Chapter 4

Previously before and during exposion:
Julia’s original body had been burnt to a crisp. However, she was given a second chance by being the viscount’s wife and was thrown into a new world that she knew very well even though she never actually lived in it—it was the world of the novel that she recently read.

She never had any regrets or anything left undone in her previous life, but now that she thought about it, she never really liked her previous life in any form. She always thought of her life as a sewage system, it was always filled with more filth overtime. She only lived it because she was too afraid to take her own life.

BANG BANG

The memory of a drunken man was furiously banging at the front door filled her mind.

“Give me money!!, you-!”

It was her father, he came to her house, every day, screaming at the top of his lungs at the front door for hours and hours.

Every time she moved out, he would somehow still find her. This kept going on until she was no longer financially stable enough to move out anymore. This was domestic violence and he knew it, yet he never cared enough to stop.

Her and Hir’s lives were similar in many ways. But there was one important difference she herself had not overcome the past, while Hir had completely removed all traces of his horrible past with a perfect revenge. That was why she liked the story.

I must have found comfort in finding someone who had a similar life to me and found a way to achieve what I was too afraid to achieve.

Even in her final moments she still hadn’t escaped from her father. But now that she has become an important character in the novel, she wanted to relieve whatever pain Hir still had roaming in his heart. She was going to be the bandage to seal the hole created in his emotions. For Hir was the main reason she read the novel after all.

Julia continued by asking the maid next to her again “You just said there was a problem. What’s the matter?”

“It’s tha-that … Master Hir has collapsed.”

“He collapsed?”

“Ye-, yes! How should we carry out the treatment?”

“What do you mean how?”

What was the reason behind Hir’s collapsing? Also, why had the maid put an emphasis on ‘treatment’? The maid tilted her head a couple of times with a confused look on her face.

“You want me to take care of him the same way you did when he’d collapsed before?”

“What have I done back then? I can’t seem to recollect.”

She knew that was the work done by the original Julia. She didn’t know exactly how she treated him, but she could take a rough guess. After all she had known the original Julia’s behaviour.

“You wa-walked to his room, locked the door, and did not let him leave until he got better!”

Hah, right. What was I expecting?

Although it hadn’t been described very well in the original book, Hir had often fainted because of his frail body. Whenever that happened, Hir was said to have always swallowed back tears, trying hard to overcome his illness.

When that happened, the previous Mrs. Willy never treated Hir the way one would normally treat a sick person, with respect and help. Instead she would normally do quite the opposite, treat him like a rat on the road and abuse him physically and verbally. If shoving him and beating him wasn’t enough for her, she would usually start calling him names, “You persistent leech!” She would often call him. However, from today he will be treated differently.

“Let it be. I’ll go to Hir’s room myself.”

“Yes.”

Julia’s words left the maid wide-eyed, confused why she was acting this way. “This could be bad-” The maid mumbled in a low voice, with traces of anxiety clear as day in her face..

“Why are you still standing around? Show me the way.”

Julia spoke in a soft voice, and yet the maid trembled, acting like she was caught in a cold winter storm. She nodded hastily and led the way.

“Follow me pl-please.”

Julia wrapped a dark-colored shawl over her dressing gown and hurried out of the room following the brunette.
Like the novel had mentioned, she was married to a rich, divorced man, so the mansion was well-furnished.

The hallway had huge walls and extended on the floor was a long dark red rug, which reminded Julia of the color of blood. Expensive stones with an almost supernatural look to them were lined up at the side, they were glowing brightly acting as torches in this long hallway. In the center lay a large crystal chandelier which was blinding to just lay a glance on. Even though the hallway was only one part of the mansion, it alone made her realize that ‘rich’ was an understatement .

Julia’s beautiful eyes fell on a small, shabby door that did not match the interior theme of the mansion. The generous resources seemed to come to an end as she neared the door. She already knew that they had reached their destination from remembering the original story’s settings.