TVDE CH 01

~Chapter 1~

“I really can’t stand you anymore.”

Those cold words were the first words coming from her husband in a month.

Even after witnessing his wife’s pale complexion, his cold demeanor continues, and her weak body begins to tremble.

“Madam, are you okay?”

The woman who asked and worried about Anthea wasn’t her husband but the woman in his embrace.

“I- I…”

Even as she held on to her own trembling arms, her husband didn’t show a hint of worry. Her husband’s very cold reaction made Anthea’s eyes fill with evil as tears welled. But Anthea’s husband’s gaze was not on her but the woman in his arms. Her husband usually showed an expressionless face, but now a look of worry was displayed on his face as if he felt sorry.

“Bianca, are you still not taking care of yourself even in this situation?”

All her expectations were instantly shattered at that woman’s name that came out of her husband’s mouth.

“Oh, yes. I’m fine.”

The wound on Biana’s arm was caused by the items thrown at her by Anthea was now clearly visible. Blood dripped from the long cut onto the floor.

At Bianca’s feet laid a splendid broken music box embedded with jewels. Even though it was one of the few precious items her husband gave her, she threw it because she couldn’t hold back her momentary anger.

Anthea looked at it with regret, and her husband sighed.

“Are you not even going to apologize? How shameless.”

“No. Madam is ill. I should’ve been more attentive.”

Bianca defended Anthea as if to blame herself, but Bianca’s goodwill did nothing for Anthea.

More than that, Bianca remained close to Anthea’s husband, Duke Richard, which started to anger Anthea. Anthea bit her lip as she endured the words she wanted to say.

‘Go away.’

At the opposite reaction of the two, Richard’s sigh deepened.

“Bianca, you’re too kind. I’ve seen everything, so there’s no need to defend her.”

Richard, who had been cold to Anthea, was as sweet as ever towards Bianca. She wanted to scream to Bianca, saying, ‘Why are you hugging him?’, but Anthea couldn’t even open her mouth at Richard’s cold gaze.

Anthea just stared blankly at the drops of blood dripping on the white rug. Richard gazed at Anthea for a moment and carefully held Bianca’s arm.

“Let’s get you treated first.”

“I’m fine, Sir Richard. More than that, the madam….”

Instead of Bianca’s kind words filled with worry for Anthea, Anthea only noticed Bianca’s use of her husband’s name. It was then that Anthea’s patience shattered.

“How dare you!”

“M- Madam?”

Bianca, who was smiling shyly at Richard, shuddered in surprise at Anthea’s anger, which was like a scream. Bianca’s kind green eyes looking back at Anthea was just annoyance to Anthea. Though they shared the same green eyes, Bianca’s eyes were bright, while Anthea’s eyes were dark and full of jealousy.

“You, I don’t know where you come from, but how dare you, a mere commoner, speak the duke’s name out of your mouth?”

‘How dare you say the name of my husband that I can’t even call.’

Anthea could no longer contain her jealousy, so she mentioned Bianca’s origins, a matter she had not cared about before this.

As a result, Richard’s patience also wore out.

“Ha… You’re not in a position to speak about someone’s origins.”

Richard had usually addressed Anthea as his wife, but when Richard coldly called her ‘you’, Anthea shut her mouth once again.

“Isn’t your true nature also a commoner?”

The difference between the ‘you’ directed to Bianca and Anthea was like heaven and earth.

“I am the previous Count Leslie’s….”

“You’re his adoptive daughter. But before you were adopted, you belonged to Lenpis Viscounty. Didn’t your family buy the viscount title?”

It makes sense how he would investigate her background since he brought someone new to his house. But Anthea didn’t know that because he had never mentioned her family or her bloodline after marriage.

“Since you had a weak heart, I thought you’d get used to it if I gave you time. I didn’t know you were hiding your twisted intention.”

Richard’s cold gaze was full of contempt. Her husband’s cold eyes came as a terrible pain to Anthea. Anthea trembled with fear, and sadness made her fall to her knees.

“Madam!”

“The bleeding doesn’t stop, so I think you should see a doctor. Let’s go.”

With Anthea collapsing on the soft rug, Richard turned around with Bianca.

‘Don’t go.’

‘Don’t leave me alone.’

She swallowed up the words she couldn’t speak in her throat.

She held out her trembling again, but Richard’s back was only getting farther away, and the one who looked back was Bianca. Ultimately, she shed tears while watching Bianca walk away with her husband.

