Chapter 1

It all began with a childhood friendship, which blossomed into romance as they grew older, culminating in marriage. People from all walks of life were enchanted by their story.

There was nothing unpleasant about it. In fact, it was a welcome development. It served as evidence of how perfect their marriage appeared to others.

Of course, the marriage was functioning perfectly on the inside as well.

Luette Trovill had silenced the noise from the collateral branches of his family and established himself as the rightful heir. His wife, Sonia, was set to complete her coming-of-age ceremony in July and claim the inheritance she had long desired. After that, she would finally become a glamorous single woman.

In every way, everything was perfect. All that remained was the divorce.

Luette Trovill stared at the woman who had entered his study with a look of disbelief.

His gaze slid from the woman to the clock on the wall.

7 a.m. It was an absurd hour for anyone to barge into his study, let alone the woman standing before him.

“I apologize for showing up unannounced.”

Despite her words, there was no trace of apology on her face as she casually seated herself on the sofa in the center of the study.

Luette stifled a chuckle as he watched her. She looked exactly the same as the last time he had seen her, which was probably about a month ago.

Her brown hair was neatly braided and pinned up, her attire was impeccably neat despite the early hour, and her posture was straight as she sat with her hands resting on her lap. Her gray eyes, steady and unwavering, were fixed on him.

She exuded the same rigid propriety that had always marked her as a lady raised in an esteemed household. Nothing had changed.

His gaze lingered on her unusually pale, sharp chin and then dropped to her tightly closed lips. And then…

“Could you spare me a moment of your time?”

Her calm yet clear voice pulled him from his thoughts, and he rose from his seat.

“No, it’s fine. If you’ve come at this hour, there must be a reason.”

“If it’s inconvenient, I can return tomorrow.”

“Since you’re here, let’s get it over with.”

Their detached and cold exchange of words lacked any warmth.

The woman frowned slightly, seemingly dissatisfied with his response, but Luette paid her no mind. If anyone had the right to be annoyed, it was him—after all, she had barged into someone else’s home at 7 a.m.

To make matters worse, he had only returned home an hour ago. Exhaustion weighed heavily on his entire body.

Not that it mattered to her, of course.

With a faint smile, he sat down across from her.

“So then.”

It was time to ask his soon-to-be ex-wife what on earth had brought her to this humble place.

“I think we need to postpone the divorce.”

“What brings you—”

He was a beat too late. No, it felt more like he had been struck. That was exactly how it felt.

Luette stared at the woman, unable to finish his sentence.

His wife, Sonia Rose Trovill, was looking at him with her characteristic composed gaze.

His eyes were drawn to her crimson lips, which stood out starkly against her pale face.

What on earth was that tiny mouth saying?

“Postpone the divorce? I thought you sent the agreement to the annex just the other day.”

“……”

“Or did you not send it?”

In the Kingdom, if a couple wished to divorce without any specific cause, they had to send their respective agreements by mail.

Since court approval took quite some time, he had already drafted his agreement and passed it on to Sonia’s side.

That was last week, so the documents should have been well on their way to the court by now.

“Miss Sonia.”

“……”

The woman opened her eyes wide at her husband, who still addressed her as “Miss Sonia.” Her gray eyes, which seemed to glimmer with a peculiar light, were brazenly confident.

“Yes. I didn’t send it.”

“……”

“To be precise, I stopped just before sending it.”

Luette silently stared at his wife’s confident and shameless face. The polite smile he had been wearing had already turned into a bemused smirk.

“I don’t know what I just heard.”

Their marriage had been predicated on the assumption of divorce from the very beginning.

It was a relationship formed for mutual benefit, nothing more and nothing less. It had successfully run its course, and now only a clean ending remained.

And yet, now she was saying they couldn’t divorce…

“Why? Do you have feelings for me?”

“Of course not.”

At his teasing question, Sonia answered without hesitation, as if to leave no room for misunderstanding. Her furrowed brow was an added bonus.

Her expression seemed to ask how he could joke at a time like this.

He stifled a laugh.

“Then why?”

“……”

“Why are you asking to postpone the divorce?”

Sonia hesitated to answer, biting her lip as if her pride wouldn’t allow it.

He frowned as he watched her lips, which were being mercilessly chewed.

After a long pause, Sonia finally released her lip, which had turned a bright shade of red.

“To be precise, I’m not asking to postpone the divorce. The date of our divorce remains unchanged. However…”

“However?”

Muttering as if in confession, she lowered her gaze before lifting it again. Her almond-shaped eyes calmly met his.

“Please stay my husband for just a little while longer.”

Just like that time when she had suddenly appeared before him with her outrageous proposal.

*

Until now, Luette Trovill’s life had been relatively smooth.

Born the second son of the Trovill Ducal Household, one of the most prestigious families in the Kingdom, his childhood had been quite carefree.

The manners and duties expected of an heir were his elder brother’s responsibility, while the attention of the household staff was focused on his newborn youngest sibling. Thus, the free-spirited boy grew into a free-spirited young man.

After graduating from the Royal School—a rite of passage for any noble child—he used the excuse of studying to travel extensively abroad.

