vacant.

The words were chosen. It was a way to take advantage of the fact that they were commoners who had no right to veto the emperor’s words, and to make the Rothschild family, who did not have power but had a lot of wealth, his vassals. Of course, it hurt to say that the company was taken over by the tyrant and the Rothschild family was ruined.

Fortunately, the time when she realized she was reincarnated was before all that happened, on her 20th birthday.

She was a graduate student in her previous life, but one day she developed an incurable disease, so she quit graduate school and began living in the hospital. Later, she died fighting the disease at home because she didn’t have money for the treatment, but she couldn’t die here in vain.

Then, wasn’t it obvious what Charlotte needed to do? Grab onto the main character’s buff and survive!

In these cases, a contract marriage was usually used. Referring to precedents was a very desirable path. So, in the novel, Charlotte proposed a two-year contract marriage to a supporting character with the same fate as herself. With a bit of interest towards the person who was her favorite in the original.

Marquis Erhen Rosenheim was the owner of the estate where the Rothschild family was located and was in charge of a family that was on the verge of bankruptcy. He helped the main character, Archduke Michael Düsseldorf, lead a successful revolt, but he died instead of the main character, so it was a sore spot for readers.

“Why two years?”

That was because a year later, a marriage proposal would arrive from the tyrant, and two years later, the country would be turned upside down.

Of course she couldn’t say something like that. Charlotte used the country’s laws to be more persuasive.

As a commoner there were only two ways for her to obtain a noble title. She could be awarded a title for doing a great service for the country, or she could marry a nobleman.

Charlotte decided to contribute by using the content of the original work from what she already knew. There was no way they would directly listen to a commoner, so she became a noble through marriage.

If she had to live in a society with a class system, wasn’t it better to be a wealthy aristocrat than a wealthy commoner?

“I have something I want to do. We just need to be married for two years for our marriage to be legally recognized.”

There was something she wanted to do, so she used marriage. She was indeed the daughter of the Rothschild family, the bourgeois of the bourgeois.

Erhen chuckled as if he didn’t understand. According to Charlotte, it didn’t matter if he wasn’t the one she married. This was because there were many nobles who coveted the wealth of the Rothschild family.

However, if she married a commoner or a mediocre noble, there was a high chance that the emperor would force a divorce and extort Charlotte at the same time. Therefore, she had to form a relationship with a person like the Grand Duke, who was difficult to influenced by the emperor’s.

Moreover, due to his poor family, Erhen was the person who could best utilize the ‘money’ that Charlotte had.

Of course, his appearance as the most handsome man in the novel also played a role.

“If you marry me, I will pay off all of the marquis’ debt.”

This marriage wouldn’t be a bad deal. He did not forget to include a contract guaranteeing mutual benefits.

“No, a contract marriage.”

Whatever the reason, Erchen accepted, and Charlotte became a contract marchioness.

And two years later, as in the original, the rebellion was successful and Lohadin became a kingdom rather than an empire. And the couple who survived together divorced as per the agreement. Charlotte was given credit for giving little spoilers to the current king, and upon her divorce, she was also awarded the title of Viscountess.

Everything had a happy ending. No matter how she felt, she thought it was a happy ending for everyone.

One year after that.

That was how Charlotte lived satisfied.

A life where she could do whatever she wanted, which she could only dreamed about in her past life.

Besides, tomorrow was her first day off from the cafe in a long time. Charlotte became happier because she planned to go home when the sun went down and play and drink all night with Lida and Lars.

That night, without even imagining who she would encounter again.

*   *   *

After completing the treatment for a long time, the doctor stood up.

When Charlotte, who had been watching the bustle of the treatment, looked at the doctor and opened his mouth.

“You have successfully overcome the crisis.”

Charlotte let out the breath she had been holding without realizing it. At the same time, her heart, which had been pounding at a rapid pace, began to regain its normal speed.

“Fortunately, the internal injuries are not serious. However, the depletion of mana is severe, so you will need to recover sufficiently to wake up.”

