Translator: Nox

Chapter 1

1. Fraudulent Marriage?

‘So this marriage was a scam after all.’

Dust billowed around the duffel bag that had been thrown out of the luxurious porch.

The dispirited sound of it thudding to the ground sapped my energy.

It was because I was only now realizing that even a ducal house could collapse overnight.

“Isn’t this all happening because you came into our family!”

My mother-in-law’s baseless screaming faded like mist in my ears.

‘No, you were the ones who coaxed me by saying it was a perfect match…….’

I’d been deceived.

I’d lost count of how many times I’d been backstabbed since marrying my husband.

“We’re sorry. We should have taken care of the Grand Duchess, His Excellency, and Madam until the end, but if we don’t follow the Emperor’s orders, our lives……”

The butler, housekeeper, and head maid looked troubled, as if they were attending a funeral.

They were truly loyal people.

I couldn’t bring myself to hold them back, so I blankly gazed up at the facade of the historic mansion.

The Brent Ducal House, where I had married into three years ago, had suddenly been shattered.

They lost their title and became penniless.

“It’s all because of brother!”

While the servants were sneaking away one by one, Eloy, my husband’s sister, cried out in a scream.

I slowly turned my head toward where my husband was standing.

As soon as he came into view, I instinctively frowned and had to shield my eyes with my hand.

‘Haa, so dazzling…….’

He was too handsome.

It wasn’t as if he was the only one receiving sunlight, but my husband always radiated light.

That man, who awkwardly hunched his shoulders and was so timid that he couldn’t even properly look his sister in the eye.

My husband had a perfect appearance that made his perpetually shrinking personality all the more regrettable.

A tall height that would make him stand out wherever he went, and broad, solid shoulders as if he were wearing armor.

His skin was dazzling, as if sculpted from flawless marble, and his shimmering, disheveled black hair looked as if it had flowed out of the darkest moonlight.

Above all, what shone was his perfect face, as if transcending humanity.

Even though he had lost his title, mansion, land, and wealth, and was suddenly about to be out on the streets, my husband’s appearance was still as fantastic as if a god had manifested.

‘People don’t really know how much more nosebleeds his bare body would cause because he’s always wearing clothes so tightly covered up like that…….’

“S-sorry. E-Eloy. B-because of m-me…….”

“Brother, take responsibility for everything! Take responsibility!”

As his sister screamed, my mother-in-law sharply shouted.

“Eloy! Don’t worry. Surely our relatives won’t turn their backs on us? How much support have we given them until now……!”

“What? Relatives? Are you talking about those cousins? I’d rather die on the streets than go there and grovel!”

“…….”

My husband hung his head and said nothing.

I didn’t know that there were still things left to be surprised about after marrying that man.

It was going to exceed my imagination again.

‘Oh my god, that person is my husband? How did this happen? Oh, God. Thank you…….’

How surprised I was when I first saw my husband’s face on our wedding day, I nearly jumped out of my skin.

I still vividly remembered how I felt that day, thinking, ‘What a windfall.’

Everything about him on the outside was maddening, especially his lips.

The subtly raised, languid, and slender corners of his mouth, even when he was still, completely captivated me.

But…….

I was probably the only bride who had to feel so much disappointment on her wedding night.

Only then did I realize that I had been scammed into marriage.

My husband had several problems that I hadn’t heard about.

He was a novice in the bedroom, despite his impressive stature.

His fear of women was too severe for it to be his first time.

He couldn’t even properly take off my clothes, let alone touch me, and he even had difficulty making eye contact.

I had to spend my wedding night wide awake, wondering what was going on.

Even after three years of marriage, he still couldn’t move properly inside me.

No, had he ever even been deep enough to move……?

Still, I believed that we could improve if we both tried.

Fortunately, after marrying me, he began to work in every way to fix his condition.

But it all came to nothing, and each time, he was very sorry. At a snail’s pace that required patience.

‘I-I’m s-such a h-hopeless, I-I…… d-dare to b-be y-your h-husband…… I-I’m s-sorry, I-I’m sorry…….’

‘It’s okay, Alex. I-I’m, really, okay……. But by any chance, do you like the same sex?’

‘…….’

Fortunately or unfortunately, he wasn’t a homosexual.

I tried to soothe him, but I was crying inside.

‘Ah, God. Why did you make him a being with such extreme strengths and weaknesses…….’

But the problems didn’t end there.

He stuttered so badly that he couldn’t even say a sentence properly.

I thought it was because he was flustered in front of his wife for the first time, but it wasn’t.

My husband had been a stutterer since he first started speaking.

But I could embrace this much with a feeling of pity.

‘What’s wrong with stuttering? Just like some people aren’t good at using chopsticks, some people can’t speak clearly.’

If stuttering was a disease, wouldn’t there be not a single person on this earth without a disease?

But his father, Duke Brent, regarded him as a severe disgrace to the family.

Until Alex was born, the Brent Ducal House boasted a perfect prestige that no one dared to tarnish.

They were highly regarded as the descendants of the only Holy Knight in the empire, and the imperial palace treated them as a family with a long history and noble bloodline.

As such, Duke Brent was greatly shocked by his son’s condition, which was so different from his own.

‘You are a stain and a disaster on my life and family.’

The Duke, who had been dissatisfied with Alex all his life, did not accept him as his son until his death.

Alex became increasingly withdrawn, unable to lift his head in front of people, and afraid to speak.

