Ishtar put her arms around Sasha’s shoulders, embracing her in a loving way.

‘My dear Sasha, are you ready?’

Sasha gulped. She knew that whenever her friend set her mind to do something, she would accomplish it flawlessly. Thus, if her goal was to scare Sasha, Ishtar would definitely do it.

‘I am ready’, Sasha replied, even though she wasn’t ready at all.

Ishtar looked up for a moment and put her right hand on her chin, as if she was thinking hard about something.

‘Let’s see… What story would be scary… Ah, I know! The wife of Carmella’s tale!

‘The wife of Carmella?’

‘You’ll like this one, Sasha. C’mon, put your head on my lap. You’ll be more comfortable that way’.

Sasha did as she was instructed, and Ishtar caressed her light blue hair in a loving way. As soon as Sasha made herself comfortable though, Ishtar began speaking.

The Wife of Carmella’s Tale

The Carmella dukedom is known throughout the Empire for its warm weather and somewhat diverse culture. The people who live there have darker skin, they love to dance and eat the strangest things, such as chicken’s hearts and that weird but delicious cheese bread.

It is also the richest region in the Empire. No one is ever hungry in Carmella’s lands, and they are blessed with rich soil that will grow nearly any kind of crop. Their people are happy and prosperous.

In their biggest city, Claymore, there lived a woman who was known to be the fairest of them all. Her name was Rebecca Aldrich, and she was around 30 years old. The age women are said to be at the peak of their femininity. 

Mrs. Aldrich had long black hair that resembled ebony, and almond shaped eyes.Her skin was brownish and her eyes so dark you could not see her pupils. She was recently married to Mr. Oliver Aldrich, her third husband, who looked like a squid when compared to her but owned a very prosperous publishing house.

The couple was said to be happy, but people whispered about Mrs. Aldrich’s former husbands.

Husband number 1 was also squid-like in his complexion, but owned a successful business, much like Oliver. He died of a strange disease, and Rebecca inherited all his wealth and assets, as they did not have any children.

Husband number 2 was a handsome fellow, and always had many women and men chasing him, even after his wedding. He was also rich, but not as much as Husband number 1, but people said his good looks made up for that. Rebecca was already a wealthy woman, so what else could she desire?

He also died of a strange disease, two years after their marriage. 

What was uncanny about their deaths, people whispered, was that no one had ever seen their bodies. At both funerals the coffin was closed, which was extremely unusual practice for the people of Carmella.

According to Rebecca, it was the first husband’s wish to keep his coffin closed. As for the second husband, his body was in such dire condition because of the disease that she did not want people to see him. 

‘I want you all to remember his handsome face’, she claimed.

People thought it was strange, but accepted it anyway. It was, after all, no crime to keep a coffin closed at a funeral.

And no one had proof of anything.

Humans are drawn to beauty. Rebecca was considered the most beautiful woman in Claymore, so it was only natural that people adored her. In addition, she was kind and gentle, the perfect image of a lady. 

What wrongs could such a lady actually do?

Rebecca was a commoner, and so were her husbands. That made them more approachable than noble folk, who were thought to be cold and distant. Rebecca was always the centre of people’s gossip, good or bad.

Oliver and Rebecca were in their third year of marriage. So far, he had been the one who survived the longest at her side, and some wicked tongues gossiped that it was all due his performance in bed.

Some nicer tongues dismissed such accusations. ‘Mrs. Aldrich could do no harm not even to a fly’, they said.

And so the couple lived, in apparent happiness. The sad part of this story though, is that Oliver actually thought they were happy.