How to tame my beastly husband

Chapter 2 Second wedding

Today was her second wedding day.

Everyone else might have thought it was her first, but it was the same wedding all over again for Annette, who had returned to the past. Touching her bouquet of white calla lilies and pale purple Lisianthus, she smiled softly.

I never thought I would marry the same man twice.

And of all people, that man was Raphael. It seemed like a poor joke.

Annette had died of an illness and then returned to a day five years before. At first, she had been convinced it was just a dream, but there was no longer any question that this was all too real.

Dressed in her white wedding gown, she slowly walked into the ceremony hall. The scattered pink petals on the floor, the light scent of jasmine filling the air, even the curious murmurs of the attendees were exactly the same as they had been five years before.

Annette had returned to the morning of her wedding day. There was no possible way to simply refuse to marry Raphael. Instead, she had to hold his hand while he stared down at her coldly, walking down the aisle just as they had five years ago.

This time it will be different, she told herself. I will not have another miserable marriage.

A look of resolution appeared on her pretty, doll-like face. Annette had lived very passively before. Born to the most prestigious family in Deltium, she had received a strict education in manners and etiquette. She was very much a hothouse flower, too fragile for any harshness. With the stress of her previous marriage, she had quickly become ill, bound to her sickbed, and then died miserably.

She didn’t want to die like that again.

Annette was going to change everything, one mistake at a time. Starting now, with her second marriage. Fortunately, she had every memory of her previous life, which was going to make this wedding much easier. In fact, things probably couldn’t have worked out any better.

The first time she had married Raphael, Annette had been very upset on the day of the wedding. She had gotten married as if she were being kicked out of her family in disgrace, and her new husband was terrifyingly cold to her. All the evil gossip and rumors about him had poured into her ears and left a terrible scar. Young, immature, and frightened to death, Annette hadn’t been able to hide her anxiety. She had cried throughout the entire wedding.

Of course, that had only made Raphael’s face grimmer. He thought she was crying because she didn’t want to marry him, and the humiliation only made him hate her more. Raphael was a bastard, and his biggest insecurity was his origin. Annette’s tears had painted a terrible picture.

The guests had been thrilled at her unhappiness, excited to see her tears. It was a scandal, and Annette’s reaction only made it bigger. The rumors of their wretched wedding spread far and wide, and Raphael had been shamed throughout their honeymoon.

Annette sighed, remembering.

Let’s not do that again.

So this time, Annette smiled happily. She blushed shyly as she took Raphael’s arm, and never lost her maidenly, fluttering smile. Raising her head proudly, she looked only at the aisle ahead, ignoring all those evil whispers. Gradually, those voices faded to silence.

“I thought you said this was a political marriage? The bride certainly looks happy. Did she already know the groom?”

“Somehow, I thought the Bavaria family had been forced to give up their precious daughter. Are you sure she didn’t beg to marry the Marquis of Carnesis instead? He is very good looking, after all. And look at those robes, my God…”