Chapter 1
1. The One Chosen by the Oracle
It was a situation no one could have imagined.
Temples were built to honor the will of the gods revealed in five sacred places. In other words, temples were constructed wherever a divine oracle had once descended. Those events belonged to legends from before recorded history, but even afterward, an oracle would appear at a temple once every few centuries.
For a temple, a divine oracle was the greatest possible event—proof of its very purpose for existing.
And now, that very oracle had descended again.
The Duchess, a commoner who had been on the verge of being expelled, suddenly found her status skyrocketing. Overnight, she went from a soon-to-be cast-out widow to a sacred woman under the protection of the temple.
Life truly was impossible to predict.
The Duchess was given the largest and cleanest room in the temple, along with meals delivered at regular times. No one dared treat her carelessly anymore.
She stared quietly at the maid who had brought in her food. The woman looked familiar—she had been beside her when she first woke up.
Even after the funeral ended and everyone else had left, this maid had remained. She was probably her personal attendant. It seemed like someone she could talk to.
“Why did I try to kill myself?”
The maid’s hand froze as she was placing dishes from the tray onto the table. It was the first thing the Duchess had said since waking after her suicide attempt. For a moment, the maid’s composure nearly cracked, but professional discipline quickly returned, and she answered calmly.
“It is said that… after confirming His Grace’s death, Your Ladyship was so overcome with grief that you hanged yourself in your room.”
“Did I love the Duke?”
“No.”
The answer was instant, though her expression clearly said, Why are you asking me that?
“Then why did I hang myself?”
“Because Your Ladyship was about to become completely destitute—no, I mean… because your circumstances were about to become very difficult.”
“Destitute? Why?”
“You did take the marriage vows and were registered as the Duchess. However, since the wedding night was never consummated, you were not eligible to inherit anything.”
Just for that?
“What about my family?”
“You are an orphan.”
“Then how did I marry the Duke in the first place?”
The maid, who had initially answered carefully as if this might be some kind of test, now looked stiff.
“After your parents passed away, people around you took most of your inheritance. You used what little remained to approach the Duke and arrange the marriage.”
In short—she had gambled everything and lost.
She had poured every last coin she had into becoming the Duchess… and ended up completely ruined.
…No wonder she wanted to die.
A long sigh escaped her.
Everything she had just heard belonged to the life of the previous owner of this body. But since she had been reborn into it, it would now become her life.
Honestly, she still wanted to die.
What should she do?
Countless thoughts flashed through her mind in that brief moment.
She had been reincarnated many times before. Every one of her past lives had ended in suicide. She didn’t know if this happened to other people, but for her, whenever a life ended that way, she would be reborn into the body of someone who had also died by suicide.
Naturally, since the previous owner of the body had already chosen that ending, the situation was always a dead end no matter how many times she woke up again.
Her guess was that the only way to escape this cycle was to live a life that ended in some way other than suicide.
The problem was that, until now, every life she had lived had been so unbearable that waiting for natural death felt impossible.
This life wasn’t much better. But at least this time she had the social status of a Duchess—and the unexpected variable of the divine oracle.
If enduring this life might break the cycle of being reborn as someone who had taken their own life… then perhaps this life could be different.
‘Maybe I should try living.’
“So then… what’s my name?”
The maid inhaled sharply before answering, a beat slower than before.
“…Ellen. Ellen Sizborn.”
Ellen Sizborn.
A commoner who had become the mistress of the Sizborn ducal house—only to become a widow the moment she did.
“And you?”
“My name is May.”
Ellen gave the clearly tense maid a brief introduction of her own.
“Nice to meet you. I don’t remember anything from before.”
May looked startled for a moment, but like a professional maid, she simply nodded without making a fuss. Ellen rather liked that calm reaction.
After asking May a few more questions, Ellen dismissed her, saying she wanted to rest alone.
Once the room was empty, the tension that had been binding her entire body slowly loosened.
Even if the other person was just a maid, it was best not to give anyone an opportunity to find fault with her.
“Good job.”
She deliberately praised herself out loud. The words still felt awkward.
She was pronouncing them exactly as this body remembered, so it probably didn’t sound strange to anyone else. It only felt odd to her. That couldn’t be helped—this was the first time she had ever spoken this world’s language.
“Hello.”
“I’m Ellen Sizborn.”
“I am Ellen Sizborn.”
“I’m the Duchess.”
She kept speaking to herself until the words began to sound natural.
“I’m hungry.”
“Give me food.”
“I’m the Duchess.”
“I feel depressed.”
Ten days passed.
During that time, all sorts of people came looking for the Duchess—members of the ducal family, lawyers, creditors, and more.
But they quickly gave up on dealing with her.
To argue or negotiate required knowledge, and Ellen knew absolutely nothing about this world she had just awakened into.
So she simply sat there in silence, her gaze fixed blankly on the corner of the table.
Discussion
0 CommentsReactions
No comments yet.