“Thank you for your hard work.”

Hearing the words mixed with relief, the doctor looked at Charlotte’s complexion.

Ever since she found Erhen covered in blood, her face had turned pale.

“It looks like the viscount needs a sedative too, so I’ll leave one behind.”

“Ah… Thank you for coming at this late hour.”

After speaking, Charlotte put the medicine down on the desk next to the bed and got dressed. Charlotte called Lars, who was standing nearby.

“Lars, please escort the doctor.”

“Are you okay alone?”

Charlotte nodded.

“Really?”

“There’s Lida too.”

She smiled softly at Lars, who was looking at her with concern, and he reluctantly followed the doctor.

As Lida and Lars left the room with the doctor, Charlotte looked at the man lying dead on the bed.

His black hair, which was always neatly styled as if representing his upright nature, was hanging down, and his eyes were closed beneath it.

Charlotte was taken aback by the sight of him getting up now and inadvertently calling his name like she always did.

“Erhen…”

Erhen Rosenheim.

King Lohadin’s closest noble and the kingdom’s greatest wizard.

And the man who was once Charlotte’s husband.

“But how can we not trade our house?”

When they were living together as a couple, he was an indifferent man who seemed like not a single drop of blood would spill even if she stabbed him.

It was questionable when he acted as if he had no interest in her, and whom she only saw every few days, was found in front of her house like this.

Since Charlotte gave him a life different from the original, all he had to do now was live happily. However, Erhen was lying in front of Charlotte with countless wounds.

Didn’t this novel already have a happy ending?

Charlotte bit her lip.

One of the two who escaped death in the original story appeared before her again, almost dead.

Something was strange.

Something was wrong.

——♦ ⋄· 🜲· ⋄ ♦——

This is not my work and no plagiarism is intended

Credits : goes to the righfull author/owner

——♦ ⋄· 🜲· ⋄ ♦——

A duke of a nation, moreover, a close aide to the king, was found in front of a small nobleman’s house. And there were no attendants searching for him until morning.

Two sentences that defied common sense in this world materialized within the day.

Had all his attendants been wiped out? It was absurd. Erhen Rosenheim was a sorcerer who could wipe out a hundred soldiers alone.

A murder aimed only at Erhen. And this was something that didn’t happen in the original work.

The conclusion Charlotte agonized over all night had been reached.

“Lida, send a message to the duke’s residence.”

Having made up her mind, Charlotte instructed Lida.

“Tell them the duke is here.”

“Yes, milady.”

“And Lars.”

Charlotte turned around. Lars, who had been waiting beside Lida, approached Charlotte as if he had been waiting for her.

She extended a small piece of cloth she found in Erhen’s pocket from her bosom.

“It’s time to show off your skills after a long time.”

“What if I’ve gotten rusty?”

It was a light tone that didn’t match the atmosphere.

Strictly speaking, Lars was a bodyguard and information provider hired by Charlotte to protect herself and keep her safe, as she was aware of her past life. Now that the original story was over, there was no need to continue the employment contract, but based on the bond formed then, they still maintained a friendly master-servant relationship with Charlotte.

Understanding Lars’ intention, Charlotte smiled subtly.

“Then we should terminate the contract.”

“You’re speaking of a big decision, milady.”

Lars took the cloth from Charlotte’s hand. It had a pattern of flower petals facing the ground.

“It’s amusing that a group that murders uses a flower pattern. I’ll look into groups with this pattern.”

“I’ll do my best.”

As Lida and Lars exited, Charlotte’s gaze turned to Erhen lying on the bed.

Was it necessary to go this far for someone whose connection with her had ended? But strangely, the thought that she must do it dominated her mind.

The time when the duke’s people arrived was the next morning when the sun rose.

Representing Duke Rosenheim, the person who came was his aide and former soldier like Erhen at the time of the attempted coup, Viscount Phillip Rimelt.

Observing him descending from the carriage, Charlotte rose from her seat.

