Reincarnated into a Failed Marriage I’m always Vayne

The mont those words left Callista's lips, Seraphina snapped.

Without hesitation, she closed the heavy oak door shut.

The lock clicked audibly, sealing them inside.

"Explain yourself nicely." she demanded coldly, spinning on her heel to face Aric.

"What's your plan here? The toy? 'Spread your legs'? Was that all necessary? Especially make her climax right infront of and Evelyn? Did you develop so weird fetish now alongside with the legal contracts?"

Aric t her gaze steadily. He took a deep breath, steeling himself for what ca next. For once, he didn't flinch under her wrath—instead, he stood tall, his grey eyes reflecting a mix of pain and resolve.

"You want an explanation?" he began quietly,

"Fine. Let spell it out for you. First, I rember everything—or rather, I know what you've told about how much sha Callista brought upon you. How I supposedly cheated on you with her. So, I decided to return the favour. Humiliate her in front of everyone, make her lose control and make her like a dog. After all, isn't that what she thrives on? Domination? Manipulation? Well, guess what? I showed her she's nothing compared to you."

"Second." he continued,

"I wanted her to pay us back for all the damage caused and reverse the debt. One note. With that money, we can start paying off the smaller debts or pay off the Crown Regent. We now have five notes: four from Thorin and one from her. If you want to keep those notes and strengthen the estate, fine. Use them however you see fit. But if you do that..."

He shrugged carelessly, though his eyes burned with intensity.

"You should use . I'll sell my inventions to every debtor, settle everything—including the Royal Treasury loan—and then leave this estate. No strings attached."

Seraphina stared at him, stunned into silence by the sheer audacity of his words. Evelyn, who had been lingering near the doorway, exchanged a glance with her mistress, clearly unsure whether to intervene or remain silent.

Finally, Seraphina found her voice.

"You manipulated everyone to your advantage, my reaction, Borin coming in, Callista's pride and used it all in this negotiation? You weren't this smart when I married you but you sure as hell are manipulative."

Aric laughed bitterly, the sound hollow and broken.

"Yeah, well, if this is manipulation, then I must be terrible at making you get off my fucking back. Because even when I told you I woke up a month ago with no mory of whatever I am, which I did by the way. You don't believe . You hurt . You degrade . You can't even call your husband without looking like you want to kill ."

His voice cracked slightly as tears welled up in his eyes,

''So seriously, I'm doing us both a favour here. I'm offering to finish all the debts and then leave—with no strings attached. I won't even ask for a divorce since that's apparently a political power play in our world. Or if you prefer..."

He tilted his head mockingly, exposing his neck.

"You can kill right here, right now. Publicly, if you prefer. Whatever helps you sleep at night."

Seraphina stepped closer, her shadow tendrils snapping dangerously around her. She jabbed a finger into his chest, her voice rising until it filled the room.

"Don't act like you're so noble martyr, Vayne! You think this changes anything? That throwing money at our problems will magically erase everything you've done? You turned House Arkwright into a laughingstock. You may have clear one debt but the damage is far more than just money. Lives were lost. Reputation sunk and dignity was gone."

Ah. I'm so fucking done with this. Aric said to himself, unknowingly using Vayne's persona.

Her nails dug into his skin, drawing blood, but Aric didn't flinch. Instead, he grabbed her wrist firmly and locking his eyes onto hers.

"No matter what I do, I'm always Vayne to you." he said through gritted teeth,

"No matter how many tis I try to fix things, no matter how hard I work to undo the damage, no matter how much technology I make, how many soaps I do, how hard I try to undo this fucking body damage, none of it matters to you.''

''I'll always be the monster who ruined your life. And you know what? Fine. Call whatever you want. Hate all you need to. But don't stand there pretending I haven't tried.''

''Don't you dare act like I haven't spent every waking second trying to make this right! Don't fucking act like I haven't told the truth a million fucking tis that I'm not Vayne."

Tears stread down his cheeks now, unchecked and raw. mories of his old life flooded back, each attempt at redemption t with failure, each effort to prove himself dismissed as futile.

