Chapter 1 – Gambling Failure? Success? (Part 2)

Excitement coursed through her veins.

‘No, that’s not what’s important. If I’ve truly returned to the past, I must escape immediately. I will never go back to that place.’

Ellerdin began biting her nails with a pale face.

She paced the small room, lost in thought.

She thought of how she could escape this house and stop the marriage.

‘Should I just run away? But I would likely be caught soon. Or should I ask my father for help?’

“Ha…….”

Ellerdin let out a bitter laugh.

The world would end sooner than her father would listen to her.

Besides, the Earl had probably already made a contract with the Baron, so she needed to find a way to cancel that contract.

‘What should I do… Should I just take the money and run? Cross the border and live alone. No, I don’t have that kind of money, and I’d get caught soon. I’m weak. Is there anyone who can take me away from my father and annul the contract with the Baron?’

A possibility flashed through Ellerdin’s mind as she pondered.

Duke Fernan Keallad.

A young man who inherited the title of duke and possessed a vast fortune.

Also known to have been cursed by the devil because of his red eyes, a symbol of the devil.

‘Some say they’ve seen the duke transform into a monster.’

Perhaps because of the devil’s curse, people said to avoid the duke.

He always wore a scowl, and anyone who crossed him was said never to be spared.

Though no one had directly experienced his violence, rumors were rampant.

‘They said never to make eye contact with him…….’

Ellerdin swallowed hard.

She recalled the words of the maids she heard while at the Earl’s residence.

The duke with red eyes was known to dislike people looking into his eyes.

‘But… precisely because of that. If I can break that curse…….’

Such a person might be able to get her out of this hell.

‘If I offer to break the curse, he might listen to my request.’

She remembered hearing that the duke’s curse had been lifted in her past life. Since it had happened once before, she thought she might be able to break it with effort.

Though she didn’t know the exact way to break the curse, Ellerdin thought the duke was her only chance to escape Baron Brian’s grasp.

Ellerdin opened the wardrobe.

Inside was a shabby dress she wore when going out.

Ellerdin, familiar with dressing without a maid’s help, bit her lip.

‘How do I meet Duke Keallad? Is he in the capital?’

She didn’t know if he was in the capital, but she couldn’t just sit idly by.

‘Please be there.’

Thinking of the cathedral where Duke Keallad often stayed, Ellerdin left the room.

Though there were many maids in the mansion, they rarely stayed in the cold, dark basement for long.

They only came and went occasionally to bring food.

Thanks to that, Ellerdin could easily leave the mansion without any restriction.

She called out to the coachman, who was sitting with a bored expression at the front gate.

“Take me to White Street immediately.”

Despite Ellerdin’s urgent voice, the coachman responded indifferently.

“Did you get permission from the master?”

“Yes, I did, so hurry up.”

“……Ah, what a bother… Are you sure you got permission? Dressed like that?”

The coachman chuckled as he looked her up and down.

Ellerdin, knowing that her clothes were shabby, hunched her shoulders in embarrassment.

She handed over a gold coin she had secretly taken from the drawer in preparation for such a situation.

“Is this enough? Please start quickly.”

Ellerdin hurriedly opened the carriage door and got in.

The coachman, who had received the money, climbed onto the carriage slowly, showing his annoyance.

As the carriage started moving with a jolt, Ellerdin exhaled the breath she had been holding.

It was the first time.

Acting on her own without her father’s permission.

Ellerdin clasped her hands tightly.

As she rode the carriage, fear quickly engulfed her.

‘But what if the Duke is not there? Then I’ll be beaten by my father and sold to the Baron……. No, even if he is there, what if he doesn’t accept my proposal…….’

Ellerdin’s body started to tremble as memories of what happened after being sold to the Baron came flooding back.

Since she had returned to the time before being sold, her legs should be fine, but strangely, they felt stiff.

Just the thought of the Baron made her fearful, turning it into a trauma. Ellerdin squeezed herself deep into the carriage and tried to calm herself.

“It’s okay… It’s okay…….”

However, no matter how many times she told herself it was okay, her trembling body didn’t calm down.

Ellerdin had grown up watching her mother being abused by her father since she was young.

After her mother passed away, Ellerdin had lived a life of abuse until now.

She was abused by her father when she was young and by the Baron when she grew up.

Having no good memories, she was extremely afraid of the present.

“Mom…….”

Ellerdin murmured softly, burying her face in her arms.

‘But was the Duke really cursed by the devil?’

Trying to shake off her fear, she thought of the Duke and suddenly had a question.

Duke Fernan Keallad, he was the duke who governed the northern duchy, had no close friends, and was said to talk only to the Emperor.

