1 Chapter 1
Arabelle drank her cup of chamomile tea leisurely as she admired the scenic garden view. Beautiful red roses sprawled across lush greenery as birds sang in the air and water gurgled from the water fountain. The little cupid on top smiled joyfully and all seemed peaceful.
But, Arabelle was far from calm. She had been reincarnated.
Arabelle sighed as she watched the splendid view. This will soon be in shambles, she thought drearily.
Arabelle had reincarnated into a character in a novel with the same name as her. It was a very twisted romance novel that she had regretted reading afterwards, not because of the lack of good language or the sort, but simply because the plot was overly depressing and had made her upset and in a questionable mood for a good while.
In the novel, the main character Lillian, was a baron's daughter who had fallen in love with Arthur, the Earl of Dravis.
Arabelle was the wife of the Duke of the North, Victor Andreas. The villain in the novel.
It seemed like the classic romance novel, it wasn't.
The novel was horrific, blood was spilled like water and the entire story had left her in an eerie state.
But that was the thing, she couldn't remember what was written in the novel.
It should be a given, supposing that she had read it years ago, but she was confident she had a great memory. Rather, it seemed as if her memories pertaining the story were purposefully wiped out except these few garbles that seemed to have escaped being destroyed.
But she could not forget the feeling of reading it. The plot had been gruesome, even for her who had seen much and experienced many things in life. She knew that Victor had ignored the novel's Arabelle and disliked her. He had perceived her as a rude noblewoman, which undoubtedly, she was. She couldn't remember how she died though...…
It was infuriating, why couldn't she remember???!!!
Arabelle sighed once more. The maids watching Arabelle looked over in worry. Why was their young miss sighing so much today? As they looked over at the beautiful 16-year-old who seemed to glisten in the afternoon sun, they couldn't understand what was making her worry so much.
It had been around 5 years since Arabelle reincarnated. She was very surprised in the beginning, but there wasn't much she could do, and she had adapted well to the environment.
Maybe it was because of her profession. She had been a special forces agent, a tactician at that, but she did other work as well.
Arabelle sighed once more which seemed to worry the maids that were walking with her even more. She didn't have much affection for her family here. They were your typical noble family, there was not an ounce of happiness that permeated these cold walls. The Caldwells were cold in nature despite the land they rule over being rich and seemed to be forever in the spring.
Arabelle knew what she had been raised for, and that was to be married off.
Luckily, she had the previous Arabelle's memory, and it wasn't hard for her to understand how to conduct herself.
She proceeded to act like Arabelle for the past three years, but of course, in a better manner and not so condescending and rude as the previous one. After all, she didn't want to end up like in the novel. She had made her debut into society at 12 and had her coming of age ceremony at 15.
All of which ended in success. She was quite the young social figure in the Empire nowadays.
But there was a problem, how was she going to deal with her upcoming marriage to Victor?
Victor was the heir to the Northern Duchy.
In the novel, Victor was the first borne to the Duke and the first Duchess. The first Duchess had died due to illness soon after and the Duke had married again to Duchess Rosaline. Then they proceeded to have two children. A daughter named Marilyn and the youngest child, a son named Mathew.
With the coming of another son, Duchess Rosaline started to hate the sight of Victor who, although still a child, was an obstruction to the title of Duke to her own.
And that was where Victor's misery began.
Duchess Rosaline would do whatever she could to make Victor's life miserable.
Assassination attempts, poison, hitmen, and the like were all things that she wouldn't hesitate to use. Of course, they never worked.
The current Duke, Victor's father Edward, only saw Victor as the successor on the other hand. He was very adamant about making it clear that Victor would succeed him. Which only got on the nerve of Rosaline more. It was not as if the Duke couldn't see or wasn't aware of the matter, but rather he wanted to test Victor.
Arabelle scoffed, what nonsense. This sort of animal-like upbringing was something she looked down upon. But it wasn't too bad, after all, if the Duke had severely reprimanded the Duchess and the Duchess became more insidious... now that would have been worthwhile to watch. In a way, not disputing with the Duchess was a way to bring down her defenses, after all, open hostility is the easiest to avoid. A snake, on the other hand, could slither up from nowhere.
Arabelle sighed for what seemed to be the dozenth time. The maids were just about to lose their minds.
"When will I see my fiancé?" Arabelle suddenly asked, turning to the shivering maids.
"Tomorrow Miss!" Julia, Arabelle's personal maid exclaimed.
Well, she couldn't avoid it.
Her father, the Marquess was quite strict. Not only that, he was quite perceptive as well. He knew Arabelle was smart, and never gave her too much allowance and strictly monitored her spendings, lest she runs away.
Arabelle wasn't a fool, she didn't want to start a business right away, she knew word would head back to her father and he might take the business away. Moreover, her age was a problem. So Arabelle resorted to saving all her cash. It had resulted in quite the hefty sum.
If things don't go as planned, she could always move to another country and start anew. She already has an alias made in a neighboring country. It was such a hassle to get done, especially since her father was watching her every move like a hawk.
But it was necessary.
Arabelle turned back to the maids," We should pick out a dress shouldn't we?"
