In the early dawn, four armored knights clung to the sides of a carriage, racing fiercely westward.
Their purpose was twofold: to guard the esteemed person inside and to keep a watchful eye on the woman who had been captured as his prey.
Trapped in the carriage, the hunted prey, Edith Lowell, tried to break free with desperate hope.
『 I must find a way to escape before I reach the Viscount’s manor… Please.』
However, due to the ropes tightly tied around her wrists and ankles, her skin was the only thing that hurt, and there was no sign that she could escape from the carriage.
And it also seemed impossible to get rid of the knights right now.
Then, the man in the high seat opened his mouth, breaking the silence inside the carriage.
“Yes, Edith. It must be disappointing to be caught without being able to put up a fight.”
“…”
Edith kept her lips sealed and glared at the man in front of her.
The grinning man calling her name in a husky voice is Nicholas Fortrion.
He was the man who became the lord of the Viscounty of Fortrion and the owner of a vast property due to the sudden death of his older brother.
While he had gained immense wealth and a title, he had become infamous for his insatiable lust and incompetence, which had been slowly deteriorating the estate’s management.
“I may not look good at the moment… But once you arrive at my estate, you will come to appreciate the honor of being my fourth wife.”
Nicholas chuckled with delight, his amusement growing as he observed Edith’s expression darken with each passing moment.
“When fathers can’t repay their gambling debts, their daughters often end up being sold to even worse places. However, thanks to me, your future is guaranteed. Shouldn’t you be grateful?”
Edith, unable to remain silent any longer, spoke for the first time after being caught after trying to escape.
“That man is not my father. He’s my maternal uncle, and I have no obligation to pay off his gambling debts.”
Her voice trembled with deep resentment.
Her beloved parents had passed away a long time ago, and her maternal uncle, who had never even seen her, had squandered her inheritance through gambling.
The anger within her had been building up until that moment. And as if that wasn’t enough, when her uncle found himself in danger of being killed by loan sharks due to his unpaid debts, he resorted to taking money from the estate and selling Edith off.
He truly was a madman.
“I won’t use the money I earned as an assistant at the clinic to help my uncle. It’s my personal savings.”
“Personal savings? Edith, don’t tell me you still want to be a doctor like your mother?”
“…..”
“Don’t have foolish thoughts about preparing for the academy entrance exam or pursuing useless things. Just use your average appearance to find a good marriage. That’s all you need to do…”
Edith couldn’t help but inwardly laugh.
Last year, she successfully passed the Imperial Academy Medical Admission Test, a test her uncle had failed repeatedly despite receiving all kinds of support from her mother’s family for seven years.
『 Moreover, marriage?』
Edith had never imagined anything like marriage, except when she was in love with a boy who stayed briefly at her house.
She knew that dreaming of a comfortable home in her unfortunate circumstances would be poisonous.
『 I had planned to save up money until this year and start studying immediately…』
The Viscount Fortrion, whom she had never met before, arrived at her house accompanied by his knights.
As he prevented her from escaping, he examined her closely, as if inspecting the quality of an article, and it made her feel disgusted.
Her parents, the Baron, and Baroness Lowell, instilled in her the minimal dignity humans must uphold, even when they had fallen and lived no better than commoners.
However, Nicholas showed no interest in the story of a woman who had been sold.
“What can you do? Even if you resist and rebel, the situation won’t change.”
His large hand forcefully gripped the fabric of her clothes and began tearing them apart.
“Let go of me!”
“That’s right. You must rebel, Edith.”
As Nicholas lunged towards her with a menacing look in his eyes, the thin necklace she had been clutching fell to the floor with a thud.
Edith’s gaze fell to the ground.
Nicholas, who had a keen sense of reading people’s expressions, quickly made a judgment.
“Edith, it seems like this shabby necklace is your most cherished possession.”
“…”
“If you want to protect your precious belongings, do not resist and listen to me. This cheap trinket could break underfoot at any moment.”
Edith bit her lip, suppressing her tears.
She trembled, unable to bear the humiliation. She refused to display submission to him.
The Viscount’s grin widened at her attitude.
“Yes, that is how it should be. I will let you know little by little how much I have searched for you after you became my wife.”
“…!”
Edith fiercely twisted her body, preventing his hand from running through her body.
It felt as if she were being struck on the head every second.
Due to the death of the previous Viscount at the hands of his wife, the current Viscount refrained from involvement with women. Rumors suggested that his only interest lay in watching them.
However, contrary to the rumors Edith had heard about the monster in front of her, his eyes were shining with desire.
Even in a speeding carriage, a true nobleman would refrain from engaging in such despicable acts. Yet, it appeared that he lacked even the slightest shred of dignity.
“Let go of me!”
He was a depraved man consumed by a sexual obsession that extended throughout his entire domain. This realization only fueled Edith’s desperate determination to escape.
Every time his wrinkled hand touched her, it sent chills through her entire body, as if insects were crawling on her.
Despite the sensation, she tried her best not to cry.
He was someone who would take pleasure in her tears.
『Oh, Mother. Father. If you are watching from heaven, please strike down this despicable man.』
With teary eyes, she looked at Viscount Fortrion, pleading earnestly.
Thud―!
A loud noise hit the roof of the carriage.
Caught off guard by the unexpected situation, Nicholas flinched and cried out.
“What’s happening!?”
“M’lord! We should escape! There are assassins…!”
Whoosh―
Before the knight could finish his sentence, a sharp object sliced through the air, followed by the sickening sound of the flesh being pierced.
The decorative curtain of the carriage was instantly stained with blood.
“Ugh…!”
The Viscount staggered as if struck by a fatal blow.
In an attempt to protect herself, Edith quickly stepped to the side, allowing his head to slam into the hard wooden chair.
Thud―!
As she had hoped, the Viscount crumpled to the carriage floor with a dull thud.
──────────✿◦•
After the Viscount fell bleeding, everything turned into a mess.
The horses, startled by the disturbance, thrashed about, causing the carriage to rock violently like a ship in a storm.
The two knights who had been restraining her were stabbed to death.
With her limbs bound, Edith lost consciousness as the carriage was half overturned.
Following that, her memory became a blur.
“Uh….”
Edith groaned, attempting to rise.
Judging from her clear consciousness, her head seemed not injured.
She opened her eyes and cautiously surveyed her surroundings.
Moonlight filtered through the crevices in the brick walls, indicating that a considerable amount of time had passed. Unfortunately, her ankles remained tightly bound by multiple layers of cloth.
『 Where am I? I’m certain the Viscount didn’t order me to be moved.』
If he had sustained a critical head injury, it would undoubtedly have affected his brain function.
Nicholas Fortrion would be, at best, a vegetable, and there was a high probability that he would die instantly.
『 As long as the Viscount is in critical condition, I will be of no use to him.』
Because he had acquired her for his own purpose, it seemed even more likely.
Thus, she pondered if there was a way to escape this absurd situation and return to her normal life.
She began to harbor hope.
❀.°• ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ •°.❀
