Chapter 1

Was being born pretty in the countryside a blessing?

The answer was ‘well, who knows.’ Especially if one had no money and no parents, a pretty face became poison instead. That was the truth of life Louise had come to realize after living twenty-one years as the prettiest girl born in that rural backwater.

Luigiana Debrato.

The prettiest girl in the Raymond Territory.

Because she had been given that nickname, she lost her parents. A pedophile who had set his sights on her deliberately lured her parents into a trap and introduced them to his father’s usury business.

Because her parents had been born as rural nobles and had lived being treated with deference, they did not know how to doubt people. Because of that, they fell right into the trap, and it took less than a year for the family, which had been considered fairly wealthy for the countryside, to be buried under a mountain of debt.

Her mother, who had been weak in health, passed away early from the shock, and her father, while running himself ragged to repay the debt, died of overwork just as he was close to paying it all off.

At the time, Louise was only nine years old. She had still been nine even after three years had passed, which showed exactly how mad that pedophile was.

The pedophile—or rather, Reim Til—tried to take her away using the tiny remaining debt as an excuse, but there was someone who paid off all that remained and took Louise instead, and that person was her aunt. Hearing that the debt had been paid off, her uncle at first flew into a rage and behaved as though he might sell Louise off on the spot, but perhaps he saw a future in her appearance, and he changed his mind and decided to raise her. To say he had raised her was honestly laughable. Her aunt had raised her for eighty percent of it, and for the remaining twenty percent, Louise had grown on her own.

Her aunt, who had married Louise’s ruined-noble uncle despite being the daughter of a Viscount family because infertility had lowered her value in the marriage market, raised Louise as if she were her own child.

The only reason Louise had been able to avoid marrying that pedophile while still a minor was entirely thanks to her aunt. Her aunt’s family had considerable influence, and because her uncle knew that fact, he did not do anything that her aunt strongly opposed.

However, around the time Louise had just turned twenty, the situation began to change drastically when Viscount Langham, her aunt’s father, died.

Because of the noble custom of leaving most of the estate to the heir, all that had been given to her aunt were jewels and a small amount of property.

With his frightening father-in-law gone, her uncle returned to being the libertine he had once been. Viscount Langham’s inheritance vanished in less than a month into her uncle’s gambling debts. When the money ran out, her uncle began staking other things. Jewels, furniture, even the deed to the house. Deprived of even a single apple he had been eating, her uncle thought with bloodshot eyes about what else there was to stake, and then he looked at Louise.

At the parasite who, even at twenty-one, remained unmarried and was still living in his house.

Louise was no longer young, but she was still the prettiest in the village, and though she was from a fallen noble family, she still carried the title of nobility. It seemed Reim still wanted her. Even though he knew her uncle was penniless, Reim lent him a huge sum, and when her uncle failed to meet the agreed deadline, Reim immediately shut Louise away in his house as if abducting her and began preparing for a wedding with her.

That was why she was now standing before this man, Cesare Raymond.

“The right of the first night.”

Sitting in his office, Cesare spoke in a low voice. His gaze was fixed on the paper Louise had handed him. What Cesare was holding was the section concerning the right of the first night that she had torn from the law code in Reim’s house.

Throughout the time she had been locked up in Reim’s house, Louise had lived shut up in the study.

That was because she liked books, and because she had firmly believed that if it was there, Reim would not come. However, there had not been many books, so she had even started rifling through old law books, and there she had discovered the passage about the right of the first night.

“Article 2,116, Clause 2. When those living in a lord’s territory marry, the lord may spend the first night with the bride. Refusal shall be made with two silver coins.”

Cesare read the tiny script written on the damp paper in a dry tone. Louise nodded.

“Yes, as you can see, that paper was taken from the Euclid Code, the foundation of Hertz Empire law. Therefore, I ask that it be carried out.”

Cesare let out a deep sigh, as though he had been saddled with a troublesome affair. In this countryside, more than half the people went through life without ever even seeing what a law code looked like. Much less how would he know about Article 2,116, Clause 2. Cesare stared at her, then rose from his seat.

“Wait a moment.”

Then he walked to the study shelves and pulled out a thick book about the length of a middle finger. It seemed to be the Euclid Code. When he opened it to the same page and matched it against the scrap Louise had torn out, Cesare’s expression hardened stiffly. Closing his eyes tightly as if tired, Cesare pressed at the corners of them.

“What you said is correct.”

“Yes.”

“……First of all, congratulations on your marriage.”

“Thank you.”

With an expression that was not grateful in the slightest, Louise bowed deeply. Cesare, who had been gazing at her silently, rose from his seat. She wondered where he was going, leaving her there, but he stopped at the stand where his coat was hanging. He slipped a hand into the coat pocket and fumbled around for a long moment, then approached her with his fist closed.

“Your hand.”

“Pardon?”

“Hold out your hand.”

Without understanding why, Louise obediently held out her hand as he told her to. Clink, clink, clink. Three silver coins fell into her palm. Louise stared at Cesare in bewilderment.

“W-what is this?”

“Ah, one coin is my wedding gift to you.”

“Then why are you giving this to me?”

“Wasn’t refusal said to cost two silver coins?”

……Unbelievable.

Louise returned the three silver coins to him. Cesare looked at her with a puzzled face.

“No. The refusal should come from the bride’s side, My Lord. The law of the first night itself was made in order to collect a wedding tax.”

“……Is that so?”

“Yes, that is correct.”

“It does not say that here.”

“That is because it is obvious.”

“Is that so…….”

Reading the paper, Cesare looked troubled. But Louise was equally flustered. He looked so severe that she had expected a biting, wintry chill like a winter wind, but he was unexpectedly somewhat lacking. It was like stepping outside fully tense, expecting snow to be blowing and the surroundings frozen solid, only to find a warm spring breeze gentle enough for butterflies to flutter through it.

“Then give it.”

“Yes, I will give it.”

At last, the time had come. Louise stood before Cesare, thoroughly tense. Was he going to tell me to take off my clothes? Would he let me bathe first? Or would it happen here? Holding onto the desk? Or laid down?

Lewd thoughts filled her small head completely. Cold sweat dampened her palms. Then a dry voice came from above her head.

“What are you doing? Aren’t you going to give it?”

The correct answer was the first one. He was asking her to take off her clothes. Louise narrowed her eyes and looked at Cesare.

Since he looked rather abstinent, she had thought he might at least take her to a bedroom, but it seemed his disposition was more wanton than she had expected.

She knew all there was to know, but since the act itself would be her first time, her body trembled. Looking at her trembling calves, Cesare made a puzzled expression.

“What are you doing?”

“D-do I have to take it off here?”

At her words, Cesare twisted his face into an even fiercer look. So that was it. Tonight, she really was going to be taken here.

“What are you talking about?”

“……Understood.”

She did not want to provoke the temper of the man who would take her tonight. It was said that a first time was painful enough as it was. Louise reached for the buttons of her shirt.

“Wait, why on earth are you taking your clothes off?”

“……Pardon?”

Startled, Louise looked up at him. A faint flush had spread over both of Cesare’s cheeks. He looked deeply flustered.

“Th-That’s, usually you have to take off your clothes to have relations, don’t you?”

Isn’t that right, you perverted bastard?

Louise gasped inwardly. Could it be that he liked doing it without taking off clothes? She had heard that there were quite a few men in the world who liked that sort of thing. Glancing over, she saw that Cesare’s jaw was trembling.