HGOS 02

A sharp flash—and her eyes flew open.

“Ah…”

The moment she died, Casia opened her eyes as though waking from a dream.

‘Is this heaven?’

Ever since receiving her terminal diagnosis, she had imagined countless times what the afterlife might be like. If there truly were a heaven and a hell, as people always claimed, she had believed without question that she would go to heaven.

After all, if someone like her didn’t deserve heaven, then who did?

But the first thing she saw after death—something she had naturally assumed would be heaven—looked far closer to hell instead.

Casia stared at the familiar ceiling of her bedroom, the very one she had opened her eyes to every morning. She had always thought of that room as a living hell, and now it looked exactly the same.

Had she not remembered dying, she might have mistaken it for nothing more than waking up on the following morning.

Carefully, Casia sat up.

As the wool blanket slipped down from her body, her pale, naked figure was revealed.

‘I really did die.’

This body was nothing like the emaciated shell she had possessed in her final moments.

Her skin was smooth and milky white, and her once graceful curves had returned—the body she had before coming to Greje Castle and enduring years of hardship.

‘So it’s true… they say that when you die, you leave everything behind and arrive in heaven. I’ve returned to God’s embrace in the form I was originally created.’

Emotion welled up inside her.

When she finally met God, she had planned to tell Him just how miserable and painful her previous life had been, then ask only one small favor—that in her next life, she might be allowed to live a little more happily.

Surely, if God had witnessed every moment of her pitiful life, He would gladly grant such a modest wish.

“Oh, Lord.”

Closing her eyes, Casia clasped her hands together and began to pray.

“My Lord… when will You come?”

She cautiously cracked one eye open.

The room that was more terrifying than hell itself remained exactly as it was.

A sense of unease crept over her.

She slowly lowered her hands and opened her eyes fully, looking around.

The first thing she saw was a completely naked man sleeping beside her.

Dark crimson hair.

A beautifully tanned, muscular body.

In other words…

The one person she had believed she would never have to see again after death.

More accurately, the one person she never wanted to see again.

The man most responsible for making her previous life miserable.

Her husband.

Baron Jester Greje.

“Aaaaah!”

Startled out of her mind, Casia twisted away.

The bed was too narrow.

Her body tipped over the edge, and she tumbled straight onto the floor.

Crash!

She landed hard on her backside, and a sharp pain shot up from her tailbone through her spine.

“Owww…”

It hurt so much that she didn’t even realize she was lying sprawled across the floor completely naked.

Rubbing her aching tailbone, Casia let out a pained groan.

“…Are you alright?”

A familiar voice came from above her.

The instant she recognized her husband’s voice, her thoughts froze solid.

Looking up, she found Jester sitting on the bed, staring down at her with a slightly surprised expression.

They locked eyes.

Then Casia screamed.

“What are you doing here?!”

Jester frowned.

“What do you mean?”

“Why?! Why are you here?! Wasn’t making me miserable while I was alive enough? Are you seriously going to torment me even after I die? Please! I don’t want to see your face anymore! I’m sick of it! I hate it! I don’t care if you’re handsome! Just disappear already!”

Every word came from the bottom of her heart.

Jester’s expression became strangely complicated.

If she had still been alive, she would never have dared to speak to him like that.

But she was no longer his wife.

She had nothing left to fear.

As much as she hated him, she also felt embarrassed by her exposed body.

Their married life had been so infrequent that every time she undressed before him, it still felt awkward and humiliating.

Though it was a futile effort, Casia desperately crossed her arms over herself and squeezed her eyes shut.

Then she silently prayed again.

‘Is this some sort of tour through hell before I enter heaven? Please hurry and take me away!’

Perhaps God had heard her desperate plea.

A moment later, she heard the soft flutter of fabric.

A warm wool blanket settled gently over her head, blocking her vision.

Then came the rustling of movement.

She suddenly felt herself lifted into the air.

She wasn’t foolish enough to convince herself that God was carrying her into heaven.

This warmth belonged unmistakably to Jester.

The moment he laid her back onto the bed, Casia threw the blanket off her head.

Jester stood over her, just as expressionless as ever.

Without thinking, her gaze drifted downward.

He was still completely naked.

Her eyes landed between his legs.

Casia instantly yanked the blanket back over her head.

Almost chanting, she cried out loudly,

“Oh, Lord! Please save me from this hell!”

If God’s intention had been to let her experience hell before entering heaven…

Then He had succeeded perfectly.

She had been forced to see the face of the husband she hated more than anyone in the world.

The monstrous thing between his legs that always left her speechless.

And, worst of all, waking up in the same bed with him.

The complete nightmare package.

Casia had already begun mixing curses into her desperate prayers.

Yet, strangely enough…

Nothing happened.

Apparently, God was neglecting His duties.

“So you’re the type who expresses your dislike rather late.”

Jester’s voice hung heavily in the air, limp as waterlogged cotton.

He sounded… disappointed.

Or perhaps hurt.

Casia cautiously lowered the blanket.

Jester was gone.

Perhaps he had finally realized that she didn’t merely dislike him—she despised him.

Without even bothering to get properly dressed, he had thrown on a winter robe over his bare body and quickly left the room.

Bang.

The door slammed shut with considerable force.

Casia stared blankly at it for a long while.

This wasn’t heaven.

Nor was it some temporary stop before heaven.

