Chapter 1

Vanessa was dying.

‘It’s cold……’

It had been a week since her cruel husband had imprisoned Vanessa in this underground dungeon.

The water and black bread that used to come twice a day had stopped three days ago, and as the weather got colder, the temperature in the prison dropped even further.

She writhed in hunger and cold day and night, but now her stomach didn’t even react. Her frozen body could barely feel any sensation.

Small spiders crawled stealthily on the cold stone floor covered with a fine layer of dust. Vanessa lay wrapped in a thin blanket, staring at those spiders with empty eyes.

Cold, hungry, don’t want to die.

Her mind was filled with only such thoughts.

Blinking slowly, Vanessa suddenly let out a bitter laugh.

To think that her fate was to die of starvation while shivering in the cold.

Who would have imagined that Vanessa Roengreen, once the noble princess of the Roengreen Kingdom, would die like this?

It still didn’t feel real. Ever since her marriage to the king of Terebron a year ago, it felt like she had been living in a terrible nightmare.

Her husband was a bastard. Her brother, Declan, had sold his only sister to that bastard for a few business interests.

It wasn’t that she had passively accepted everything. She tried to escape before the marriage, tried to break free from her husband’s grasp, but all attempts had failed.

And finally, she was imprisoned in this dungeon. Because of a maid’s betrayal, her husband had discovered her escape plan.

‘…If Father were alive, he would never have forgiven those who did this to me.’

Remembering her deceased father made her eyes burn with tears.

Her father, once a wise ruler who had made the country prosperous, had cherished Vanessa more than any treasure in the world. How hard he had tried to protect his daughter who had been plagued by strange misfortunes since childhood.

Vanessa had grown up under her father’s protection and love, receiving adoration and reverence from all people. That was who Princess Vanessa of the Roengreen Kingdom had been.

‘Damn you, Declan.’

That bastard sold me to a human trash worse than a beast. Knowing full well how I would be mistreated!

A hot tear rolled down Vanessa’s cheek. Her lifeless eyes suddenly flashed brightly in the darkness.

Declan, and her husband…… if only she could grasp a sword handle with her own hands and take revenge, she would have no other wish left in this life.

She closed her eyes, trembling with resentment.

It was cold.

Waiting for death.

But even that doesn’t seem to come easily.

Thump, thump, footsteps were heard from the corridor. Startled, Vanessa sluggishly got up from her spot and warily watched the entrance.

The footsteps were familiar.

She could distinguish his gait like a well-trained dog.

After all, those footsteps always preceded his visits to beat her.

Tak. A man holding a torch stopped in front of the iron bars. The flickering light illuminated his face. It was Vanessa’s husband, Leroy Terebron.

“It’s been a while, Queen. Did you miss me?”

As always, Leroy asked in a tone that showed not a hint of kingly dignity as he opened the iron door and entered.

He hung the torch on the wall bracket and slowly approached Vanessa.

Vanessa curled up tightly, bristling like a hedgehog. Learned fear made her tremble involuntarily.

Leroy would inflict violence on her every day. As if it were her fault that he was sexually impotent. Even though he had been a notorious eunuch long before marrying her.

Whenever Leroy came to see Vanessa, he would always start with his feet. But today was different.

Unlike usual, instead of immediately starting to kick, Leroy just stood there, looking down at her.

That wasn’t the only strange thing. His crimson royal attire had traces of soot and blood splattered here and there.

Moreover, upon closer inspection, Leroy’s complexion was different from usual. Although he was a scum of a human being, he had always maintained a handsome exterior, but today his face was full of scratches, cuts, and burn marks.

…What’s going on?

What could have happened?

Had one of the ministers, unable to endure Leroy’s tyranny any longer, staged a rebellion?

“…Four days before marrying you, the High Priest of Pantheon gave a prophecy as a piece of advice.”

Leroy muttered, glaring at Vanessa with cold eyes.

“He said that although Vanessa Roengreen is damn pretty, her beauty would bring her an ill-fated destiny, causing disasters wherever she goes.”

“……”

“So if I wanted to call off the marriage, I should hurry… That’s what the High Priest said.”

Leroy knelt down and grabbed Vanessa’s chin roughly. His reddish-brown eyes flickered with madness, hatred, murderous intent, and lust.

“Blinded by this pretty face, I lost my mind. You cursed woman. It’s all your fault! You, who bring nothing but misfortune, bewitched me and brought disaster to Terebron! I should have killed someone like you long ago!”

After snarling viciously, he released Vanessa’s chin and grabbed her hair.

Sensing that violence was about to begin as always, Vanessa tightly shut her eyes.

However, instead of slapping her face or kicking her stomach, Leroy threw her roughly to the floor.