She had married into a ducal family and had no one by her side; even her husband, who was her one hope of rescue, had abandoned her.

She realized she could no longer live here anymore as Anthea Gwyntead.

***

“And that’s how Anthea, the villainess who was abandoned by the male lead, leaves the novel.”

“My lady, are you calling yourself a villainess again?”

“Aaah! M- Mary?”

Anthea, who had been lounging on her comfortable bed, was startled to the point where she threw the papers she was holding into a tattered mess. In contrast to the crumpled papers in Anthea’s hands, the maid, Mary, was more concerned about her wrinkled clothes.

“How could our angelic, lovely, beautiful lady be a foolish villainess?”

“I’m just talking to myself. Anyways, what about my brother?”

“I came to let you know that if we leave right now, you’ll be able to see him.”

“Already?”

Anthea left the room before Mary could finish her sentence. Her running was more akin to speed walking because she couldn’t fully run because of her frail body.

“My lady, please don’t rush so much. It would be a disaster if you fell.”

“I want to see my brother as soon as possible.”

“Oh my, you saw him this morning, but you want to see him again?”

“Yup. I miss him so much.”

Every time Anthea smiled brightly, regardless of how busy they were, all the servants would halt what they were doing. Anthea is an outstanding beauty that no one can help but be amazed at.

“Our lady is beautiful today as well.”

“When will she have an engagement ceremony with the young master?”

“Their children will definitely be lovely.”

Anthea smiled even wider when she heard the servants’ unwavering adoration for her and realized how they would treat their future madam.

‘Yeah, let’s misunderstand more. So the servants will feel sorry for me and spread tales about me when I’m married to a foreign country.’

Anthea Lenpis.

All of the count’s servants thought she would eventually become the countess, but she would become a duchess. In the book “The Duke’s First Love,” the duke’s wife was a pathetic villain who wasn’t even the duke’s first love and was doomed to fail.

‘But at first, I thought I could change the future.’

When Kim Si-ah opened her eyes five years ago in Anthea’s body, she realized that this was the world in the novel. It was confusing at first, but after finding out that she was destined to become a villainess in the novel, she prepared for the future by recalling what would happen again and again. But she would frequently collapse, making her frail body useless.

Kim Si-ah was determined every time she saw her lovely face in the mirror.

‘I’ll use this pretty face properly.’

‘I won’t let you end up as a clumsy villainess.’

She would often tell herself that they wouldn’t throw her out penniless.

“So I have to smile all the time.”

She needs to start by being the opposite of Anthea from the novel, who experiences depression after losing her birth parents. She’ll start with a smile that’s dripping with melancholy.

However, as time passes, her smiles progressively get brighter, just as her heart is increasingly opening up. The count couple will feel relieved.

Unlike the original, the flower-like smile of Anthea also changed the future of Nathan Leslie, the count’s sole successor. Nathan was the man who should have died last year from the endless depression of the original Anthea and also vanished in vain.

“Brother~!”

“Anthea.”

When they saw Anthea running, the servants who had greeted Nathan as he exited the carriage smiled widely. Anthea accelerated her pace when she saw Nathan.

“Brother Nathan~!”

With her loud shout, Anthea hurried across the garden, stopping the maids from moving the baggage and the gardener from snipping.

A soon-to-be adult woman is not expected to hold her dress while running. But Anthea’s free-spirited nature was not noble-like. But because of how admirable her actions were, no one thought to put a stop to her.

“Walk slowly, Anthea. You’re going to fall.”

Anthea was running with a sleek shawl fluttering, and Nathan welcomed her with open arms.

“I missed you, brother.”

Anthea would hurry to see Nathan, the soon-to-be head, once a day, and her figure would appear more beautiful than a picture.

“I missed you too.”

The uniform Nathan was required to wear to gain entry to the imperial palace was then covered by a light shawl. Unknowingly holding their breath, everyone in the crowd could not look away from them as they hugged each other affectionately.

Nathan reached out and stroked her messy bright golden hair since she was running in a rush as if it was a natural occurrence, and Nathan’s gaze never left Anthea.

“I told you only to come out if it’s warm outside.”

“It’s more important to greet brother than to cold weather.”

“Anne*, how could I ever win against you.”

Nathan’s eyes were filled with affection like honey.

Although the two had not yet been engaged, no one in the estate doubted they would eventually marry.

This was a necessary misunderstanding for Anthea’s future.