SHBVH 02

Chapter 02

My Husband Happens to Be Handsome

Lamein Roger. The Lamein she had possessed was a villainess who had married Cedric Roger, the second son of the Duke of Roger.

‘Why did it have to be a villainess of all things.’

Lamein slightly crumpled her eyes, then quickly smoothed her expression. Honestly, she hadn’t seen many cases where someone possessed the female lead in a romance fantasy novel, so she wasn’t that devastated. She had roughly figured out where she was, so now she needed to understand the situation.

She stared blankly at Jane, who was shedding tears of joy.

“Jane?”

“Yes! Madam!”

…That startled her. At Jane’s sudden loud voice, Lamein slightly frowned.

“Are you feeling unwell?!!”

Jane’s face turned pale.

“No. It’s not that.”

Lamein quickly fixed her expression.

‘For now, she’s the only one I can ask, so don’t make a bad impression.’

She put on a smile that combined warmth and kindness. Jane, letting out a sigh of relief, lifted her lips into a bright smile. It was so radiant that Lamein even felt a little sorry for having frowned earlier.

‘Right. Jane quite liked the villainess Lamein.’

…This wasn’t what mattered right now. Pushing aside the fleeting thought, Lamein slowly opened her lips.

“Why am I like this? And what’s with this strange grassy taste?”

“Madam. Don’t you remember?”

“Remember what?”

She asked with an innocent gaze, but Jane’s face darkened as if a shadow had fallen over it. Then—

“It seems someone tried to harm you, Madam.”

“…What?”

“Someone mixed poisonous herbs into the tea you like! You drank it and then… sob… sob…!”

Oh. Please stop crying. Her head already hurt enough. Watching Jane cry heavily, tears dropping one after another, Lamein pressed her temples.

“Are you sure about that?”

“Pardon?”

“Who said that?”

“Ah… The physician who came earlier said it seemed like you drank poisonous herbs…”

Jane trailed off uncertainly. But what Lamein wanted to know wasn’t whether she drank the poison or not.

“Then who put the poison in it?”

“…Pardon? I—I don’t know… It wasn’t me!!”

Thinking she was being suspected, Jane’s face turned bright red as if it might burst.

“I’m not suspecting you. Alright. Calm down.”

She comforted Jane, who looked like she might cry again, and let out a quiet sigh.

A countryside clinic that barely saw one or two patients a week. A miserable reality where even making a living was difficult. The more time she had, the heavier her suffering became. Wanting to escape reality even for a moment, she started reading novels.

<The Blue Flower of the Duke’s House>.
It was the first novel she read, one that had held the number one spot for months in the free romance fantasy section.

‘So this must be around that part.’

It was already quite deep into the story. The early part of the novel focused on the romantic struggles between the female lead Elina, who harbored feelings, Killian—the male lead and Cedric’s older brother—and Cedric, the tragic second male lead. Then, with the appearance of the villainess Lamein Roger—herself—the story entered its crisis.

In this episode, Lamein, harboring resentment because her husband Cedric only looked at Elina instead of her, mixed poisonous herbs into her own tea and drank it in order to gain his attention, then collapsed.

Anyway, she did get attention.

And then she was kicked out.

Because her husband Cedric, who paid excessive attention, exposed it as a self-inflicted act.

As Lamein traced back the original story, her eyes slowly narrowed.

‘Wait… then does that mean I’m about to be kicked out?’

What the heck! She didn’t even like the fact that she possessed a woman who drank poison! And now she was going to be kicked out the moment she opened her eyes? Her darkened eyes deepened with resentment.

‘Wait. Cedric? Cedric, huh…’

Cedric, the tragic second male lead in the original story.

In short, he was like a sunflower. Even though he watched every step of Killian and Elina meeting and falling in love, he remained by Elina’s side like a shadow.

<Cedric, don’t do that, just come to your noona.>
<I feel so bad for Cedric I’m tearing up. Author, please do something.>
<What’s with Lamein? Get rid of her and just let him marry someone else!>

Readers who pitied Cedric couldn’t hide their sympathy and supported him, wishing him a happy ending.

But—

‘Hmm. Still not my type.’

Her view of Cedric was different.

‘He knows it won’t work out, and he’s already married, so why bother? What glory is he hoping for?’

Even though she thought it couldn’t be helped since the author had given him a personality fitting for a tragic second male lead—

‘No wonder Lamein acted like that.’

What would it be like if such a man were her husband?

The moment that thought crossed her mind—

‘I’d feel miserable myself.’

She simply couldn’t look at him kindly.

Her violet eyes turned toward the beautiful woman in the mirror.

‘So I’m that Lamein?’

A strange light flickered in her deepened gaze.

“Count. The young madam has awakened.”

