Chapter 2: The Wicked Wife Makes Her Exit! ①

Understanding the situation I was in wasn’t all that difficult.
After all, my only hobby had been devouring web novels.
I had read this kind of development billions of times.

“Reincarnation really does exist…”

I murmured to myself as the cargo bed of the wagon I had begged for a ride on rattled along.
It seemed I had reincarnated into the world of the web-born novel Beloved Flower of the Black Wolf General, which I had loved dearly in my previous life.

‘…If this is reincarnation, does that mean I died in my previous life…?’

I had no clear memory of it, but considering the nonstop overwork and unhealthy diet I’d had, it didn’t feel impossible.

‘There’s no point thinking about things I can’t do anything about.
More importantly, what matters most right now is…’

I recalled the plot of Beloved Flower of the Black Wolf General.
A classic Cinderella story in which the heroine, a baron’s daughter raised in neglect after being suspected of being an illegitimate child, meets Adolphus—the Black Wolf General—falls in love with him, overcomes countless obstacles, and is finally united with him.
The story of a devoted, unfortunate heroine being loved by a super-elite hero and growing strong and beautiful was a cliché, but one I loved.
Above all, Adolphus himself was my favorite.

‘A black-haired, blue-eyed hero is the best.
And the illustrations in the print edition were ridiculously divine.’

Reincarnating into a world where my favorite existed wasn’t exactly unwelcome.
But—

“Of all people, why did I have to be the wicked wife Rosalind…”

Reflected in my small hand mirror was the face of a young woman with unruly red hair and sharp green eyes.
Her translucent fair skin made her strikingly beautiful at first glance, but she looked strong-willed—
Or to put it bluntly, like someone who suited a mean expression all too well.
In the single illustration she appeared in the print edition, she had been drawn with a furious, demon-like glare.
A deep sigh slipped from my lips.

“If I had to reincarnate, I wanted to be a background character quietly watching my favorites’ romance from the sidelines…”

A mansion maid, or maybe the cafeteria auntie at the Royal Army headquarters—
I would have happily taken something like that.
Unfortunately, it seemed I had reincarnated as Rosalind, the wife of the hero Adolphus.
Yes, the hero of this novel was not single.
He already had a wife—a despised princess forced upon him by royal command.

Though it was called a royal command, there was no grand political strategy behind it.
Rosalind had simply fallen in love with Adolphus at first sight and asked her father, the king, to let her marry him.
That was all.
The king had no real interest in his eighth daughter, born of a low-ranking mistress, and saw it as a convenient way to dispose of a failure.
So he decided on the marriage between Rosalind and Adolphus exactly as she asked.

‘From Adolphus’s perspective, that must have been a complete nightmare…’

On top of that, the order was framed as a reward—bestowing a princess upon him for his achievements in subjugating magical beasts.
It was almost cruel.
To think that the reward for his hard-earned merits was a dull, disliked princess…
Under normal circumstances, Adolphus could have chosen any lover or wife he wanted.
He had inherited the title of count at a young age, been appointed a general of the Royal Army through sheer ability, and on top of that was handsome and gentlemanly.
There was no way he wouldn’t be popular.
Many young ladies admired him, and he was always the center of attention in high society.

‘But when the king orders it, there’s no way you can refuse…’

No matter how unwilling he was, refusing had never been an option.
And so the despised princess Rosalind forcibly took her place as Adolphus’s wife.

I also carried memories of having lived as that Rosalind.
That was why I remembered yesterday’s wedding—and the wedding night that followed.
A wedding held with surprising simplicity for the marriage of a princess.
The groom, Adolphus, barely looked at the bride, and the profile I timidly glanced at was set in a stern expression.
But he wasn’t so unreasonable as to declare things like, “I will never love you,” or “This will be a white marriage,” to a bride sent by royal command.
If anything, he dutifully tried to fulfill his obligations as a husband.

“This marriage is by royal order.
You understand the duties of the nobility as well.
Give up and accept it.”

On the night of the wedding—the wedding night—he said that with a stiff expression and held me.
Adolphus in Beloved Flower of the Black Wolf General was written as a kind hero who was awkward and poor with words.
True to that, he behaved like a gentleman even toward a wife forced upon him by royal command.
He touched her so carefully that she might mistake it for love, and Rosalind, who had already harbored unrequited feelings for him, melted in both body and soul.

‘Honestly… it felt unbelievably good…!’

Just recalling that night made my face heat up, and I instinctively covered it with both hands.
It had been my first time in this life, and even in my previous life I hadn’t had much experience, but I had never known it could feel that good.
Thinking that my favorite had seen me in such a disheveled state was mortifying enough to make me writhe.

‘Ugh, he must have been totally fed up with me…’

He might have believed the rumors that painted her as a promiscuous princess who indulged in men.
At some point, his gentlemanly attitude disappeared, and despite it being her first time, he had taken her again and again with rough intensity.
But perhaps because of how deeply she loved him, even that had turned into pleasure, which was honestly hopeless of her.
It felt so good that I must have lost consciousness partway through, because my memory of the end was vague.
Even though she was a bride who was never meant to be loved, she had experienced a blissful wedding night.

‘That’s probably why the novel’s Rosalind became so obsessed with Adolphus…’

She had come to expect love.
But things did not go as she hoped.
Adolphus treated Rosalind properly as his wife, but only in a dutiful, formal sense.
That wasn’t enough for Rosalind.
Gradually, she grew more and more unhinged.
She squandered the count’s money on dresses and jewelry, and paraded handsome lovers around daily as if to provoke her husband.
After the heroine appeared and began drawing closer to Adolphus, her behavior grew even worse, and she hurled abuse at both her husband and the heroine whenever they met.
When servants finally spoke up, she burned them with fire magic and drove them out of the count’s household.

‘Everything she did just made things worse…’

All she ever did was make Adolphus hate her more.
While reading the novel, I had thought it was only natural for a husband’s heart to leave a wife like that.
I was sure other readers felt the same.
Yes, Rosalind was, by any measure, a hopelessly wicked wife—
A being destined to be just that.