Elliope heard the news of her husband’s death one morning in the third year of their marriage in the Grand Duchy. 

Theodor of Ilmos had never been a particularly healthy lord. The chronic illness he had always carried with him plagued him with every change of season. That winter, his condition suddenly worsened, stealing the future from a man who had so much ahead of him. 

The death of the young lord, who had been married only a few years and had no children, left everyone in the kingdom in mourning. 

The official cause of death was announced as illness. 

“I feel so ashamed before the deceased Grand Duke and Duchess…” 

Only a handful of people who knew the truth clucked their tongues at the true circumstances of his death. 

“To think he died in bed, fooling around with pr*stitutes.” 

“Well, if his legitimate wife had taken better care of him…” 

The muttering retainers and servants always turned their eyes to Elliope in the end. Their eyes, filled with blame, shame, anger and hatred, had nowhere else to turn but to her. 

“Isn’t it all the Grand Duchess’ fault?” 

“If that woman had never come here…” 

Elliope bore all those cold looks with a stoic, expressionless face. 

A Grand Duke who died while cavorting with women other than his wife, his frail constitution unable to withstand it – there could hardly be a more humiliating situation for the Grand Duchess. 

But in truth, from the moment Elliope was married off to the northern Grand Duchy of Ilmos – or even earlier, from the days when she lived as the Emperor’s illegitimate child, hidden away as a maid in an old palace annex – her life had already been cast into the depths of shame. 

“So this is the bride they sent from the imperial family…” 

Her husband could not hide his disappointment when he saw her for the first time upon her arrival in the Grand Duchy. 

Their marriage had been a political arrangement from the start. It was the result of a demand by Theodor of Ilmos, the Grand Duke of the North, who had been rapidly expanding his influence in recent years. In exchange for the protection of the Empire’s borders, he had insisted on a union between the Imperial family and the Grand Ducal house. 

The intended marriage partner was not explicitly named, but it was obvious to whom the request was addressed. 

The Grand Duke of Ilmos was an unmarried young man, and the Imperial family had two princes and one princess. Princess Léanne, considered an ideal bride both within the Empire and abroad, was at the peak of her marriageable age and receiving countless proposals from suitors far and wide. 

“These provincial upstarts don’t know their place.” 

The Emperor naturally found the Grand Duke’s request insulting. At the same time, he was eager to find a way to bind the Grand Duchy of Ilmos to the Empire. 

The Empire had only recently been unified, and the central power that flowed to the Emperor remained weak. Meanwhile, the great lords of the provinces wielded authority in their territories similar to that of kings ruling their own realms. 

The Grand Duke of Ilmos in the northern regions was no exception. 

Kallian Icerick, the Grand Duke’s loyal knight and commander-in-chief of the Northern Army, had repeatedly thwarted invasions from neighbouring lands – long a thorn in the Empire’s side. Thanks to his efforts, the Grand Duchy’s power grew even stronger. 

From the Empire’s point of view, already fragile and unstable, abandoning Ilmos was not an option. 

In the end, the Emperor found his solution. 

“Oh, Eliope.” 

The father who had left her with nothing but a name at birth finally came to find her. 

Once polished and refined, she carried herself with an air of elegance. Her soft hair, somewhere between pale pink and cream, and her pale green eyes were strikingly beautiful. Although she bore more resemblance to her mother – a maid – than to the Emperor, he showed no particular displeasure. 

“So you are my daughter.” 

Unaware of the true circumstances, Elliope believed this was the family she had longed for, finally recognising her after all this time. 

“You are now officially a princess.” 

When the Empress, her expression less than welcoming, formally adopted her and took her under her wing, Elliope was so happy she felt she could fly. 

Her happiness lasted less than a week. 

Elliope was sent north in Léanne’s place. After all, she was also the Emperor’s daughter, officially recognised by the Empress. 

After all, she was still the Emperor’s daughter, officially adopted by the Empress, which made her a perfect match for the Grand Duke’s demands. To seal the deal, the Emperor deliberately sent her off with a hefty dowry – a sum that was nothing less than a message: *Never return and die there in peace*. 

It wasn’t until she arrived in Ilmos that the naive Elliope realised the truth. 

“Where is Princess Léanne?” 

“……”

“Ha, what an amusing little trick the Imperial family has pulled.” 

When her husband met her in the north, he looked at her with hateful eyes, as if she were something utterly despicable. 

The wedding, which had been delayed for some time, finally took place one day, hastily and dishonestly. The cold looks of the retainers who came to witness the ceremony pierced Elliope like needles. 

On the wedding night, her husband didn’t touch her. 

Instead, he ordered her to undress and stand against the wall in a corner of the room. 

While he slept, Elliope endured the long, torturous night, n*ked and staring at the wall. 

Still, she couldn’t stop looking for him. 

“Understand this. It is your duty to bear his child.” 

The Emperor had drilled this into her repeatedly before sending her to Ilmos. He had even assigned a few maids to make sure Elliope was thoroughly trained in how to fulfil her role in the bedroom.

“You must bear his child. This will solidify the alliance and leave the Grand Duke no room to retreat!” 

