‘I’m doomed.’

In the old carriage heading toward the royal palace, Prelia bit her fingernails.

“My lady, it seems the carriage wheel is about to come off. We need to slow down.”

The middle-aged butler, driving in place of a coachman, spoke with a trembling voice.

The royal knights, who were accompanying them under the pretext of escort but actually monitoring them, fidgeted impatiently on their horses.

“I understand, butler. Don’t push too hard.”

Prelia answered as calmly as possible to reassure the butler.

However, as the creaking sound of the old carriage wheels grew louder, her anxiety increased accordingly.

Squeak.

The sound of the carriage wheels barely rolling over small stones resembled the sound of her joints that hadn’t been used for a thousand days.

“My lady, please don’t worry too much. Everything will be fine, just like the miracle of your resurrection.”

Jane, sitting across from her, tried to soothe Prelia’s anxiety while stopping her from biting her nails.

“I’m not worried. So Jane, don’t worry either.”

Prelia forced a smile and rubbed her hands, turning her gaze to the carriage window.

‘I just need to get through today safely.’

Prelia was on her way to attend the “Flower Festival” in her homeland, the Principality of Peltra.

Originally, the Flower Festival was quite a romantic day when women of marriageable age publicly proposed to men they were interested in.

When a woman designated a man at the Flower Festival, the two would become engaged and then have a year to get to know each other.

After a year, if either party was unwilling, they could break off the engagement.

But today, all the women attending the Flower Festival were likely heading to the palace with the same miserable feelings as her.

‘Is this the reward for sacrificing my life to protect my country?’

Looking at the devastated capital through the window under the sunset, Prelia clenched her fist until deep marks formed on her palm.

She had died in battle against magical beasts one thousand and ten days ago.

Shortly after her death, the former king of her homeland started a war, taking advantage of the turmoil in the Aslan Empire’s royal family.

But the war ended three months ago with her country’s defeat.

‘They say the Grand Duke prostrated himself before the Aslan Empire’s crown prince, begging for mercy while offering the former king’s head and the royal seal.’

Three months ago, the crown prince of the Aslan Empire’s Mukro Knights stormed the capital.

The current Grand Duke, who was the commander-in-chief of the army at that time, killed his half-brother, the former king, and personally opened the palace gates.

‘They say the Aslan Empire’s crown prince endlessly mocked the Grand Duke.’

The Grand Duke reduced himself to a duke, turning the country into a vassal state.

Additionally, he personally offered ten noblewomen and five hundred commoners to the Aslan Empire as spoils of war while begging for his life.

‘They call us fiancées, but we’re nothing more than spoils of war.’

The Aslan Empire’s crown prince said he would take the women under the pretext of engagement, but from the women’s perspective, it made little difference.

‘How many women could protect themselves while staying in their fiancé’s home in a foreign country with no one to rely on?’

Even if they broke off the engagement and returned home, noble society would only look coldly upon women who had lost their purity.

‘I must give my token to the most handsome man! That’s the only way I can survive!’

She needed to give her token to a man who received many tokens to reduce her chances of being selected.

Or she could give her token to a man who had already received one from a very beautiful woman, so she would lose in terms of beauty.

‘I need to get there quickly to see who’s the most popular. I need to give my token to that man to reduce my chances of being chosen.’

But at this slow pace, she wouldn’t be able to see that process, and might even face the misfortune of having to enter after the Grand Duke.

‘Hurry, hurry.’

While Prelia was biting her nails again inside the carriage, it gradually came to a stop.

“We’ve arrived, my lady, but…”

“Thank you for your hard work, butler. It’s alright.”

Seeing the butler’s crestfallen expression, Prelia immediately understood.

She was already late for the banquet.

“Jane, run!”

Prelia put on the flat shoes Jane had brought just in case, holding one high heel in each hand along with the hem of her dress, and began running through the palace corridor.

But her body, which had awakened after a thousand days, was not in a condition to handle running.

Jane soon began to overtake Prelia.

“Huff, huff, huff, huff.”

Led by Jane’s hand, Prelia barely reached the entrance to the banquet hall.

The central doors of the banquet hall were already firmly closed, as even the Grand Duke had completed his entrance.

As if suggesting that her future would be just as bleak.

“My lady, you’re late. I’ll guide you to the back entrance.”

The palace attendant, looking at Prelia with pity, led her to a door connected to the back of the banquet hall.

‘My goodness, what a mess I look!’

When Prelia looked in a mirror in the corridor leading to the back entrance, her red hair was disheveled in all directions.

Jane, with her brown hair, looked no better.

“We look like two ghosts. Should I brush your hair a little?”

“No, we’re already late. And looking like this, no one will choose me.”

Prelia changed into her high heels and deliberately tried to enter the banquet hall with her hair in disarray.

“But still…”

As a commoner, Jane couldn’t enter the banquet hall.

With an anxious face, Jane quickly ran her fingers through Prelia’s hair to smooth it a little.

Then, led by a guard, she made her way to the servants’ waiting room.

‘Don’t worry, Jane. Everything will be fine.’

Seeing Jane’s shoulders trembling slightly, Prelia pressed her lips together and turned to enter the banquet hall.

“Here you are, my lady.”

The attendant conducting the vote approached Prelia, who had entered late, and gave her a token.