Vanessa looked up at Leroy with narrowed eyes, her shoulders hunched. Leroy’s eyes glinted ominously. Then, straddling Vanessa, he began to strangle her with all his might.

“Die…! Just die!”

“Kuk…!”

Vanessa choked and shed tears as she struggled to breathe.

The mad Leroy Terebron was finally trying to kill her.

But she didn’t want to die like this…… she didn’t want to die at the hands of this human trash!

Vanessa raised her knee and kicked his groin with all her might. It was a fierce strike, coming from some unknown reserve of strength.

Leroy let out a painful groan along with a curse, loosening his grip on Vanessa’s neck. At that moment, Vanessa rolled to the side, escaping from under him.

“You…… damned wench……”

Leroy, who had been curled up clutching his groin, soon staggered to his feet and reached out towards Vanessa again.

Vanessa stumbled backward, throwing whatever she could get her hands on.

A copper kettle, a cup, a chipped soup bowl, a wooden spoon, even the thin blanket that had been her only source of warmth…..

Some hit Leroy’s cheek and forehead before falling, while others merely grazed him uselessly.

Leroy stepped forward. Vanessa once again grabbed anything she could and swung it at Leroy with all her might.

“Huh……”

At that moment, a wave of dizziness hit Vanessa, making her stagger. Leroy didn’t miss that split second and lunged at her.

Clang. Whatever Vanessa had been holding fell to the stone floor with a loud noise.

Now she saw that it was an old bronze candlestick.

“How dare you resist me?”

“Kuk……! Kkh……”

Leroy began to strangle Vanessa’s neck again with all his might. Droplets of tears formed in her navy blue eyes. A cruel smile appeared on Leroy’s lips as he watched Vanessa suffer.

“You’re my companion on the road to the afterlife, Vanessa. You’re going with me to the very end! You’re mine forever!”

Her consciousness was gradually fading. Knowing that her resistance was futile, Vanessa still struggled desperately, groping the floor.

Filled only with the instinct to live, to not die, she tightly grasped something cold and hard that her hand touched.

And with it, she struck Leroy’s head with all her might.

Thwack!

The sound of skin splitting rang out loudly. Clang. The weapon fell from Vanessa’s hand, making a high, clear sound. Vanessa watched Leroy, panting heavily.

Leroy’s eyes rolled back, showing the whites with bloodshot veins. The strength gradually left his hands as he staggered weakly.

Soon, his heavy body collapsed on top of Vanessa, crushing her.

And then, there was no movement at all.

“……Huh.”

Vanessa, who had been frozen like a stone, took a deep breath.

With trembling hands, she tried to push Leroy away and extract her body from under him.

Although her body wouldn’t move properly, the fact that she was so close to this hideous man made her skin crawl, and she struggled desperately.

After a long attempt, Vanessa finally freed herself from under him and sat down next to the fallen Leroy, trying to calm her rough breathing.

Her heart was pounding loudly. Vanessa stared blankly at the bronze candlestick on the floor. It seemed that was the weapon she had used to strike Leroy.

The end of the candlestick was stained with dark red blood, and blood was also trickling from the unconscious Leroy’s head.

Vanessa gazed vacantly at the pool of blood forming on the stone floor.

Is he dead?

Did I kill him?

Her whole body trembled like an aspen tree.

Although she had hunted animals with her father a few times, she had never killed a person before.

Moreover, Leroy Terebron was her husband and the king of a country. She had just assassinated a king. This was high treason, punishable by burning at the stake or being tied alive to a cliff to become food for crows.

“……No, I didn’t kill him……”

Vanessa shook her head, denying reality.

This was just an accident. I need to get out of here before anyone sees. Escape from this underground prison and go anywhere. This flaxen hair might stand out, so I should cover it with mud or something…..

That’s when it happened.

Click, click.

The sound of metal rubbing against metal was heard close by.

Vanessa froze in her awkward position as she was about to stand up. In that state, she turned her creaking neck to look in the direction of the sound.

A man was walking out of the darkness.

The man’s hair was as black as if it melted into the darkness, and his eyes, staring straight at her, were a vivid golden color. And his face was chillingly pale.

It was a very delicate, beautiful, and yet seemingly cold face.

He was wearing full plate armor, made of some metal that gave off a mysterious blue sheen. The clicking metal sound seemed to come from that armor.

He entered the cell where Vanessa was without hesitation and stopped abruptly in front of her.

His face, looking down at her, was expressionless and impassive. However, his eyes…… strangely enough,

They were boiling over.

“Vanessa Roengreen.”

The moment her name was called, Vanessa unconsciously flinched and hunched her shoulders.

It was a husky, low voice. As if forcefully suppressing some emotion boiling inside.