Rigid hands tightened around Iris' neck.
The grip was stronger than usual.
Perhaps something bad had happened today.
Alfred would always slap her when he was in a bad mood.
A painful groan flowed between Iris' lips, but it was of no concern to Alfred.
Alfred simply cursed and gave more strength to his hands.
Iris was going to die today.
It had been a very long time since Alfred's eyes looked at her differently.
She was already 40 years old.
There were many women who wanted to become the rich Alfred's wife.
For him, she, who he had obtained from Duke Whittle to be his wife, was just a piece of garbage that he couldn't throw away.
The lungs that had not received oxygen for a long time screamed. Everything before her eyes dimmed.
She had always wanted to die, but she didn't have the courage to do so. Right, it wasn't bad to die like this. To die at the hands of the man she hated, it was befitting her pathetic and miserable life.
At the same time, a bitter smile flowed from her lips.
Why have I been living like this?
She never thought she would die like this. If she had known, she would have done something. She would have risked her life to try anything.
Why did she hold her tongue, and why did she do whatever she was told?
She wondered if she was ever truly alive.
Britney's face that she had seen not long ago came to her mind.
Now an Empress, she looked very happy.
Count Keivrand Green, a husband at the pinnacle of power, and healthy, cute children.
Born to the same duke, Britney's and Iris' lives were incomparable.
She has always been the star.
Iris was called the flower of Duke Whittle, but not for a moment did she feel like a flower.
The real flower of Duke Whittle was Britney.
Britney trampled and plucked Iris several times so that she couldn't even become a flower.
Stepped on and broken, nevertheless, she lived her life without screaming once.
Even the blurred vision was now gone. The encroaching darkness suddenly frightened her.
She thought there would be no regrets. It was already a luxury to be born in this world and have desires.
However, as she suffocated to death, she had one thought.
I don't want it to end like this.
There hadn't been a single happy moment.
I don't want to die like this.
It was a bitter feeling to have to depart this world without having ever tasted an ounce of happiness.
Her ears felt hot. She thought her life had come to an end, so it was strange that she was feeling pain.
Amidst the heat, she seemed to have heard a small voice.
[Do you really want to live again?]
The voice sounded like the chatter of a small bird.
She wanted to answer yes, but she was unable to speak.
With the feeling of something severing, she realized she was finally dead.
Death felt so simple and hollow.
As soon as she realized she was dead, many things flowed in front of her.
Is this a panorama of my life?
There were events she had experienced, and events she hadn't experienced.
It was the past, the present, and the future.
I thought it would only show me my past.
That didn't seem to be the case. Information flooded her head like a tidal wave. She felt a headache even though she knew she was dead, so fear overcame her.
She thought it was over when she had died, but it didn't appear so?
Was this the beginning of another pain?
Even in death, couldn't she rest in peace?
Was she supposed to live in eternal hell?
She heard the chatter again.
A month had already passed since she returned from death, but she still dreamt of that time.
She felt goosebumps every time she woke up. The terrible nightmare was no different from reality.
When she first returned to the past, she had thought it was just a very long nightmare.
However, as events in her dream repeated, she realized that it wasn't a normal nightmare.
It was hard for her to come to terms with the fact that she had lived a hellish life, died, and then returned to the past.
Staring silently at the familiar ceiling, she noticed a mold in the corner.
Recalling that it had rained in the last few days, it was expected that there would be mold.
Without knocking, the door opened and a maid walked in.
"Miss. Are you still sleeping?"
The maid asked with irritation.
No one would believe that Iris, the flower of Duke Whittle, was treated like this in the mansion.
Her position in the mansion was lower than that of the maids.
Iris obediently got out of bed.
"Get up earlier, earlier. There's an important guest today, so get to work."
The maid threw a rag at Iris.
She avoided it as it hit the end of the bed and fell to the floor.
"Come out and wipe the hallway windows. Change your dress after that."
"Oh, really. Don't make me do all the work. You really think you're the daughter of a duke?"
The maid grumbled as she left the room.
Iris picked up the rag that had fallen to the floor and smiled coldly.
"Daughter of a duke? I don't want it."
Duke Reuben Whittle had two daughters.
The eldest, Britney, and the youngest, Iris.
Between the two, Iris was especially beautiful and well-behaved, so people called her the flower of Duke Whittle.
Duke Whittle had also openly said that he cared for her, and that he wanted her to live with him forever and not give her to anyone.
He had openly said as such. Just, that was where it ended.
In fact, she was the daughter between Duke Whittle and a maid.
There were many instances where a child was born from the affair of a noble. However, the children weren't recognized as nobility.
Even worse, she was a child born to a maid.
Duchess Whittle, looking at the terrible incident in which her husband had fathered a child through a maid, had decided to pretend as if nothing had happened.
