SWS CH 01

Chapter 01

This is a story from before I met my new in-laws.

I used to be the daughter-in-law of a Korean clan head family, married to the only grandson for three generations.

“Child, this soup is too salty. This is food for the ancestors. Do you think they came all the way from America?”

“I’m sorry. I’ll re-season it.”

“Is it just the soup? The vegetables are salty, and the meat is bland. None of the seasoning makes sense!”

Fourteen ancestral rites a year.

The food laid out for the rituals was so abundant that even three massive tables pushed together weren’t enough. And every single dish had to be handmade.

By me.
The daughter-in-law.

“Why is there so little beef fritter? Where did all the meat you bought go?”

“I bought plenty; I really did…”

Your son ate it all.

“Did you waste the money my son gave you again? Were you reading those web novels or whatever it is again?”

“…No.”

“No? You live off the money your husband earns with his blood and sweat, and you can’t even prepare proper ritual food? You’ve been doing this for ten years. What exactly have you learned?”

My mother-in-law looked me up and down with open contempt.

Yes.
This year marked my tenth year of married life in that household.

Ten years of giving up what I loved, giving up studying, and working like a live-in maid for another family.

Was I supposed to keep living like this forever?

“Of course I didn’t learn anything. In a household that treats its daughter-in-law like dirt!”

That was the first day I ever talked back.

On the day of the ancestral rite, I flipped over all twelve kinds of pancakes I had painstakingly cooked and walked out.

I didn’t know that day would become my own memorial day.

I got into a traffic accident after leaving by car and possessed the body of a woman in another world.

A young, firm body with no trace of housewife’s eczema or hard labor.

After possessing her, I realized I was incredibly lucky.

I had possessed a character from a novel I had read.

A classic growth fantasy novel titled The Mad Brute of a Swordmaster Family Has Returned.

A massive series with over a thousand chapters.

It had finally finished, but I never got to read the ending because I was constantly preparing ritual food. Still, I remembered the story well.

The protagonist, Docep, was born the second son of a prestigious swordmaster family, but he was a pathetic swordsman with weak innate strength.

His family treated him like an ugly duckling, and over time, he deliberately lived as a brute, acting out.

Then, when he turned twenty-four, a mysterious woman appeared at the family estate.

“I’m pregnant with the second young master’s child.”

A woman claiming to be carrying Docep’s child.

Docep immediately denied it, but the woman refused to back down.

“Don’t lie! You spent the night with me on the night of the full moon!”

It was true that he had been out overnight, and the butler’s testimony confirmed it. The woman’s claim became an accepted fact.

And since it involved the son, who had always been a disappointment, everyone was inclined to believe it.

“…Lock Docep in the tower.”

The duke couldn’t kill his son, nor could he abandon him, so he imprisoned him instead.

Not long after that, the Bloodymary Ducal House was attacked by a mysterious force.

The mansion, with its long history, was burned to the ground.

Every member of the family, along with every servant, was slaughtered. The Bloodymary family was completely annihilated.

Only Docep survived, thanks to the tower that didn’t burn down.

That incident became his awakening. He then set out on a journey to take revenge on those who destroyed his family.

That was the beginning of the original story.

And at the center of all these events was the “commoner woman pregnant with Docep’s child.”

A village temptress with nothing but a pretty face.

A shameless, audacious woman who boldly demanded money from the Bloodymary family, claiming she didn’t need a child or a husband.

That woman was Halara Seheb.

The person I possessed.

Possessing such an unlikeable, nuisance extra character was absurd enough as it was…

“Just what did you say?”

“…Pardon?”

When I opened my eyes, I was facing a noblewoman radiating overwhelming pressure.

“How dare a mere commoner claim she carries my son’s seed?”

Just from her terrifying presence, I knew immediately who she was.

Francesca Bloodymary, the duchess.

The mother of Docep, the original protagonist, and the lady of the prestigious Bloodymary swordmaster family.

Technically speaking, she was Halara’s mother-in-law.

…But wait.

What did she just say?

“Excuse me? Did I say that?”

“You did. Who else would I be talking to?”

From what I could tell, this was exactly the starting point of the original story.

The very moment Halara came claiming she was pregnant with Docep’s child.

‘Even possession should have basic manners.’

