SHBVH 01

Chapter 01

The Blue Flower of the Duke’s House
Deep night had fallen over the Roger Ducal House. The room was so quiet that it felt as though even the sound of moonlight flowing through the window could be heard.

Gulp.

Ramein, standing with her back pressed tightly against the window, swallowed dryly.

“Ramein.”

The man approaching her was undoing the buttons of his shirt one by one with his long fingers. His movements were so dangerously alluring that they almost seemed lethal.

“I truly don’t understand.”

Even though his voice was calm, it sounded like the low growl of a starving beast.

“S–Cedric. What exactly is it that you don’t understand?”

There was nowhere left for her to retreat. Her mind was filled only with the thought that she had to stop him.

“Aren’t you curious why I become strange every time I see you?”

Ramein’s violet eyes, which had been resting on her husband’s face, slowly drifted downward. The sculpted muscles of his chest, revealed through his opened shirt, rose and fell violently.

“…Why is he suddenly acting like this?”

Her heart pounded anxiously as if her husband might do something at any moment. At the same time, she felt frustrated because she had no idea why this man was behaving this way. The small distance between them narrowed in an instant.

“W-wait! Cedric! I think you’re too excited!”

Startled, Ramein stretched out a hand toward his chest as if to stop him. At that moment, a large hand suddenly grabbed her wrist as if snatching it.

The veins bulged across the back of Cedric’s hand as he tightly gripped her slender wrist.

“You’re the one who made me excited, and now you’re telling me not to be excited.”

At the low, biting voice, Ramein swallowed dryly again.

Her husband had rushed into the rain to save her despite his injured body and now had a raging fever. She had only come to his room because she was worried about him. She had merely been wiping the sweat from his sleeping face and neck with a cloth while he slept.

“Am I wrong?”

Suddenly, her husband had woken up and was now acting like this. A scorching gaze that seemed ready to pierce through her fixed itself upon her.

Flinching slightly, Ramein looked directly into Cedric’s eyes.

“Ha…”

At a loss for what to do, she let out a soft breath through her parted lips. At that moment, Cedric’s eyes narrowed. A flash of light seemed to flicker across his blue eyes.

“Ramein. It seems you have no awareness.”

“…What?”

Why again this time?

“Every single one of your actions makes me like this.”

…I just breathed, you know? Everyone in the world breathes. Is it really such a big deal that I took a breath?

She almost let out a sigh from frustration but held it in. Instead—

“Cedric. Your body is sick right now. I think you’re misunderstanding something.”

She decided to try calming him again.

“I–I mean… well… your body and your brain are both sick right now, so they’re malfunctioning!”

Malfunction?? Is that really the right word for this situation?

That thought passed through her mind just as eyes drenched with passion fell deeply upon her as if they might swallow her whole.

“Then you’re saying that I become sick every time I see you.”

“…What? What are you talking about?”

Her round eyes blinked quickly. Cedric slightly furrowed his brows and slowly swallowed the hot breath he had exhaled.

“Now that I think about it, it seems you were right. I must have misunderstood.”

Did he finally understand a little? Just as she was about to release the sigh she had been holding—

“You didn’t do anything. Instead…”

His fading words made her feel strangely uneasy.

“…!”

With a sudden pull at her waist, her slender body bent backward like a thin branch. Like waves over the sea, her golden hair flowed through the air.

As if he had resolved never to let her go tonight, the man’s large hand slid into her soft hair and wrapped around the back of her head.

Before she could even blink, she was completely pulled into his firm embrace.

They were so close that even the slightest movement would make their lips touch.

The hot breath escaping from her husband’s lips dampened her own soft lips.

Thump. Thump.

Heartbeats—impossible to tell whose they were—filled her ears.

Just as she slowly swallowed the breath she had been unable to release—

“I think I’ve gone crazy for you, Ramein.”

…Excuse me? What did you say?

Wait a second. Isn’t this a situation where he shouldn’t be saying he’s crazy about me?

The moment that thought crossed her mind—

“Mmm…!”

The hot breath lingering around her lips suddenly covered them.

In an instant, a strange sensation spread throughout her body. Ramein’s delicate shoulders trembled instinctively.

Like the sun gathering all the heat in the world, his kiss poured down as if it would burn her whole body. Struggling to endure it, Ramein’s tightly closed eyes slightly creased.

Excuse me. If you suddenly do this, what am I supposed to do?

Her plan was starting to fall apart.

Before she was transported into this world, she had been a righteous and warm-hearted doctor.

But she had been a poor doctor with no money.

Without connections or support, she opened a small private clinic in the countryside. Most of her patients were poor people who had no money—people from the lowest levels of society.

They called her an angel.

She had been happy. It felt fulfilling to take pride in her work as a doctor.

But that happiness could not fill her starving life.

She had grown up under the violence of her father, who lived drowned in gambling and alcohol. She had stubbornly vowed to succeed.

That was why she became a doctor.

But the enormous debt her father left behind remained like a brand on her life.

In the end, she closed her rural clinic and worked for four years as an emergency room doctor—one of the hardest jobs, where people said no one could endure even a year—just to earn money.

One day, while she struggled through life day by day—

An incident occurred that made her want to throw away everything about being a doctor.

A poor grandmother was brought into the emergency room, hovering between life and death.

But by order of the hospital director, she had to treat the son of a wealthy conglomerate family first—someone who wasn’t even in critical condition.

In the end, the grandmother died.

And then—

“I quit!”

She decided to throw everything away.

“Ah! What are you doing?!”

The hospital director’s face, covered by the doctor’s coat she had thrown at him, was quite a sight.

