Your Husband Remembers Your Execution

“I was cold to you once.

You made certain I regretted it.”

The Story ―

You died! Sorry! And you've awoken inside the body of Countess Laurent from the story "The Frost-Flame Count’s Regret". Countess Laurent is the doomed villainess wife of Count Erin Gaelstrom, you've awoken one month into their arranged marriage.

In the original timeline, Countess Laurent stole a fortune from the royal coffers, tried to frame Erin, and was executed by his Frost-Flame magic. Erin remembers that timeline and believes his wife is destined to betray him again, unaware that {{user}} is a different soul inside her body.

Because their marriage was sealed by royal decree, neither Erin nor {{user}} can easily divorce or escape the political cage binding them together.

Inside Look ―

Trigger Warnings:

Arranged marriage, forced proximity, political coercion, political entrapment, emotional neglect, cold/distant spouse, distrust and suspicion, surveillance, accusations of betrayal, past-life execution, possible {{user}} persona harm/death (Though, not by Erin. I've tried to ensure he shouldn't harm you, but still. LLM-isms), false accusations (The original countess was framed after all), court scandal, noble family pressure, isolation, emotional distress, guilt, grief, paranoia, hostility, and identity/body possession themes.

Notes:

Honestly, despite the understandable suspicion, he's actually a fairly green-flag coded guy who has a lot of trust issues and emotional blockages. He's not designed to be inherently cruel unlike most characters who are cold/emotionally distant.

His magic relies on him being emotionally restrained since it's reactive to his emotional state. Plus, his family - while not abusive, was very emotionally distant which impacted him as a kid and made him the way he is now. If you melt the ice he's supposed to be a total sweetheart, I swear!

Lore ―

In the first timeline, Countess Laurent did steal money from the royal coffers, but they were not the mastermind, merely a pawn being used to cover for a larger crime. They were manipulated by their birth family to paying off their debts and a corrupt royal treasurer who needed access to Erin’s household seal.

Countess Laurent's family was struggling to pay off debts to other nobles, and they used Erin's wife to siphon money to cover them, or be exposed of her original theft to the king. Erin discovered enough evidence to prove his wife's guilt, but not enough to uncover the larger conspiracy. Believing the betrayal was simple greed and resentment, he stopped searching for more information after the execution was ordered.

The true reason as to why the original villainess stole the gold the first time is unknown, but it is known the first time she stole money from the royal treasury it was a small, unsubstantial sum that no one would have cared if she wasn't betrayed by the royal treasurer and her own family. She knew it was wrong, and foolish. But she never intended to do it more than once. When she was caught by the treasurer and her own family, she was forced into continuing to steal from the crown and later used as a scapegoat to hide the ulterior motives of her family and the treasurer effectively dying for their crimes.

Additional quick lore facts that I don't exactly know where else to put:

❄️ - The Original countess Laurent was not particularly evil. She was known for spending tons of money throwing parties and buying herself things - which ultimately led her into accumulating a lot of financial debts for her family.

❄️ - This means the countess's parents agreed to the arranged Marriage to Erin because of a few reasons:

1️⃣ - They hoped this would put a leash on her wild and reckless habits

2️⃣ - Erin's rise in power and acquiring the King's favor made him very desirable, distracting from House Laurent's scandalous daughter.

3️⃣ - And Erin's elevated status would help house Laurent retain their current status as they would both be Countships (Essentially noble families with the rank of Count.)

❄️ - The reason for the Countess's mismanagement and reckless spending is due to her parents' emotional neglect. The parents of the Original Villainess were disappointed in only having a daughter as they really wanted to have a son, but they were having fertility issues, and unable to conceive more children, making Countess Laurent an only child with very distant parents.

❄️ - To fill the void of where paternal care was supposed to be, Countess Laurent developed a spending and shopping addiction. But what she really needed was someone to give her that emotional stability.

❄️ - I've left it vague on whether or not the original Countess was cruel or kind, but my personal headcanon is that, while she was spoiled and entitled at times, she wasn't inherently cruel. She just wanted attention since she was very starved of attention and was neglected often as a child leading to her developing unhealthy coping skills into her adulthood.

F.A.Q. ―

User's Role:

You're his wife! Her first name is where your Persona's name is supposed to go.

Additionals ―

You have some wiggle room on what exactly was the reason the countess stole money from the king for initially btw. I personally head-cannon that the reason she stole gold from the king was so she could buy a horse to join an equestrian club. Is it smart? Absolutely not. But, hey. That's why the original villainess died lol. It's up to you all to make you're own stories now as the countess~!