A Paradise So Tender

Lanthe did not want to become the wife of Gebimond the Butcher.

She did not want to marry the mad king who destroyed her homeland and slaughtered her foster mother and neighbors.

Though she survived, her life as a doll wrapped in jewels and dresses was far from happiness.

She longed for the peaceful forest village where she used to eat wild roots and hard bread.

She wanted to go back. She wanted to escape.

Even if it meant risking her life.

“…Oh angel,”

Even with a prayer born of disbelief,

“The daughter of the paradise you protect calls to you.”

She threw herself into the arms of a being she could not discern as either an angel or a monster.

And when she came to her senses again…

“Vigo?”

Somehow, the boy who had disappeared ten years ago had grown into a man and saved her.

Children in the village had claimed to have seen him dragged away by a wicked witch.

“Are you really Vigo…?”

It was undoubtedly him—her favorite childhood friend.

The small, lovable boy she had cherished.

“If you’re grateful, thank your fiancé. He promised me 20,000 krones to save you.”

But he was no longer the same.

He had grown into a large, strong man, now the lord of a vast estate. And…

“That man isn’t my fiancé! He’s a madman who killed my mother and destroyed our village!”

“So what?”

His eyes and tone had turned cold.

“He only killed ‘someone else’s mother.’ He didn’t m*rder his own family, did he? I hear he treats his woman well. That makes him a decent husband, doesn’t it?”

Vigo seemed to have changed completely, not just in appearance but in his very nature.

“You hate him because he’s a murderer? Are you looking for a clean man? It’s hard to survive here if you’re so picky, Lanthe.”