Everything hurt.

Marie felt like she had been run over by a truck.

There was an Otomate fandisc that she had specifically ordered from Japan that wasn't available overseas, and likewise she started walking to her university's mailroom when she got a SMS notification that an international package had arrived. Somehow, she had been crossing the street when...

...wait a minute.

What the heck was a 'truck'? 'Fandisc'? 'Japan'? 'SMS'?

These were all unfamiliar words.

Why did they pop up inside her head...?

Marie groggily pulled herself up on an enormous and luxurious bed. She winced as the bruises and welts all over her skin stung as she shifted positions, but the massive downy quilt that blanketed her body was as fluffy as a cloud. The room was extravagant and ornate — as if it belonged to a king who inhabited the palace at Versailles — which for that matter, she technically (kind of) was.

Marie was a duchess.

She was married to Hector von Mabraec, fourth prince of the royal family, the legendary hero, and the savior of humanity who slew the former Demon King. In the last year, he was also newly appointed as the Duke of Calpagne, and they had moved into the lavish manor that formerly belonged to one of the wealthiest dukes in the entire kingdom.

The bed in the master bedroom was five times larger than a normal king-sized mattress, and their bathtub was actually an entire swimming pool. For reasons Marie didn't quite understand, the previous duke had also built a hidden passageway in the bedroom that led underground to a private dungeon, which initially confused her when they first moved in because she didn't understand why anyone could possibly want a creepy dungeon connected to their sleeping quarters.

...Although thanks to Hector, she gradually learned it's intended purpose... but truthfully she wished she hadn't known that such disturbing things existed behind the scenes in the questionable world of the rich and powerful.

Marie winced as she gingerly touched a bright red welt on her midsection.

Her head pounded, and everything still hurt.

Her husband had gone much harder than usual the previous night. It was becoming too much for her to bear, and every night in the past week had been more intense than the last. A month ago, it had only been a little bit of spanking, and Marie was almost fine with it, but things were rapidly growing more and more alarming.

Hector didn't even stop when she asked him to anymore.

In the beginning, Marie had only assumed that her husband had a mild fetish, and she was willing to entertain his fantasies because she loved him. She was the type of woman who was willing to try everything at least once, and moreover a little bit of harmless spanking and blindfolds during sex didn't really seem all that bad.

However, now Marie was deeply concerned.

There was something wrong with Hector.

He was too different.

She sensed it in his eyes.

It was like a dark shadow had fallen over his brow, as if he was possessed by an evil spirit.

This couldn't possibly be the same man that she loved in her youth and subsequently married. Marie knew Hector too well for that, and she instinctively knew that her real husband would never do anything that would actually harm her.

Her immediate suspicion was that he was enchanted. In the Royal Academy, Marie had learned that there were many magical enchantments that could affect the mind, and dark magic was notorious for having insidious psychological spells that could slip by most people's notice. In world history, there were many instances when kings were enchanted by their evil stewards, witches, or other scheming traitors. Only the most talented sorcerers could detect and reverse these spells, but they were rare and hard to come by.

There was a Great Wizard who lived in the capital, and Marie wanted to consult him for his expert advice.

The problem was that she somehow needed to convince her bewitched husband to travel to the royal capital.

Until then, she had no choice but to quietly bear these evening torments...

Their political situation was rather sensitive.

As a young ducal couple who had recently gained their titles and taken over this duchy, Marie absolutely had no desire to cause a political scandal with her husband. The local peasants did not yet trust their new lords, and the two of them had a lot to prove. It would be disastrous if the public found out that Hector was enchanted and beating his wife at night. The damage would be long-lasting and affect their reputation for many years. At worst, they could even be stripped of their titles, and Hector could be disowned from the royal family. It would be a lot better if she could quietly cure her husband of his affliction before anyone noticed anything was wrong.

The silver-haired woman sighed and bit her lips.

Marie never imagined that she'd have to deal with a bizarre situation like this.

She was reluctant to talk to anyone about it.

She gingerly stood up and limped over to the bathroom.

There were no maids or attendants for the master suite. Marie had sent them away weeks ago, mostly out of fear that they would gossip. Part of it was also that she had grown up as a commoner, and frankly Marie was more comfortable dressing and washing in her own privacy. She never quite got used to the aristocratic habit of having dozens of servants at beck and call, and likewise Hector was an elite warrior well-accustomed to independence while on war campaigns. Neither of them liked having countless servants nearby, and Marie genuinely enjoyed some of the household chores such as cooking and gardening.

Since cleaning magic was easy enough to use, it actually wasn't entirely necessary to employ that many servants. Most aristocrats liked to have dozens of maids and butlers purely to show off their wealth and style. Furthermore, it was traditional, although Marie resented pointless aristocratic traditions such as always having six full sets of forks and knives at the dining table for each person, even if it was just a casual midday snack with only a single course.

Marie activated the spell that turned the hot water on, and soon a small magical waterfall was refilling the swimming pool.

The silver-haired woman sat down on a stool and examined her bruises.

Fortunately, she was a healer, and she was very talented at light magic.

Marie graduated at the top of her class in the Royal Academy, and she had an extensive pool of mana. Years ago, she had been famous for her massive wide-area healing spells, and she could easily heal and buff hundreds of people at a time. She could also cast the extremely rare resurrection spell. Although commoners generally did not attend the Royal Academy of Magic, the headmaster recognized her enormous potential and brought her to the academy.

Unfortunately, she did not have affinities for any type of magic except the light element, so she was not very versatile. In comparison, her husband Hector had affinities to six elements, and most of their friends who had joined them on their adventure had two or three elemental affinities.

The heroine was silent as she ran her healing hands over the marks of her nighttime injuries.

The evidence rapidly faded away and the pain disappeared.

It only took a few minutes, and then her skin was perfectly flawless and unblemished.

This way, she wouldn't get any weird questions when she went out to start her day.

She felt conflicted, distressed, and agitated.

She also felt alone.

These days, it was difficult to deal with her husband.

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