It was a small wooden stick about the length of a finger with her name on it.

‘The voting must be over.’

The other women had already finished voting and were standing in a single line in front of the Grand Duke’s platform with anxious expressions.

The Aslan Empire’s officers, perhaps tense as well, sat in a long single row in the center of the banquet hall with slightly flushed faces.

“The final vote. Prelia Transk, Countess.”

‘How embarrassing. They could have left out the “final” part.’

As the attendant announced loudly, all eyes in the banquet hall turned to Prelia at once.

‘Who should I give my token to?’

Prelia hesitated for a moment.

If the officers were holding their tokens in their hands or had placed them on the table, it would
be easy to see who had received many, but they had hidden their tokens somewhere out of
sight.

“My lady, you can give it directly to the gentleman you like.”

The attendant quietly explained the rules to Prelia, thinking she didn’t know them.

“I understand.”

Prelia took a deep breath and began walking toward the Aslan Empire’s officers.

They were the Mukro Knights, directly under the Aslan Empire’s crown prince.

They were the continent’s strongest order of knights, with hierarchy based solely on ability regardless of social status.

‘Huh? Weren’t they supposed to choose ten?’

She clearly understood that they were selecting fiancées for ten commoner-born officers of the Mukro Knights, but there were eleven men sitting in chairs.

‘Did the Aslan crown prince add one more? How dare he! Does he think our country is that easy to push around?’

Prelia’s steps toward them significantly slowed.

She walked as slowly as possible, narrowing her eyes to carefully examine the men’s faces.

Perhaps because she was staring too intently, there was even an officer who blushed and turned his head away to avoid her gaze.

‘These people are supposed to be military officers, murderous knights, yet they’re this shy?’

It was truly a reversal of expectations, but she needed to make sure this had nothing to do with her.

As Prelia was examining the officers, her eyes met with a man sitting in the very last chair, furthest from the Grand Duke’s platform.

‘This one seems aware of his own good looks. He must have made many women cry.’

The man was sitting crookedly with his legs crossed, as if this show bored him.

‘He must be the lowest-ranking one. If I’m chosen by the lowest rank, I could offer him some money and ask him to break off the engagement.’

While the other officers were dressed splendidly with medals on their uniforms and capes, he was only casually wearing a jacket.

Judging by his attire and the fact that he was sitting in the seat furthest from the platform, he must be the lowest-ranking and poorest officer here.

Still, he must have received quite a few tokens because of his handsome face.

‘I can raise the money by selling the countess’s mansion.’

Prelia walked briskly toward him, maintaining eye contact with the man who didn’t turn his head away.

“Gasp!”

“Oh my!”

As Prelia approached him, strange sounds began to come from various parts of the banquet
hall.

‘What’s this? Did everyone secretly want him? Did they all fall for this guy’s looks?’

The women who had given their tokens to this man must be sighing because they had one more competitor.

They had clearly been captivated by his appearance.

“C-Countess!”

As Prelia stood in front of the man and looked down at him proudly, the attendant called out to her in alarm.

However, the Grand Duke must have stopped him, as there were no further words.

The man who received the token looked up at her and slightly raised the corner of his mouth.

‘He is handsome.’

His pitch-black hair, like darkness itself, caught the light differently strand by strand.

That black hair, which seemed to shine at a glance, even had slight waves, perhaps naturally curly.

‘I’ve never seen such bright red eyes before.’

She hadn’t noticed from a distance, but up close under the bright lights, his red eyes were transparent like diamonds yet had a uniquely vivid color.

The lights sparkled like stars within that red, deeper than rubies.

If human eyes were jewels, these eyes would certainly be the most beautiful.

“Here you go.”

Prelia spoke informally to the man and haughtily held out her token.

No matter how much her country had become a defeated nation, she, as a countess, didn’t want to bow to him, a commoner.

It felt as if all the people of her homeland would have to bow their heads under the feet of all the people of the Aslan Empire if she bowed to him.

“Countess!”

At the sound of the attendant calling her again, Prelia turned around.

Everyone, including the attendant, was looking at her with horrified expressions.

‘Why? Why are they all making such faces?’

“Countess Prelia Transk, why did you choose me?”

While Prelia was puzzled, the man behind her spoke for the first time.

It was a deep, resonant voice that filled the entire banquet hall.

‘What? Even his voice is handsome?’

Prelia turned her head again to look at the man, surprised by the pleasant voice that suddenly came.

The man had already taken her token in his hand and was smiling with just one corner of his mouth raised.

‘Is he mocking me? Many women must have given him tokens because of that face. Is that why he’s mocking me too?’

That was true, but somehow it felt like her pride would be hurt if she said it outright.

“First, you looked the poorest. Second, you seemed to have the lowest rank.”

“C-Countess! How could you!”

The surroundings became even more agitated at Prelia’s remarks.

The attendant conducting the banquet was on the verge of bursting into tears.

‘See? Unpleasant, right? You also can’t stand women like me?’

As Prelia was beginning to lose respect for herself because of what she had said, the man raised his hand to shoulder height.

At this, the chaotic banquet hall instantly fell silent.

“And?”

The man asked for the remaining reason, as if trying to salvage his last bit of pride.

Prelia looked down with the most arrogant expression she could muster.

“Third, because you’re the most handsome.”