It took Casia surprisingly little time to realize that she had returned to the life that had been even worse than hell.

“Oh, Lord. If You have even a shred of conscience, then please return every offering I faithfully donated to the church over the past ten years.”

After finishing her prayer—for what was now the twenty-fifth time—Casia opened her eyes and looked around the room once more.

Her prayers had begun solemn and sincere.

By the tenth repetition, however, they had become increasingly irreverent and terrifying.

Instead of granting the poor woman heaven after death…

God had dumped the hell of a ten-year regression upon her.

It was enough to drive anyone insane.

On the desk.

On the windowsill.

On the table, where it seemed they had shared wine before sleeping.

Several expensive candles had been placed everywhere.

As far as Casia remembered, she had never once tried to create a romantic atmosphere with Jester during her previous life.

The only time they had ever shared a room decorated so elaborately with costly candles…

Had been the first night she entered Greje territory.

The dull ache in her lower back wasn’t merely from falling off the bed.

It helped her understand this hellish situation all too well.

Whether because it had been her first time…

Or because her husband’s body had felt more like a weapon than anything else…

She vividly remembered how her back had ached so badly the next day that it felt ready to snap.

Which meant…

Casia had returned to the winter when she was seventeen years old.

The winter she had practically been sold into Greje Territory.

She couldn’t believe it.

It was obvious now that God had never pitied her life.

Otherwise, He would never have sent her back to the exact day her misery had begun.

To force her to relive those ten nightmarish years in Greje Castle all over again…

If time had to be reversed, why not twenty years?

Or twenty-seven years, back when she had still been in her mother’s womb?

Or thirty years, before she had even existed?

Why this moment?

Silently screaming inside, Casia shook her head.

No matter how far back time had been turned, she was destined to become Baroness Greje.

It had never been a marriage chosen by her or by her father.

It had been forced upon them by the Emperor himself—the most powerful man in the Empire.

If anyone deserved blame…

Perhaps it wasn’t God after all.

Perhaps it was her cold, oblivious husband, Jester.

When Casia was fourteen, war broke out between her homeland, the Simon Empire, and the Bert Empire.

During that year-and-a-half-long conflict, Jester—then nothing more than a common mercenary hired by the Imperial Family—earned extraordinary military achievements.

Casia had been too young at the time to understand exactly what he had done.

But one thing was certain.

His accomplishments had been so overwhelming that people said even the Emperor regretted not being able to bow his head before him.

Not only in the capital but throughout Ruberno Territory, Jester had become famous as the “Hero Who Saved the Nation.”

The Emperor rewarded him with the title of Baron and granted him land.

Rumor had it that the Emperor had originally intended to grant him an even higher title, but several powerful nobles objected, forcing him to settle for a barony instead.

Apparently believing that such rewards were still insufficient for the man who had saved the Empire, the Emperor unexpectedly set his sights on Casia, who had been quietly living in Ruberno Territory.

He subtly pressured Count Ruberno, her father, saying that since the hero’s new home lacked a mistress, wouldn’t it be fitting for Casia to fill that glorious position?

Ruberno Territory was vast, fertile, and prosperous.

Its thriving agriculture and tourism generated enormous wealth, making Count Ruberno one of the richest nobles in the Empire.

His family possessed an impeccable bloodline and wielded significant influence in politics.

They were widely regarded as one of the true centers of imperial power.

And Casia Ruberno…

Was the beloved daughter of that prestigious family.

As if her privileged background weren’t enough, God had also blessed her with extraordinary beauty.

At the time, hundreds of marriage proposals arrived at the Ruberno estate every single day.

There were certainly other suitable noble ladies.

But the Emperor wanted to bestow what he considered an appropriate reward upon Jester, the Empire’s greatest hero.

And Casia Ruberno fit that standard perfectly.

Looking back now…

The whole thing was absurd.

If the Emperor wanted so badly to reward his precious hero, why hadn’t he chosen one of his own three daughters instead?

Why was it acceptable to sacrifice someone else’s daughter, but not his own?

Casia mentally added the heartless Emperor’s name to the list of people responsible for her misfortune.

In the end…

Because of the Emperor’s obsession with showering Jester with honors—including presenting him with the Empire’s most desirable bride—

Casia had ended up here.

Their first meeting.

The freezing winter wind.

Everything had been a first for the young seventeen-year-old bride.

And Jester had given her the worst wedding night imaginable.

He had seated his nervous young wife in the room…

Then hesitated for an entire hour before suddenly trying to leave.

When she stopped him, what had he said?

“My body refuses to respond.”

He was seven years older than she was.

A man in the prime of his life.

Hearing those words from him had been unbearably humiliating.

Blushing with embarrassment, Casia had desperately stopped him.

“If you leave like this on our wedding night… everyone will laugh at me. I know you don’t like me, but…”

She had gathered every ounce of courage, repeating things she had only heard from others.

After several more minutes of hesitation…

Jester finally embraced her.

It had been terrifying.

He had felt like a wild beast.

Casia had struggled to hold back the tears that threatened to spill from the pain and humiliation.

He showed no consideration whatsoever for a bride experiencing her first time.

Perhaps claiming that his body refused to respond had only been an excuse because he hadn’t liked her.

For once he surrendered to his instincts…

He did not let his young wife go until dawn.

Among all the terrible days Casia remembered from her life in Greje Castle…

That day remained firmly within the worst five.