Chapter 1 The Devil Husband
Sometimes she was Del. Sometimes Delph.
But most of the time she was just Delphine Pembroke.
“Del, try these raspberries. They’re delicious.”
Her loving mother always called her Del.
“My daughter, Delph. I’ve bought a pony for you.”
To her father, she was Delph. Until she was eight years old.
From then on, he called her Delphine Pembroke.
“Delphine Pembroke. Look at your father.”
That’s when she started taking imperial etiquette lessons in earnest.
Whenever she couldn’t hold a knife straight by the time she was nine, or hadn’t memorized her manners by the time she was ten, her father would say, “Delphine Pembroke,” with a stern glare.
“They say she’s going to be the most beautiful girl in the empire, and as a father, that makes you greedy.”
At the social party, people gossiped.
Her father was a member of the venerable Earl of Pembroke’s family, but he was far from imperial.
He would often go to imperial banquets, clad in extravagant jewelry that he could not afford, and return home insulted.
The more he did so, the more tyrannical her father became, and the more murderous the atmosphere in the mansion became.
Especially after her mother’s death.
No one called her Del anymore, not even Delph.
Her only solace in the midst of it all was the lowest commoner slave in Pembroke mansion.
“Young Lady…, are you happy in this mansion?”
The cheeky, strange, but very beautiful slave boy who used to ask her that.
“Young Lady.”
Delphine snapped out of her reverie at the sound of his voice calling her.
Anna, her nanny, entered her room with a knock. She looked puzzled.
“What’s the matter?”
“Well, I thought you should know, Young Lady. Ioannes is in the hall now. With master.”
The suddenness of the news stunned her for a moment.
“…What?”
“Why, the one who disappeared before. Dirty blond hair, brown eyes.”
Of course she knew.
It was she who used to rub medicine on the beaten slave boy’s back and visit him from time to time, seeking comfort from him.
Then, three years ago, on the day her engagement was announced, he suddenly disappeared from the mansion.
Nothing had been heard of him since.
“You mean Ioannes is in the hall now, with my father?”
“Yes. I don’t know what happened either, but I happened to be passing by and saw there, and I don’t know, it was Ioan with him.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes. You don’t see many people looking like that.”
…But why didn’t anyone inform her of his visit?
It was also odd that Anna, rather than Wilson, the butler, had brought the news.
Delphine glanced at the clock on her desk.
Four thirty-four in the afternoon.
An odd time for a visitor.
“Let’s go… first.”
“Yes.”
Delphine walked slowly down the hall with Anna in tow.
“Young Lady. Where are you going?”
Wilson, who was overseeing the cleaning in the corridor, asked in a friendly manner.
“Ah, Wilson. I was wondering if you had heard anything about a guest in the hall?”
“A guest?”
He looked puzzled. So did the cleaning crew.
“The hall is only accessible through this corridor, isn’t it? We didn’t see anyone.”
“…What’s going on?”
Anna wondered if she was looking in the wrong place.
The people behind her were also wondering if they had made a mistake.
Let’s just check it out.
Lightly, very lightly, Delphine pushed open the door to the hall.
Inside the spacious hall were two men.
Her father, who had the same red hair as her, and a man who stood beside him.
Ioan, she was right.
He had his back turned, but she recognized him at a glance.
That particular dirty blond was not a common color, though he seemed to have grown even more imposing in height and build over the three years.
Delphine felt a rush of mixed emotions at the sight of him, both glad to see him after so long.
Why did he suddenly disappear from her sight, she thought he was dead, where was he, what was he doing?
She was thinking as she looked at his broad back.
Suddenly, Ioannes struck with his longsword.
The next instant was a blur.
She heard an eerie sound she’d never heard before, and something fell to the floor.
It was a head with red hair like hers.
