# 1.
I died and was reincarnated as the ex-wife of my favorite character in my favorite novel.
The thought that this was a total jackpot lasted only a moment, as I quickly realized that the ex-wife was destined to die young.
To make matters worse, the moment I transmigrated was just one year after the marriage, and the relationship between the couple was incredibly frigid.
But giving up is forbidden!
This must be an opportunity granted by the gods.
‘Oh, well, who cares. Since I’m living this bonus life anyway, I’ll just thoroughly enjoy looking at my favorite’s face until I die.’
The life of a successful fan is not easily achieved.
Perhaps because I had no lingering attachment to my previous life, instead of being afraid of having died, I felt like I had gained a bonus life.
Since I’m going to be fangirling anyway, I might as well be a happy fan.
That was the goal of my current life.
* * *
A loud noise erupted from Akid’s study room.
Anxious, I slipped the master key I had copied in advance into the lock, opened the door, and barged into the lesson.
And saw a distressing scene.
“Wife.”
Akid wore an expression of distress.
He was pressing a handkerchief to his forehead. A quick glance told me the handkerchief seemed stained red.
Scattered on the floor were a quill pen and an inkwell.
I could immediately deduce the cause of the loud noise.
‘How dare you lay a hand on my Akid’s face? This guy was even worse than what I read in the book!’
I forcibly suppressed the boiling anger inside me and glared at Baron Rourke, who was standing with his hands clasped behind his back.
He appeared slightly flustered by my abrupt appearance, but quickly masked his expression with practiced ease.
“Grand Duke’s Lady, the lesson is not over yet.”
It was obvious from a look that he was displeased by my intrusion into the class.
I ignored him and kept my gaze fixed on Akid as I replied.
“I came because I heard a strange noise inside.”
‘He shouldn’t get a scar… That’s a national treasure-level face.’
I desperately wanted to apply disinfectant and ointment to that pale face immediately.
“There was a minor accident. It’s nothing, please return.”
Baron Rourke smiled calmly and tried to mollify me. But his words only infuriated me further.
‘A minor accident?’
I forgot my pity for my man’s cut forehead and glowered at Baron Rourke.
“Do you call it a minor accident when you dare to scratch the Grand Duke’s son’s face?”
“Oh, you misunderstand. That was a simple accident that occurred during corporal punishment.”
“A simple accident that occurred during corporal punishment?”
“Yes. The Grand Duke’s son, without proper dignity, refused the punishment and stumbled on his own, resulting in his face being cut by an innocent quill pen.”
“Do you truly think that makes sense, Baron Rourke?”
“You seem to think I am lying. Well then, why doesn’t the Grand Duke’s son speak for himself? Am I wrong?”
Baron Rourke glanced at Akid with a sinister smile.
Akid did not reply and tightly bit his lower lip.
To Akid, who had endured all kinds of verbal abuse and violence from the Baron, Rourke was a frightening presence. He would surely try to hide it, just as he always had.
‘Not this time. Do you think I’d live to watch this again?’
I quickly interjected, shouting first.
“This isn’t corporal punishment, this is abuse!”
“What did you just say?”
Baron Rourke adjusted his glasses, showing his displeasure.
It seemed he was enraged that a woman, no less, had not only intruded upon the sacred site of a lesson but was now raising her voice at him.
“Are you sure you won’t regret those words?”
The Baron tapped his cane on the floor, asserting his authority as if he were a judge.
He was clearly trying to intimidate a girl of my young age.
The only reason he could treat me and Akid so carelessly was because his younger sister was the mistress of Grand Duke Hadellus, Akid’s father.
The Grand Duke was extremely generous to his mistress, and he extended generous treatment to her brother, the Baron, as well.
Not knowing that this favor would vanish like a mirage overnight.
‘Hmph. Since your father-in-law is so promiscuous, you’ll be dumped in a month anyway.’
Recalling the original novel I already knew, I curled one corner of my mouth into a sneer.
The Baron naturally saw it, and his face hardened.
He must have thought I was openly disrespecting him. I, however, ignored his reaction and held my head high, not the least bit intimidated by the Baron.
“Are you threatening me right now?”
His face flushed red and blue as a twelve-year-old girl acted so overbearingly.
He must have been infuriated that the Grand Duke’s daughter-in-law, who usually confined herself to her rooms, was suddenly interfering with his lesson and trying to belittle him.
“It is not a threat, but sound advice.”
The Baron gnashed his teeth and answered with a growl. His arrogant behavior, riding on the Grand Duke’s influence, was utterly repulsive.
The fox who rides on the tiger’s back typically boasts, believing people fear *him*.
At the same time, foolishly, he mistakes himself for a being greater than the tiger.
Ignoring the fact that the tiger could tear the fox’s throat with its claws any time it wished.
But alas, what terrible luck.
Grand Duke Hadellus was a man whose moods changed like a boiling pot.
While he cherished Miss Rourke now, acting as if he’d give her anything, it would all end the moment he lost interest.
The Baron seemed not to grasp the seriousness of the current situation.
Grand Duke Hadellus was ruthless towards those who challenged his authority.
Hadellus was the kind of Grand Duke who could execute even his cherished mistress if she undermined his power.
And Akid was the Grand Ducal family’s sole heir.
Although he carried the shameful label of being illegitimate, he was still undeniably the one who would succeed the Grand Duke.
Just because the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess ignored Akid did not mean the Baron could ignore him too, but he was truly foolish.