She remembered something her mother had said about the Duke when she was young.

‘She said that the absence of monsters was thanks to him.’

But the opinions she heard around her were different.

People simply said that he had a twisted and cruel personality because he was cursed by the devil.

‘Maybe mother was wrong.’

Before her return to this life, the Baron had said that monsters were just a means to make money and that the Duke did menial work like a hunter.

Furthermore, the Baron often complained that the Duke frequently came down to the capital from a certain day.

She didn’t know if he was still there, but before her return to this life, the Duke was known to spend most of his time at a cathedral located on the outskirts of the city.

Looking at the gradually receding city buildings, Ellerdin bit her lip.

‘I hope the Duke… doesn’t get too angry when he hears my proposal… What if he thinks I’m being presumptuous? That can’t happen… This is my only hope…….’

Ellerdin looked at the sky beyond the carriage window.

But if the Duke accepts this proposal.

If it meant she could live a different life than before.

“…….”

Ellerdin dropped her head.

She was afraid because she couldn’t be sure if this choice was the right one.

‘What kind of person was the Duke?’

‘What does he look like… What’s his personality like… I hope he’s not scary. I hope he’s short and thin……. That way, it won’t hurt much when he hits me……. No… It doesn’t matter what he looks like. Even if he’s old, even if he’s a grandfather, it’s fine. Just…….’

‘I just hope he doesn’t hurt me.’

Ellerdin murmured softly with a tearful voice.

Tears fell under her bowed head.

Much time had passed since then, the carriage stopped, and the coachman spoke in a curt voice.

“We’ve arrived.”

At the curt voice, Ellerdin, who had her head buried, looked up with a frightened expression.

Seeing the huge building outside the window, she slowly stood up, calming her stiff legs.

After getting off the carriage, she took a deep breath in front of the building.

The cathedral was located in the innermost part of the building.

All other spaces outside the cathedral were made open like a café for others to use comfortably.

Several nobles were sitting at the tables set up inside the building, drinking tea.

All eyes turned to Ellerdin, who was dressed shabbily.

“A beggar, I suppose. Perhaps because it’s a cathedral, the security isn’t very good.”

The nobles whispered.

Ellerdin quickened her steps, ignoring their whispers.

The coachman would go back and inform her father of her whereabouts, and soon her father would come to catch her.

Ellerdin, who had to persuade the Duke before then, hurriedly moved inside the building.

At most, she had about an hour.

If she couldn’t resolve it within this time, she would fall into an inescapable hell.

However, when she reached the front of the cathedral, the guards standing at the door blocked her.

“Commoners are not allowed to enter here. Go back.”

In a hurry, Ellerdin grabbed the guard’s arm and pleaded desperately.

“I have an appointment inside. Please let me in.”

“No. Judging by your attire… you don’t seem to be a noble lady. Moreover, Duke Keallad is currently praying.”

“I am Ellerdin from the Earl Pure family. Please let me in.”

“Show your identification.”

The Earl had never let Ellerdin out. He always said she was sick and needed to recuperate at home, hiding her existence.

Why did the Earl hide her?

There was only one reason.

Ellerdin was a half-human, half-mermaid.

The Earl didn’t let Ellerdin go out because of this.

“I’ve seen many girls claiming to be the Earl’s daughter like you. Go back.”

Because it was such a public place where anyone could enter, it was common for commoners seeking to rise in status to come.

The guard sighed and waved his hand.

As time was delayed in an unexpected place, Ellerdin, feeling urgent, began to push the guards away.

Just when the guards thought she was crazy and were about to throw her out, the door opened, and someone came out.

Duke Keallad, who had been sitting inside, came out at the sound of the commotion outside.

“What’s going on?”

As soon as Ellerdin saw him, she shouted.

“I have a proposal for you, Duke. I will break your curse, so please have a conversation with me.”

At the word ‘curse’, the guards flinched and looked at Ellerdin.

The word ‘curse’ was a taboo in front of the Duke.

As expected, the atmosphere turned cold in an instant, and the guards awkwardly laughed and looked around.

“Well… you two, have your conversation.”

They didn’t want to die a meaningless death because of that woman’s offense.

The frightened guards slowly backed away to the end of the corridor.

Duke Keallad stood with his arms crossed and tilted his head slightly, as if telling her to speak.

Ellerdin, with a pale face, took a deep breath and straightened her back.

“Let me speak inside.”

“……You should be grateful that I’m not throwing you out right now…….”

“It’s important……. It’s something others shouldn’t hear…….”

The woman in front of him kept turning her head restlessly, as if extremely anxious.

Seeing her unable to focus even with him in front of her, the Duke blocked her view with his thick arm and said,

“Come in.”