“Is there no afterlife?”
Why did she possess someone who was destined to die again the moment she herself died?
Eliana did not want to accept her situation.
If she was going to be brought back to life, should she not at least be given a fair chance to live?
She had died unjustly in the prime of her life, and now she was supposed to die again.
The reason she was so furious was because she had possessed Eliana.
Eliana Mushe.
The only daughter of House Mushe and a villain’s pawn who would eventually fall under the Empress Dowager Hera.
In short, she was a minor extra.
And not just that. She was destined to be brutally murdered by the mastermind Velkirei.
“This is insane.”
Eliana muttered while curling up beneath the blanket.
The woman she had met yesterday was Finn, Eliana’s personal maid.
A maid who had been with her since childhood and would later play a significant role in leading Eliana to Hera.
After all, her older brother worked under Hera.
After questioning Finn thoroughly yesterday, Eliana confirmed two things.
First, that she was currently twenty years old.
Second, that she was soon to marry Marquis Valkyrie.
The problem was that the man she was supposed to marry was not even a first time groom.
She was to become the second wife of an old man who was forty years older than her.
‘Even if she is just the daughter of a powerless count, is this not too much? I died without ever experiencing a proper relationship, and now I am supposed to spend my life serving an old man?’
Eliana punched the bed repeatedly in frustration.
According to Finn, Eliana had recently been saying she wanted to die quite often.
The original Eliana must also have been unwilling to accept such an absurd marriage.
In the novel, Eliana had grown up without receiving love from her father.
Her so called father was an alcoholic and a habitual gambler, and when displeased he would abuse Eliana without hesitation.
Growing up under such a man, Eliana’s personality had inevitably become twisted.
In the end, besides Finn, there was no servant who truly cared about her.
Everyone found her troublesome.
That was the treatment a difficult young lady received.
Just yesterday she had fainted after being beaten by her father, yet the only person who came to see her was Finn.
That alone spoke volumes about her relationships.
‘I need a way to stop this marriage that feels like being sold off.’
Eliana thought hard and tried to recall the original story.
The Owen Empire, where the novel took place, was a rigidly hierarchical society.
The daughters of noble families were strictly restricted from going outside, and the treatment they received depended on the ability they manifested at birth.
In that suffocating society, the original Eliana had been born without any ability at all.
If her father had been a decent man, he might have raised her with love.
But Count Mushe was not such a man.
He thoroughly isolated Eliana and treated her with contempt.
The only time Eliana had ever properly left the castle was when she ran away after enduring her father’s abuse and was dragged back.
That said enough.
Fortunately, at the age of twenty, Eliana’s ability finally manifested.
Occasionally abilities manifested later in life, and Eliana was one of those rare cases.
When Eliana finally gained a powerful ability that allowed her to stand proudly before others, she was overjoyed.
In her excitement, she ran straight to her father without thinking.
She wanted to tell him that his daughter had become a mage.
A natural mage, no less.
She wanted to say that now he should finally cherish her.
How foolish.
The father who had despised her for lacking ability would hardly begin treating her well just because she suddenly had one.
Still, for Eliana, who had lived in isolation for so long and was desperate for affection, Count Mushe’s praise and attention must have meant everything.
It was not impossible to understand her feelings.
But when she went to see him with a face full of excitement, she overheard something like a thunderbolt from the clear sky.
He was planning to sell her to Marquis Valkyrie.
That day, Eliana’s heart shattered.
No matter how much he abused her, she had still believed that he would care for his only daughter.
But what she received in return was the treatment of an object.
After that, Eliana lost the will to live and wandered around like a living corpse.
Eventually she held an ice blade to her own neck, declaring she would die, only to be discovered by Finn.
‘I will not die meaninglessly like the Eliana in the original story.’
Now that she had power, she refused to become a foolish woman who despaired just because her father, who never loved her, abandoned her.
Nor did she want to become a woman who redirected that desire for affection toward Hera and desperately sought her favor.
She had no intention of doing that.
No, it would be more accurate to say that such thoughts never even crossed her mind.
Because she would never be loved by anyone anyway.
She would only be betrayed.
And in the end she would be killed.
Eliana gently rubbed her aching stomach.
