this chapter is brought to you by mio
as translator, proofreader and editor!
The Ether Dukedom.
If the family protecting the northern part of the continent was the imperial family, then they were the guardians of the southern gate, responsible for blocking the sea of fog.
A place where fog with strange powers creates all sorts of strange things.
A place where bizarre monsters that can’t be seen on the mainland run wild through the thick fog which blocks all vision and leaves you unable to see even an inch ahead of you.
The man who blocked such monsters and protected the South.
It became widely known that Duke Ether, who could even relentlessly cut down the monsters who came to him in human form, had a coldness that was unlike a human’s, and thus his notoriety spread as well as his influence.
Then, he was put in check by the imperial family.
The Emperor requested for the Duke of Ether to be summoned to the north.
“We1 are well aware of the pain of being swayed by a maternal family.”
In short, it meant that he should marry a young lady who came from a powerless family.
Duke Ether was originally a man who had no dreams of a married life.
As the head of the Ether Duchy who was called the ‘House of Sea Guardians’ and guarded the border between the sea of fog and the land, the time he spent on a boat and on the battlefield was more than that which he spent with women.
“I’ll do as you say.”
The Duke of Ether didn’t think it would matter who came as his bride. After all, he wasn’t going to be able to enjoy a married life anyways. No, rather, he thought it’d be fortunate if the bride didn’t end up choking on the chilly and humid air or running away.
Thus, he accepted the Lebouire Barony’s marriage request.
‘Nothing much will change.’
There would just be one more person staying in the mansion. That’s what he had thought.
A few days later, Baron Lebouire’s shabby carriage arrived at the Ether estate. The carriage, which had passed through the foggy forest, was in poor condition with dirt everywhere.
“Hello.”
Nothing would change… Or so he had thought.
However, the moment he saw the bride’s face, the cold face of Duke Ether cracked.
The Lebouire Barony’s young lady, was in fact, a little girl of five years old.
[ / / / ]
pls do not share this anywhere or the transmigration gods will transport u into boku no pico !! this translation has been stolen from mioscorner.wordpress.com, pls only read there i’m begging u :kneels:
A shabby ceiling appeared. I had never in my previous life slept in a shabby place like this.
“…”
When I opened my eyes in a different world, I had stubbornly thought that that sort of bullshit wasn’t part of my story.
But that sort of thing really happened. I was screaming until the last moment.
[Layton, how could you…!]
I shouted like that until I fell into the lava. A scorching heat enveloped my body, and I lost consciousness. When I opened my eyes, I found myself in this state.
“…”
Exactly 5 years have passed since I’ve found myself in this state.
“Ah seriously, this is ridiculous.”
As soon as I opened my eyes, the first sound that had come out of me was “Wahhh!”.
It wasn’t like the regretful voice of my previous life, when I yelled, ‘Layton, you corrupt fucker, the next time I meet a bastard like you in my next life, I’ll make sure to give him a hearty beating to the back of the head!’.
At first, I thought it was a dream.
A year passed by while I felt emotional about being unaware of the fact that I liked him so much.
And then the me who could only cry, was finally able to move about freely and crawl around the cramped room.
By then, I had no choice but to admit it.
I had reincarnated.
Furthermore, the family I had been born into was a noble family. It was different from my previous life, where I was born as a commoner who couldn’t even enter the wizarding academy and had to study on my own to become an archmage.
Oh, a golden spoon, how nice!
That’s what I had thought, but somehow, my life just doesn’t want to turn out properly.
My previous life had been one that had started poorly and ended in betrayal. Then, would this life be better since I was born in a better place?
“Cough!”
The cough that burst out countless times a day and had the taste of blood. The problem wasn’t with the throat or the lungs.
The heart, this brat’s heart was the problem.
Although I had reincarnated into a completely different body, from head to toe, strangely enough, I had been born with the mana from my previous life surrounding my heart.
Wow! I’ve been reborn as an archmage!?
However, as much as I liked it, the body of a child was still too weak to handle my mana as an archmage. In addition to that, there were unfortunately no doctors who were knowledgeable on mana near where I was born.
“This disease… cannot be cured until she’s taken to Allehara Palace.”
The doctor who looked at my body said so.
Although I wasn’t sure whether he had said Allehara or Aloha, if ‘palace’ was attached onto the back of it, it probably referred to the doctors that belonged to the imperial family.
In short, it was something that generally couldn’t be cured.
“Although you won’t die straight away if you make a decoction with the Sillia herb… if you continue to grow weakly like this, your heart won’t be able to beat properly and you’ll die.”
The doctor declared it as an incurable disease with a nonchalant expression. At first, my parents, the Baron and Baroness of Lebouire, tried to find the medicinal herb in question.
“What? Why are medicinal herbs so expensive?”
But after seeing the price, they gave up coolly.
The grass, which was said to only grow on certain areas bordering the sea, was too expensive for a baron to bear.
“Money devouring bitch!”
“To be born so weak…!”
Since then, my treatment within the Barony has degenerated from the master’s precious half-daughter to a nuisance.
As a matter of fact, the Baroness merely regarded me as a thorn in her eyes, since she never liked my biological mother, who was a maid who died giving birth to me, either.
