Chapter 1
“So, was your marriage a love match?”
In a way, it was a rather impolite question.
The ladies invited to the mansion had completely abandoned formalities and began asking every question that had been on their minds.
Johannes Schultz, who had disappeared after leaving behind countless rumors, had suddenly returned.
And not only that—he had come back with a commoner woman as his wife.
Of course they were curious.
The openly fascinated gazes directed at me were quite burdensome.
“Of course. We’re completely immersed in newlywed life.”
I didn’t show the slightest sign of discomfort at their excessive interest. I simply gave an appropriate answer and took a sip of my tea.
“You must be so happy, Duchess, to have married Duke Schultz, the man everyone admires.”
“I’ve always dreamed of living in Müsen. It’s such a wonderful place.”
“We’re so curious about how you first met. Where on earth did the two of you meet?”
At that final question, everyone’s attention turned to me.
Surrounded by ladies whose eyes sparkled with anticipation, I found myself in a dilemma.
How am I supposed to explain this?
“Our first meeting? Well… that’s… how did we meet again…?”
Seeing my reluctance to answer, the ladies waved their hands lightly and encouraged me.
“You don’t have to be embarrassed.”
“That’s right. We all became close by talking about things like this.”
“I wonder what it was about you that captivated the Duke, a man who never kept women by his side.”
They seemed to think I was simply shy.
But I wasn’t the timid or bashful type at all.
The problem was that I truly couldn’t carelessly speak about it right now.
“Haha…”
Instead of answering, I quietly drank my tea.
They looked a little disappointed but quickly let the matter go.
“Well, there will be plenty of opportunities later.”
At least I had managed to get through the immediate crisis.
Suppressing my anxiety, I offered them a gentle smile, praying they wouldn’t ask any more difficult questions.
Then I turned my eyes toward the window, carrying emotions even I couldn’t define.
A faint sigh escaped into the air without anyone noticing as I once again thought about the issue that had completely disrupted my otherwise perfect life.
These days, I was enjoying a newlywed life anyone would envy with a husband who seemed flawless in every way.
But lately…
One troubling thought had begun to haunt me.
I think my husband is a serial killer.
This wasn’t the world I had originally lived in.
I hadn’t realized that until recently.
Just as I was objectively enjoying what should have been the perfect marriage, something surfaced that I almost wished I had never remembered.
It had happened exactly one week ago while I was talking with my husband.
“How about Prim Wood?”
My husband wanted to give our mansion a nickname.
As we tossed around different ideas, he suggested the name that would become the source of all my problems.
“Prim Wood…?”
“After your name. Besides, the mansion is in the middle of a forest.”
He smiled as he said it.
But the moment I heard those words, an odd sense of familiarity washed over me.
I couldn’t remember clearly…
But I was certain I had heard that name somewhere before.
…And not in a good context.
Pushing the uneasy feeling aside, I cautiously tried to dissuade him.
“After my name? But this is the Schultz family’s estate. Besides, we’ve only been married for a short time. We don’t know what the future holds yet, so isn’t it a little too soon…?”
“Are you saying we’re going to get divorced?”
His calm voice interrupted me.
His expression had grown noticeably stiffer.
His extreme interpretation caught me off guard, but since we were expected to appear as the perfect couple in public, I could understand why he reacted that way.
I gently tried to reassure him.
“That’s not what I meant. I’m just saying there’s no need to rush. Besides, naming the estate after my family name… Imagine how shocked the late Duke would be if he knew.”
“The opinion of someone who is no longer in this world doesn’t matter.”
“But…”
“Edith Schultz.”
My husband firmly called my name.
I didn’t understand why he was so insistent on using my original surname, but once he made up his mind, changing it was nearly impossible.
“…All right.”
In the end, the mansion was officially named Prim Wood.
Even so, I couldn’t bring myself to like the name.
Although it was supposedly derived from my surname, it gave me an inexplicably eerie feeling.
I wanted to dismiss it as mere imagination, but the sudden uneasiness refused to leave me.
Not even after I returned to my room and lay down in bed.
I tossed and turned all night, desperately searching for the reason why that name unsettled me so much.
And then…
The moment the name settled deep within my mind, the thick fog clouding my memories slowly lifted.
The memories of my previous life came flooding back all at once.
The Kingdom of Dochilia.
A modern nation leading the world in railway development.
Within it lay the most beautiful city—
Müsen.
The Duke of Schultz, protector of Müsen.
And…
Prim Wood, the Schultz ducal residence.
“Oh my God…
Johannes Schultz.”
My heartbeat, which had been steady until then, suddenly raced.
It felt as though the ground beneath my feet had disappeared.
How had I failed to realize it until now?
This world…
It was the world of a novel.
More precisely, the novel I had read in my previous life.
I couldn’t remember every detail because it had been such a long time ago.
But I was certain.
And my husband—
Johannes Schultz—
was the male protagonist of that novel.
Some people might think,
“Isn’t that a good thing?”
But staking the rest of my life on it…
I could confidently answer:
Absolutely not.
“Johannes Schultz is…”
Johannes Schultz…
…was a deranged serial killer.
No one except the heroine ever realized it because they were all deceived by his gentle, perfect facade.
But the number of women he murdered was impossible to count.
Of course, later on he genuinely fell in love with the heroine, and the story ended happily.
But…
“…That heroine isn’t me.”
My face twisted into a grimace.
Did I stop reading halfway through?
I wasn’t entirely sure anymore.
I only remembered that the ending had been highly controversial.
I sprang to my feet and began pacing anxiously around the room.
“I must’ve been out of my mind.”
I stopped, smacked my forehead, then started pacing again.
“What possessed me to walk straight into this madhouse?”
“He comes from a prestigious family, he’s tall, and he’s incredibly handsome. He’s perfect.”
“No, Johannes is kind.”
“No. Can you really be sure? What if it’s all an act?”
I found myself arguing with myself like a madwoman.
But this wasn’t something trivial.
My life depended on it.
“What if… I’m actually the heroine?”
Eventually, I began clinging to optimistic fantasies.
“As if.”
The hope disappeared almost as soon as it appeared.
There were several perfectly logical reasons why I couldn’t possibly be the heroine.
First.
My name was Edith Prim.
The heroine’s name was Joanna Tennet.
Not a single letter matched.
Second.
The heroine was described as possessing an exceptionally delicate, fragile beauty.
I wasn’t.
I was certainly considered pretty, but “delicate” was the last word anyone would use to describe me.
And finally, third.
The mansion called Prim Wood had existed long before the heroine ever appeared.
Johannes had only just named it after me.
Which meant the heroine wouldn’t enter the story for quite some time yet.
No one ever knew exactly when Johannes’s killing spree had begun.
That meant…
He might kill me.
Or he might not.
But…
“The chances that he will are pretty high.”
This was insane.
I had voluntarily walked straight into hell.
I staggered forward blankly.
My trembling hand gripped the frame of the mirror.
The woman reflected in it looked exactly like someone destined to die.
Long brown hair.
Emerald-green eyes.
Those were the features every woman murdered by Johannes Schultz had shared.
