Don’t Ask For Mercy From The Villainess

Chapter 2. A New Start

The bright sunlight swept through Jessica’s eyes. Since becoming the Duchess, her windows have always been covered with curtains because she hated her sleep being interrupted.

“Alter, my eyes are blinded by the light.”

“Lady?”

She was surprised while speaking. She couldn’t believe her voice sounded normal. It was her voice that she had never heard again after being poisoned. Her voice, which was praised for its charm in captivating people just like a Siren singing a song, was destroyed horribly and only incoherent sounds could come out from her mouth.

“Lady? Are you all right?”

A woman asked her with worried eyes, her small voice laced with surprise at Jessica’s words. After Vanaton, who became Jessica’s husband, used poison, Jessica only trusted Alter, her bodyguard. It was Alter’s job to wake her up in the morning, so then who is this woman?

‘Who is she?’

No matter how powerless the Duchess was, she was still the hostess of the Salemir Duchy. She couldn’t be ignored and not just anyone can come in and wake her up. Even though a person close to the Emperor, Vanaton, came to take over the Dukedom…

‘Don’t tell me this girl in my bedroom……. but this girl……. Oh, right. I died.’

After she was executed, she was probably seeing her happiest days from the past.

“Anna.”

“Yes, Lady.”

Anna was the maid Jessica’s mother had given her before the new Marchioness came in. When Jessica married the Duke, Anna said she would follow her, but then she left for her hometown because her safety couldn’t be guaranteed if she was around Jessica.

‘She eventually died in the hands of Vanaton.’

Vanaton, who was aiming for her guild, approached Anna to dig up information. But he got angry at her for not knowing what he needed. She died at his hands even though she knew nothing.

She was furious when she heard Vanaton boasting about it while he was drunk. One of the things she regretted the most was that she wasn’t able to kill him with her own hands.

“Are you still dreaming, my Lady?”

“Dreaming?”

“Yes.”

Her whole body was wet. As if she was soaked in sweat. She wanted to see Anna’s face closer, so she intended to get up, but she had no strength.

“You can’t get up. Just lie down. I really thought you were going to die.”

“Was I going to die?”

“Yes. Everyone was worried when you cried and collapsed at the funeral.”

“At the funeral?”

“Yes.”

Anna kept looking at Jessica with strange eyes.

“Am I… not dead?”

“Come on, my lady, that is a scary thing to say! I mean, ‘dead’!”

“I wasn’t dead?”

“Why would you die, my lady! It was sad that the Marchioness died.”

“Marchioness?”

Is she saying that the new Marchioness is dead?

“My Lady… ugh! It’s because you’re really sad. Take a little more rest. I’ll tell you more once you’ve come back to your senses!”

She wanted to ask for more details, however she had no choice but to stare blankly at Anna’s back as the girl hurried out of the room. There were times when she disappeared without listening to her superiors. Jessica looked down at her hand and shook her head.

“Why are my hands so soft?”

After becoming a Duchess, she was buried in documents every day. The calluses that formed on her middle finger were like decorations. The noble wives who never held a pen, whispered to each other every time they looked at her hand, but Jessica acted indifferent.

It was the result of her fierce efforts to survive. But it was gone. Even she felt the softness of her hands, which she swept with one hand.

“Come to think of it, the Marchioness was dead.”

She was referred to as a Lady. Her. Anna, who was supposed to be dead, was by her side.

“Isn’t this a sequence that happened after my death? No way!”

Jessica jumped up from her seat and walked over to where the mirror was standing. Big blue eyes with a bit of a baby-faced look. Her pale complexion seemed to reflect her condition for why she was lying in bed. It was only then that Jessica recognized the girl that was staring blankly at the mirror.

“I’m younger.”

Yeah. She became younger.

“I’m alive.”

Yeah. She was alive. She didn’t know why she became young again, and she didn’t know if she was going to live a new life, but Jessica was standing here now, in her room at the Marquisate[2] of Viterne. She returned to the Marquisate that she loved.

“What the hell is going on here?”

There was no magic that could send people back to the past. As the chief of the Information Guild, she was well aware of that fact. Interference of time was something that only God can do. She wasn’t even a faithful believer so God couldn’t have given her such a miracle.

But she couldn’t believe she went back. She was confused. However, the confusion only lingered for a brief moment before the door swung open. It was her father who had died in her past life.

“Jessica!”

“Father!”

Her father, Marquis Viterne, who jumped into the room in surprise, paused on the spot. Marquis Viterne whispered in a small voice as he hugged Jessica who was standing in the middle of the room.

“I almost lost you. I was truly frightened.”

“Father.”