Whenever he came across a piece of art that caught his eye, he would purchase it without hesitation, regardless of the cost. What started as a casual pastime became bolder over time, leading him to cross the ocean for three days to attend art auctions in distant lands.

People called him an insufferable idler, but the lives of second sons from wealthy and noble families were often like that.

The title and honor his father held would naturally pass to his elder brother, leaving him free to live a leisurely life with the family’s wealth.

Above all, Luette Trovill thought himself slightly better than others of his kind. After all, wasn’t it a hundred times better to invest in beautiful works of art than to lose a house overnight at a gambling table like some fools?

One unfortunate fact was the rumors of scandals that seemed to follow him wherever he went. But that, too, was the burden of the privileged. After all, he couldn’t exactly hide his exceptionally handsome face under a cloak wherever he went.

Wealthy, well-connected, and good-looking to boot.

He was well aware that there wasn’t a single person in the Kingdom, man or woman, who would turn him down.

The first major upheaval in what he considered his smooth life came with his brother’s death.

When he was twenty years old, news arrived that his elder brother had died in a riding accident. It was a sudden and meaningless death.

When he hurriedly returned home, he was greeted by a household steeped in grief. His mother fainted every other day, and his father didn’t utter a single word until the funeral was over.

And then, he became the heir.

‘Pull yourself together, Luette.’

Once his parents had come to terms with his brother’s death, their attitudes quickly shifted. The Trovill family needed a new head.

Perhaps his parents had come to their senses, realizing they had to transform their carefree second son, who had been wandering abroad like a spoiled brat, into an heir overnight.

In any case, the duties and expectations he had once detested so much now fell to him, though they didn’t seem as terrible as they had before. Perhaps it was because he had grown older.

Or maybe he had simply grown weary of his parents’ relentless insistence that the Trovill family name could never be handed over to someone else.

Of course, having to scour the social scene for a suitable marriage partner was a tiresome ordeal.

It was around that time that Sonia Heston entered his life—the second upheaval.

After a social season had come and gone, and spring had returned once again, the Duchess of Trovill began visiting Nutak Villa almost daily. Her well-bred son, who had fled to this villa far from the capital as soon as the social season ended, was the reason for her visits. He had hoped to escape the endless matchmaking proposals, but it was a futile effort.

‘Look at these. They’re all excellent young ladies.’

‘I’m looking.’

‘That’s not what I meant.’

That spring was a repetition of the day his astute mother had brought a bundle of portraits of suitable young ladies, spread them out before him, and demanded he choose a bride immediately.

“Young Master, someone has come to see you.”

“Who?”

“She said her name is Sonia Heston… and that you would recognize her name.”

That was when Sonia Heston’s name first appeared.

He had just woken up and was staring incredulously at the pile of portraits his mother had left behind.

“Sonia Heston, you say?”

Luette doubted his ears. The soft-spoken name was unfamiliar.

“What is she doing here?”

Sonia Heston was not a complete stranger.

Her father, the late Earl of Heston, had been a close friend of the Duke of Trovill—Luette’s father. Their friendship had begun in their days at the Royal School and had a long history.

Because of this, Luette had occasionally met Sonia during his childhood. However, after the Earl and Countess of Heston perished in a fire ten years ago, their families had lost contact.

In other words, they were now practically strangers.

“Should I bring her in?”

“……”

“It seems improper to send her away after she came all this way. For a young lady to come here alone, she must have an important reason…”

That was true. The distance between Sonia’s mansion and Nutak Villa was considerable. It wasn’t the kind of place one would stop by casually. Nor were they close enough for such a visit.

“Bring her in.”

“Yes, Young Master.”

Luette gave the order and then sank onto the sofa.

Through the wide-open window, he could see the cool, flowing river. The face of young Sonia Heston shimmered faintly on the water’s surface.

She had been a pale, delicate-looking girl. With her unique gray eyes inherited from her mother, she had been quite pretty, though not someone he could ever grow close to.

Unlike other children her age, who chattered endlessly, Sonia had been unusually quiet and mature. Like all girls, she had preferred kind and gentle boys—someone like Evan Ikleit.

Evan, the eldest son of the Ikleit Count Household, was kind, mature, and adept at saying all the right things. He had mastered the art of socializing at a young age.

Unlike Evan, Luette had been brusque, childish, and utterly clueless about saying anything pleasant. He and Sonia had never been close.

Her expression when she looked at him had been particularly memorable. The way she grimaced every time their eyes met…

‘Sorry, but if you’re going to practice sword fighting, could you do it in another room? As you can see, I’m reading, Luette Trovill.’

‘This is my house, you know.’

‘How terribly rude of you to treat a guest this way.’

He had been recalling the eight-year-old girl who mimicked the tone of a dignified old lady when—

“Excuse me.”

A calm voice interrupted his thoughts. When Luette turned his head without thinking, he found himself momentarily taken aback.

“I thought I wouldn’t be able to meet you since I came unannounced… but I’m glad.”

The woman standing before him was nothing like the prim little lady he remembered from ten years ago.

“How have you been?”

“……”

She looked like a deer grazing in a serene forest, untouched by the world.