MHR 03

Chapter 3

Damon knew exactly how to use Clarissa.

If he whispered in that sticky, intense gaze, Clarissa would surely obediently submit, thinking that he might like her even a little.

Perhaps tonight, Clarissa would touch the places Damon had touched and indulge in the illusion that if she tried a little harder, she could earn his love.

Even I, who had already let go of any fondness for him, felt my heart racing uncontrollably with excitement.

No—this wasn’t excitement. “Bewilderment” was a more accurate word.

Despite his beautiful appearance and sweet voice issuing a chilling warning, I was so thoroughly subdued that I couldn’t move a single finger.

But I wasn’t Clarissa. And I never wanted to live like Clarissa.

With trembling hands, I barely gathered my senses and shoved Damon off my shoulder.

No matter how hard I pushed, he wouldn’t budge. But perhaps my touch annoyed him, because Damon suddenly stepped back, crumpled the divorce papers, and flung them into the air.

The divorce papers caught fire in an instant and turned to ash, scattering before my eyes.

I widened my eyes in shock at Damon’s magic.

He seemed immensely pleased by my frightened reaction.

I wondered why that would make him so happy, when suddenly the front strands of my hair burned and fell.

Some of my hair had apparently been caught in the flames of the divorce papers.

“If you bother me again, it might not end just like this. Go! Live as if I don’t exist. Don’t appear before my eyes until I summon you. You’re annoying. Got it?”

With a flick of his hand as if shooing a fly, Damon spun around and quickly left.

Treated like a mere insect, I couldn’t simply step back.

As I tried to follow him, Millan blocked my path.

“Milady, this area is off-limits.”

I looked down at the boundary line.

The west wing of the Middletown estate, where sunlight and candlelight barely reached, was off-limits.

Even as his wife, I could not enter without Damon’s permission.

There were Damon’s secret labs for studying dark magic, his hidden studies for covert schemes, and a labyrinthine underground prison where who-knows-who might be held.

Even if Damon allowed entry, I had no desire to go inside.

I didn’t dare cross the boundary, stomping my feet in frustration.

I had been lucky to see Damon today, but I had no idea when I might see him again.

Every time the divorce got postponed, my safety felt further away.

Clutching the hem of my dress and pacing anxiously, I saw the study door open briefly, letting out a sliver of light before Millan closed it behind him.

The west corridor fell back into darkness.

My chest throbbed sharply.

Alone, I felt the same bitter, hollow pain Clarissa must have felt every time she was rejected, standing there powerless.

“Damon, just wait a little. I’ll make you beg me for a divorce first!”

I must!

The next day.

Bang! I flung open the merchant guild office door and strode inside.

“Milady, what brings you here?”

The accountant, who had recognized me, bowed his head quickly.

“Where’s my husband?”

“He isn’t here.”

“Not here either?”

Frustration boiled up, and I clenched my teeth.

For Damon to say “divorce” first, I needed to create a situation where he could no longer tolerate living with me.

So I had been going around deliberately sabotaging Damon’s work and interfering with his deals.

I had visited every office in the territory, yet Damon was nowhere to be found.

‘I need to see his face before I can either get a divorce or plan a scheme.’

I couldn’t tie him down or hand him a phone. My anxiety grew.

Damon’s refusal to divorce was probably to reassure the Rackton Duke.

The Duke’s daughter, Aylin, had developed an obsessive affection for Damon.

Even while engaged to the Crown Prince, she hadn’t let go of her attachment to him.

If Damon divorced now, Aylin would cling to him, and the Duke couldn’t allow it. He would drive Damon away.

Then Damon would have to rework his revenge plans.

All the work he’d done as the Duke’s loyal agent would go to waste.

So Damon needed to maintain a stable marriage with Clarissa, the daughter of the Mercium family serving the Rackton Duke.

It was also a way to inflict pain on Aylin, the Duke’s beloved only daughter.

Reading the original story, I thought it would be easier for Damon to seduce Aylin to advance his revenge, but in this world, I realized… no.

Damon despised Aylin more than insects. He couldn’t act out a romance with someone like her, so he used Clarissa to torment her instead.

Since Damon married the housemaid’s daughter, who used to handle his laundry and errands, Aylin was nearly going insane.

‘Why would Aylin even like Damon!’

