Once, Cordelia had been the only daughter of one of the most prestigious noble families in the southern region of the Hadrian Empire. Everyone eagerly declared that she had been blessed from the moment she was born.

Not only did her family boast over 300 years of illustrious history, but their wealth—sustained by vast hills and fertile agricultural lands—allowed Cordelia to enjoy a life as luxurious as that of any princess.

And her natural beauty was the most defining feature of her perfection.

With milky-white skin, an elegant and slender face, finely balanced features, and a slim yet shapely figure. Her violet eyes, adored by the people of the Hadrian Empire, were made even more striking by thick, lush lashes that gave her an air of refined nobility.

Her lustrous hair, the color of warm chestnut, seemed to carry the very warmth of her homeland.

She was the very image of the “Hadrian Rose,” the phrase used across the Empire to describe a woman of unmatched native beauty.

Though tragically, she lost her father at a young age, there were no male heirs in the immediate or extended family. Thus, she became the sole heiress.

Whoever married her would also inherit the expansive lands of the Count. She was, in every sense, a golden rose come to life.

Cordelia had known from an early age that, by others’ standards, her life was “perfect.” And so, she had also come to realize—just as early—that she had no right to complain.

“How long do you plan to keep playing the noble lady, Cordelia Hastings? Hm? Come be my wife.”

“Let go of me. I’m here to care for your children.”

He was at least ten years older than her late father, and his eldest child was the same age as Cordelia herself.

If she became the second wife of a man like that, just imagine what people would say.

But at her rejection, the man’s eyes gleamed with greedy hunger.

“You don’t want to? Then you’d best leave this house immediately. And just so you know, I’ll make sure no one hires you again as a tutor. I’ll spread the word that you tried to seduce me in my bedroom—a filthy little tramp.”

“……!”

“Your family fell, didn’t it? Then you ought to come to your senses and learn to obey.”

Cordelia came to understand just how brutal a punishment the fall of her family was for a single woman with no living relatives in the world.

At that time, she had only two choices.

To become the second wife of that vile man and live in disgrace or to succumb to the unrelenting pressure of her creditors and take her own life.

But just as Cordelia was cornered with nowhere left to turn, an unexpected third option appeared.

The son of the Duquesne family, a powerful magnate from the New Continent, came to a city near where Cordelia was struggling.

When Lucas Duquesne began hosting golden, extravagant banquets, people her age swarmed to him. And one of those invitations eventually found its way to Cordelia as well.

‘Should I go?’

What good would it do? Who would care about a woman drowning in debt…?

But the pressure around her grew more suffocating by the day, and Cordelia found herself unable to endure it any longer.

She gave in to a desperate instinct for escape and attended Lucas’s banquet. Even if only to find someone who might hire her as a governess or lady’s maid.

She never wanted to recall just how wretched she’d felt that night. Wearing a borrowed dress meant for one of the children she taught—how ridiculous she must have looked.

The dress had a ribbon on the shoulder, sweet and lovely, but when she wore it, she looked like someone desperately pretending to be demure.

Especially in front of Lucas Duquesne—radiant with wealth, confidence, and success. There were even rumors that his mother had noble blood.

He was, in every way, a living embodiment of golden salvation.

And that very man held out his hand to her, when all she wanted was to fade into the background in her shame.

“Would you honor me with a dance, Lady Hastings?”

Bathed in the glow of a magnificent chandelier, the man looked dazzlingly beautiful. And even after that night, he invited her out a few more times.

In the Empire, such an invitation from a man to a woman was no different from a proposal.

And with every meeting, Cordelia found herself more and more drawn to the man—his unwavering confidence, the devilishly crooked smile, the way he spoke with wit and charm.

If a man like him were to truly consider her as a potential bride… she knew she should be on her knees in gratitude. She understood the position she was in.

But when the proposal finally came, all Cordelia could feel was the overwhelming guilt of going empty-handed to a man she genuinely liked.

She had fallen far, but what little pride and decency she had left still clung to her.

“Mr. Duquesne, I’m ashamed to admit it, but I have no assets to bring as a dowry.”

The whole time she spoke, Cordelia kept her gaze fixed on the ground. She wore shoes a student of hers had outgrown, and patched over her worn everyday dress to hide the fraying.

She had taken pride in the fact that she was repaying her debt through honest work but standing before Lucas then, her hands ached with the weight of shame.

“I still… have debts to repay. Marrying me would bring you nothing but my family name, and everything else would be a loss for you.”

“Lady Hastings, lift your head.”

As she hesitantly looked up, Lucas gently took her hand. Even when she flinched, he held her firmly, pressing a soft kiss to the back of her hand.

It didn’t even touch her skin and yet the brush of his lips sent a shiver through her whole body.

“Do I look like the kind of man who would calculate dowries when I’ve fallen for a woman?”

He had smiled so brightly then. That boyish, radiant smile—she couldn’t help but fall in love.

“Come to me just as you are, Cordelia. Only you, nothing more.”

After that, Lucas effortlessly cleared her remaining debts. He took her away from the house where she had been working as a governess and organised her move to the New Continent.

Cordelia crossed the ocean for the first time, sailing on a luxurious passenger ship with Lucas by her side. Even as the Old Continent disappeared behind them, she never once looked back.

Was she not afraid to leave everything familiar behind?

Of course she was. Even after arriving, it had been difficult. The high society of the New World was dazzling and wealthy, but without noble titles, its members had looked upon her, a noble from the Old World, with thinly veiled jealousy.

The unfamiliar land, the unfamiliar accent, the territorial nature of the Eastern elite… Even when it all felt overwhelming, Cordelia chose courage again and again.

Because she loved her husband that much. Not just because he had saved her from an even worse fate.

***

The good memories were like lights softly blurring on a carousel, beautiful, yet fragile.

But once she reached the end of those memories, only the cold truth greeted her again.

Her beloved husband had deceived her. The fall of her family, their marriage—it had all been part of his plan.

“Do I look like the kind of man who would calculate dowries when I’ve fallen for a woman?”

‘That’s what you said…You said you’d fallen for me.’

‘And just when I finally found the courage to say I love you. How could you… How could you deceive me like this and walk away as if it meant nothing?’

Her gaze fell on her wedding ring and her heart sank further still. If only it weren’t so dazzling! The pink diamond sparkled far too brightly, as if mocking her.

Only then did the tears, frozen by shock, finally begin to slide down her cheeks. She couldn’t cry out loud in case someone outside heard her.

It wasn’t until she forced the painfully brilliant ring off her finger that she could finally curl up and sob silently.