I Healed my Husband, the Leader of the Underworld

Thank you, Arwendolyn, for the kofi😊

 

When I first opened my eyes in Milena’s body, I was completely unfamiliar with the routine of entering and exiting luxurious buildings. Even those who were familiar with them were still enchanted by their grandeur.

In my previous life, the only time I was surrounded by such luxury was during my trip to Europe that I painfully saved money for.

Even back then, I couldn’t buy anything and just walked around… I said inwardly.

I thought I’d never get used to that kind of life.

Built with marble, the buildings themselves were a work of art. But they also had sumptuous chandeliers that artisans must have spent nights on, accompanied with valuable and expensive goods.

I also touched a blank check for the first time only after possessing Milena’s body, and I could still remember how my hand trembled as I filled it with crooked zeros with a fountain pen.

Wait, what kind of pen has diamonds embedded in it like this…

Thinking of this, the head of department at my old job, from my first life, was very fond of fountain pens, and I somehow found out that those pens or rather jewelry-like objects cost tens of millions of won.

But considering that I was currently occupying the body of the famous Rochester daughter, I wouldn’t be surprised if the price of that one reached the billion-won range.

… If I drop it, I’m dead.

It was quite a challenging situation for a commoner like me, who had lived in Korea, to keep up with the aristocracy lifestyle here.

I vaguely remembered a post I saw one day, titled, “Get 700 million won to spend every day, but if you save even 1 won, the money will disappear VS only get 100 million won every year.”

At that time, I just shrugged it off and pressed the back button instead of reading further.

……But who would have thought this could happen in real life. Well, in a slightly different way….

I had always wondered how the heroines in Isekai stories managed to act so convincingly as the original characters without revealing that their souls had been swapped.

Well, now I know.

Being in this new body, I had to pretend to spend money like water, every day, not just when I was preparing for an important ball.

And speaking of which, I got a letter from Milena’s eldest brother around the time I was merely adjusting to my new circumstances.

People are saying you didn’t say a word about the new Ervancia dress you wore last time. It’s useless to try to get my attention. You have already rejected my advice and stubbornly pushed ahead with your own plan. You are no longer Rochester, but Roam.

It was like a parent scolding their child for pushing away a well-cooked meal and talking back.

So that day, I fervently flipped through Ervancia’s new catalogs.

It was quite sweet and terrifying for a regular citizen like me to indulge in such opulence, but I adapted.

I said farewell to the old days where every purchase I made felt like an extravagant waste, where I had to scrutinize the price of everything that caught my eye.

However, the place where Siegfried just took me felt like it came from another world.

It was even more glamorous than the fancy department stores I had seen so far.

The dark place was cool and quiet, much like my husband’s room.

Everything was in order, and an eerie emptiness pervaded the surroundings.

There was nothing out of place, and everything seemed astronomically expensive despite the simplicity of their designs.

And only the sound of my husband’s shoes, and my heels clattering on the smooth floor echoed in through the room. Although the air inside was no different from the outside, chills ran down my spine with every step.

Today was the first time I felt like I was being overwhelmed by a building, even though I’ve been training myself to adjust to such extravagance for some time now.

Swallowing dry saliva, I instinctively felt like I needed to do something, so I pressed myself against Siegfried.

At the end of the walk was a sumptuous leather sofa, not the common ornate display stands or dazzling lights of a jewelry exhibition.

Siegfried sat down on the couch as if he were used to it, leaning leisurely against the backrest. He rested one leg over the other and pulled out a metal case from his inner pocket.

When he took out a cigar, a servant quickly came out of the darkness to lit it for him. The man’s eyelids drooped languidly as his chin lifted arrogantly.

His actions were natural and without any unnecessary details.

It was clear that he was born to dominate.

Soon, a well-dressed gentleman walked towards us, carrying a large box. And behind him, two beautiful women, dressed in identical suits, followed expressionlessly.

Siegfried nodded at the man’s greeting with a chin gesture without even giving him a glance, and the man’s gaze soon shifted from him to me.

How boring it must be for the man who was considered the most beautiful person in the social world to look at normal looking people, I thought.

Not long after, three other men came in front of me, placing their hands on their chests and bowing modestly.

“It’s an honor to serve you, Mrs. Roam, ” the man with the box said before introducing himself. “I’m Cornell Calvin. A gemologist and consultant to Max Macklister Diamond Corporation.”

The Max Macklister Company was a renowned diamond house responsible for mining, distributing, and selling diamonds worldwide.

To make the consultant of such company bow his head, one could say it was typical of the Roam family.

“As expected of someone of noble status like you Madam; I heard that you well-versed in jewelry.”

“You are correct, ” retorted Siegfried, who had been silent until now. “My wife has a liking for shining things.”

He wrapped his arm around my waist, as he gently tapped his cigar on the tray. The fabric between us did little to diminish the warmth of his touch.