Ah, I'm venting but I can't stop. I'm so tired of all the na calling, head slapping, petty kicks the entire month I was here. Aric told to himself bitterly while Ivy didn't dare to intefere.

He's using Vayne's persona right now. Ivy thought as she scrambled through the library to find an answer.

She grabbed a book about 'Essence' and flipping through it.

I think Aric is accessing Vayne's core personality. Can that even happen?

"So tell , Seraphina—what do you want from ? Is abusing supposed to numb your suffering? Does hurting sohow ease the pain you carry? Do you want to bully in front of the staff? Make them hate more? Degrade ? Punish yourselves? I'm asking you sincerely—what the fuck do you want?"

His voice broke on the last word, raw and desperate. He released her wrist, letting his arms drop limply to his sides. His entire body sagged under the weight of his emotions.

"Every day, I wake up knowing I'm responsible for horrors I don't even rember committing. I don't sleep at night rembering your words and everyone's faces. Every ti I look at you, I see the hatred in your eyes—the disgust. And maybe I deserve it. Maybe Vayne does. But I'm not him.''

''I've never been him since the day I woke up. I have no mory of his and I'm telling you again, that I'm stuck in this goddamn body. Yet you refuse to see that. You refuse to listen to and you refuse to acknowledge that I've done nothing but try to fix this ss while enduring your constant abuse."

He turned and walked toward the door, his steps heavy with exhaustion. He wiped angrily at his tears, as he turn his face back towards her,

''God I wanna tell you who I am and what I was before, how I'm just trying to make ands but you won't listen to and I'm not going to force you to listen to . If you have an answer or any question, you know where to find .''

He gestured vaguely toward the vibrator,

"And since you're probably wondering how I made that vibrator—it's Creation Magic. The way my magic works is whatever I can think and understand, I can manifest it. If you want to add another insult to the list, go ahead. Call a sex-crazed maniac too. There—now I've given you ammunition."

Without waiting for a response, he opened the door softly, closing it behind him with a quiet click that echoed through the tense silence.

Seraphina looked genuinely confused. She opened her mouth to respond to Aric's rant but hesitated.

What could I have said? How do I even know you're telling the truth? You who woke up a month ago into your own body, have no mories of the cris you did yet you made all those inventions while being a completely different person.

You made Callista pay us back and reverse the ownership back to . But how do I even begin to believe you? Listen to you?

I have tried for 2 years in our entire marriage. Supporting you to be sober, to stop your degeneracy but you went ahead and destroy that by cheating on with Callista and then you spiral out of control. Abuse, breaking your sobriety, gambling...

How can I even do that when you bear the face of a monster? But how can I divorce you when all you did was try to solve all the debts you created? Are you even Vayne?

Instead, she simply stared at the closed door, her icy exterior beginning to crack ever so slightly.

Evelyn approached cautiously, her expression softening as she observed her mistress's turmoil.

"Your Grace… perhaps it's ti to reconsider."

Seraphina shook her head, her voice barely above a whisper.

"How can I? Everything he says… it contradicts everything I believed about him."

Evelyn interjected gently, "But it explains so much. Since his amnesia, has he shown any sign of being the man you despise? Has he acted selfishly or recklessly? Or has he only tried to repair what was broken? This Vayne even said he 'woke up' and found himself in this body like so sort soul swap."

Seraphina sank into the chair, covering her face with her hands. Her breathing grew erratic, torn between anger and guilt.

"But what about the pain he caused ? The humiliation? The betrayal? Am I supposed to just… forgive him?"

"No." Evelyn replied firmly, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Forgiveness isn't about forgetting. It's about letting go of the poison festering inside you. Holding onto this hatred—it's destroying you, Your Grace."

Seraphina started to sob uncontrollably, clutching Evelyn's dress tightly as though afraid to let go.

''Forgiving could be apart of your journey, Your Grace. If that man is really not Vayne, it would explain so much as to why he could create all this technology, how he is smarter than the man we know and why the dwarves like him so much.''

''Perhaps it is ti to listen to him. Start small, you don't have to believe him but please, try to at least hear his story. The hate within you now is eating you.'' Evelyn concluded as she rubbed Seraphina back and hugging her.