Chapter 1
Devotion turns into a doormat.
A woman stood at the edge of a cliff.
She looked precarious, as though she might fall at any moment. Her golden bobbed hair fluttered violently in the strong wind.
Her name was Priscilla Muton. Otherwise known as the Duchess Muton.
‘I have nowhere left to retreat…!’
Priscilla bit her lower lip as she glanced back at the vast, endless cliff behind her.
At present, her life was in danger.
“Give up now, Madam.”
The threat came from none other than her husband.
“Your death is already decided. Resisting further would be a waste of time. Let us proceed obediently, shall we?”
Her husband, Duke Brian Muton, stood with his hands clasped behind his back, a vile smirk on his face.
In this situation, “proceed obediently”?
Naturally, Priscilla couldn’t possibly comply with his wish for her to obediently die.
“Do you have no conscience? Who do you think is to blame for me being in this situation?!”
The root cause of her predicament was her husband’s infidelity.
Two months ago, while taking a solitary walk in the garden, she had accidentally encountered her stepson Eric’s close friend.
“Why do you live so foolishly?”
“…Are you talking to me?”
“Yes, I’m addressing the Duchess.”
His blue eyes pierced Priscilla as he stared at her.
Everything about him, from his question to his attitude, was unpleasant, but she couldn’t call him out. He was the Crown Prince of the Trisanne Empire, after all.
Instead, Priscilla hardened her expression and responded politely.
“I don’t understand what you’re saying, Your Highness. I am content with my life.”
“…Why?”
“Pardon?”
“Are you content after seeing your current state? Do you even know the betrayal you’re facing behind your back?”
The Crown Prince’s inexplicable rage twisted his handsome face into a fierce scowl.
While Priscilla was taken aback and silent, he ruffled his hair and shot her a sharp glare.
“Find out what your husband has been up to. Don’t let yourself be fooled like an idiot.”
No matter how royal he was, the fact that he was thirteen years younger than her made his manner extremely rude. Yet, for some reason, she couldn’t disregard his warning.
For the first time in her marriage, Priscilla investigated her husband’s affairs.
The results revealed a shocking truth: her husband had been having an affair with a woman young enough to be his daughter.
What kind of person does that?
Overwhelmed with anger and betrayal, she confronted him directly.
But he was more shameless than she had imagined.
“Well, this works out. Let’s get a divorce. Since you haven’t made any special contributions to the Muton Duchy, there’s no need for alimony, right?”
“What did you say?”
“Oh! And let’s cite your infidelity as the reason for the divorce. I have a reputation to maintain, but you don’t.”
“…Are you out of your mind?”
She had married him when she was barely eighteen and he was in his mid-thirties, already a widower with two children. Her only reason for doing so was to pay off her father’s gambling debts.
For sixteen years, she endured societal pressure and harassment, striving to gain recognition and build a place for herself.
After finally securing her position as the Duchess and gaining a few loyal followers, being cast out like this was unacceptable.
Unwilling to accept it, Priscilla adamantly refused the divorce.
Eventually, the Duke seemed to relent, soothing and coaxing her into believing he’d given up on the idea.
But that was her mistake.
She fell for his words when he claimed he’d end his affair and invited her on a reconciliation trip to the ducal territory.
Once deep in the mountains, he revealed his true intentions, leading to the current situation.
“Don’t resent me too much. You’re not entirely blameless, after all.”
“What did I do wrong?”
“You failed to serve me properly as my wife. For a noblewoman, there is no greater fault.”
Outraged, Priscilla clenched her fists tightly.
Up until now, she had done everything for her husband and the Muton Duchy.
She handled the paperwork he found bothersome, managed the territory, participated in business ventures, and took care of every task behind the scenes.
“Do you know how much I’ve devoted myself to you and the Muton Duchy…!”
Closing her eyes tightly, Priscilla swallowed her sobs. Facing imminent death made her suddenly regret the foolish life she had lived.
She had endured her incompetent and selfish family and the scorn of the ducal household, all while pretending to be content with her life.
But in truth, she had never been happy.
She couldn’t live like that anymore.
“You’ve enjoyed a position beyond your worth until now. Be satisfied with that and consider it a repayment of grace—”
“You bastard!”
Cutting him off mid-sentence, Priscilla roared in fury.
Facing death, she finally poured out the raw truth she had been suppressing all along.
“You wretched scum! You coward! Do you think I wanted to live with you? Do you know how unbearable it was to watch you stuff your face at every meal? Your breathing alone drove me insane!”
“M-Madam, have you gone mad? Watch your words!”
