Chapter 2
The rumor that the penniless Duchess had lost her mind after attempting suicide spread in an instant. People who had flocked to her hoping to extract something—since she was now the subject of the oracle—quickly lost interest.
After that, her days were good. Peaceful, quiet. No one disturbed her, and anything she asked for was granted. She began to think that if she could just live like this until she grew old and died, life might actually be bearable.
Ten days later, a priest returned to Ellen with a partially interpreted version of the oracle.
“Because the gods deliver their revelations with deep and profound meaning, humans cannot understand them all at once. That is why it sometimes takes time to interpret them completely.”
Ellen didn’t particularly care. Whatever the will of the gods might be, as long as she could keep living like this, she was willing to do almost anything.
“It has not yet been fully interpreted. However, part of it directly concerns Your Grace, so we thought it best to inform you in advance.”
The priest paused briefly.
“You will need to bear a child.”
Ellen blinked. The meaning didn’t sink in her mind right away.
The priest elaborated.
“No matter how it is interpreted, the core of the oracle remains the same: birth, child, recognition. The best interpretation we have reached so far is that Your Grace must give birth to a child. Then the child will be recognized by all.”
“I see.”
So that’s what it meant. Even then, the priest’s words still didn’t fully sink in.
“The rest will require further interpretation. We are having difficulty determining the subject of the oracle.”
Ellen’s expression didn’t change.
The priest quietly observed her face. He had tried to phrase it delicately, but the meaning was ultimately the same.
She had to have a child. For a woman who had once been a Duchess, it might not be easy to accept.
Of course, some might feel honored—believing that fulfilling a divine oracle with their own body was a sacred privilege.
But the Duchess, whose scandalous reputation had already spread even to the temple, did not seem like that kind of person.
They said she had lost her mind after attempting suicide. That explanation seemed more likely.
“Since the rest of the interpretation may take some time, Your Grace may remain comfortably in the temple until then.”
All of Ellen’s previous lives before being born as Ellen had been miserable.
Her very first had been as a student who took her own life after failing to endure the pressure of entrance exams. At the time, she had believed that was the hardest thing in the world.
Her next life had been as someone falsely accused of treason. She attempted suicide, failed, became completely paralyzed, and ended up a beggar on the streets.
There had been nothing but despair.
At first she couldn’t believe it, but as she lived through it, she realized it was reality.
She killed herself.
In the next life, she woke up in the body of a victim imprisoned by a serial killer. She entered the body after that person’s suicide attempt had already failed.
She was beaten nearly to death, had one leg cut off, and eventually ended that life herself.
This kind of life has repeated dozens of times.
Fortunately—if it could be called that—although she retained her memories, her past lives didn’t strike her with full emotional force. They felt more like dreams from the night before. Some lives had even grown hazy in her memory.
Only the moment of dying remained terrifying.
Over time, she even grew used to the fear of death.
But the moment she opened her eyes in another person’s body, that life, no matter whose it had originally been, became her reality.
It was a moment for serious thought. If she could simply live quietly until death, she had once thought there would be nothing she couldn’t endure. But she took that thought back.
Life was never that easy. Through countless reincarnations, she had learned one thing: dying now was no guarantee that the next life would be better.
Lives that drove people to suicide were all similar in their misery. If anything, when life was at least somewhat livable, it was better to try to endure it.
Right now, compared to her most recent lives, this one was the most humane existence she had ever had.
But what they were asking of her now felt less than human.
The gods might command it, but telling her to simply bear a child without question was outrageous. She didn’t even know who the father would be.
“If I refuse?”
“The oracle is absolute.”
“And if I still refuse?”
The priest clicked his tongue inwardly. He would have preferred to resolve this gently, but things were not going smoothly. For someone with nothing to her name, she was surprisingly stubborn.
He was a priest who served the will of the gods—but even divine will required survival to uphold. Power and politics existed in the temple just as they did everywhere else.
“An oracle is similar to a prophecy. Even if you refuse, it will eventually come to pass. And… realistically speaking, it is not a bad offer for you.”
“Why?”
“The Sizborn ducal house has no heir.”
“And?”
“The Duke’s mother has said that since the marriage was already completed, it must have been fate. If a child is born from a body chosen by divine revelation, then that child must exist for the sake of the Sizborn lineage. She has said the child will be acknowledged as part of the ducal family. …And as the Duchess who produced the duke’s heir, you would naturally receive a certain level of respect.”
It was a deal.
In other words, if she gave them one child, they would make sure she never had to worry about surviving again.
She wasn’t about to run a business selling babies. Ellen let out a hollow laugh.
Just when she thought she had already seen the very worst life could offer, something worse always appeared.
“Fine.”
She didn’t even have the motivation to think about it any longer.
Right now she has nothing. She could breathe easily, she wasn’t hungry, and she wasn’t cold.
When the time came, she would deal with it then.
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