Cassian caressed Valentine’s red scar. His voice was filled with regret.

“A scar has marred your beautiful body. Does it still hurt?”

“I’m fine now.”

“Belle…”

Valentine’s eyes curved at the sound of his voice calling her. Cassian always called Valentine with a melancholic voice. While Valentine loved everything about Cassian, that voice, seemingly filled with his whole heart, felt especially special to her.

“Why did you do that?”

Their hands clasped tightly together. Then Cassian murmured in a low voice.

“He has committed numerous evil deeds. He has done irreversible things, and will continue to do so. For Sehera’s sake, perhaps it would have been better if it had ended there yesterday.”

Though he didn’t explicitly say who, what Cassian spoke of was reality. Valentine carefully lowered her eyes.

“But even if he is evil… I couldn’t watch someone get hurt and suffer before my eyes.”

It was human instinct. Even if someone deserved death for their evil deeds, if an accident happened before one’s eyes, one would blame themselves for not preventing it and feel guilty.

Cassian embraced Valentine preciously. In his arms, in his broad embrace, Valentine felt endless comfort.

While their precious time together was flowing by…

“Grand Duke, by imperial command.”

Suddenly, Astaire’s order came down.

“I bestow upon Valentine de le Blumir the title of Duchess Marguerite, and Duchess Marguerite shall promptly enter the palace.”

The two who hurriedly came together could only move their lips. Bestowing a title upon a woman and ordering her to enter the palace meant making her a royal consort.

Giving a title to an unmarried maiden and making her a consort was unprecedented, a radical appointment.

However, looking at Astaire’s actions, rejection would only lead to death. And it wouldn’t end with just Valentine. The entire Blumir territory would be torn apart. Additionally, Cassian, who was currently her guardian, would also be affected.

Valentine had no other choice. Other than entering the palace as ordered.

“Belle, this is all I can do for you now.”

That day, Cassian, who led Valentine to the temple, took her hand. Under the watching eyes of the deity, he firmly promised.

“I swear before God that I will live loving only Valentine de le Blumir for my entire life.”

Valentine’s eyes welled up with tears, moved by Cassian’s words. She felt she would never receive such love again in her life.

“Even in this situation, I will not give up on you, Belle. There will never be a moment when I let go of you from my heart. However…”

Cassian dropped his head low. His brilliant golden hair lost its luster and became disheveled.

“I’m sorry… for being powerless.”

Dong, dong… The temple bells rang. The lovers facing separation shared a kiss of promise through their tears.

Valentine thus entered the Imperial Palace as Astaire’s royal consort.

* * *

On the first day, she set foot in the Imperial Palace as ‘Duchess Marguerite’.

Standing before Astaire III, Valentine clutched the silver-white dress Cassian had personally chosen for her with trembling hands. Numerous servants under Astaire III’s command watched Valentine as if she were a spectacle.

“Duchess Blumir receives Your Majesty’s command.”

“Yes, Valentine of Blumir.”

Astaire rose from his seat and moved towards Valentine with leisurely steps. The brief moment it took for him to approach her felt as long as several years.

“Hearing the name alone, one might expect a tall, sturdy general to be standing here.”

As if examining a toy, Astaire circled around Valentine once. What about her pleased him? Soon, with a satisfied smile, Astaire wrapped one of her golden strands of hair around his fingertip.

“Too fragile to be a general. Quite unexpected.”

“……”

“So I gave you a name that would suit you better.”

His gaze as he looked Valentine over was blatant.

“I wonder if you like it.”

“…Anyone would be delighted to receive a name given by Your Majesty.”

“Isn’t that right?”

Astaire nodded contentedly and smiled, showing his white teeth. Contrary to his well-known reputation as a tyrant, he had an amusingly benign appearance.

“So now you should be called Valentine de la Marguerite.”

Astaire corrected Valentine’s name in a chilling voice. Valentine, with her eyes lowered quietly, neither affirmed nor denied.

