Chapter One

WHEN ONE DIES, either one would go to heaven or hell. At least, that was what humans believed.

For Astra, it did not matter where she goes. She knew what kind of person she was. When she was young, she had a good temperament. She was shy, kind, and loveable. Nothing much changed when she grew up. However, she learned to be a bit hard-hearted. Just a bit.

People who knew her expressed how good of a person she was. Although lazy, she was a good person. But, is there really a person who is kind and good?

Maybe, there is. But that person is not her.

Astra acted based on the norm. Since becoming evil would do her no good, she did kind things, but not from the goodness of her heart. There were times she wanted to stick a pencil to a classmate's head, but she restrained herself. Being rational, indeed, is the best. Otherwise, if she kept listening to what her heart desires, she would end up worst.

Although she was bad at heart, she did the opposite. So, when she died of old age, Astra believed she would go to heaven. Let the heaven purify her dark heart. To her surprise, however, she did not enter heaven. But she wasn't in hell either.

Instead, she was reborn. Not as a baby, but as a married sixteen years old girl. The first time she came, she fainted. No matter how strong she was mentally and emotionally, the situation almost gave her a heart attack.

Being reborn with past life memories was fine. What scared her the most was her civil status. She was sixteen, yet already married!

In her past life, she prefer having the best of life. She travelled around the world and eat a lot of delicacies. She hated children, so she did not bother having one. No man met her standards, so she was a single lady until death. When it came to her career, as long as she wanted it, she would have it. She was not a hardworking person, but when it came to things she wanted, she would do whatever it takes to get them.

So, when asked if she has regrets. Of course, there was none. Astra enjoyed her life to the fullest. What was there to regret? As for her wealth, 50% was given to her nieces and nephews. As for the other 50%, she gave them to the orphans and women who needed protection. She gave the latter before her death. She chose the orphanage and organizations to give her wealth to.

Some told her to give it to the government, and the government would do its best to allocate her wealth to benefit the poor. Astra refused without batting an eye. She never trusted the government. So, why should she give her wealth to them to feed them? She wasn't born ignorant.

Then, hours later when she woke up, she was greeted by her in-laws' grinning face and non-stop chattering. She was not left hanging, though, as her mother-in-law told her she was pregnant. Once again, she fainted. When she did, she had the urge not to wake up anymore. She wanted death to fetch her!

Astra had not even enjoyed the sex, and she was already pregnant as soon as she arrived?! Setting aside the sex, at least, let her body give birth first before letting her soul come. Why did she have to endure the labor when she did not take part of the pleasure?? The heaven is unfair!

Unfortunately, death did not fetch her. Counting the days, she had been in this world for full three days. The in-laws noticed her gloomy mood, and did not bother her. But she had always been soulless. So, no one noticed something amiss.

However, Old Madam Volkov stared at her eldest daughter-in-law from time to time. Ever since getting this daughter-in-law, they never saw any emotions on her face. She had always been soulless. She only talked when asked; do things when told. She was like a puppet. But ever since the girl got pregnant, they finally saw some emotions from her. Although, Astra was gloomy and did not seem happy about her pregnancy, atleast they finally see something human about her.

A month and a half ago, when they saw her lying on the ground in the middle of the forest, Old Master Volkov and his eldest son took her to their abode to take care of.

When Old Madam learned that the girl did not have a family, she proposed for the girl to marry her eldest son. Her eldest son was turning 30 this year, and because he had been in the army, coupled with the current atmosphere in the court, he rarely come home and his marriage was delayed. All of his brothers were already married, while he was still a bachelor.

Plus, Old Madam Volkov fell in love with the girl's face. The girl was a stunning beauty. If it was in the past, Astra would certainly be held as a concubine overturning the world. The Volkov Family are rough people. Although his eldest son was handsome, compared to the girl's beauty, he was nothing.

"I hope Dmitry is here," Old Madam Volkov sighed. "He will surely be delighted once he knew he's going to be a father."

After the night of his marriage, the eldest son, Dmitry Volkov, ran back to fulfill his duty as a soldier.

