Chapter 1

‘So this marriage was a scam after all.’

Dust rose around the Boston bag thrown out of the luxurious porch.

The sound of it hitting the ground was as disheartening as I felt.

It was because I had just learned for the first time that even a duke’s family could fall from grace overnight.

“This is all because you came into our family!”

My mother-in-law’s baseless accusations echoed like mist in my ears.

‘No, you were the ones who tricked me into believing this was a perfect match…’

I had been deceived.

How many times had I been blindsided since marrying my husband?

“I’m sorry. We should have stayed with the madam and the duke until the end, but if we don’t follow His Majesty the Emperor’s orders, our lives will be at risk…”

The butler, housekeeper, and head maid looked troubled, wearing expressions fit for a funeral.

They were truly loyal people.

Unable to hold onto them, I stared blankly at the venerable exterior of the mansion.

The Brent Duchy, where I had married three years ago, was suddenly in ruins.

We lost our title, and we were left with nothing.

“It’s all because of you, brother!”

While the servants, one by one, made a run for it, I heard the shrill cry of my husband’s sister, Eloise.

I slowly turned my head towards where my husband was standing.

The moment he came into view, I had to shade my eyes as my brows furrowed involuntarily.

‘Sigh, so dazzling…’

He was too handsome.

Even though he wasn’t the only one standing in the sunlight, my husband always seemed to shine.

That man, with his flawless appearance but timid demeanor, who couldn’t even look his sister in the eye properly.

My husband, who always had an annoyingly perfect appearance that made his timid personality all the more regrettable.

With his towering height and broad, firm shoulders that seemed like they were clad in armor.

His skin was as radiant as if it were sculpted from flawless marble, and his jet-black hair looked like it flowed from the dark moonlight.

Most of all, his features were so perfect they seemed almost beyond human.

Even though we lost our title, mansion, land, and wealth, my husband’s appearance was still as fantastical as a god incarnate.

‘People don’t know how much more nosebleed-inducing his bare body is because he always dresses so conservatively…’

“I-I’m sorry, E-Eloise. It’s all because of me…”

“Take responsibility, brother! You have to take responsibility!”

As my sister-in-law screamed, my mother-in-law’s sharp voice cut through the air.

“Eloise! Don’t worry. Do you think our relatives will abandon us? With all the support we’ve given them…”

“What? Relatives? Are you talking about your cousins? I’d rather die on the street than go beg from them!”

“…”

My husband bowed his head deeply, saying nothing.

I didn’t know there were still things that could surprise me after marrying him.

But he always exceeded my imagination.

‘Goodness, that man is my husband? How did this happen? Oh, dear God, thank you…’

I still vividly remember how astonished I was when I first saw my husband’s face on our wedding day.

It felt like a jackpot at the time.

Everything about his appearance was maddeningly perfect, especially his lips.

Even when he was just sitting there, the corners of his lips curled slightly upward in a seductive, thin line that captivated me.

However…

I might be the only bride who had to deal with so much disappointment on the first night of the honeymoon.

That’s when I realized I had been scammed into this marriage.

My husband had several issues that I hadn’t been aware of.

Despite his impressive appearance, he was clueless in bed.

His fear of women was extreme for someone who was supposedly inexperienced.

He couldn’t even undress me properly, let alone touch me, and he found it hard to make eye contact.

I ended up spending our first night wide awake, wondering what was going on.

Even after three years of marriage, he still couldn’t move properly inside me.

Or had he ever come in deep enough to move?

Despite this, I believe we could improve over time if we both put in the effort.

Fortunately, after marrying me, he began to make every effort to fix his condition.

However, all efforts were in vain, and each time, he felt terribly sorry. It required the patience of a saint at a snail’s pace.

“I-I’m such a w-worthless m-man… H-how can I d-dare be y-your h-husband… I-I’m s-sorry, so s-sorry…”

“It’s okay, Alec. Really, it’s okay. But, um, you don’t prefer men, do you?”

“…”

Fortunately, he wasn’t homosexual.

Despite my efforts to comfort him, I cried internally.

‘Oh, God. Why did you create him with such extreme strengths and weaknesses…’

But the problems didn’t end there.

He stuttered so badly that he couldn’t even get a single sentence out properly.

At first, I thought it was because he was nervous about meeting his wife for the first time, but that wasn’t it.

He had been a stutterer since he first started speaking as a child.

But this was something I could overlook with a sympathetic heart.

‘So what if he stutters? People might not be able to use chopsticks well, and some might not speak clearly.’

If stuttering is considered an illness, then there probably isn’t a single person on this planet who isn’t ill.

But his father, the late Duke Brent, saw him as a severe disgrace to the family.

Before Alec was born, the Brent family prided itself on being untouchable and perfect.

They were esteemed as the descendants of the only holy knight in the empire, and they were revered for their prestigious and noble lineage within the royal court.