“I see. It’s truly an honor to showcase my limited knowledge to someone who enjoys rare gems as much as you, my Lady. I will do my best to serve you today. Elsie. Grace.”

Upon his call, the two women gracefully bowed their heads, and opened the box, revealing a necklace with large diamonds connected together like sausages.

It looks heavy… I thought.

“It is said to have been worn by the queen of the fallen kingdom of ‘Van’. With delicate emerald cuts, each piece is a regular 3 carats, and all graded flawless. It’s a grade only given to diamonds without the slightest impurity. I’m presenting it with confidence, but for the owner of the ‘Eternal Abyss’ it must look like a trinket, right?”

Pretty. It’s definitely pretty.

“The necklace itself is made of 21-carat platinum. The queen wanted to use gold, saying it was the ideal material to showcase her most cherished jewelry collection, but how could the dull gold withstand these heavy stones? This was the best compromise. It truly is a masterpiece.”

In the world I used to live in, this was something I would have seen only through glasses at jewelry exhibitions.

The precious stones, strung together like a flowing stream, ran down the white fingertips as I watched the scene in awe.

“Or how about the ‘Praise of the Forest.’ Emerald, cut in a pear shape….”

Starting from there, several fine pieces were laid down before me one after the other.

Beautiful.

And I stared at them, mesmerized.

The necklaces the real me wore when I was younger while playing beads with my friends were absolutely nothing compared to these.

Even then, I wanted to be surrounded by shiny things.

Almost everyone must have fantasized at least once about being surrounded by gorgeous diamonds, dressed in a pretty gown while riding in a carriage heading to the magical kingdom…

What pleased me was not just the beauty of these treasures, but also the nostalgia they evoked.

I think I smiled. A little bit, at least

“And finally the piece of resistance.”

Then, it was raised onto the display.

“Lady Roam, aren’t you fascinated by spheres? This piece is none other than the….” Calvin’s voice was triumphant as he added, “…’Raw Heart’, the only one that exists in the whole world….”

With a loud thump, the emerald brooch in my hand fell on the floor. It didn’t even occur to me that it might get damaged.

I was no longer in my right mind anyway.

Didn’t I sell that thing?…

The brooch bounced off the smooth floor as if it was a skipping stone on water. I tried to quickly pick it up only to find Siegfried’s black shoes slowly trampling on the priceless treasure.

The Raw Heart.

A jewel of enchantment that squandered one-tenth of the Rochester family’s fortune.

I sold it as soon I regained my senses after the possession, in hope to somehow make up for Milena’s evil deeds.

There should be a silver lining somewhere.

I was no longer the Milena from the novel, and I didn’t cherish this pretty piece of rock enough to blow up 10% of Rochester’s money. Moreover, preparations for the future, where I would be discarded, needed to be made.

How hard did I study in order to sell it for its actual worth.

I knew that if I did it halfheartedly, I would lose a lot. Therefore, I diligently studied the silver-tongue world of auctions as well as their procedures, plus the market values of different types of gems.

After putting on a mask, I attended several auctions as an anonymous bidder, quietly observing from various corners.

I independently took care of everything without Roam’s assistance.

How thrilled I was to sell that red diamond at a slightly higher price than its assessed value.

How happy I was to look at the check I received that day.

After that, I safely returned the money Milena had taken from Rochester to buy the necklace and kept the rest as my escape fund.

But here was this man making all my efforts go to waste.

Could he possibly know about my plans?

He must have guessed that there was a good reason for Milena to sell her cherished jewel…’

It was a dazzling diamond that world widely received the unique ‘Diabolic Red’ name after all.

 I stared at the diamond I had sent away.

Stiff, and bewildered.

‘It’s a diamond in search of its rightful owner.’

A voice rang out in my head.

‘Even if there are many who covet this treasure, this beautiful heart will always be meant for you. it will always return to you.’

This was a memory from the real Milena.

A memory of the dealer’s pitch that made me rolled my eyes when I read it in the book.

And ironically, just like he said, the gem came back to me thanks to my husband’s generosity.

“Keep smiling like that from now on, ” Siegfried whispered in a low voice as he suddenly came up behind me. “And don’t go anywhere.”

Yes, it was truly a heartwarming gesture that brought tears to my eyes.

As I said, there were still some things I didn’t get used to while living as Milena Roam.

The first one was my husband’s murderous smile.

“What’s wrong, Milena?” he asked sweetly.

The second thing was…

“… Don’t you like the gift?”

His natural facial expression that made him look like a cable had popped off somewhere in his head.

Siegfried had a knack for biding me to Roam with the number one jewel in the Empire.

He knows. He definitely knows; I thought anxiously.

And the “Raw Heart” that looked like it had just been extracted from a beast’s chest, was thumping in front of me.

No, the diamond was just a red stone.

So, it was probably my heart that was beating so loudly, not the luxurious rock in that glass tube.