Bang—

At the pounding noise, Ivona furrowed her brow slightly. The feeling of being forcibly woken from the sweetness of deep sleep after so long was unpleasant. But the flurry of footsteps storming into the Northern Tower, practically abandoned, was ominous.

‘…What’s this?’

The lingering drowsiness vanished the moment she saw the enormous bathtub entering through the door.

“Move faster! Are you planning to spend all day on just this?!”

The one standing firm like a tower in the center of the room and shouting was the castle’s head maid. Though Ivona was illegitimate, she was still technically above her in status. Yet the way she raised her voice showed not even a shred of respect for her superior.

Ivona suppressed her displeasure and pulled the blanket to cover herself. Even bringing male servants into a grown lady’s chamber, the head maid showed no hesitation. 

She’d never expected to be treated as a superior, but wasn’t this too much?

But her indignation was forgotten in surprise the moment she saw what was being brought in. Behind the large porcelain bathtub, maids lined up carrying all sorts of bathing supplies and fabrics. 

As steaming hot water was poured into the tub, the shabby room grew warm with sweet fragrance.

It was the most luxurious treatment she’d experienced in her life. Yet to Ivona, the clinging fragrance felt like the devil’s touch.

‘Child, you must never defy your father!’

Even drawing her last breath, her mother had desperately warned Ivona. She didn’t know why that final image came to mind now. Her mother had never once carried such an expensive scent.

Her mother had no name. And she spent her life watching her father’s moods in fear. Afraid of going against his temper, afraid of being abandoned by him.

To young Ivona, that was never love. Yet her mother took her daughter’s hand and locked herself in the tower. All to follow her father’s will.

‘…He wouldn’t do this without reason.’

To Marquis Castillia, money was his life and heart. The father who just yesterday threw a tantrum about things not going his way was spending money like this overnight? 

It must mean whatever the Marquis had been anxious about was resolved.

For example, the marriage with Mutheira.

‘But he didn’t want the Young Master…’

A terrible premonition gnawed at her entire body. Surely he didn’t persuade them into marriage by switching the partner to the Young Master’s father?

But her thoughts couldn’t continue long. The head maid reached out with rough hands.

“Aah—!”

The hands that grabbed her arm and dragged her out of bed like livestock held not even a shred of respect. The moment the blanket fell away, Ivona trembled reflexively at the cold piercing her entire body. But her ordeal was only beginning.

“Wh-what…!”

The maids surrounded her and stripped off her nightgown. She hurriedly looked around—fortunately, no male servants were visible. But Ivona’s cheeks burned with shame at her nightgown, so worn it had torn under the rough handling.

Regardless, the maids moved like machines. Their hands, eyes downcast as they soaped and quickly scrubbed, were emotionless. The rough handling, like washing old laundry, left her completely dazed.

“No, stop, I can do it my… Kyaa!”

But escaping the maids’ hands with such feeble resistance was nearly impossible. In the blink of an eye, her body was rinsed and she was thrown into the tub like tossing a plate. 

Suddenly doused with hot water from the head, she screamed involuntarily.

“Kyaa—! It’s hot!”

But not a flicker of emotion crossed the faces of the maids efficiently taking their positions. 

At this point, Ivona grew frightened. Along with the sensation of her throat constricting, her shoulders hunched.

Even if she tried to flee, the maids who had already taken position holding each limb had gleaming blades in their hands. 

They were just tools for trimming nails, but to Ivona, cowering without understanding, they were terrifying. A large shadow fell over Ivona’s head. It was the head maid.

“…Tsk, looks just like a broom.”

The head maid finally spoke after meticulously examining her entire body like inspecting the quality of goods for delivery. Her tone was utterly rude. 

But stripped n*ked and intimidated, Ivona had no presence of mind to point that out. The head maid, gripping the hair hanging outside the tub, shouted toward the door.

“You!”

A maid wearing a deeply pulled bonnet rushed over, and she threw what she was holding at the maid.

“Comb it until it’s smooth enough for a fly to slip on. If you can’t make it soft by today, you’ll go hungry.”

By today. At those words, Ivona’s ears perked up. What reason could there be to make Ivona presentable so urgently? Ivona quickly turned her head toward the head maid.

“I say, what is all this about?”

But instead of an answer, she received a cold, contemptuous stare. The head maid’s lips curled up slightly, seeming to ask: What would the likes of you do with that knowledge?

The old Ivona would have bowed her head and retreated at just that look. But this time she couldn’t. Wasn’t her safety at stake? Ivona forgot her fear and asked again.

“I’m asking what this is about. Why…”

“…The Marquis’s orders.”

The head maid cut her off and threw the answer, then turned her head sharply away. Then she shouted loudly at the maids.

“Move faster! There’s a mountain of work to do—are you planning to spend all day on just this?! Finish quickly!”