When the Duke died three years ago, the Emperor of this empire more openly despised and ridiculed Alex.

Axen, the unprecedentedly violent and cruel tyrant whom no one dared to rebel against.

He had bullied my husband since he was a child, and he constantly harassed and ridiculed Alex by forcibly taking him to social gatherings.

The reason was that Alex, who was a distant relative of the imperial family, had tarnished his honor.

‘Really, it’s a disgrace to this empire that someone as idiotic as you is the head of the Brent Ducal House.’

The imperial family, where one was treated as less than a fly if one did not agree with the Emperor.

The nobles who followed the tyrant catered to his whims and joined in ridiculing Alex.

An old nobleman who had taken Alex’s side even had his arm cut off, so no one tried to protect him.

Alex increasingly blamed everything on himself and couldn’t react at all.

The laughingstock of everyone in society.

Before he knew it, he had become synonymous with a duke who was foolishly kind.

With the disappearance of a fierce and dignified presence like the late Duke, no one feared the Brent Ducal House anymore.

It was fortunate that my husband, who had been humiliated all his life, hadn’t taken his own life yet.

Still, I thought that was all the tyrant would do to harass my husband.

‘Do you know that people change when they receive a shock? I will personally prescribe a treatment for Duke Brent. It’s shock therapy to cure that stuttering. How about it?’

‘…….’

‘I will give you the biggest shock you can experience in your life.’

No.

That’s not it…….

That crazy tyrant had committed many cruel acts, but I never thought he would touch the Brent Ducal House, which had once made the greatest contribution to the empire.

But now that it had become a reality, I deeply felt the tyrant’s cruelty.

The ducal house collapsed overnight.

The tyrant wasn’t called a tyrant for nothing.

\ \ *

‘I don’t want to deal with anyone’s problems! Get lost!’

In the end, after being turned away at the cousin’s mansion, the only place we could go was an inn used by commoners.

As we headed to the assigned room, my mother-in-law ominously sharpened her teeth, and my sister-in-law shed tears.

“I will never forget the humiliation I suffered today…….”

“……How can we sleep in a place like this?”

I looked up at my husband, who had lost his words, with concern.

He was already blaming himself for even the smallest things, so how must he be feeling now?

‘He’s probably fallen into a pit so deep that I can’t even imagine it.’

Ah.

My fate.

I swallowed the dizzy feeling.

Even if we stayed at this inn tonight, what about tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, and the day after that……?

For the first time, I felt a deep sense of doubt about this marriage.

Even if I didn’t know the pleasures that only a couple could share, even if my husband was a nominal duke, it wouldn’t have been so bleak…….

Now he was penniless.

“Alex.”

It was when we entered the small, simple room. I called his name in a low voice.

It was the first time his broad and sturdy back had ever looked so small.

My husband hung his head as if he couldn’t bear to look at me.

His troubled appearance created a profound atmosphere even at times like this.

Wasn’t that what it meant to elevate suffering into art?

His melancholy eyes had deepened, and he was exuding a poignant and painful beauty, as if he were bearing all the world’s tragedies alone.

‘What am I thinking right now…….’

I shook off the fantasies that always captivated me whenever I saw him and approached him. Then I took his arm and gently patted it.

“Everything will be alright. Don’t be discouraged.”

“…….”

At my consolation, my husband’s slender and sexy lips trembled.

He even strained his eyes, desperately trying not to cry.

His weak appearance, which didn’t match his appearance that seemed as if he was the most cold-blooded and strong person in this world, was a sight to behold.

Outwardly, I was comforting him, but inwardly, I resented the Brent Ducal House for deceiving me and ultimately collapsing.

The fact that he was blameless made me resent it even more.

“L-Luise.”

He, who hadn’t been able to say anything until now, opened his mouth. He was still hanging his head.

“I-I’m s-sorry. G-go b-back to y-your h-home c-country. Y-you h-have to d-divorce, d-divorce…….”

“…….”

What?

Divorce……?

Drip, drip.

Thick tears fell from his eyes, wetting the wooden floor.

Just by looking at how much strength was in his Adam’s apple, I could tell how much he was holding back his tears.

It was a weak appearance that didn’t suit his appearance, which seemed as if he was the most cold-blooded and strong person in this world.

“T-that w-way, y-you’ll b-be h-happy-.”

“Alex.”

I cut him off. But I couldn’t say anything because he hugged me so quickly.

What is this? This forcefulness…….

My eyes widened.

“Luise.”

He hugged my shoulders painfully, as if tearing them apart.

“I-If I’m r-reborn i-in m-my n-next l-life…… I-I’ll l-love y-you m-much, m-much m-more…… p-perfectly.”

At that time, I didn’t know everything he was thinking.

I was just dumbfounded to hear the word ‘love’ from him for the first time.

“U-until I b-become a p-perfect h-husband f-for y-you…… I-I’ll b-be r-reborn…… a-and r-reborn a-again…….”

“……”

It was the first time I had ever felt such a firm will from him.

I didn’t know how he was going to become the perfect husband, but I quietly waited for his next words.

My husband’s obsession was strangely sharp and intense.

“S-so I c-can r-revenge t-those w-who m-made u-us l-like t-this…… a-and b-become s-stronger s-so I c-can p-protect y-you…….”

The next morning, he was found in a different room than the one where he had slept with me.

An empty bottle of rat poison was said to be kicked around at the foot of the bed.

Thankfully, he didn’t die.

He just became a little strange……?