She couldn’t do the theater and singing she loved, and it was a desperate situation being sold because of debt from a father she had never even seen…… But like the garden trees that had endured the cold northern winter, she decided to endure as well.

‘No matter how difficult it gets, it won’t be as desperate as when Mother passed away.’

She had faced death in the real world and also lost the mother she met in this strange world. She thought that whatever happened in the future would be better than this.

She stood on the balcony facing the cold wind for a long time, then returned to her room, resolving to endure whatever came her way.

Knock, knock.

Then came a knocking sound and a maid carrying a tray entered. She was a young maid with red hair who looked to be in her late teens.

“Hello, Lady. I’m called Kelly. I’ve brought your meal.”

“Thank you, Kelly.”

“Please don’t lower your speech. You are His Grace’s guest.”

Guest…… It sounded polite, but somehow she felt a sense of distance. The word ‘guest’ meant she wasn’t an official member of the ducal castle.

Moreover, she had been brought as collateral, so being treated as a guest made her even more anxious.

“I understand. Please take care of me from now on, Kelly.”

However, since she was indeed a person from outside — that is, a guest — Liana smiled brightly and answered gently. There seemed no need to specifically say she was someone brought in place of debt.

“Tonight His Grace will come to your bedroom, Lady. After your meal, the maids will help with your grooming.”

“……?”

Liana’s body froze like ice in shock. Her heart pounded violently.

‘The duke is coming tonight already?’

She hadn’t even prepared mentally, yet she had to spend the night with the duke immediately upon arriving at the castle. Liana’s pale blue eyes shook like there had been an earthquake.

“I understand.”

Though she was greatly shocked by the words she had never imagined, she couldn’t show her inner feelings to the maid. She answered as calmly as possible without showing her surprise.

Kelly set the meal on the table and left the room. Looking at the table, various dishes were fully laid out.

“Wow……”

Liana drooled at the abundant dishes she was seeing for the first time since possessing this body.

She forgot that she was meeting the duke and sat in front of the table like being drawn by a magnet.

“Mm—, delicious.”

The cream-colored soup was savory, and the properly cooked steak melted in her mouth.

Liana, who ate her fill while slowly savoring the taste, looked at the crackling fireplace flames while eating the cake that came for dessert and drinking fragrant tea.

She wasn’t entirely unafraid of spending the night with the duke, but since she couldn’t avoid it, she decided to let go of her worries and accept her fate.

About an hour after finishing her meal, she heard knocking and four maids entered.

“Lady, we will attend to your bath.”

The oldest-looking maid among the four spoke.

‘I have to show my n*ked body in front of all those people?’

Liana’s body stiffened in shock. She had never shown her n*ked body to anyone.

“Can’t I bathe alone? I mean, may I not?”

She raised her way of talking then lowered it, realizing her mistake. Though she wasn’t fully adapted yet, even if she was an illegitimate child, she was nominally a baron’s daughter, so she should speak informally to the servants.

“That won’t do.”

The head maid spoke firmly.

“I, I understand.”

Though it was shameful to show her n*ked body to strangers, she couldn’t refuse. She was merely someone brought in place of debt, not their master.

“Lady, would you come this way?”

The ducal castle’s maids seated her in a bathtub filled with water floating with flower petals. Then they carefully washed her body. Liana stayed still and let them do as they pleased.

After the bath, the maids beautified her. They applied fragrant cosmetics to her face and soft perfumed oil to her body.

Her curly blonde hair that reached her waist was wiped several times with dry cloth to remove moisture, then cosmetics and oil for hair were applied before being combed down hundreds of times.

When the grooming was finished, the maids extinguished all the candles in the room except for one. They also extinguished all the candles in the luxury chandelier hanging from the ceiling, making the room dim.

“Please come this way, Lady.”

The maids who took Liana to the bed removed her robe and laid her on the bed. Then they loosely tied her wrists and ankles to the bedposts with soft cloth and covered her body with thin fabric.

‘Why are they tying me up? Do I look like I’m going to run away?’

The fireplace was blazing brightly, so it wasn’t cold even without clothes. But she wondered why they were tying her hands and feet when she couldn’t run away at this point anyway.

The maids even covered her eyes with an opaque blindfold.

“Then we will withdraw.”

Shortly after, she heard the sound of the maids leaving the room.