In a shabby room, with the intention of killing both mother and child, Duchess Whittle had changed her mind as soon as she saw the baby in the maid's arms.
"Let's kill the maid and take the child."
The duchess said as such in front of her husband.
"The child...We're going to raise it?"
"Yes. She's going to be very pretty when she grows up."
"That pretty daughter won't be ours. We don't even have a son to raise..."
"I won't give my daughter to just anyone. But the maid's daughter is different."
A cruel smile formed around her lips.
"Let's raise her up to be kind, beautiful, and proper. Sell her at a critical moment."
Thus, Iris became the daughter of Duchess Whittle.
As the youngest daughter of Duke Whittle, she had received numerous education and had grown up to be a 'worthy product.'
Even so, that didn't mean the Duke's family really cared for Iris.
They treated her worse than the maids, as they abused, beat, and starved her.
The atmosphere of her treatment by the Duke's family was also conveyed to the employees.
Little harassments they did to her while avoiding the eyes of the Duke's family gradually grew, and even Britney incited the servants to abuse her by having her bow in front of them.
Britney loved to humiliate and degrade Iris.
[You're hopeless. At least you're a good housekeeper and will make a good mistress.]
At first, someone might have felt sorry for her.
Someone else might have thought, 'Still, how can you do that to the Duke's daughter...?'
However, another person would lead the way and say, 'It's fine. We can go even further.' When one person turned a blind eye, what entered everyone's mind was cruelty.
To the people of Duke Whittle, she was a good punching bag.
In any case, she was now changing into a dress after having cleaned the hallway windows.
Since an 'important guest' was coming, the maids had brought the finest dresses and were serving her.
While tightening her corset, the door opened without even a knock.
Britney shouted cheerfully and walked in.
Unlike the maids' treatment of Iris, they politely bowed to her.
"It's okay, it's okay. Just change Iris' clothes. It's her first time seeing her husband-to-be, so make sure she looks pretty."
Britney looked beyond cheerful as if she couldn't bear it.
"Iris, you're lucky. You're going to get married to Alfred, a master of a great house. I'm sure everyone will be very envious."
As expected, I've returned to the past.
Since Iris' life so far had been normal, she wasn't sure if she had really regressed.
However, she became convinced after hearing about Alfred's visit today.
She had lived to be close to forty, died at the hands of her husband Alfred, and after seeing many things in death, had returned to her twenties.
I'm glad I had found Keivrand right away.
A month ago when she came back to life, she had gone straight to Keivrand.
She didn't want to live like her last life.
Nor did she want to dye it a horrible blood color in this new life she had gained.
With the information she had learned during her time dead she had negotiated with him.
Although she was repeatedly beaten after she had returned home because she had disappeared from the mansion for days, she had no regrets.
Even in her last life he had come to visit on this very same day.
I obediently married Alfred in accordance with Duke Whittle's will. Without even a little protest.
She had no intention of living and dying so pitifully in this life.
This time, I'm going to decide whether I live or die.
Britney suddenly grabbed Iris' hair and pulled it hard.
"Hey, I'm talking to you right now. Aren't you paying attention?"
Only Iris' eyes moved as she looked at Britney.
"Where should your eyes be?"
"Paying attention to my sister..."
Britney punched Iris on the head with her fist.
"Who's your sister? I told you to call me Miss, didn't I?"
When Iris answered obediently, Britney gave a satisfied smile and let go of her head.
"Anyway, the man. I saw him at the party last time. He's seriously fat. His face was dripping with oil. Looking at it, he must be eating well and living well at home. I'm a little worried that you're going to get so fat and oily."
"But who else would want to have a kid like you as their wife? Be thankful and take good care of that man. Okay?"
"Don't be a disgrace to my family, well, I don't know what you can do with your little capability...come to think of it..."
Britney put her lips against Iris' ear.
She whispered in a voice small enough that the maids couldn't hear.
"Your mother was a slut. I'm worried you're going to end up just like her. Your lineage will end with you."
Iris had heard it hundreds of times, so it didn't bother her.
Although she had always ignored it and remained silent, she didn't intend to do so this time.
To Britney who was smiling as if she had said the most wonderful thing in the world, she leaned forward.
And then she whispered into her ears.
"In that sense, the same goes for your father."
Britney widened her eyes as if she couldn't believe what she had just heard.
She was so shocked that her lips twisted like she had forgotten that she should be angry. At that moment, a maid ran in from outside.
"Miss, Miss! Something big has happened!"
Britney asked the maid even though she was annoyed with her.
"Count Green, Count Keivrand Green is here!"
It seemed he had decided to accept the deal.
1. Please report any typos, grammatical/spelling errors, sentences you find weird, and other etc...in the comment section or DM me on Discord at Yasi#9824.