“I won’t! You murderous, lecherous bastard! It’s a joke that someone like you is considered a divine blessing! The world is doomed, doomed!”
The duke’s face flushed bright red as he grabbed the back of his neck in frustration. Regardless, Priscilla hurled every curse she could think of.
“You’re going to kill me? Even if I die, I’ll become a ghost and haunt you!”
“You vile woman! I can’t believe I’ve endured such a wicked and despicable wife!”
Shuddering, the duke finally used the special power that was said to be a divine blessing.
A brilliant white light emanated from him, seeping into the ground, and soon, green vines sprouted at Priscilla’s feet.
“Just die already!”
“…!”
In an instant, the vibrant vines pushed her forcefully.
Thud, whoosh—.
Priscilla’s body was lifted into the air before plummeting rapidly into the gorge below the cliff.
‘This is so unfair….’
She had only just found her voice. She had just decided to live her life on her terms.
Even as she fell, she kept her gaze fixed on her sneering husband above, making a wish.
‘God, please grant me just one chance to snatch that wig off his head.’
If given the chance, she swore never to live stupidly or naively again.
Splash.
The dark, murky waters of the gorge surged, and Priscilla felt the chill enveloping her body as she closed her eyes.
And then…
And then, she opened her eyes again.
Her last memory was of thrashing in the water, so it took her a moment to realize she was still alive.
A cold droplet falling from the ceiling of the cave brought her back to her senses, and Priscilla touched her forehead.
‘What on earth happened? Why am I here…?’
She couldn’t swim. Brian Muton knew that and had deliberately dropped her into the gorge.
And yet, here she was, alive and well. It was nothing short of a miracle.
“That damned Brian Muton! I won’t let him get away with this! I’ll make him pay for betraying my devotion…!”
Priscilla was overjoyed, thinking that God must have granted her a chance to expose her husband’s wig. But then she froze, suddenly feeling something off about her body.
Her clothes were completely dry, as though they hadn’t been submerged in water. Her hair was also smooth and flowing…
‘Wait a minute, what’s wrong with my hair…?’
Grasping the golden locks that cascaded over her shoulders, Priscilla was shocked.
Her hair, which she had kept short since her marriage, now reached down to her waist.
‘And why do my clothes fit perfectly?’
She had always been slender, but after discovering her husband’s affair, the stress had caused her to lose even more weight, making her dress loose. Yet now, it fit her snugly.
Feeling disoriented, she stepped out of the cave. Blue skies, a lush forest, sparkling streams, and a rugged pebble path greeted her.
Looking around briefly, Priscilla approached the water’s edge.
The water wasn’t as clear as a mirror, but it reflected her appearance well enough.
The moment she saw herself in the water’s surface, her plump lips parted in shock.
“Why do I look so young…?”
Snow-white, porcelain-like skin, vivid green eyes filled with vitality, and silky golden hair.
This was exactly how she looked before her marriage.
For a while, she stared blankly at her reflection in the water. Then she brushed back her flowing hair, revealing a scar on her right earlobe.
It was the mark left when her stepmother had slapped her during the winter of her seventeenth year, causing her earring to fall off.
With the scar present and her hair long, she guessed she was about eighteen, shortly after turning an adult.
“This can’t be… I’m thirty-four…”
Smack!
She slapped her cheek to see if she was dreaming, but the sharp pain confirmed she wasn’t. Her reflection in the water didn’t change either.
“Then… could it be that I’ve traveled back in time?”
If that were the case, this might be God’s gift—a chance to live a new life.
Overcome with emotion, Priscilla began to think about what to do next.
Her father and stepmother were long-standing allies of Brian. If she returned home, it would only lead to preparations for her marriage next year.
‘The only person I can trust is….’
Priscilla thought of her twin brother, who looked just like her.
Her fragile brother had often written to her, even after her marriage. In his letters, he always assured her that he was on her side and that she could rely on him during difficult times.
‘I should go to Franz.’
The problem was figuring out how to get to him.
She was barefoot, dressed in only a gown, and had no jewelry or valuables to trade. Worse, she had no idea about the geography of the mountain she was in.
As she stood there, feeling helpless, a brown backpack caught her eye near the cave’s entrance.
‘What is this…?’
She cautiously opened it, her eyes widening at the contents: a map, a robe, money, and various items necessary for travel.
Had someone lost it? Or abandoned it?
“Oh, there’s even a newspaper.”
She picked it up to check the date, only to freeze in place.
The date printed on the paper was not from the past but the present.
In other words, she hadn’t traveled back to her childhood.
Only her body had gone back in time.
—
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