Just endure for a moment and it will be over. There’s no way the duke would spend a long night with the daughter of the detestable Baron Brian.

She naively thought the night with the duke would end quickly.

Dong— dong—.

After a while, the wall clock announced midnight. And shortly after, she heard the sound of the door opening with a click.

‘Who is it?’

Liana pricked up her ears. Thinking that someone was entering the silent bedroom where she was alone brought fear and terror.

She heard the sound of the door closing, and someone’s footsteps echoing as they walked in. The footsteps stopped right in front of her bed.

She wanted to know who had come, but since her eyes were covered, she couldn’t see anything. She swallowed nervously from tension.

“What’s your name?”

After a long silence, the person who had stopped in front of the bed finally asked Liana. It was a pleasant baritone voice.

From entering her bedroom at will and speaking informally, it seemed to be Duke Pruis.

“Li, Liana.”

Liana, with her eyes covered, answered toward where the voice came from.

“Liana……”

Dain, who murmured her name in a small voice, nodded once, then swept away the cloth covering her body. When Liana’s n*ked body was revealed, he drew a short breath.

The woman’s white n*de body was glowing in the darkness.

It was a slender and beautiful body. Her platinum blonde hair reflected in the dim candlelight from one candle lit on the wall beside the bed sparkled like starlight, and her skin without a thread of clothing was clear and transparent without a single blemish. The woman trembled all over like a young deer facing a predator, seemingly afraid.

This wasn’t the first time he had been in a bedroom with a woman. Aaron occasionally brought women, saying he needed to relieve his pheromones. Among them were commoner women and daughters of lower nobility.

Though he had entered bedrooms and had intercourse with them, he had never gone all the way. Because his c*ck was very large and, due to his species characteristics, there were two of them, they were in too much pain even with just a little insertion.

Snake clan members had two c*cks, and thorn-like protrusions jutted out from the shaft’s mucous membrane. So it could be more painful than spending the night with other ordinary men.

He could inject pleasure fluid to reduce the pain before doing it, but he always stopped around that point. Since it was something he didn’t feel like doing anyway, he didn’t want to force himself to go all the way.

Moreover, he had the ability to erase others’ memories. So he used magic to erase several days of memories from the women he had slept with, then gave them appropriate compensation.

Thanks to this, the fact that he had two c*cks didn’t spread in social circles.

“I expected something great since he offered his daughter, but this is disappointing.”

“……”

Though Dain liked her n*de body, he pretended otherwise and sneered. The woman seemed surprised and gave no answer.

“Is this your first night with a man?”

He asked Liana in a low voice.

“Yes, that’s right.”

Liana answered toward the darkness again.

“Hmm……”

Dain’s face wrinkled.

A pheromone receiver didn’t need to be a virgin…… Women suffered tremendously on their first night, so wouldn’t an experienced woman rather than a virgin feel less pain?

‘Well, she’s a woman I received in place of loaned money, so it can’t be helped if she’s in pain.’

He didn’t want the other party to get hurt because of his body that was different from others. But the woman before his eyes couldn’t be helped. Since she had also agreed and followed along, she would have nothing to say even if there was pain.

Dain stretched out his massive arm and grabbed Liana’s leg. But he saw the string tied around her ankle.

“Tsk!”

He clicked his tongue in a small sound like he was annoyed and untied the string bound to her ankle. Then he grabbed Liana’s leg and pulled it sharply.

“Eek!”

Liana screamed when suddenly pulled downward. The rope tied to her wrists was pulled taut. Dain glanced at her stretched arms and paid no attention, spreading her legs wide to both sides. Then he stared piercingly between her legs.

His lower body’s center became stiff. When he touched it with his hand, two c*cks were already standing er*ect, showing off their majesty. It was a faster reaction than when he had entered bedrooms with other women, but he didn’t think seriously about it.

This time he absolutely had to embrace a woman and relieve his pheromones. Otherwise his own life would be in danger.

Dain picked up the perfumed oil bottle placed on the nightstand beside the bed and poured transparent perfumed oil onto her p*ssy. The slippery liquid gave off a fragrant peach scent.

After pouring plenty of perfumed oil until her p*ssy was thoroughly wet, he slowly rubbed the skin that had become slick with oil. It was an indifferent touch.

Liana was startled by the cold sensation touching her sensitive skin.

“What, what are you doing?”