‘I’ve tolerated enough, too. But how dare you damage my Akid’s face?’
I had no intention of letting this incident go.
Baron Rourke had made a mistake.
Because I was an incredibly clever and malicious villainess—and an Akid fan—who knew the future!
How dare he mess with the villainess’s favorite character. He must have lost his mind, huh?
Swallowing my indignation, I pointed to Akid’s forehead and asked,
“What kind of tutor breaks the head of the Grand Duke’s son under the pretext of corporal punishment?”
Confusion filled Akid’s eyes at my sharp reprimand.
It was understandable that he would be surprised when his wife, who usually despised him, suddenly stepped forward to defend him.
‘Don’t worry, Akid. I’ll protect you.’
I winked subtly so only Akid could see, and he flinched at my gesture.
“Break his head, you say? Your language is highly improper, Grand Duke’s Lady.”
The Baron scoffed, perhaps assuming I was merely agitated.
It was the confidence of a man who believed he could easily subdue someone like me. The Baron spoke grandly.
“I admit that my corporal punishment today was slightly rough, but this is all because the Grand Duke’s son did not prepare his lesson in advance…”
He was apparently going to use the advance preparation as an excuse this time.
“Advance preparation? Are you, by any chance, referring to this?”
I cut off the Baron mid-sentence and gestured with my chin toward my maid, Hannah.
There was no need to listen to the end of a tutor’s words, especially one who didn’t even treat me like the Grand Duke’s Lady.
If the incoming words are pleasant, the outgoing words will be pleasant too.
Conversely, this means if the incoming words are harsh, the outgoing words will naturally follow suit.
At my signal, Hannah pushed a mobile bookshelf in front of the Baron.
The sheer volume was clearly too much to prepare in a single day. Akid was only able to skim through it all because he was smart.
The problem was that the Baron had demanded he memorize every single word without fail. I stood with my weight shifted to one leg and asked,
“Does the Baron genuinely believe this quantity is manageable in one day?”
“Most noble young masters study this amount. Perhaps you wouldn’t know, being a Lady…”
“Why wouldn’t I know? I have an older brother.”
My cutting him off again made the Baron’s expression freeze.
I already knew that he intensely disliked being interrupted mid-sentence. I was doing it on purpose to provoke him. To make him angry enough to make a mistake.
“Ah, that is right. Since you have Viscount April, you would be familiar.”
The Baron suppressed his twitching eyebrow and spoke mockingly. It seemed he could still tolerate it for now.
Well, I didn’t think he could endure my “mouth from hell” until the end, anyway.
I grinned maliciously. When I acted like this, being the villainess from the original story wasn’t so bad, because people would just assume that’s how I naturally was.
“Exactly. Now we’re getting somewhere. I was worried I’d have to buy you a hearing aid because you kept failing to understand.”
“H-hearing aid…”
“I often observed my older brother’s lessons before I was married. He was clearly struggling with less than a quarter of this amount.”
“That is unfortunate. Most manage this easily…”
The Baron insisted stubbornly, unwilling to back down. But that was the reaction I wanted. I covered my mouth with an exaggerated gesture and cried out,
“Gasp! Are you calling my older brother an idiot?”
“Pardon? No, when did I…”
“Just now, you did! You said most manage this easily, and since Viscount April struggles with it, he must surely be an idiot!”
“No! That is not what I meant! Ah, the Viscount is still young, isn’t he! He is perfectly…”
“That’s right. My older brother is only fifteen, so you could call him young. But Baron Rourke, doesn’t that apply to my husband as well?”
“Pardon?”
“Are you pretending to be foolish because you don’t know, or are you genuinely foolish?”
“W-what utter…”
“You must have been foolish because you didn’t know. Then I’ll kindly inform you. How old is my husband this year?”
“He is fourteen… Ah.”
Only then did Baron Rourke recall Akid’s age, realizing his mistake, and shut his mouth.
He had momentarily let his guard down when I spouted terms like “hearing aid” and “idiot.”
I grinned, certain of my victory.
“I’ll say it again: the ‘idiot’ you mentioned, my older brother, is fifteen years old this year.”
“…”
“According to your logic, shouldn’t you be complimenting the young Grand Duke’s son for reading all these books, instead of punishing him?”
“However, the Grand Duke’s son is destined to become the Grand Duke. To make up for thirteen years of academic gap, a single day is insuffici—”
“Gasp! Are you implying my husband is an ignorant bastard because he’s illegitimate?”
“Grand Duke’s Lady! When did I ever say that!”
The Baron jumped up, trying to explain, but I quickly continued.
“I’m disappointed, Baron Rourke. I thought you were quite astute…”
Then I sighed dramatically, scanning him from head to toe.
“But now I see you are just a foolish tutor who blames the student instead of acknowledging his own shortcomings.”
Having delivered that fierce rebuke, I shook my head with an exaggerated *tsk-tsk* sound to conclude.
The Baron’s face flushed red and blue as he strode menacingly toward me.
“Have you said all you intend to say?!”
He looked as though he would strike me with the cane he held at any moment.
‘Oh, things are actually going better than expected!’
My eyes gleamed as I waited for him to grab my shoulder.
Just touch me with a single fingertip, and I would show him what true wickedness was.
It was at that moment. Akid, who had been standing there looking bewildered all this time, stepped forward to defend me.
“Step away from my wife.”