What did he sense in that attitude? Astaire muttered one word softly.

“No wonder Uncle cherishes you.”

At that moment, a chill ran down Valentine’s spine. Her legs trembled beneath her dress. An inexplicable anxiety stirred in her chest.

Astaire turned around haughtily. His golden cloak, woven from sea silk, fluttered. The tyrant strode to his throne with swaggering steps.

“Come here.”

An arrogant command fell. Valentine slowly approached him as he sat on the throne. When she stood directly before him, he suddenly reached out and pushed her head down. Her head was pressed onto the man’s thigh. The amethyst hanging over her solar plexus collided with her knee, making a dull thud.

As she blinked stupidly, a fierce voice was heard.

“What are you doing?”

“Pardon?”

“If you’ve come as my consort, you should do your duty.”

Astaire tapped the bulge in the front of his pants.

“Use your mouth to make it stand.”

“……”

Valentine’s eyes trembled.

She was not ignorant about the affairs between men and women. Rather, since coming to the capital Gabrienne, she had learned many night activities from Cassian. Yet, Cassian had never made her do such things.

Such acts, in front of so many people.

She was the Duchess of Blumir, not a pr*stitute. What made her swallow the words that had risen to her throat was the earnest message Cassian had conveyed beforehand:

‘Do not defy Astaire. That’s how you can survive. Survival is the priority.’

‘But……’

‘No matter how miserable and humiliating life may be, you must live and breathe to plan for the future. When it becomes unbearable, please think of the future we promised each other.’

‘Even if to breathe… I have to embrace someone other than you?’

‘Even so, survival comes first. I don’t consider it betrayal. Rather, the fact that I can do nothing for you, this reality where I can’t do anything, is the greatest betrayal to you.’

How must that person have felt, having to convey such sorrowful words?

Valentine clenched her fist hidden under her skirt once. Then she covered her expression with a mask she forced onto her face.

Do not defy Astaire.

If she defies him, today would be her death anniversary.

Survival is the priority.

It’s not betrayal.

After chewing on these words, Valentine obediently knelt before Astaire and tucked her disheveled hair behind her ear. Her trembling hand barely touched his pants. Fumbling repeatedly, she finally managed to undo the buckle, and a sagging, dark red flesh popped out.

Valentine took a deep breath. She buried her face between his legs and took the tip into her small lips. It was too big to fit entirely in her mouth, but she tried her best to swallow it somehow.

She barely managed to take the sagging flesh into her mouth. When her tongue tip touched the gl*ns, the flesh twitched. It sprang up lively as if it were a living fish, hitting the roof of her mouth.

Startled, Valentine raised her head, but Astaire personally pushed her head down. His thick fingers tangled in her hair.

“Swallow it to the base.”

Astaire slightly pushed his hips forward. His c*ck, roughly swollen, pushed into her mouth. As the hard thing stabbed at her throat, she felt the urge to gag.

“Ugh.”

“…Ah.”

An excited voice fell. Astaire gripped Valentine’s head even more roughly. When he half-forcibly lifted her head, he saw the woman with his member in her mouth. Lips and shaft glistening with saliva. Large eyes filled with tears as if in pain.

That sight was stimulating. Astaire, who had slightly retreated, revealed a very satisfied smile.

“It seems Uncle didn’t teach you this.”

The servants watched that lewd play, pretending not to see. As if it were a familiar sight.

“You should answer. Hmm?”

The intention was so clear that Valentine finally opened her mouth. Every time she barely managed to form an inaccurate pronunciation, his thing scraped against the tip of her tongue. She felt like she might vomit.

“…We were not… that kind of relationship.”

“Then why did he keep you by his side?”

“To teach me dignity and refinement as a duchess……”

“Dignity? Refinement?”

Astaire asked back. It was as if he was asking with his eyes, ‘Not this?’

A small sneer remained.

“He must be quite disappointed that the b*tch he raised with such care has become my exclusive carriage.”