Volume 01: Improving the Home Environment.

Chapter 02: I forgot it was our wedding night.

I tried to sleep with Athy, the little angel who was going to become a villainess, but she stopped me.

Usually, she didn’t sleep with anyone.

Huh?

Why not?

My family was poor and with many children, so I always slept with my younger sisters. [TLN: Lmao, just how poor were you, young lady?]

Children’s body temperatures were high, so they were warm and felt good to cuddle with. Wasn’t it good enough for a reason?

Well, I usually wake up halfway through the night to be kicked out of bed by one of my sisters who had bad sleeping habits.

***

Yesterday, as if in secret, there was a wedding ceremony that was modest for a Marquise’s family.

I slept in the guest room without knowing anything about it because I had just arrived at that time and was flabbergasted.

“Selene.”

The Marquis called me by my name gently.

I was called to his study.

It was a large, massive room. Velvet curtains were drawn across the windows, and the lit gas lamps on the walls and the flame from the candelabra on the desk swayed, creating a large shadow of the Marquis and myself.

On the wall was a ceiling-high bookshelf. Inside, books were crammed tightly together.

The amount of books was equal to the amount of property. Perhaps this was not the only room with books.

That meant he was incredibly rich. Just selling one of these carefully foil-stamped and decorated books here would be enough to keep my family warm for a winter, I meant it! What was it about the same aristocrat that made such a difference? Was I crazy? How was this even possible?

“Selene.”

Perhaps because I was distracted by my surroundings and did not respond, the Marquis became impatient and called my name again.

“Yes, what is it, Lord?”

That was certainly rude of me.

I looked straight into his face as he sat at his heavy wooden desk, and this time I responded properly.

How old was he? I didn’t think he was that old yet, but I was not sure because of his beard. Perhaps he was in his late thirties or early forties?

I heard that the men in my family (my father and grandfather) did not grow beards at all, probably because they had low testosterone levels. Or they didn’t grow beards because they looked too shabby even if they did. Once I insisted on seeing my father grow a beard, and he did, but it was only a little above the corner of his mouth and a little below his mouth, and it grew without increasing in density. It was definitely shabby. I was disappointed if I were to be honest. Sorry, Father, Grandfather.

The Marquis had dark hair, so perhaps the angel-Athy looked like her mother. What kind of goddess was she? When she was a villainess, Athy was also a beautiful girl if she kept quiet. This time, I would make her a perfect beautiful girl. I had decided. I made up my mind a while ago. This decision would never be reversed…

“Selene, I did not marry you only to have a child.”

The Marquis, touching his beard around his mouth and staring in the other direction, muttered to himself.

“I see.”

It was more important to know what kind of beautiful girl Athy was going to be, right?

Her appearance was that of a perfect angel. What was left to decide was what kind of girl she should be on the inside. A tsundere was good, but a neat and lovely type was also worth considering. But I also liked the vivacious type. I thought it would be great if she could smile with an honest smile and look like an angel…

“Selene.”

As I was lost thinking about Athy, I was surprised to hear the Marquis’ voice up close.

I looked up when I noticed that the Marquis was standing right in front of me.

He put his hand on the back of the leather sofa on which I sat and brought his face closer to mine.

“I was—”

“Oh, please wait.”

I fluttered out of the Marquis’ arms and stood up.

I guessed he didn’t think I could escape, as he looked up at me with wide eyes.

I took some distance from him and asked a question.

“Why can’t I sleep with Athy? I want to sleep with her.”

I wanted to know why she said no earlier.

I wanted to sleep with the angel in my arms. I wanted to hold her and cuddle against her and smell her soft hair, just like my sisters. I missed that sweaty smell. I missed it. Oh, maybe I was getting a little lonely? Had I already made up my mind to go back home? [TLN: Oh lady, you’ve got an evil mind]

“That is —”

The Marquis sat on the couch I had retreated to and moped a bit.

That was where it hit me.

Oh, right. I totally forgot. The wedding night was today.

I was so buoyed by Athy’s presence that I forgot that I was married.

But hey…

“I think it would be better not to do that. Lord must know. That I have a scar.”

I had been married once.

But the “scar” I was talking about wasn’t a mere scratch.

“I’ve heard about your physical injuries. I know that you were divorced because of it.”

The marquis also stood up and turned his body straight toward me.

My face broke into a smile.

Not that I was happy about it.

“Lord has no idea. You don’t know the extent of my wound.”

A slight wound on the body was not enough to make an aristocrat leave the family.

“You may take a look if it’s just once. It’s not like I’m ashamed of it.”

After telling him, I gently untied my clothes.

Removed the corset, dropped it on the floor and exposed my everything.

I could see him gasp.

I knew it must have been different from the wound he had thought.

“How do you like it? Would you still like to embrace this body?”

There were three distorted, drawn-out scars that stretched straight down from the chest to the lower abdomen, clearly visible.

Moreover, the shape of the right breast, where the wound began, was distorted and much smaller than the left breast. This was because the flesh had been gouged out. The lost flesh and skin were apparently sewn together forcibly by pulling on the remaining parts.

Because there were so many such places all over my body, my body had no smooth, beautiful ridges that were characteristic of women. Everything was bumpy and distorted, like a splintered doll.

It didn’t hurt because it had already fully recovered. However, it must look painful.

Looking at this body, there wasn’t a single person who wasn’t surprised.

It was rather a miracle that there were no wounds from the neck up.

By the way, I had similar scars on my arms, legs and back.

This wound was inflicted to me by a bear.

When I went back to my parents’ house to help them hunt because it was hard when they were preparing for winter.

I had an unlucky encounter with a bear when I got separated from my family.

I was repeatedly beaten and covered in wounds, bones breaking in various places, and I stabbed a knife into its face to take revenge on the bear that was trying to bite me in the stomach.

Fortunately, the bear ran away. It must have been a young bear.

It saved my life, though.

The body was left with scars that would never fade.

Seeing those scars, my former husband could no longer embrace me.

That’s why we were separated. We didn’t even have children. I was thankful that they didn’t even ask me to return the money they had spent on the marriage.

Because it was a political marriage, I didn’t think it was terrible or sad.

“I knew, this time it will be the same as before.”

I was, indeed, discouraged.

I didn’t realize at the time that those feelings were from a previous life, but now I know.

Because I lost another chance to have children.

Well the baby didn’t have to be pulled out of your own loins.

I just wanted a child.

When I was at home, I took care of my younger sister and brother, and that satisfied me to some extent, but I still felt that siblings and children were something different.

I was not ashamed of the wounds themselves.

It was proof that I fought for my life and survived.

If possible, I would like to have a male child who was not frightened by these scars.

But now I have Athy.

Although I might be divorced again.

At least while I was here, I wanted to adore her to my heart’s content.

Silence filled the room.

The only sound was the burning of the candle wick on the candlestick on the desk.

“I need to think about it a little.”

The Marquis muttered and walked out of the room, draping his jacket over my shoulders.

I picked up my clothes and put them on again. Leaving the corset aside. I would probably change into a negligee when I went to bed later anyway.

I then carefully folded Marquis’s jacket and placed it on the desk.