At the shout, the maids’ hands moved faster. They swiftly stood Ivona up and draped a robe over her. The head maid, monitoring the maids filing out with sharp eyes, glanced back.

“…Still not finished?”

At the end of her gaze was the maid holding the comb. At the flinching presence behind her, even Ivona felt like shrinking.

“I-I’m sorry.”

But it wasn’t the maid’s fault. Ivona’s hair, neglected for so long, couldn’t be fixed with just a few strokes of the comb. The head maid sighed deeply enough to sink the ground and shook her head ostentatiously.

“Tsk, can’t be helped. Stay up all night if you must, but make that hair soft. And you…”

Still, the head maid was never one to accept losses.

“Since you’re skipping today’s work, you’ll have to do double tomorrow!”

“Y-yes!”

As soon as she heard the answer, the head maid turned and left the room. Peace and foreboding rushed in together, like a small storm had swept through. At that moment, the maid combing her hair from behind called to Ivona.

“Miss!”

“…Rona?”

Startled by the familiar voice, Ivona turned to the maid like clinging to her.

“What is all this? Why is Father suddenly providing all this?”

Rona couldn’t answer right away. Her cheek, biting her lower lip tightly, was slightly swollen. At that sight, the anxiety that had been rippling grew even higher.

“I-I don’t know for sure, but it seems your marriage has been decided, Miss. Orders came down to the kitchen to prepare for an unscheduled banquet.”

“What?”

Ivona didn’t know how to react. Just two days ago, hadn’t he turned this room upside down saying Mutheira refused the marriage proposal?

And now so easily? 

Just seeing how the Young Master held his nose high made it clear persuasion wouldn’t be easy. What method could he have used to flip things overnight like turning over a palm?

‘Rather, if the Young Master is powerless, from the start to the Border Duke…’

Her father’s muttered voice echoed ominously in her ears. Rona’s uncertain voice broke through the memory.

“I think it’s in 7 days. I’m sure! The head maid complained about not knowing if she could get food ingredients by then.”

“7 days…?”

The plump face of Border Duke of Mutheira she’d seen from afar naturally came to mind.

‘Surely, I heard his wife is still alive…’

Even for someone in a position to marry without complaint as ordered, wasn’t this too much? A man who had a wife and a son around her age.

Shocked, her vision went white and she couldn’t keep her eyes open. Along with pain like a skewer piercing her head, she felt tears flowing down her cheeks. 

She felt everything spinning and her body collapsing, but she couldn’t control it. She felt small hands urgently supporting her.

“M-Miss!”

But for Rona, who had a similar build to Ivona, even supporting her wasn’t easy. Sitting down together was the best she could do. Her sobbing voice seemed to be crying out something, but it didn’t reach her ears.

‘Useless rabbit!’

Her father’s voice, repeated like a habit, echoed in her ears.

‘It’s not like I wanted to be born a rabbit…’

Though not her own choice, her birth was a sin. Useless Ivona, unable to help, only able to repay by marrying as her father ordered.

An incompetent rabbit.

But she hated it. Ivona had feelings too. Though she’d always held her breath and never dared speak them.

She hated it. Her father who always frowned when he saw Ivona, her incompetent self. 

The Young Master of Mutheira who made rude demands at the first meeting, treating her like a tool. And the shameless Border Duke of Mutheira who would gladly marry a woman young enough to be his daughter.

But what method was there besides obedience? A chill running down her spine made her shoulders shrink involuntarily. Ivona had already once defied her father’s orders and fled. 

And the result was utterly miserable.

Her mother, dragged out like a beast, cared only about Ivona’s safety. Calix, who had merely helped her, was dragged away like a dog.

‘You must never defy your father!’

Until her last gasping breath, those were her mother’s only words. The fear carved into her soul felt like iron bars strangling her entire body.

Yet she was angry. Her mind desperately searched for a method. Even if it was true there was no way, she didn’t want to submit meekly like her mother. The moment focus returned to her unfocused eyes, one name came to mind.

‘Calix…’

It was such a good method, absurd that she only thought of it now. She didn’t even harbor the vain hope that he might make another reckless attempt for her sake.

She just wanted her first time to be with a man she felt even a little favorable toward. Even if that too was an excessive wish for her circumstances.

Besides, now that she thought of it, she quite liked that it was the situation her father would least want. 

While habitually denouncing her as a useless rabbit, the Marquis was obsessed with Ivona’s virginity. Enough to lock her in the tower as soon as she started her first period.

She knew well now that this obsession wasn’t based on affection. Rather, it was closer to managing defects in goods to be sold expensively. In Alvidion’s noble houses, a bride’s purity was none other than proof of being ‘new.’

In other words, it was also what the Marquis would least want right now, with the marriage he’d so desired right before his eyes. 

Ivona losing her virginity and accepting some random man the Marquis hadn’t chosen.