“I can’t keep working with filthy people like you who treat people like they’re nothing if they don’t have money!”

She couldn’t endure it anymore.

No—she didn’t want to endure it.

Feeling disillusioned with the four years she had endured just to survive, she ran out of the emergency room.

“Ugh! This is so infuriating!!!”

Walking angrily, she suddenly stopped and ruffled her hair wildly with both hands.

For a long time she stood blankly in the middle of the road, breathing roughly, before letting out a hollow laugh.

Now that she had thrown everything away, she was worried about how she would live starting tomorrow.

Am I someone who can’t even be happy for a single day?

…It felt suffocating.

“If I have to live like this, I’d rather just die.”

Both her heart and body were exhausted beyond their limits.

A pitiful life with no one even to hear her sorrowful voice.

Tears suddenly welled up in her eyes.

Dragging her exhausted body along, she trudged down a narrow alley.

Then—

Flash.

A powerful light stabbed painfully into her eyes.

“…!”

Before she could even scream—

Bang!

A violent impact slammed into her body, followed by the tearing pain of flesh.

Her slender body was thrown into the air.

…She could see the black night sky.

Am I… going to die like this?

Spark.

At that moment, starlight pierced into her eyes.

A life unloved since birth.

A life that could not be happy because she had no money.

The years she had spent being looked down upon by others flashed past like a nightmare.

In that brief moment, she clenched her teeth tightly.

In my next life, I will never—never live miserably again. Do you hear me? You damned world!!

On a night when the stars fell beautifully from the sky—something that didn’t suit her life at all—

That was the last day of her life.

A bitter, grassy taste spread inside her mouth.

Her throat felt unbearably dry.

“…Ma’am…”

A faint voice echoed somewhere in her ears.

Is it already time to change shifts? I want to rest a little longer.

…I feel like I’m going to die.

Driven by that desperate feeling within her unconsciousness, she forced strength into her tightly closed eyelids.

By the way, what is this strange grass taste?

Her lips moved slightly as if chewing rough grass.

“Ma’am! Ma’am! Are you conscious?!”

Amid the loud voice that seemed ready to tear her eardrums apart—

…Ma’am?

She slowly pushed open her heavy eyelids while repeating the unfamiliar word.

The moment she opened her eyes, everything appeared clearly.

A luxurious canopy embroidered with golden threads.

And above it, a marble ceiling so smooth it seemed like one could slip if they climbed onto it.

“Ma’am… sob!”

Hearing the tearful voice, she blinked slowly.

What…? Where am I?

Taking in the unfamiliar surroundings clearly, she suddenly sat up.

Her wide eyes looked around frantically.

This was not the narrow, bleak cot in the emergency room break room that smelled of disinfectant.

She was sitting on a bed in a room that looked like a luxury hotel suite.

She stared blankly at the girl crying while wearing a maid’s uniform, then slowly narrowed her eyes.

“Ah! The accident…”

The painful light that had stabbed her eyes and the violent impact returned to her mind, making her body tingle.

Did I really die? Then where is this place…?

Her violet eyes, moving restlessly, suddenly stopped at one spot.

“…!”

Her eyes shook violently like waves crashing against the shore.

In the mirror hanging on the wall was a beautiful woman who looked like a princess.

That… can’t be me, right?

She quickly rubbed her eyes with her hand, then opened them wider and looked at the mirror again.

Shining golden hair that fell below the waist.

Skin as white and bright as untouched snow.

And beautiful, brilliant eyes like violet flower petals.

…Was she dreaming?

But everything in front of her looked far too clear for that.

She stared blankly at the beautiful woman in the mirror again and again.

What in the world was going on?

While her mind raced desperately—

“Sniff… Ma… Ma’am… sob…”

“Tsk.”

She let out a small groan at the sound of crying.

Her mind was already in chaos, and the woman beside her sobbing in a maid’s uniform only made it worse.

But she couldn’t exactly tell someone she had just met to shut up.

“Excuse me…”

She cautiously opened her mouth while looking at the tearful eyes.

“Yes! Ma’am!”

The maid answered immediately, her face filled with relief and emotion at hearing her voice.

But—

“What’s my name?”

At the next words, the maid’s face turned completely pale.

“M-Ma’am… sob…”

“Stop crying. I asked what my name is.”

She spoke firmly while looking straight at the maid who seemed ready to flood the room with tears again.

The frightened maid swallowed hard.

“Ramein… Roger… ma’am.”

She finally answered in a trembling voice after barely holding back her tears.

“…Ramein?”

Her violet eyes slowly narrowed.

Could it be that Ramein… the one I know?

It was an extremely familiar name.

“Ma’am… are you… alright?”

…No, she was not.

“Ah… yeah. I’m fine. You were crying so much that I just asked to make you pull yourself together.”

“…What? Ma’am, you scared me! Sob!”

As if you were more shocked than me.

With shaken eyes, she looked again at the woman called Ramein in the mirror.

“I thought… sob… you were going to die…”

Her eyelids twitched at the maid’s words.

Ramein… almost died?

First, she needed to organize the situation.

She slowly tore her gaze away from the mirror.

Since this crying girl called me Ramein… then I must really be Ramein, right?

She looked closely at the maid who stood before her with hands clasped and tears dripping down.

What was this girl’s name again?

Ramein searched through her memory thoroughly.

Her half-closed eyes gradually widened.

“…Jane?”

She spoke the name that came to mind.

“Yes! Ma’am! Please give your orders!”

The maid jumped with joy when she heard her name being called.

Right. That’s it.

“The Blue Flower of the Duke’s House.”

She instantly realized which romance fantasy novel she had possessed a character in.