Prologue

A flower blooming dazzlingly, blindingly bright. A fragrant scent that stimulates the sense of smell. Everything lost its shine and meaning in front of the man before my eyes.

In just a few months, such landscapes that could come out of a painting became familiar. Leisurely tea time. What an absurd phrase. Amelia swallowed a scream that felt like it would burst out of her mouth. The sharp scent of black tea that touched her tongue made her mind flash.

“Is there a problem?”
“… No, there isn’t.”

In fact, there were many problems. First, I wanted to escape from this place and the man in front of me right now.

“I guess you don’t plan on going out today.”

Going out. Can that really be called going out? It was an escape under the pretense of going out. I couldn’t remember when it started, this game of cat and mouse between him and me. It’s a strange game of tag where no one gets to run away, there’s only a tagger.

“No, I don’t.”
“Well, that’s a good choice.”

Amelia’s face momentarily darkened at the words ‘good choice,’ but she quickly regained her composure. It was foolish to show emotions at this point. The end was near. All preparations were done, and all she had to do was make a decision.

She couldn’t understand how she ended up in this situation. It was supposed to be an easy path… This absurd tea time shouldn’t have happened according to her plan. The original Raphael should have ignored his wife, Amelia.

‘But who is this man sitting in front of me now?’

Blond hair that seemed like melted gold of the purest kind. Pure golden eyes that could captivate people with just a gaze. She couldn’t take her eyes off him as if he was the only source of light in the pitch darkness. Raphael Lloyd Siegfried has a dazzling appearance that could blind one’s eyes.

Those eyes were fixed on her right now. It wasn’t a gaze filled with love. It was closer to the eyes of a beast that might bite her neck at any moment.

“Is the childish game finally over?”
“Game…what do you mean?”
“Thanks to you, it hasn’t been boring for the past few months.”

Every time he opened his mouth, Amelia struggled tirelessly to keep herself from shaking with her innate fear. The Raphael Lloyd Siegfried before her was a different species altogether. She didn’t know why such a man was suddenly obsessed with her.

Raphael should have loathed his wife, Amelia. A useless beggar that only spent money. It was normal to see her that way. He shouldn’t have had tea facing her like this.

“It’s been very fun.”
“……”
“My wife finally requested tea time with me after a long time, but it seems like she’s not enjoying it?”

It was Amelia who used to cling to him. so fiercely had she pounced on him, eager to see him face to face, to nip at his collar. But within just a few months, the situation had turned around. She ran away from Raphael and he found her every time.

“I have a request for you, Your Grace.”
“You can tell me anything.”

Amelia’s thin fingers holding the teacup handle trembled. Even at this moment, he didn’t take his interested gaze off her. The man that all the women in the empire wanted. That was still true even if he became a married man. Even now, many women are suffering from lovesickness about him.

Raphael already lost his sense of wariness and emitted an openly dangerous atmosphere. That’s who he is. The world’s greatest villain and a man who feared nothing. He was also the father of Leonel Siegfried, who would eventually become the ultimate villain.

“Please divorce me. I’ll raise the child.”

I barely managed to say it, no matter how many times I practiced and rehearsed this sentence, but the other person didn’t respond at all. He just had a fierce and stern expression on his face, it’s the first time I’ve seen him like this. My trembling lips were so nervous that they trembled uncontrollably.

Amelia was baffled as to why he was so angry at her request for a divorce.

“I promise I’ll never appear before you again.”
“Where will you go?”
“I’ll leave the empire and go somewhere else…”

She wanted to say that she planned to run away far away where they would never see each other again, but she couldn’t bring herself to say it.

“If you go somewhere else, I will erase that place from the map.”
“……”
“If you go to another man, I will kill him.”

So, you.
Whether you live or die, you will stay by my side.

Raphael Lloyd Siegfried. He had another woman whom he loved.