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CHAPTER 01
“Your Highness, Please Become My Husband ”
The rain was pouring so heavily that she could barely see in front of her.
Serena wiped away the rainwater streaming down her face with a numb hand.
Only then did her vision clear.
She stared silently at the enormous ducal mansion in front of her and let out a faint sigh rising from deep within her chest.
“Ha….”
Even a small breath made her entire body ache as though it might shatter.
She lifted her thin arm, as if it could break at any moment, and clutched her side.
The pain flared more intensely than usual. Serena bit her lip tightly, swallowing the groan that tried to escape.
For a moment, she could still hear her father’s furious voice ringing in her ears.
‘Do you even understand what you’ve done?!’
The beating had started the moment he threw the documents at her.
Ringing ears notwithstanding, Serena smiled faintly.
Her silver hair, usually flowing like rippling water, now hung messy like a broomstick. A smile on such a disheveled face looked almost eerie.
‘I’ve heard His Majesty intends to impose sanctions on casino operations. Do you understand what you’ve done now?’
Five years of trouble wouldn’t shake the duchy itself—but the Emperor’s irritation was clearly being taken out on her.
She was simply the convenient target.
She had been hit, but she didn’t mind. This was all part of her plan.
Watching him rage like that was rather satisfying.
Perhaps because she had been standing in the cold winter rain for so long, her body swayed.
Now even her teeth were chattering; her body was screaming that it could not endure any longer. Maybe she should have trained her stamina more.
Though she tried to distract herself with irrelevant thoughts, the pain spreading through her body was anything but mild.
Her thoughts soon broke apart, and she let out a faint groan.
Normally, they would have stopped at this point and sent her inside—but this time, her father seemed far too angry. It did not look like she would be let in gently.
“Ugh—”
Her vision spun, and her body tilted. The world blurred as if it might go dark at any moment.
And then it happened.
A man appeared.
“Your Highness.”
Even through the rain that swallowed sound, he must have heard her call, because he turned to look at her.
A man dressed entirely in black. From head to toe, he was cloaked in darkness. If this were a battlefield, he would have been called the Grim Reaper himself.
Yet there was something different about him. His face was twisted, as though he might cry at any moment.
“Your Highness… do you feel like it today? Do you feel like marrying me?”
Diego, the man, looked at Serena—bruised and swollen all over—smiling brightly despite her condition.
He wiped rain from his face with a black-gloved hand.
For a moment, he said nothing.
“…Lady.”
He tried to speak but closed his mouth again.
She looked like a fragile glass doll covered in wounds, as if she would shatter at any moment.
He abruptly removed his cloak and draped it over her, covering her thin ivory dress soaked by the rain.
Serena silently accepted it. A faint light entered her eyes.
Good. Just as planned.
He didn’t say it aloud, but by covering her with his cloak, he was effectively accepting her proposal.
“Your Highness.”
But she needed to hear it in words.
As she urged him again, Diego bit his pink lips slightly.
“…Very well.”
“You’ve made the right choice. I will place that beautiful and noble position in your hands.”
Serena whispered those words into his ear with a voice trembling with pleasure, almost ecstasy, then collapsed into his arms.
Diego wrapped his cloak more securely around her so no more rain could touch her, then lifted her into his arms and began to walk.
It had been one month since Serena began her strange yet passionate courtship toward him before he finally gave his answer.
It was an ordinary day.
Her father, who despised her, and her younger sibling, who enjoyed teasing her endlessly.
Even if their gazes were cold, the father was still the first family she had ever known, and the troublesome younger sibling still called her “sister” obediently despite all the teasing.
“You can’t even handle a single bit of mana and you’re useless like this!”
The Ashik Ducal House was a lineage of mages. But as fewer children were born, her father had taken in an illegitimate child—Serena.
“I-I’m sorry….”
So she had to do well. That alone should have been enough to be grateful for.
‘Don’t forget—your mother’s life depends on you.’
Those were the first words the Duke had said to her when she arrived at the mansion.
She still remembered them clearly. They taught her what harsh reality meant.
Once again, she had failed to control her mana. Why?
She could use it perfectly when alone—but the moment someone was present, it stopped working.
Yet she needed magic to have value.
She felt anxious. Restless.
Click. Click.
“You can’t even fix a simple habit. Tsk.”
At her father’s sharp tongue, her mind snapped back.
She had been clicking her nails again—another habit formed after coming to the ducal house.
“I’m sorry….”
She bowed her head deeply, voice trembling.
To ten-year-old Serena, her father was enormous. Terrifying.
He threw the report in his hand at her.
‘My child… I’m sorry.’
Endure it for her mother.
Clenching her tiny fists, Serena kept her gaze lowered.
Her mother suffered a rare illness that caused periodic coughing of blood as her organs slowly decayed.
Treatment and medicine were extremely rare and expensive. Their family, already struggling to afford food, could do nothing but watch her slowly die.
Then the Duke appeared.
If Serena came to the Ashik House, he would provide her mother with treatment and medicine.
If it meant saving her mother, she could endure anything. That was why she came.
“Get out. I can’t stand the sight of you.”
The Duke, unable to contain his anger, spoke coldly.
Then added,
“I may have to reconsider your existence.”
No—that might be worse than anger.
If she lost his attention, she would lose everything.
“P-Please! I’ll try harder! Give me another chance!”
“I already gave you enough chances! You wasted them all!”
“I’m sorry! Just one more chance—please!”
“Enough of this!”
Thud.
Something struck the ground. Her vision darkened.
“Ah….”
She staggered but did not fall.
She forced herself to remain upright, face drained of all color.
If I cry or collapse here, Father will think even less of me.
Only legitimate children of the Duke and Duchess were allowed to cry or cling to him.
Illegitimate children were not worth such care.
She swallowed her pain.
Her exhausted body trembled, but she bit down hard on the inside of her cheek.
She had to endure.
After some time, the Duke finally spoke.
“Fine. That expression is at least passable.”
For a ten-year-old barely holding herself together—that was the best she could hope for.
“Excuse me.”
She lifted her skirt slightly in a perfect noble bow.
The Duke thought idly:
Even if she doesn’t become a mage, I can marry her off. Her looks aren’t bad.
His anger cooled slightly.
“Very well.”
Just as she reached for the door—
BANG.
The door flew open, and someone forcefully entered.
“Ugh!”
Already dizzy, the impact of the door against her back sent pain through her entire body.
“Father!”
“Oh, our Klaus is here.”
Through blurred vision, she saw the Duchess looking at her with cold disdain, as if at something filthy.
She hurriedly bowed, but the Duchess turned away.
Through the closing door, she saw them—a warm, happy family. Loving parents and their son.
There was no place for her.
As she turned to descend the stairs, her body suddenly tilted.
Pain exploded through her body.
Her vision spun.
When she finally opened her eyes again, she saw a chandelier above her.
“Ah…”
And then—
Something impossible entered her mind.
Memories that did not belong to her forced their way in, and tears she had long suppressed began to fall.
“For God’s sake… no….”
If this memory was true, then this world was inside a book—and in that story, she would die miserably.
“That can’t be… it can’t….”
But she could think no further.
The impact from her head and the fall overwhelmed her.
As distant voices of servants echoed, Serena’s vision went completely dark.
