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Chapter : 01
Today, the second person Ellieana loves most in the world sold her.
Thump, thump, thump!
Anna was trapped in a moving carriage, banging her fists desperately against the door. But she didn’t have enough strength to even scratch the hard ebony wood. Breathing heavily, Anna looked around. Of course, there was nothing inside the velvet-covered carriage that could break down the door.
‘How could this happen!’
Unable to control her anger, Anna slammed her hand hard against the window frame. Her delicate hand quickly turned red, but she didn’t even feel the pain.
A little while ago, Count John Everkline had persuaded her to meet an investor together. It was late at night, and she didn’t want to go since the investor was the notorious Marquis Nomen. But John insisted the meeting place was a crowded salon and begged her, saying if she didn’t go herself, the Marquis might withdraw his investment. If they didn’t get the investment, they’d be in trouble right away, so Anna had no choice but to follow John.
“But then you locked me up?”
As soon as Anna sat in the carriage, John locked the door from outside. Then he turned the horse and sped down a dark back alley. Anna pounded on the door and shouted in surprise, but no one cared.
Anna was terrified.
‘Is he really going to give me to the Marquis Nomen?’
The Marquis Nomen was a notorious nobleman rumored to slice his wives’ flesh and eat it with wine at night, called a pervert and a cannibal who had already killed six wives. He was the richest man in the east of the empire, but with such creepy rumors, who would want to marry him?
Now that she thought about it, the Marquis once sent a marriage proposal through John. Anna had refused, and when the Marquis quietly backed off, she thought it was over. But…
‘What if he didn’t really give up? What if he only stepped back for a while, waiting for the right moment because I refused too strongly?’
She shivered at the thought she might become his seventh wife. Anna started hitting the window lock like crazy. The back of her hand and fingers became a mess, but she didn’t care, determined to break the window.
The strong lock finally creaked, then clicked and opened. Anna quickly flung the carriage window open.
It was a pitch-black night with no moon. All she could see was the dark wasteland—it felt like she had entered hell. But gathering her senses, she noticed the carriage was heading toward a faint light in the distance.
‘Where am I?’
Anna leaned out the window, grabbing her wind-blown hair, and stared hard at the place getting closer. It was hard to see because of the shaking carriage, but she recognized the brightest sign.
‘Snow Lily… Oh no.’
A single white lily painted on the side of the building—like a flower blooming alone in the darkness.
Everyone in the empire except newborns knew this place—Lily Street, the only red-light district in the capital.
‘He’s really going to sell me here?’
Humiliation burned inside her, and her hand shook as she held the window. She wanted to throw herself out right then. If her face was ruined by the sharp stones on the ground, maybe the perverted Marquis would give up on her.
‘But if I did that… he wouldn’t recognize me, either.’
Her vision blurred with tears, but when she blinked them away, the sign was clear again. Anna clutched her chest and swallowed her grief.
They were getting closer to the destination. Anna took a deep breath and looked up at the black, moonless sky.
The color black always made her think of someone she missed. But she shook her head to clear her thoughts.
‘Get it together, Ellieana. Only you can save yourself now!’
Her blue eyes, like the sea, sharpened with determination.
The person Ellieana loved most in the world left her five years ago.
As soon as the carriage reached the alley, the door was yanked open. The servant’s eyes widened at the broken window. For a moment, he was impressed by the fragile noble girl, but then he grabbed Anna with his dirty hands and pulled her out of the carriage. Anna resisted with all her strength, but the servant, a former thug hired by John, was too strong.
“Let me go!”
As soon as her feet hit the rough, broken street, Anna shook off his grip. The servant shrugged and stepped back. Looking around, she saw five or six men surrounding her, as if they had been waiting. Anna bit her lip, holding back her anger, when suddenly a familiar voice spoke from behind her.
“You arrived safely.”
“!”
She turned in surprise. John was hurrying toward her along the main road through Lily Street.
“Father…”
Snow-white hair, a strong, well-dressed body, and the youthful look of a man in his late forties—John was Anna’s stepfather, who raised her alone after her mother died.
Seeing him brought all her humiliation and betrayal back. But she had to stay calm.
“Why did you bring me here? Don’t you know where this is?”
Anna spoke as calmly as she could. John answered shamelessly.
“Anna, when have I ever done anything bad to you? It hurts me that you suspect your father.”
Anna felt a headache. She forced her anger down and lowered her voice.
“Did you find Mr. Machi? The estate manager?”
“He’s hiding so well, I just can’t catch him.”
John looked pitiful, then started persuading her again.
“That’s why we have to get this investor, or our family will be ruined. You understand, right?”
“Is he really an investor?”
Anna frowned, suspicious. The Marquis was infamous for more than just eating his wives.
“Of course! The port he owns in the east brings in massive cargo every year. He’s one of the three richest men in the empire!”
John smiled at his daughter, showing yellow teeth.
“All those rumors are just lies. I met him myself—he’s a true gentleman. How could I send my beloved daughter to a monster?”
Looking at his twisted smile, Anna shivered. John still looked attractive on the outside, but his eyes and expression had completely changed, as if he was seriously ill. He looked fine on the outside, but inside he was rotten like a bad apple.
Seeing him so ruined, Anna’s feelings for him died, and she wondered how things had turned out this way.
“…Let’s go.”
Surrounded by men, Anna turned away helplessly. John hurried to walk beside her, praising the Marquis’s fortune endlessly. Anna bit her lip and glared at John.
‘It’s not over yet. If it’s come to this, I’ll face the Marquis myself and refuse him.’
Thinking this, Anna walked firmly over the wet stone street.
Surprisingly, the street was quiet. She wondered why the notorious red-light district was so silent. But as soon as they left the main road, orange lights shone from every window of the buildings on either side.
Shadows danced in the glass, each lost in wild acts. Men moved roughly over women’s bodies, and women bent in all kinds of ways clung to the men. Anna felt like she’d fallen into a kaleidoscope of indecent images.
“No one would expect to discuss important business in a place like this.”
John’s eyes gleamed as he watched the show. Anna stayed silent, not wanting to answer his nonsense.
After walking for a while, a girl standing in front of an old stone building saw them and ran over. She wore a faded dress and a fraying apron, and her eyes were deep and quiet as she bowed to them—really, to Anna. Then she turned and led them inside.
The entry was smaller than a commoner’s home. The girl led the way up creaking wooden stairs. John, Anna, and a couple of his men followed. The candles on the wall flickered ominously.
They walked down a dusty, colorless carpeted hallway.
At last, the girl stopped in front of a door with a rusty red handle.
Creeeak. She opened the door and quickly lit a candle on the wall, revealing an empty room. Relieved, Anna let out a short breath.
Suddenly, John grabbed her shoulder and neck tightly and shoved her into the room.