Duke Brent was deeply shocked by the state of his son, who was so different from him.

“You are a stain and a curse on my life and our family.”

The Duke never accepted Alec as his son and remained dissatisfied with him until his death.

Alec became increasingly withdrawn, unable to even lift his head in front of people, and he feared speaking.

When the Duke died three years ago, the emperor of this empire began to openly despise and mock Alec.

The ruthless and brutal tyrant, Axen, who no one dared to oppose.

From a young age, he had tormented my husband, forcing Alec to attend social gatherings where he constantly bullied and ridiculed him.

The reason given was that Alec’s existence as a distant relative of the royal family had tarnished their honor.

“It’s truly a disgrace to the empire to have an idiot like you as the head of the Brent family.”

Anyone who didn’t support the emperor was treated worse than a fly in the royal court.

Nobles who followed the tyrant catered to his whims and joined in ridiculing Alec.

An elderly noble who had defended Alec even had his arm cut off, so no one dared to stand up for him.

Alec gradually began to blame himself for everything and became unable to react.

He became a laughingstock in high society.

Eventually, he became synonymous with the overly kind and foolish duke.

With the ruthless and dignified presence of the late Duke gone, no one feared the Brent family anymore.

It was fortunate that my husband, who had been humiliated his entire life, hadn’t taken his own life.

I thought the tyrant’s harassment of my husband was the extent of it.

“Do you know that people change when they’re shocked? Duke Brent, I’m going to personally prescribe a shock therapy for you. It’s to cure your stuttering. How about that?”

“…”

“I’m going to give you the greatest shock you’ve ever experienced.”

No, that’s not right…

I never thought the insane tyrant would actually target the once most meritorious Brent family in the empire.

But now that it had become reality, I felt the tyrant’s cruelty deeply.

The dukedom collapsed overnight.

The tyrant wasn’t called a tyrant for no reason.

* * *

“Do you have any business here? Get lost!”

Eventually, after being kicked out of a cousin’s mansion, the only place we could go was an inn used by commoners.

As we headed to the assigned room, my mother-in-law grumbled darkly, and my sister-in-law wept bitterly.

“I will never forget the humiliation I suffered today…”

“How can we stay in such a filthy place?”

I looked up at my husband, who had lost his voice, with concern.

He was already prone to blaming himself for the smallest things; how must he feel now?

‘He must be in a deeper despair than I could ever imagine.’

Oh, my poor husband.

I swallowed my dizziness.

Even if we spent tonight in this inn, what about tomorrow, the day after, and the days to come?

For the first time, I deeply questioned this marriage.

Even though I didn’t know the joy shared only between spouses and even though my husband was a nominal duke, it had never felt this hopeless…

Now we were penniless.

“Alec.”

We entered the small, simple room, and I called his name softly.

It was the first time his broad and sturdy back seemed so small.

He hung his head, unable to look at me.

Even in this moment of sorrow, his appearance exuded a profound aura.

Could there be any better example of suffering transformed into art?

His deep-set eyes grew even darker, radiating a tragic beauty as if he bore the weight of the world’s sorrows alone.

‘What am I thinking…?’

I shook off the usual fantasies that always captured me whenever I looked at him and approached him. I gently patted his arm.

“It’ll be okay. Don’t be discouraged.”

“…”

In my words, his slender and sensual lips trembled slightly.

He seemed to be trying desperately not to cry, his eyes straining with effort.

While I comforted him outwardly, inwardly, I resented the fallen Brent family for deceiving me and causing our downfall.

It was all the more frustrating that he was blameless in this situation.

“L-Louise.”

He finally spoke, still with his head down.

“I-I’m sorry. Y-You should go back t-to your country. D-Divorce, y-you need to d-divorce…”

“…”

What?

Divorce…?

Thick tears fell from his eyes, wetting the wooden floor.

I could tell how hard he was trying not to cry from the tension in his throat.

It was a fragile sight that didn’t match his cold and strong exterior.

“Y-You need to b-be happy-”

“Alec.”

I cut him off. But before I could say more, he suddenly embraced me tightly, leaving me speechless.

What’s this… such intensity…

My eyes widened in surprise.

“Louise.”

He held me so tightly it almost hurt.

“I-In the next life, I-I will love you f-fully… m-more than I d-do now…”

At that moment, I didn’t fully understand what he was thinking.

I was just stunned to hear him speak of love for the first time.

“I-I will be your p-perfect husband… I will be born again and again… u-until I get it right…”

“…”

There was a strange, fierce determination in him.

I didn’t know how he planned to become a perfect husband, but I waited quietly for his next words.

His resolve felt oddly sharp and intense.

“T-Then, I’ll t-take revenge on those w-who did this to us… become stronger… and p-protect you…”

The next morning, he was found in a different room from the one we had slept in together.

There was an empty bottle of rat poison kicked over near his feet.

By some miracle, he didn’t die.

Just… became a little different…?