The Gilded Rations of the Ghost Wife
By @john1208
I woke up to the terrifying sound of dirt hitting my wooden coffin. My greedy in-laws hadn't even waited for my sickly body to turn cold before burying me, desperate to steal my winter food rations during the brutal Iron Blossom Famine. Bursting from the grave, I didn't scream or curse. I am naturally soft-hearted, so I simply smiled, forgave them, and gently handed over the rations - knowing full well they contained political contraband that would lead the village militia straight to their door. My tears for them were genuine, but my revenge was absolute. To feed my politically suppressed, brilliantly inventive husband, I unlocked the Ethereal Pawnshop: a magical portal allowing me to sell retro antiques to the modern world for mountains of fresh supplies. Accompanied by Momo, a strange spirit-fox I saved from a trap, I quietly built a hoard of wealth. But my perfect cheat is a sinister trap. Every antique I sell tethers my soul closer to the void, slowly turning me into one of the shop's ghostly exhibits. My husband watches me with a desperate, unspoken love, unaware I am fading. Can I save him from this era without losing my humanity to the pawnshop?
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