Knowing that I would be consuming a wad of money just in time, she drove me to pretend to be sick in order to get attention, even if I wasn’t sick.
As if that wasn’t enough, she’d even slap me on the cheek in front of the servants.
—Slap!
“Can you not even go into your room immediately?”
After being diagnosed with the disease, the Baroness hated me for even wanting to come out, afraid that she’d get infected.
Several years passed, just like that. Without the herbs, the mana gradually swallowed my heart.
“Cough, cough!”
That day, I was gasping for breath from the dry cough that had burst out as well. Whenever I coughed, my heart seemed to be squeezed in a vice grip.
Although it would’ve been nice if I was able to release this mana, it was obvious to me that if I attempted to use up my mana in this state, I’d merely end up collapsed and rolling on the floor in pain.
Magic can only be used when you’re in good condition.
—Bang!
“Nassia!”
One day, when I had been passing the day just like so, Baroness Lebouire broke into my room without any prior notice.
“Cough!”
I jumped in surprise and coughed again. The taste of blood in my mouth was bitter. Of course, there was not even a single maid to help me.
“So disgusting…”
The sound of the Baroness’ muttering pierced my ears.
This bastard’s house, I need to get out of here, quickly!
It was at that moment, when I had decided to definitely do one of the two, to get out by dying from my weak body, or miraculously becoming healthy and using magic to escape.
“Change into this outfit immediately.”
A bundle of white clothes flew in front of me, who was still sitting, suffering from sickness. The clothes I had managed to pick up were somehow too bulky and big for a five year old child.
“…?”
When I unfurled the clothes, I couldn’t help but be flustered. The clothes which I had never worn in my previous life, despite enjoying almost all the wealth and fame that came with being an archmage.
“…A wedding dress?”
There was also a foul item, made just the right size for a child to wear.
She was using her whole body to show that the object with a jewel attached to it was not a toy.
“Put it on, and that hand!”
The Baroness looked at my hand and was horrified. The hand that had covered my mouth while I was red.
As if she was afraid of getting infected, she said without reaching out towards me.
“Wash your hands and put it on! I’ll get stains on my clothes.”
I guess the reason you came here wasn’t to suddenly give me clothes you’d think I’d like.
Ever since I was reincarnated as Nassia de Lebouire and turned five, I realized that talking to the Baroness would merely get me a slap in the face.
But I had no choice but to ask.
“Why these clothes…?”
An unintentionally cracked voice came out. The Baroness replied casually.
“You’ll be a bride, starting from today.”
“What?”
Bride? What bride?
“You’ll become the bride of Duke Ether.”
What did you say? A five year old bride?
[ / / / ]
Rather than believing I had reincarnated, it still seemed more like a silly dream, if anything.
I had also heard of the Ether Dukedom, who acted as the guardian of the southern coast.
The Duke, who seemed to have abandoned his humanity in order to stop all kinds of strange monsters from crossing the sea of fog, was clearly a man who proved the saying, ‘to catch a monster, one must first become a monster’.
The story of all outsiders who entered the Duchy at a certain time being beheaded at the Duke’s orders in order to kill all the monsters who came from beyond the sea in human form, was particularly famous.
To the extent that even I, who was confined in the house and couldn’t even have a simple conversation, had heard of it.
But on top of that, I never thought that he’d be on a whole other level of trashy scumbag, to even welcome a five year old bride!
—Rattle!
The carriage I rode on shook violently.
The complexion which had been pale from suffering from an illness for a long time now had a red flush tinged on it.
And seriously, the child-like hands were covered with a bride’s white gloves, a white veil covering the small head of pink hair.
And the round eyes were a vivid brown.
Like cherry blossoms.
“…”
My reflection on the transparent part of the carriage wall was tragically cute.
My cheeks, which were hidden under the pure white veil, were still chubby, not able to shake off the feeling of a child.
Below her blushing young cheeks, a wedding dress made of fluttering lace came down to her knees.
Sitting on the chair in the carriage, her feet, which couldn’t even touch the floor, were suspended in the air and extended all the way in front. The carriage chair, which was made for adults, became a floor for her, who was able to sit with legs stretched out and her butt all the way on the inside.
The ankle parts of the white socks were once again, laced with pretty pink lace. Beneath them were black shoes.
“Hmm…”
When I wriggled my toes, the round point of the black shoe would also move. I popped my foot, the round, black shoe nose moved. The bouquet in my hand was just ridiculously excessive.
“Ah, how can I be this cute?”
I’m cute, but what’s the use of being cute…
It would have been great if the situation had been where a young child was just playing around with a pretend wedding dress whilst receiving affection and love.
Unfortunately, however, I was being transported to the mansion of a scumbag with a supposed personality failure, who was going to marry a five year old.
“We’ll arrive at the mansion soon.”
Knock knock!
The sound of knocking on the carriage was heard, along with a man’s voice. It was the voice of one of Baron Lebouire’s knights.
“If you go in and start spouting nonsense, your neck will be the first to fall off!”
A voice full of phlegm threatened me. It was confusing to the extent of wondering whether he was bringing a family’s young lady or a slave.