I had fallen for Damon myself once, but living with him, he was truly a terrible man.

“Where on earth has my husband gone? Maybe I won’t see him for another two weeks.”

Having spent the whole day packing lunches and searching for Damon, I was exhausted.

The hot weather and long carriage rides left me thirsty and aching.

I slumped into a chair, sighing heavily.

The accountant stared at me awkwardly and scratched the back of his head.

“Milady, perhaps the master is at the Xian Merchant Guild.”

“I’ve already been there.”

I had first visited the Xian Merchant Guild, which handled salt, pepper, various teas, and spices.

The Rackton Duke supplied salt to the empire from his massive mines.

Damon was trying to undercut him with cheaper foreign salt to pressure the Duke’s finances.

Of course, he couldn’t do it alone without drawing the Duke’s ire, so he worked behind the scenes using the Crown Prince as a front.

“Have you checked the secret office of Xian Merchant Guild?”

“Secret?”

The word made me perk up.

It matched perfectly with Damon’s shady schemes.

“Yes. Until now, the guild’s salt trades were small-scale enough for Middletown, but large-scale transactions are about to begin. If the Duke finds out, he won’t tolerate it. So a secret office was established.”

Giving me such high-level information, I drew three gold coins from a silk pouch and handed them to the accountant.

“You deserve a reward for telling me where my husband is. What’s your name?”

“Hoan Baron.”

“Hoan.”

I placed three gold coins in his palm.

“This is for considering my anxious heart, wanting to know if my husband at least eats while working.”

Just as Hoan reached to take the coins, I clenched them tightly in my hand.

“But since you’ve revealed my husband’s movements and the secret office, you deserve punishment as well.”

“Y-yes! I’m sorry, Milady!”

Hoan bowed and trembled.

As the wife of a villain and a villainous side character herself, it was natural I appeared intimidating.

Perhaps that’s why she obediently gave me the information.

“But I should also reward what was done correctly…”

I handed all the coins to Hoan, glaring at her.

“You must continue to report my husband’s information. If you don’t next time, the punishment will be severe. Understood?”

“Yes, Milady.”

“Now, where is this secret office?”

Hoan handed me a map showing its location.

It was beside a canyon deep in the mountains—suspicious, indeed.

Most merchant offices were near rivers or seas for easy transportation.

Why trade foreign salt in the mountains?

Even hiding from the Duke, there was no need for such isolation.

‘They’re trading salt without even seeing it in person?’

Still, discovering the location of the secret office was a major gain.

I warned Hoan to stay quiet and climbed back into the carriage.

Even on paved roads, my backside hurt; going into the mountains was torture.

“Ouch, my butt.”

The bumpy, winding mountain roads shook the carriage violently.

As we neared the canyon, strong winds tossed the carriage.

Watching the sun dip lower, I prayed this wouldn’t be in vain.

Soon, the carriage sped up wildly.

“Ahhh! Why are you doing this?!”

“Wolves, Milady!”

Large wolves, big enough to resemble leopards, surrounded the carriage, running in front and behind.

With only the driver and maid Miranda, there was no way to fend them off.

‘Maybe I can talk to them?’

I could communicate with animals—a skill seemingly gained during the possession process.

At first, it had shocked me when I talked to birds outside the window.

Not just birds—I could speak to squirrels, cats, even mice.

Of course, mice mostly cared about crumbs or leftover cheese, so deep conversations weren’t possible.

Still, it was a new skill, and I practiced daily.

“Ahhh!”

The carriage wobbled as if a wheel had split.

“Ben! Stop the carriage immediately!”

“No, Milady. If we stop, we’ll all die.”

“Falling into the canyon or staying here—it’s the same!”

Shouting, I forced the driver to halt.

‘Ugh… I feel like I’m going to vomit.’

Grimacing from nausea and the aching seat, I climbed out of the carriage.

“Grrr… Grrr…”

Countless yellow eyes glowed from behind bushes and trees. The forest seemed to move with every rustle of the wolves.

The tension was different from calling birds; my whole body trembled. If my ability didn’t work on them, I was done for.

‘Let’s try talking.’

I spread my hands wide to show I meant no harm.

[We’re just passing through. We won’t harm you.]

The leader wolf growled in reply.

[We’re hungry. We’re starving.]

The wolf licked its lips, eager to satisfy its hunger.