You drop me into the story at a moment like this?

Of all times, I possessed her at the most critical, life-or-death point.

“Answer me.”

Tap. Tap.

Francesca’s stern voice fell again.

Her dark-lined eyes looked even more severe than my old clan-head mother-in-law’s.

‘What do I do?’

In the original story, Halara dies.

She comes back to collect money on the day the family is destroyed and ends up getting killed along with them.

Before I get any more tangled up with the Bloodymary family, I have to escape this situation somehow.

‘But wait… was she really pregnant?’

The problem was, even I, who read the original novel, didn’t know whether Halara was truly pregnant or not.

The original story only mentioned her corpse. It never clarified whether she was actually carrying a child.

I couldn’t answer recklessly.

I thought quickly.

‘Honestly, Halara was just a tool to get Docep expelled from the family.’

If the pregnancy had been real, it could have been a major foreshadowing point.

So why would they kill her during the family’s destruction?

That meant that regardless of whether she came to demand money or not, she was destined to die alongside the Bloodymary family that day.

And even if the two of them really did spend one night together, how easily does pregnancy happen, really?

Pregnancy is not something that simple.

I knew that better than anyone.

I had spent five years going to infertility clinics.

Alright.
I had my answer.

“It was a lie.”

Pregnant? No way.

She clearly lied to swindle the ducal house.

Calling a lie a lie is not a sin.

“…A lie?”

A chill flowed from Francesca.

This was the kind of situation where I could be killed on the spot.

“The truth is, I admired Young Master Docep. But since I’m just a lowly commoner, I could only look at him from afar… I made a terrible mistake without thinking. I’m sorry!”

The cheat code of life is a quick apology and admission.

This was better than rambling excuses.

‘My mother used to forgive anything if you praised her son.’

And the son in question was widely regarded as the family’s greatest disgrace.

“He’s incredibly handsome, after all. I admired him without realizing it and made a foolish mistake!”

It worked even better than expected.

“…Well. All my sons are good-looking; that’s true.”

See?

The murderous expression on her face began to ease.

“But I’ve realized my mistake. No matter what, someone like me should never dare harbor such feelings.”

I showed immediate, rapid repentance.

“That might be a bit much—”

“No. I’m truly sorry for wasting Your Grace’s precious time over my trivial infatuation. If you could forgive me just once with your ocean-like generosity, I promise I will never even come near this family again.”

“O-ocean… what?”

I immediately stood and dropped to my knees in front of her.

Here, my status was simple.

A “commoner.”

In a rigid class-based society, surviving as a commoner was already hard mode.

That was probably why Halara risked her life to lie in the first place.

There was only so much you could live off with your looks alone. If you wanted an easy future, you needed to score big.

“May I take my leave now?”

But I knew the original story.

I had to stay away from this family.

Just live quietly, doing my own thing.

As a happily single woman.

***

In the Bloodymary drawing room, now empty of Halara.

Francesca stared at the still-warm teacup with a baffled expression.

“What on earth just came through here?”

She couldn’t even describe how she felt.

The woman she’d been talking to had suddenly changed her entire demeanor, as if she had become a different person.

Just earlier, she had boldly threatened the duke’s head butler, completely unlike a typical commoner.

“…Pregnant with Docep’s child? A commoner girl?”

“Yes. She said if you or the master didn’t meet her immediately, she would take the matter to Madam Shella.”

Madam Shella was the hub of high society gossip.

The moment a rumor reached her, the Bloodymary name would be smeared across tonight’s gossip pages.

That was why Francesca had personally received Halara in the drawing room.

‘How dare she think so little of our family!’

At that time, Francesca had been furious.

She believed it was a lie.

No matter how much of a delinquent her son was, she didn’t believe he would recklessly impregnate a woman.

If it was a lie, she had planned to slap the girl across the face.

She had even sharpened her nails deliberately.

Of course, when she first met Halara, her heart had skipped a beat.

‘Such a beautiful woman…’

Halara wore cheap clothes and low-quality jewelry, the unmistakable appearance of a commoner.

But her naturally pale skin was flawless, without a single blemish.

Her eyes were abnormally large and beautiful, like a doll’s.

Beautiful enough that if she had been a man, Francesca might have fallen in love at first sight herself.