The Emperor’s words stuck in Eliope’s mind like an unbreakable curse. She believed it was her duty, her destiny. She had to share the Grand Duke’s bed and bear his child. 

So, despite the humiliation she had suffered, she returned to his chambers wearing only a thin negligee. 

But once again her husband forced her to stand in the corner. 

This time he called his mistresses and pr*stitutes into the room. 

“Ah, you really are an incredible woman.”

He said, biting the side of one of his mistresses with mock passion. 

“Ah, Your Grace.”

“You are so much better than any substitute could ever be.” 

He made sure to say these words as he looked at his wife with eyes full of contempt. 

“Ah, Your Grace!” 

Amidst the heavy scent of cosmetics and the vulgar laughter of the women, Elliope stood trembling in her sheer negligee, shivering from the chill in the air. The heat emanating from her husband’s bed never reached her. 

But the next night, and the night after that, Elliope returned to his chambers. 

Then her husband instructed the mistresses and pr*stitutes he had summoned to throw tomatoes and rotten lemons at her. 

At first they seemed hesitant and unsure, but when the Grand Duke openly encouraged them, laughing heartily and enjoying himself, they joined in enthusiastically, clapping their hands and throwing the rotten fruit with glee. 

“Oh dear! Look how drenched you are!”

“Is this really befitting a member of the Imperial Family?” 

The thin negligee was quickly soaked with the juices from the burst fruit, clinging to her skin and revealing everything underneath. Elliope’s pale complexion, her rounded br*asts and the delicate, untouched beneath were all clearly visible through the wet fabric. 

Her husband stared at her greedily, but instead of calling out to her, he squeezed the pr*stitute’s br*ast with deliberate force. 

“I can’t leave the imperial family any room to manoeuvre.” 

“……” 

“You must die a virgin, Princess.” 

As if the humiliation wasn’t enough, he ordered Elliope, still in her soaked and transparent nightgown, to walk back to her chambers through the corridors guarded by knights. 

Although some of the knights pitied her and averted their eyes, the shame of the experience didn’t fade. 

It wasn’t long before Elliope gave up visiting her husband’s chambers altogether. 

The servants of the Grand Ducal Residence began to treat her as little more than an ornament, someone to be ignored or dismissed at will. 

But of all the humiliations she suffered, the most excruciating was the fact that – 

…for a fleeting moment, she had loved her husband. 

Not for any noble reason. It was because he was her very reason for existing. 

Nowhere else would anyone accept her. Without Ilmos, she had no place in the world. At least if she loved him, at least if she remained the Grand Duchess of Ilmos, she could survive. 

When Elliope arrived at the Grand Ducal residence and saw the Grand Duke for the first time, she fell in love with him. She hoped, with a fragile sense of longing, that he would return her feelings. 

But the love she felt for him was constantly mocked, worn down and shattered. Any faint hope she clung to was shattered into countless pieces, leaving only despair and cracks in her heart. 

And then her husband died. 

With his death, the last traces of regret that remained in Eliope’s heart withered and died. 

The Grand Duke’s body was embalmed by the undertaker, decorated with flowers and placed in a glass coffin for public viewing in the temple for several days. To allow more people to pay their respects, the coffin was placed upright so that his beautifully preserved, pale and lifeless form could be seen by all. 

As Elliope looked at her husband’s embalmed body, she felt only the bitter remnants of a love that had long since faded. 

“It was all meaningless.” 

Their relationship had been doomed from the start. He had treated her worse than a beast, and the more she suffered, the more he seemed to enjoy her pain. 

There had never been love. After his death, that realisation became even clearer. 

Now that she had failed in her mission, there was no path left for her. 

“Goodbye, Theodor.” 

Her husband’s name, which had once pierced her heart with sharp, agonising pain every time she thought of it, now stirred nothing in her. 

As she whispered the words and gently touched the glass coffin, the sound of creaking hinges echoed through the temple. 

The heavy, weathered door opened and someone stepped inside. 

“Sir Kallian.” 

The most extraordinary knight in the Grand Duchy of Ilmos stood there – the Grand Duke’s sword and shield, now present in the hall. 

Beneath dark, jet-black hair, his features were strikingly chiseled, radiating a rugged, almost primal beauty. His solid, steel-like physique seemed to ripple with strength beneath the black ceremonial uniform he wore. 

And those ever cold, piercing blue eyes. 

They looked at Elliope for a moment in silence before turning to the coffin that held their late master. 

On an impulse, Elliope reached for the bottle of wine lying beside her. 

“Would you care for a drink?” 

In the north, drinking to honour the dead was a unique tradition. Elliope looked down at the wine she had brought with her. It had been given to her by one of the maids who had remained loyal to her despite everything – a rare kindness. 

“Your Highness, if one of the knights… come in, you must share a drink with them.” 

“Why?” 

“Don’t worry. There’s no poison in it. It will save your life.” 

Save her life. 

Elliope remembered the maid’s insistent words and let out a bitter smile. 

‘What could that possibly mean to me now?’ 

He silently held out his hand. Without a word, Elliope carefully opened the bottle of wine and calmly poured a glass for both of them.