When Astra, who was sitting emotionlessly outside the house while staring at the sky, heard her mother-in-law talked about her son, her eyes turned fierce.

She could not remember the face of this husband of hers. In fact, this body held no memories at all.

Then, she pursed her lips when she felt her mother-in-law's gaze. What was she supposed to reply? She did not even want to be a wife, now she was also forced to be a mother.

After fainting the second time, she thought of using her age to discuss morality. Especially when she heard that her husband was almost 30 years old. Unfortunately, in this era, a girl can get married at 15. While men can get married at 20. She had nowhere to discuss about morality now that she was in the wrong era.

At first, she though she was in the ancient times. But when she saw an old-fashioned telephone at the house, she began to suspect the timeline. Then, when she heard that the country was governed by the court with an emperor as the big boss, her mind was in turmoil.

Could someone please tell her where the heck was she?!

Afterwards, the night came. Then, she saw two big moons hovering above the sky. Only then did she calm down. Fine. She was not on Earth. She was probably in a different world. Or not, in a parallel world. Whatever the case maybe, she was already here. She might as well integrate herself. If she learned that monsters exists in this world, she won't be surprised then.

Sighing, Astra stood up. She planned to go back to her room to sort things up. But when she met her mother-in-law's eyes, she could not help but nod respectfully. She was the kind of person that respects the old and pity the young. As long as they don't do something excessive and offend her, she would act according to the norm. Otherwise, she wouldn't mind stabbing someone.

After giving a silent respect, she walked inside. Not caring about the mother-in-law's dumbfounded face, Astra began to sort out everything she learned about this world. She needed to plan her future.

Currently, the Volkov Family resided in the countryside. They weren't poor, but not rich either. If not for the eldest son's sacrifice, battling in the borders and receiving a huge amount of money to feed the family, the Volkov Family would not be able to eat three times a day.

There were also three more brothers after the eldest. All of which were already married. The second son, Peter, had two sons and a daughter. The third son, Ashton, had two daughters. And the fourth son, Cole, had three sons. The two worked in the farm, while the other was a carpenter apprentice. They could only contribute a bit much for the whole family. Plus, with such a big family to feed, the eldest son's salary wasn't much.

This era or whatever timeline she was currently at was a bit traditional. In her previous life, a person could live independently whenever they want as long as they could afford to. If not whenever, then if they were about to get married. Once married, they do not have to mind their maternal family that much. Their focus should be with their current family. Unlike in this world, the parents were still the head of the family even if their children were married. Only if they reached old age and could not work anymore could the family separate and they would live with their eldest son.

Taking note of the last part, Astra began to contemplate whether to integrate herself in this world or just kill herself. After taking responsibility towards her siblings as she was the unfortunate first child, all her plans had nothing to do with responsibility anymore. Now, she was forced to do all the things she hated in her last life. And it had something to do with responsibility again. She suddenly felt nauseous.

Then, remembering the unborn child in her stomach, Astra sadly crossed out the idea of killing herself. Although she disliked children, she was not the type to kill the innocent.

Sighing, Astra softly tapped her stomach. "I don't know if I am the one being punished by the heaven or you," she murmured. "You are so unlucky to have me as your mother."

After telling how unlucky her child was, Astra continued analyzing the place.

There was not much information about the imperial Court. This was the countryside, after all. If she moved in the capital city, she might learn about them more. Right now, what she gathered was that there was an Emperor. The emperor in this world did not have concubines. Concubinage and having mistresses were prohibited. If a man or woman was caught, they would be dealt by death penalty.

Then, there was the Saintess. Her position was much more acknowledged than the emperor himself. She was said to be the daughter of heavens. Her insights were excellent. She would know when a disaster would come, help the people, and pray for the country's abundance. A typical Saintess.

However, Astra did not want to think too much about the imperial Court. She was in the countryside and encountering the Saintess and the emperor was close to zero.

What she needed to know was this country's system. She did not want to live poorly. Her husband's money was her husband's. Not to mention, that money was being used to raise the whole Volkov Family.

As for that matter, she did not care. But they should never dare to interfere with her nor demand her money if she started to have one.

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