Chapter 1
What words could describe this moment?
To some, it would be incomprehensible, and to others, a shock.
“…You…”
To her ‘ex-husband,’ Cedric, who was pointing at her in astonishment, it was surely a combination of both.
But Belle didn’t pay him much attention; instead, she glanced around the room.
It was a novel experience to stride into the main building of the Rothiers mansion—where she hadn’t dared to set foot in the past.
“…Didn’t they say you were dead? No, more than that… Ian, why is Belle with you?” asked the Duke of Rothiers, with a look of utter confusion.
Ian, equally puzzled, asked back.
“Huh? Do you know her?”
“What…?”
“I may have left home long ago, but I’m here to introduce the person I want to marry.”
The Duke’s face twisted in disapproval.
“What do you mean by that? Marriage? Surely, the person standing beside you isn’t your intended partner?”
“And why not?”
The Duchess, who had been blinking in utter bewilderment, soon clutched her forehead and collapsed with a scream.
“You… you… do you have any idea what kind of person she is…?”
It made sense, given that Belle Agrita was none other than Ian Rothiers’ eldest brother, Cedric Rothiers’ deceased ex-wife. And here he was, planning to take her as his own wife.
This was a family mess if there ever was one.
—
A fallen noble family.
Their position was perhaps even lower than that of a royal family. Yet the Agrita Count family somehow managed to cling to the Bernou Empire for survival.
Back in the Aven Kingdom, they were related to the royal family, which allowed them to carry crucial information with them when they fled to the Bernou Empire—or so it was believed.
Of course, Belle, who had always been the obedient daughter, never knew what that information entailed. Still, it enabled them to maintain a noble lifestyle even in exile.
Belle, compliant as always, understood it wasn’t right, but she never dared to go against her father’s plans.
“Marry him.”
She’d been raised to obey all her life, so even marriage was something she had no choice in; her father had arranged it.
To solidify their position in the Empire, they needed a strategic marriage to uphold their noble name.
“Is there really a nobleman willing to marry me…?”
She knew well that the stigma of being from a fallen kingdom would follow her like a shadow, even if they had successfully become citizens of the Bernou Empire.
She had practically given up on marriage.
“Of course there is. And it’s the eldest son of the Rothiers Duke family.”
“What?”
The Rothiers Duke family?
It was the illustrious ducal family of the Bernou Empire, renowned for their unmatched contributions in the recent war with the Aven Kingdom. Belle had even heard of them back when she lived in Aven.
But why would they…?
“Hold on, if he’s the eldest son, isn’t he already married?”
“He’s a widower.”
“…”
Of course.
Though her shoulders slumped in disappointment, her father had no intention of letting go of this opportunity.
“If you make this sacrifice, we’ll be able to secure a solid place in Bernou. It’s the Rothiers family, even if it’s a second marriage.”
“…Did they agree to this too?”
“Naturally. I used the information I brought to secure an engagement with them.”
What information could he have sold?
But fearing her father’s wrath, she couldn’t bring herself to ask and simply lowered her head.
“This marriage was arranged back when we still lived in Aven. The only difference is that it’ll happen here in the Empire. And with the eldest son of a duke, it’s certain you’ll become a duchess one day. For us, it’s a risk-free deal.”
She hated it.
She had always known she would end up in a strategic marriage, but even she had her own dreams.
And now she was being sent off like a mere commodity.
Her father treated her as a product, emphasizing again and again that this was a golden opportunity, reminding her that no one else could save their family but her.
Being a noble from a fallen kingdom was already enough to be looked down upon, and yet they insisted on establishing their position like this.
“…What if I refuse?”
Slap!
Before her words could finish, she was struck across the face.
“Ah!”
Belle gasped, clutching her cheek, her face twisted in pain as she bit her lip.
“Do you really think I’m offering you a choice right now? It’s frustrating how you can’t understand even when I’m being nice. You just have to do it.”
The answer was predetermined.
“What kind of person is he?”
With her spirit crushed, Belle asked while keeping her head down, prompting a scoff from the Count.
“Why ask unnecessary questions?”
The Count, cutting off her inquiry, instructed her not to go outside for a while, as she would need to manage her public appearances before the marriage, and then he left her quarters.
However, the more she learned, the more she realized that being the Duchess of the Rothiers family was turning out to be worse than she thought. The eldest son, Cedric, was notorious for being a serious gambler and a lecher.
His reputation was already in tatters, and if he inherited the Duke’s title, it was widely believed that the Rothiers family would fall apart swiftly.
Although he was the eldest son and it was a foregone conclusion that he would inherit the title if time passed as it was, the succession wasn’t finalized yet. Thus, he was referred to as a sub-duke, but he wasn’t an official one. This meant that he could still be displaced at any moment.