The sweet but sad voice that almost brought tears to her eyes.

“What do you mean ‘father’, Jessica. I’m so disappointed. No matter how hard I try, I still can’t fulfill the place of your mother. Can’t you just call me ‘dad’ like before?”

“Yes, dad.”

Jessica smiled as she held back the tears that welled up. Marquis Viterne, who had tears hanging from the corners of his eyes, hugged her as he tried to say something to her.

Tears fell from Jessica’s eyes at her father’s kindness that she finally was able to feel after a long time.

“I’m sorry I’m very late.”

Her father, Marquis Baramo Viterne, was the Margrave[1] of this empire. He was always out on the border, and it was her mother, the Marchioness, and Jessica who protected the people in the Marquisate. It was one of the reasons why Jessica was quick to control the Count as well as able to handle the Dukedom skillfully.

The Margrave rank was similar to the title of the Duke. That was why she was able to have a political marriage with the Duke even though she was from a Marquis family.

“When did you come here?”

“I came right after hearing the obituary. If I had known you would collapse, I would’ve come sooner…”

Her mother’s body was weak so she often laid down in bed, and her illness prevented her father even more from returning to the estate. Her mother’s illness was getting better by eating medicinal herbs on a regular basis, which was ridiculously expensive.

The only way to get medicinal herbs for the poor Marquis family was for her father to participate in the battlefield and make a contribution in order to win trophies. Even if they wanted to open up a shop, other nobles who had already dominated the business field wouldn’t give up their trade routes and rights. There was no other option for her father who had been a knight all his life.

‘It’s okay now that you are here.’

Jessica embraced Marquis Viterne. Half a year after her mother’s death, the Marquis received a new woman as the Marchioness. The new Marchioness was a daughter from a Baron’s family and coveted the Marquis’ assets, which was a lot more than what her family had. She was the woman who sold Jessica through a political marriage so that she would leave.

‘Her friend said she was once the Duke’s mistress.’

There was only one reason why the Marquis of Viterne got himself a second wife. He was worried about Jessica, who was left alone, so he accepted the opinions of the retainers. After the marriage, he left for the border and was held and killed by barbarians.

‘Even that obituary may not be true.’

Perhaps even that incident was made up by someone who wanted to take control of the Marquisate of Viterne. The voice of Sir Alter was still fresh in her memory, who got angry when he heard that the Marquis who hopped from one battlefield to another, had been captured by the barbarians and got killed in their hands, saying that it actually didn’t make sense.

“When are you leaving?”

“I’m not going anywhere. I’m staying by your side.”

That’s what Marquis Viterne said, but things for the Ert Empire’s current situation weren’t good. The neighboring empire was eyeing for an opportunity at the border, and the aggression of the barbarians continued. The Emperor’s edict that ordered him to go to the border will arrive at the Marquisate in six months.

“I hope you will keep staying by my side.”

“You’re acting like a baby because you fell ill.”

“I missed you.”

The Marquis’ expression was contorted at her words. The guilt of leaving his little daughter alone filled his face. The Marquis, who patted her head affectionately, whispered to her.

“I’ll stay with you from now on.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

Even though he was a nobleman, Marquis Viterne was full of affection toward his family. The Marquis’ only daughter, Jessica, grew up receiving lots of love. When she was kicked out of the house and married a Duke, would the pain have been extremely agonizing for him? If Marquis Viterne had lived to witness it, he would have shed tears of blood.

“Father.”

“Call me daddy.”

She laughed lightly at the Marquis’ voice who insisted for her to call him ‘dad’, then she opened her mouth again.

“Dad.”

“My daughter.”

The Marquis’ arm hugged her firmly while putting on a thrilled expression, and even though she felt suffocated, she held back. Because it was her father’s affection towards her. The butler and the Marquis’ escort seemed to get touched at the sight, and Anna took out a handkerchief and dabbed her eyes.

She couldn’t believe her father would die in six months. She couldn’t let that happen. But it was still six months from now. She didn’t have to worry about it yet.

Of course, she has to be prepared.

She didn’t know how it happened, but she had returned to the past. Back to the time of her mother’s funeral, she returned to the happiest moment of her life. Even though her mother had passed away, Jessica had made up her mind, knowing that her mother would be happier in heaven rather than being constantly sick due to her illness.

Not only that she wouldn’t let that Baron’s daughter step foot into the Marquis’ house, but she was determined to tear her apart. No one noticed her eyes shining sharply while she was in the Marquis’ arms.

****

TL/N:

[1] Margrave: The title for military commander who was assigned to defend the border.

[2] Marquisate: The territorial lordship or possessions of a marquis/margrave.