“Are you two in a love marriage?”
In some ways, it was a somewhat rude question.
The ladies invited to the mansion started to express their curiosities without any faking.
Johannes Schultz, who had disappeared leaving behind countless rumors, had suddenly reappeared. And he had taken a commoner as his wife.
It was no surprise they had many questions.
The women’s openly curious gazes directed at me were quite burdensome.
“Of course. We are completely immersed in our newlywed life.”
I showed no signs of discomfort at their excessive interest. Instead, I simply provided an appropriate response and took a sip of tea.
“It must be wonderful to be married to Duke Schultz, who is an idol of everyone,” one of the ladies said.
“I had always dreamed of living in Musen. It’s such a magnificent place,” another added.
“I’m curious about your first meeting. Where and how did you meet?”
At the last question, everyone’s attention turned toward me.
Caught between the eagerly shining eyes of the women, I fell into contemplation.
How on earth should I explain this?
“Our first meeting? That is… how did we meet…?”
As I hesitated to answer, the women waved their hands lightly, urging me on.
“There’s no need to be shy,” they said.
“Exactly. We all got close in a similar way,” another chimed in.
“I wonder what aspect of you the Duke, who never kept women by his side, fell in love with.”
They seemed to think of me as a somewhat bashful person. However, I was not at all shy or evasive by nature.
It was just that I found myself in a truly awkward situation to speak carelessly.
“Haha…”
I replaced my words with another sip of tea.
They showed slightly disappointed expressions but brushed the situation aside with “There will be plenty of opportunities.”
I was relieved to have navigated this immediate challenge without incident.
I hid my anxiety behind a light smile directed at them, hoping they wouldn’t ask any more difficult questions.
I then cast a hazy gaze out the window, filled with feelings I couldn’t define myself. I released a thin sigh that no one noticed, recalling the topic that had disrupted my perfect life.
In these recent days, where I enjoyed a seemingly perfect husband and an enviable newlywed life, I had begun to harbor a troubling thought.
It seemed that my husband might be a murderer.
—
* * *
This place is not the world I used to live in.
I didn’t realize this fact until not long ago.
During what should have been the perfect marriage, something I’d rather not have known suddenly came to mind.
Exactly a week ago, while I was conversing with my husband.
“How about Primwood?”
He wanted to come up with a nickname for the mansion. Among the various suggestions, the name that became the source of the issue was Primwood.
“Primwood?”
“It’s named after you. Since the mansion is in the middle of a forest.”
As my husband said this with a smile, I felt a strange sense of déjà vu. Though I couldn’t recall the details, I was sure I had heard that name somewhere before.
…And it was very, very bad.
I carefully interrupted him, pushing that sense of déjà vu to the back of my mind.
“After my name? But this is the Schultz family’s mansion. And we’ve only just gotten married, haven’t we? It’s too early to decide…”
“Are you saying we’re going to get divorced now?”
His response was a dry voice. He cut me off and asked again with a slightly rigid expression.
Though his extreme example was surprising, I could understand it, as we had to appear perfect on the outside.
I quietly calmed my husband.
“I’m not saying that; I’m just saying it’s not too late to think it over slowly. Besides, naming the mansion after my surname would be so embarrassing for the previous duke if he were to find out.”
“Opinions from someone who is no longer in this world don’t matter.”
“But…”
“Edith Schultz.”
My husband firmly called my name.
I didn’t understand why he was so insistent on my ‘original’ surname, but it was difficult to change his mind.
“…Fine.”
Ultimately, the mansion was named “Primwood,” but I still didn’t like that name. Even though it was named after my surname, it gave me a strangely unsettling feeling.
I wanted to think it was just my imagination, but the sudden anxiety showed no signs of dissipating, even when I returned to my room and lay on the bed.
I tossed and turned all night, trying to find a reason for the shiver that name induced in me.
And when that name settled deeply in my mind, the foggy memories began to clear, pushing all the memories of my previous life to the surface.
In the modern state of the Kingdom of Dochilia, which leads the way in the railway industry.
In its most beautiful city, Musen.
The Schultz Duke, who protects Musen.
And…
The Schultz Duke’s mansion, Primwood.
“Oh my God. Johannes Schultz.”
My heart, which had been beating at a relatively regular pace, began to race, and I felt a sense of vertigo.
How had I not realized until now?
This place is from a novel. To be precise, it’s from a novel I had read in my previous life.
It was so long ago that I couldn’t remember the details, but I was certain of it. And my husband, Johannes Schultz, is the male lead of that novel.
You might think, “Isn’t it good to be the male lead?” but I can confidently say that for the rest of my life, absolutely not.
“Johannes Schultz is…”
Johannes Schultz is a psychotic murderer.
No one, except for the female lead, noticed his true nature, deceived by his kind and perfect facade. The number of women he killed is countless.
Of course, he eventually falls truly in love with the female lead and ends in a happy ending. But…
“…That isn’t me.”
I grimaced.
Did I get off midway? I can’t recall precisely, but I remembered there were many discussions about the ending.
I jumped up from my seat, pacing anxiously around the room.
“I’m insane.”
Then I abruptly stopped, hitting my head with my hands, and continued to walk back and forth several times.
“What was so good about walking into this crazy place?”
“The family is good, he’s tall. He’s even handsome. It’s perfect, right?”
“No. Johannes is kind.”
“No, can you be sure? It could all be an act.”
I started to ask and answer myself like a madman.
But I was genuinely serious. This was a matter of life and death.
“I could be the female lead.”
I finally started to turn my thinking positive.
“That can’t be.”
However, that assumption quickly vanished. There were several rational grounds for why I was not the female lead.
First.
My name is Edith Prim. The female lead’s name is Joanna Tenet, not even a single letter is the same.
Second.
The female lead was said to have a delicate appearance, which I do not have. I may be pretty, but I’m quite far from being delicate.
And lastly, the name of the mansion, Primwood, had existed long before the female lead appeared.
Since Johannes named it after my name, it means the female lead has not yet appeared.
No one knows when his murders began. Thus, he could either kill me or not, but…
“The likelihood of being killed is high.”
This is absurd. I’m walking into hell voluntarily.
With a vacant expression, I moved forward. My trembling hand gripped the mirror’s frame.
Reflected in the mirror, my face looked like that of someone who was about to die.
Long brown hair and emerald green eyes.
These were the common features of the women Johannes Schultz had killed.
—