“Is that so?”

It was the time when darkness began to fall. As always at night, the garden outside the window was as silent as a grave, with a bleak wind blowing through it.

Cedric, his blue eyes fixed outside the window, took a sip of tea faintly scented with flowers and set the cup down. Then he stood up abruptly and looked at his attendant, Roberto, with a languid gaze.

‘Even if he dislikes his wife, she just came back from the brink of death—he’ll go see her, right?’

Thinking that was obvious, Roberto turned to open the door—

“Prepare the bath.”

“…Pardon?”

“I’ve been moving my body, so I’m a bit hungry. Prepare things so I can eat immediately after bathing.”

Completely shattering his expectations, Cedric removed his training clothes. As soon as he gave the order, servants prepared warm water, and he sank into it.

As the soft scent of his usual lavender bath oil wrapped around his nose, a relaxed smile spread across his lips. Cedric slowly closed his eyes.

‘She drank poisonous herbs and woke up?’

Unlike Lamein, Cedric wasn’t particularly concerned about who had put the poison in her tea. He focused on the fact that she had woken up.

‘Now it’s time to go see her.’

After enjoying a brief moment of leisure, Cedric finished his meal and left the room, still wrapped in the scent of lavender.

“Madam! Madam!”

…You again? Just when it had gotten quiet, Jane rushed into the room in a fuss.

Lamein slowly raised her upper body. Since opening her eyes, her brain hadn’t rested for a moment. She was trying to recall more of the original story clearly.

‘How many days did Lamein stay before getting kicked out?’

Just as she was calculating how much time she had left here and planning her next moves, Jane entered.

‘Perfect timing. I should ask for something to eat.’

Thinking so much had drained her energy, and she was very hungry.

‘It’s a wealthy house, so the food should be good—no, wait, it’s a ducal house, so of course it is.’

Just as she was about to speak—

“The Count has finished his sword training! Finished bathing! Finished eating! And is now coming to see you, Madam!!”

At Jane’s words, her appetite instantly disappeared.

Lamein looked at her with displeasure, but Jane only blinked with wide eyes as if wondering what was wrong.

In the original story, Lamein always ordered Jane to report every single thing Cedric did—to monitor him.

‘So even though his wife collapsed and woke up, he was happily swinging his sword and eating just fine, huh?’

She didn’t particularly like him, and she knew Lamein was a villainess whom he disliked—but experiencing it firsthand felt unpleasant.

There was no need to glare at someone who had simply followed orders, so she withdrew her sharp gaze.

‘Well, it’s not like they’re a normal couple anyway.’

On the first day Lamein entered the ducal house in the original—

‘You and I will never fall in love. But in front of others, we must appear as a harmonious couple.’

Cedric had said something that made her want to slap him despite his smiling face.

Then why even come here! …she had screamed internally.

Still, Lamein had secretly hoped Cedric would come quickly.

Because—

Blue eyes like a beautiful lake sparkling under the summer sun. A sharp nose that seemed like it could cut even falling petals. Lips as alluring as if dyed with rose pigment. A body covered in perfectly sculpted muscles that looked more beautiful than a statue in a temple…

That was how the original described Cedric.

In fact, the author put more effort into describing Cedric’s appearance than even the female lead Selina and male lead Killian. Even early in the story, countless comments said they would invest in “Cedric stocks.”

She hadn’t bought into those “stocks,” but how could she not be curious?

Step. Step. Step.

Heavy footsteps echoed in the quiet corridor beyond the door.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

At the moment that person entered, he might kick her out.

Even knowing that, Lamein’s heart pounded uncontrollably.

‘I’m about to meet a character from a novel in real life. I feel like a successful fan.’

Holding her pounding heart, she listened closely.

The footsteps stopped.

Then—

Knock. Knock.

With a heavy knock, the thick door engraved with ornate patterns slowly began to open.

Like the barrel of a sniper rifle, Lamein’s violet eyes sharply fixed on the gap.

The half-open door finally swung wide—

“…!”

The moment she saw Cedric, Lamein’s eyes widened.

She was surprised. Truly surprised.

But—

“M-Madam!!”

The one even more shocked than her was Jane.

Why is she reacting like that?

Just as Lamein wondered—

“B-B-Blood!!”

Jane pointed at the space between Lamein’s nose and lips and hurriedly looked around.

‘Huh? Blood?’

At that moment, she felt something warm flowing beneath her nose.

A nosebleed.

And yet, even then, Lamein couldn’t take her eyes off the man before her.

‘No. Seriously. Is he really this good-looking?’

Lamein’s husband.

No—her husband.

The man who might soon kick her out of this mansion—

…was handsome.

No—

So ridiculously handsome that it made her nose bleed.