The problem was that the second son, Ian Rothiers, also had a longstanding reputation as a ne’er-do-well. In fact, he was often pointed at as even more of a disgrace to the family than Cedric. She had heard vague rumors that he was a tremendous troublemaker in a different sense from Cedric.
It was said that he lived as a wanderer, and although he was rarely seen, Belle didn’t know the details.
Anyway, while the Duke was an outstanding figure, it seemed he had failed miserably when it came to raising his children.
But just a few days later, Count Agrita had his subordinates pack all of Belle’s belongings.
Then he immediately announced that they would be moving into the Rothiers family mansion. Belle was bewildered since it had only been a few days since he mentioned marriage.
Moreover, they expected her to live in the Duke’s residence without even having held a wedding ceremony yet?
“Belle, take care of yourself.”
“Father. No matter what, this is…”
No matter how much she protested, she knew it was futile.
Without any prior interaction except for exchanging a few engagement letters, her marriage was being arranged at breakneck speed.
There would be no grand wedding ceremony; they had decided to skip all events entirely. The reasoning was that since the groom was a widower, there was no need to spend money on a lavish event, and the Count had agreed to this stance.
“Don’t complain. You’re no longer an Agrita. They say that a daughter becomes part of her husband’s family as soon as she marries. So if you die, you’ll die as a ghost of Rothiers. Forget your life as an Agrita.”
Thus, Belle was loaded into a carriage without even getting to wear a wedding dress.
—
Though she had expected it, her married life turned out to be even worse than she had thought.
Harsh treatment in her new home, a reckless husband, and even a friend who was having an affair with her husband. The friend had been the only person she could trust after being sold off to the Rothiers, making the sense of betrayal all the more unbearable.
Moreover, Belle found herself without a place in society simply because she was from a fallen noble family.
The Rothiers family background did not help her at all. Instead, she was mocked as a traitor.
With everyone around her tormenting her, even the little spirit she had left was drained away, and Belle lived like a living corpse, with her eyes wide open.
“You dirty wench! Didn’t I tell you to stay out of my sight?!”
Today again, her husband Cedric came home drunk, spewing curses and ordering her to get lost.
“You ruined my life! Thanks to you, the King is pushing for a marriage with someone like you, and I’ve lost everything!”
He constantly lamented that if he had married a daughter from a powerful family, even if she was a widow, he would have been declared the heir long ago.
The rumors of Ian being a ne’er-do-well had been circulating for years.
Even after being estranged from the second son for so long, the Duke still had no intention of passing his title to Cedric.
This meant that Cedric’s behavior was at fault, but he refused to acknowledge it. No, perhaps it was simply easier for him to blame others.
“You worthless woman! How dare you be so stiff, you traitor from a fallen kingdom!”
As she endured his verbal abuse in silence, something shifted when Cedric, unsteady from drink, placed a hand on Belle’s shoulder. Suddenly, a bizarre scene flashed before her eyes like a vivid memory.
“…What if we just kill her?”
“What?”
In a rather luxurious bedroom, two naked figures were sprawled on the bed. Belle recognized both faces well: one was her husband, Cedric, and the other was Deloni, the friend she had trusted.
Deloni Bore, the daughter of Baron Bore, had approached Belle without hesitation when she first arrived in the Bernou Empire as a refugee, having lost everything and married Cedric.
Though a baron, Baron Bore was known as “the cleaner of the nobles,” holding a rather high position within society. He dealt with all sorts of dirty work—be it murder or cleaning up after the exploits of wayward nobles.
In short, Deloni, the daughter of a cleaner, and Belle, from a family of traitors, formed quite a compatible pair. Of course, none of that mattered to Deloni when she had approached Belle, and Belle was simply grateful for the companionship because she had felt so lonely. She had never expected to be backstabbed in such a way.
“Let’s just kill her, then.”
The two were not merely speaking carelessly; they had taken on serious expressions as they plotted together.
“If Belle dies, won’t the position of mistress be vacant? We can just bring in someone useful for it.”
Deloni’s eyes sparkled with ambition, believing wholeheartedly that the position would become hers. Even if people mocked her for being the cleaner’s daughter, Baron Bore was an important figure in their circles.
Cedric, for his part, seemed to think it was not a bad idea.
“…Well, I’ve been living with that boring woman for two years; it wouldn’t be a loss if she disappeared. Nor would it be for my father.”
“Exactly?”
“Haha, Del, that’s a brilliant suggestion. I was tired of her expressionless face; I felt like I was going to die from the shame of being pointed at everywhere I went.”
The two of them exchanged amused glances and laughed heartily together.