“Ma… No, Viscountess Linz.”

Phillip’s expression under his hastily removed hat seemed shocked, as if he had hurriedly set off upon hearing the news.

He was about to address the former duchess by her familiar title but managed to address her with the correct formality before lowering his eyes.

Seeing Phillip, who had rushed from afar after hearing the news of the lord’s injury, Charlotte felt that there was no need for the usual greetings between them over the past year. She nodded lightly in response to Phillip’s words.

“His Excellency has overcome the crisis and is currently recovering. He has not awakened yet.”

She conveyed the situation as they moved to where Erhen was. Phillip’s face lit up with relief at Charlotte’s words.

However, it was brief. Upon seeing the figure of Erhen lying with wounds, he hardened his expression grimly. After capturing his expression, Phillip murmured briefly as he touched his ear.

“The duke’s guards are on their way and are expected to arrive tonight. I’ve just informed Baron Werner.”

“I see.”

“Thank you very much for looking after his Excellency, Viscountess Linz.”

Although he said so, it was strange considering he was found right in front of her house.

Suppressing the words she wanted to say, Charlotte smiled slightly.

The table in the reception room stopped Phillip’s gaze, smaller than the usual rooms of dukes.

“Are you asleep?”

“What?”

“The coffee still looks warm.”

Was Phillip originally sharp-eyed? Taken aback by the unexpected words, Charlotte hurriedly spoke.

“Oh, it’s fine. Let’s go outside to talk so his Excellency can rest comfortably.”

“Okay.”

On the table in the reception room, there was warm milk tea and soft rolls prepared. It was food for Charlotte and Phillip who had traveled overnight instead of a meal.

Charlotte and Phillip sat facing each other at the table.

“I think Viscount Linz should know as well.”

Phillip calmly described the last time he saw Erhen.

“His Excellency was as usual.”

According to Phillip, Erhen, who was usually blunt, was still blunt that day. But he had occasionally traveled without attendants, which he hadn’t done before except for official duties.

When he first mentioned traveling without guards, they secretly had a few guards follow him, but he caught on, and after that, they were always caught by Erhen.

“It sounds unbelievable.”

He seemed to need some time alone.

He said he was going on a trip again and left the mansion. But it was the first time his trip had lasted this long, so Phillip worriedly came to Viscount Linz.

Wait, Erhen traveled alone? Was that his original personality?

“I’ll look into it separately on our side and let you know.”

Charlotte nodded. Although the identity of the attackers targeting Erhen was shrouded in mystery, it was only a matter of time before they found out with this clue.

* * *

Charlotte wet a handkerchief beside Erhen’s bed and gently dabbed it with water. Then she lightly tapped his forehead, damp with sweat.

It had been a week since he went into a coma. It was strange that he hadn’t woken up yet despite hearing that he was fine. Was there something the doctor hadn’t discovered? As her worry deepened, her expression stiffened.

Erhen’s eyelids twitched, and then he gently opened his eyes.

“…Your Excellency?”

“Charlotte….”

Her name was called out softly, like a whisper.

Confirming that Erhen had awakened, Charlotte sat up abruptly. In her haste to call someone, she stepped back but stumbled and faltered.

And it was just for a moment.

“Oh.”

Just before falling, Erhen grabbed Charlotte’s wrist and pulled her into his arms. But the strength of the man who had just awakened was not great. Charlotte ended up falling onto Erhen lying on the bed.

His cheek against hers was hot.

Charlotte quickly got up. His face in front of her was dizzying.

“Sorry, sorry!”

In a moment of panic, she tried to get off the person in pain, but she was stopped by the strength she felt in her wrist. She didn’t understand what situation she was in.

And what stunned Charlotte was the calm voice.

“Have I finally died?”

His voice was unbelievably calm.

Erhen, who was playing with Charlotte’s hair, reached out and cupped her cheek, lifting her head.

Without any time to react to the unfamiliar sensation on her lips, something hot invaded between Charlotte’s lips, as she was taken aback.