Chapter 1
The Young Duchess
A few days ago, 20-year-old Seo Yuna, who had died in an unexpected accident, opened her eyes in the body of 12-year-old Elisa.
“Lady Elisa, the Duke requests your presence.”
A maid led Elisa to the Duke’s study after she was summoned. As she followed, Elisa stared blankly at her unfamiliar reflection in the window—a twelve-year-old girl with dazzling golden hair and fresh, light-green eyes. The twenty-year-old Seo Yuna, with her black hair and black eyes, was nowhere to be seen.
‘I’m Elisa Rubelin now…’
She had possessed this body just a few days prior. At the time, Elisa had been on the verge of death after a carriage accident. The one who saved her was Duke Rubelin. However, her mother had died on the spot, and her father, Baron Lohengrin, had already passed away three years earlier, leaving Elisa an orphan.
Unfortunately, no relatives were willing to take her in. Baron Lohengrin had squandered the family fortune on failed business ventures, leaving Elisa with no inheritance. To her relatives, she was nothing more than a burden.
Duke Rubelin brought Elisa to his ducal estate. He declared that, as promised to her grandfather, he would marry their grandchildren. But when Elisa heard the name of her future husband—the young heir of House Rubelin—she froze in horror.
Richard Rubelin.
He was the father of Hans, the villainous second male lead from The Birdcage, the R-19 dark romance novel Elisa had read in her past life!
In other words, Elisa was destined to become Hans’ mother.
From its title alone, the novel was anything but ordinary, and it had been one of Elisa’s guilty pleasures in her past life. But as they say, life is a comedy from afar and a tragedy up close.
‘This is different from just reading about it!’
And worse—she had possessed an extra who was already dead by the time the original story began!
In the novel, Elisa, orphaned and raised in the cold, loveless Rubelin household, developed an unhealthy obsession with her husband, Richard, only to meet a tragic end at his hands.
‘I don’t want to die like that.’
Elisa clenched her skirt. She had no intention of wasting her second life so pointlessly.
The only silver lining was that she still had a full decade before Elisa’s death in the original story. Ten years was enough time to change her fate.
Before she knew it, Elisa and the maid arrived at the Duke’s study.
Inside, a stern-looking but dignified old man sat behind the desk.
Albert Rubelin.
The undisputed most powerful man in the empire, the head of the Rubelin ducal family—also known as Rubelin the Storm.
Yet, he was also an unfortunate man who had lost his only son and daughter-in-law a year prior.
The Duke, who had been eyeing Elisa indifferently, took a puff of his cigar and cut straight to the point.
“Marry him.”
“…”
“That is the only reason our family is taking in a nobody like you.”
His words made Elisa suspicious.
As he said, compared to the Rubelin ducal family—the empire’s sole dukedom—Elisa’s family was insignificant.
‘Exactly. Why would the empire’s only ducal family choose a destitute baron’s orphaned daughter as their heir’s bride? There must be countless noblewomen vying to become the Duke’s in-law.’
She didn’t know why he had specifically chosen her, but one thing was clear:
‘Even if he calls me a nobody, the fact that he prioritized me over countless noble ladies means he needs me for something.’
Quickly assessing her position, Elisa met the old man’s gaze without flinching.
Albert studied her light-green eyes—eyes that stared back at him unwaveringly—before continuing.
“Women have it easy. All they have to do is stay in a comfortable home, bear children, and enjoy everything their husbands provide.”
He seemed determined to belittle her into submission.
‘He’s telling a girl who just started menstruating to have children already?’
A girl raised in this patriarchal world might have agreed, but Elisa, with memories of her past life, knew better.
As Albert rambled on, she scoffed internally.
‘Men have it easy. They get to run around outside doing whatever they want, then come home to enjoy the happy household their wives built for them.’
But she swallowed the words bubbling up in her throat. Her second life was too precious to risk.
“Your Grace.”
Just then, someone knocked and entered—the Duke’s aide, followed by a priest. It seemed he had been called as a witness for the marriage vows.
The aide approached Albert with news.
“The young lord encountered bandits on his way and will be delayed.”
Albert set down his cigar.
“Bandits? Didn’t he arrive in the vicinity last night?”
“Yes, but…”
“There are no bandits on the main road. Unless they have a death wish.”
“Well… it seems the young lord took the mountain path instead.”
“He chose the mountain path over the main road?”
“He said he wanted to assess the territory’s security…”
Albert’s brow furrowed.
Richard clearly had no interest in this marriage. Deliberately taking a detour was his way of stalling.
“Useless antics.”
Clicking his tongue in displeasure, Albert carelessly signed the marriage contract in Richard’s stead and slid the document toward Elisa.
“Sign here.”
His aide handed her a quill.
Richard’s signature space was already filled with Albert’s handwriting. Once Elisa signed, they would be legally married.
Elisa weighed her options—a life of poverty outside the ducal estate versus a life of luxury within its walls.
‘In the original story, Elisa still has over ten years before her death. If I avoid having children and don’t obsess over Richard, maybe I’ll be fine.’
If she could manage that, she could live comfortably in the estate and walk away with a hefty divorce settlement later.
Her hesitation was brief. Elisa signed the contract with her still-unfamiliar name.
The priest, who had been silently observing, finally spoke.
“From this moment, Richard Rubelin and Elisa Lohengrin are united in marriage under the gaze of the Goddess Arynne. May Her blessing guide their path.”
Elisa took a deep breath as the priest’s words settled in.
‘I just need to endure this household for eight years, then walk away with a fortune.’
And so, the wedding ceremony concluded without a groom.
That night, after her maids helped her bathe and escorted her to her new chambers, Elisa was left alone.
The room she was led to was incomparably more luxurious than the guest quarters she had stayed in for the past ten days. Though those had been lavish by any standard, this room was on another level.
‘So this is the difference between a guest and the lady of the house.’
Elisa surveyed the bedroom.
The adjoining sitting room’s walls were adorned with swords that looked exorbitantly expensive. They seemed out of place in a noblewoman’s chambers, but Elisa paid them little mind as she headed toward the bed.
The bed was as large as the one from her past life.
She lay down. Though the expensive mattress was soft and cozy, sleep eluded her—perhaps because of the unfamiliar surroundings.
‘It’s quiet outside. Has he still not arrived?’
Elisa thought of her absent husband.
‘I hope he doesn’t come tonight.’
Though she was curious about the boy who would be her husband, fear outweighed that curiosity.
In the original story, Richard was the head of the rival family opposing the male lead. Since he died long before the plot began, his exact personality was unclear, but from Hans’ recollections, he wasn’t a good man.
Now that she was married to him, avoiding him entirely was impossible—but she wanted to delay their meeting as long as possible.
‘…I can’t sleep.’
As Elisa tossed and turned, midnight came and went, yet there was still no sign of her husband-to-be.
‘Guess he’s not coming tonight.’
The thought eased her tension, and she eventually drifted off.
How much time had passed?
Creak—
The sound of the door being thrown open jolted Elisa awake.
The moon was hidden behind clouds, leaving the room pitch-black save for a few faint candlelights. The howling wind rattling the windows only deepened her unease.
‘Who’s there…?’
Then, a shadowy figure emerged from the dim light, striding toward her.
Disheveled raven-black hair, skin so pale it seemed to radiate coldness, and beneath it all—piercing, blood-red eyes.
‘Eek! A d-demon?!’
To Elisa, still groggy from sleep, that’s what he looked like.
The moment her eyes met those terrifying crimson ones, she felt a fear so paralyzing she thought she might faint. Her breath caught in her throat.