‘In my previous life I died unfairly because of that damn psycho senior. And now I have to die again? No. I refuse. I do not want to die.’
With a fierce expression, Eliana clenched both fists tightly.
First, she needed to speak with Finn again.
If Eliana had been killed by Velkirei because she was Hera’s pawn, then the answer was simple.
She would go to him first.
That was the only way to overcome this crisis.
Just then, as Eliana was trying to think of a way to sneak out of the house, someone suddenly pulled the blanket off her.
“Let go! I said no!”
Eliana protested as the maids began roughly stripping her clothes and dressing her up.
But no matter how much she struggled, the maids did not even blink.
Three maids who had suddenly barged in had dragged her up, saying Count Mushe was calling for her.
Since the count treated Eliana terribly, it seemed the maids also looked down on her.
There was another reason Eliana resisted so desperately.
She had heard that the reason Count Mushe had called her was to introduce her to Marquis Valkyrie.
One of the maids holding her arms spoke with difficulty.
“My lady, there is no time for this. We must not keep the marquis waiting.”
“I said no! I will not meet him!”
Eliana shook her head stubbornly.
At that moment, a shadow fell before her.
Eliana looked up instinctively.
Before her stood a woman with her arms crossed, looking down at her with a domineering expression.
“Count Mushe ordered that you be brought even if we must drag you. If you continue resisting, we will have no choice but to use the whip.”
The woman spoke sharply, holding a small whip in her hand.
Her clothes were different from the other maids.
Eliana immediately realized that she was the head maid.
Under the pretense of teaching etiquette, the head maid often whipped Eliana’s fragile back.
Eliana stared at her blankly as she openly threatened punishment.
‘Come to think of it, the hierarchy in Count Mushe’s castle was terrible in the novel.’
Since there was no mistress of the house, the head maid acted as the lady of the castle and maintained discipline.
The count trusted the head maid’s words more than Eliana’s.
The head maid was a woman favored by him, practically his mistress.
Soon Eliana stopped resisting, her eyes filled with disgust.
She judged that struggling with the maids would not help her escape this situation.
The maids holding her arms then dressed Eliana in a beautiful gown and sparkling accessories.
She was already beautiful, but once they deliberately dressed her up, she shone even more.
The woman in the mirror still wore a stiff expression, yet she was undeniably beautiful.
“Hurry.”
At the short command of the head maid, Eliana was practically dragged toward the reception room where the count was waiting.
It was not treatment one would give to a woman who had fainted just yesterday.
Not a single maid even asked if her body was alright.
The servants she passed on the way showed no interest in her.
Even though Eliana was the second highest person in the castle after the count, they did not properly greet her.
Had she lived her entire life being treated like this?
Had she endured this treatment since childhood?
Eliana sighed deeply at the helpless situation.
What had happened in just a few minutes was more ruthless than she had expected.
If even she felt this furious, how must the real Eliana have felt?
She needed to escape this castle as soon as possible.
To do that, she had to consider this a tactical retreat and follow their orders for now.
‘Just endure it once.’
When Finn came later, she could reveal her ability and ask to be introduced to Hera.
Then meeting Hera would not be difficult.
If she wanted to reach Velkirei, she had no choice but to go through Hera.
The current Velkirei was merely an emperor in name.
Meeting him through Hera would be far safer.
If she tried to approach Velkirei directly, Hera might kill her first.
In any case, there was no way to reach Velkirei without going through Hera.
“My lord, the young lady has arrived.”
The butler waiting outside the room knocked and spoke.
The laughter that had been echoing from inside the room suddenly stopped, and a cheerful voice granted Eliana permission to enter.
“Come in.”
When the butler opened the door, Eliana saw a blond middle aged man and an elderly gentleman with gray hair inside the reception room.
She immediately recognized the blond middle aged man as Count Mushe.
His blond hair resembled Eliana’s.
Count Mushe’s nose was red, as if he had already been drinking.
‘Is selling your daughter really something to celebrate?’
When Eliana stood stiffly without entering the room, the head maid pushed her from behind.
The door closed immediately.
Eliana reminded herself to follow their orders just this once.
Just endure it once.
But the moment she faced them, her firm resolve began to waver.