If I could’ve used magic, that kind of bastard’s head would’ve already been blasted off and blown away.
I had the impression of my heart tightening and the mana within my heart increasing.
—Rattle!
After a while, the floor shook again.
Just like a bride’s carriage, the outside wasn’t able to be seen properly from within the carriage with the blinds down.
Instead, all I could hear was people swearing and saying that they couldn’t see anything around them.
I wondered how much longer it’d last for.
“Here’s the promised amount.”
Those words entered my ears as I was about to fall asleep. The unfamiliar man’s voice was different from that of the Baron’s knights.
Have we arrived?
It’s been a long time since the carriage has come to a stop.
Soon, the sound of the nearby knights moving away was heard. There was only one answer, since the Baroness wouldn’t have married me off to a family without money.
“So I was sold off.”
A chuckle slipped out.
I knew that Duke Ether was looking for someone to marry.
Of course, since I was only five years old, I just wondered how brutal and inhumane the Duke would be in his search for a bride, but I had thought that it was someone else’s business.
[It doesn’t matter who it is.]
The terms for marriage were unconventional. As long as he could get married, he was able to get married to anyone. It didn’t matter who the bride was.
It was almost as if Duke Ether was buying a bride.
‘Even so, how can I get to the Ether estate though?’
‘It’s no different from wasting your life, since you’ll be near the sea of fog.’
Rumors circulated all the households.
Although they didn’t know who the young lady marrying Duke Ether was, the demon who knew nothing but war, they all felt sorry for her.
But, tada! The bride was only five years old!
I laughed out loud due to the ridiculousness of it all.
In my previous life, I was an archmage who could even pose a threat to dragons, yet now I was just a child who was crushed by her own mana and had contracted an incurable disease.
“I can’t believe I’ll end up marrying some bastard who readily accepts a five year old bride.”
It’d be a relief if you just turned out to be a war fanatic. All sorts of terrible thoughts ran through my mind.
It was then.
“Bride, welcome to Ether.”
I heard a voice from outside. It was probably the voice of someone who belonged to the Duchy.
“Bride, you say…”
I snorted and put my arm on the chair.
Since I was a child, I had to jump off the chair with my short legs.
However, this needlessly cute wedding dress interfered with my freedom of movement.
“Bride?”
I heard a voice from outside again.
Well, if you know I’m five, can you at least help me? Are you telling me to come out on my own?
—Click!
Because of my small body, I had to push the door open with my whole body.
As soon as I opened the door, I saw a huge blue mansion.
And in front of it, a man in a black uniform who was wearing white gloves, was preparing to serve the bride.
The first thing I saw was the neatly arranged bright blond hair.
Dark blue eyes turned towards me in the carriage.
Oh, so this is the trashy scumbag, Duke Ether, who said he was going to marry a five year old?
My own curious eyes met the trash’s eyes.
“…”
“…”
It was silent for a moment, before the Duke’s face contorted.
“A child?”
Oho?
The Duke also seemed flustered.
He strode up to the carriage.
Duke Ether, who had his back against the sun, somewhere in the misty sky, was so tall that I had to raise my head to look at him.
The shadow cast by his tall stature completely covered me.
At the same time, a knight of Baron Lebouire greeted him.
“I’ve brought the bride.”
“…What did you say?”
The Duke looked inside the carriage again. Of course, I was the only one in the carriage.
What the hell, you didn’t even know how old your bride was?
“You don’t mean to say that this child is Ether’s bride.”
A cold air emanated from him.
[1] 짐 is an illeism for the emperor, similar to the chinese version of it which is zhen, for those of you who also read historical cnovels malicious empress let’s goooooo
AHHHH FIRST CHAPTER LET’S GOOOOOOO
so our fl has been reincarnated from a different world wherein she was the archmage who got betrayed by i’m assuming a lover (?) she had into a sickly girl who’s been sold off in marriage to a battle lust filled duke and retains all the mana from her previous life !! i’m rlly excited for this one bc i’m a sucker for father daughter and found family tropes hASDFLKJDF
i also like that we get to see all of her thoughts as someone who’s already lived a lifetime whilst she’s in this situation bc PLS IT’S SO FUNNY, THE WAY SHE KEEPS CALLING HIM A SCUMBAG FOR MARRYING A FIVE YEAR OLD HAHAHAHAHA
also since we alr know that the duke didn’t choose to marry a five year old, imagine how awkward that first meeting must’ve been and tbh how mf creepy it would’ve been ??? LIKE i think if i was in that situation i would’ve just felt my stomach fucking DROP as soon as i see some five year old kid staring up at me in confusion, like can we talk abt how disgusting her parents are ?? parents that sell off their children just disgust me, PERIOD.
ON ANOTHER NOTE THO, OUR DADDY AIN ETHER LOOKING FINE AS FOCK IN THAT ILLUSTRATION OMG HASDLFKJDFJFDS GN DILF VIBES DILF VIBES DILF VIBES DILF AIN LET’S GOOOOOOOOO #dilfdaddyainsupremacy GO GET YOUR ROLES ON DISCORD HALSDKFJDSJ !!!
