Yuis Everett was the only daughter of a viscount family who had fallen on hard times.

There weren’t many options available to a young lady from a ruined noble family. She could earn a modest income sewing lace, become a nobleman’s mistress, or work as a maid in an aristocratic household.

Of these, becoming a maid in a noble household was generally considered the least desirable. Most girls aimed to make their debut in society, hoping to find a husband there, or considered becoming a nobleman’s mistress to be a better option.

But Yuis was different.

Having watched her mother suffer her entire life because of her father’s numerous affairs, she couldn’t bring herself to become someone’s mistress or marry a man for money and not love. She wanted to live with dignity and be independent.

So, of the limited options available to her, she chose the best one.

She entered the household of Duke Johannes as a maid.

Three years had now passed.

“You’ll have to become a collateral member of House Johannes and marry Duke Edric Descartes.”

Yuis could hardly believe her ears.

“Pardon?”

In truth, it wasn’t a suggestion. The official documents for her registration with House Johannes, which were laid out before her, made that clear. Everything had already been arranged. She had merely been summoned to be informed that all that was left to do was leave.

The afternoon sunlight poured over the documents on the table. Yuis Everett stared at them for a long while, then clenched her fists so tightly that deep creases formed in her neatly ironed maid uniform.

Across from her, Lady Johannes continued in a perfectly nonchalant tone.

“I was supposed to marry the prince of Hetar. And yet, instead of becoming empress, they expect me to settle for being a duchess. How could I possibly marry the man who killed my fiancé?”

“And what about me, my lady?”

The words rose to her throat, but she couldn’t bring herself to speak. She swallowed them down.

“I’m thinking of preparing a house for your parents. Your father took on more gambling debt yesterday, Yuis.”

The family business, passed down for generations, began to collapse the moment her father got involved. In an attempt to recover from his initial failures, he invested recklessly in other ventures, but success had always eluded Viscount Everett.

Eventually, he fell into the fleeting pleasures of vice and spiralled downwards at a frightening pace. On nights when he won at gambling, he spent his winnings on women. On nights when he lost, he returned home to drown his sorrows in alcohol.

Yuis violet eyes were filled with humiliation, shimmering with unshed tears. Acting as if she hadn’t noticed, Lady Johannes signed the document and smiled.

“Are you moved? I’m quite pleased I could give you such an opportunity, Yuis.”

“No, my lady. I’m not.”

Once again, her words remained unspoken, swallowed back along with her tears.

For years, Kalang in the north and Hetar in the south had been locked in a constant battle for dominance over the continent. Blessed with fertile lands, Hetar had long held the upper hand, but Kalang’s rapid industrial development had allowed them to rise swiftly in power.

Unable to accept this shift in power, Hetar seized upon a minor pretext to ignite a war. As a result, however, they lost their crown prince. The man responsible was none other than Kalang’s sole duke, Edric Descartes.

The brewing tension across the continent left the small kingdom of Darec trembling. King Darec felt genuine urgency for once, concluding that they needed to establish ties with Kalang at all costs.

The king opted for the safest and most reliable solution: a political marriage. A marriage between nations was one of the strongest forms of alliance.

Although the king had wanted to propose the marriage himself, the emperor had been engaged to his beloved fiancée for a long time. He dared not risk offending him.

Instead, he turned his attention to Kalang’s hero, Edric Descartes, who had spent so many years on the battlefield that he had never had the opportunity to marry.

In truth, a political marriage was not the ideal solution for Darec. The kingdom had no princess to offer.

Therefore, the king set his sights on the most suitable noble house to represent Darec’s highest honour: the ducal House of Johannes.

However, contrary to the king’s wishes, Lady Terian Johannes — who was already in discussions about a marriage alliance with the Prince of Hetar — refused outright, claiming that marrying into the Kalang royal family would incur Hetar’s wrath.

“Duke Johannes, Kalang is a rising sun. It is surely fitting that Darec’s most noble woman should be offered to such a noble house.”

Hetar had long been one of the most powerful nations on the continent, dominating for generations. The idea that Lady Johannes, who had once aspired to become Hetar’s crown princess, would now be wed to the so-called Demon of War was scandalous.

The duke and his daughter shut themselves away in their mansion, while the other nobles, seeing no benefit in getting involved, lowered their heads and held their tongues.

Under relentless pressure from the king, Duke Johannes finally thought of someone else: the daughter of a fallen noble family who had entered his service as a maid two years earlier.

Unlike her father, whose life had fallen into complete ruin, she was always graceful and poised. She spoke softly but with dignity, held herself straight, and always looked neat and tidy.

If she had wanted to, she could easily have secured herself a comfortable life as someone’s mistress; the fact that she hadn’t suggested that she still had pride.

Moreover, Terian had dark brown hair and Yuis had black hair, so their resemblance could conveniently be used as proof of distant kinship.

After all, what noble house did not have a long-lost child among its distant relatives? Since Lady Johannes was already engaged to Hetar, sending a collateral relative in her place would be a plausible arrangement.

With this plan in mind, Duke Johannes presented the proposal to the king.

Her hair was like polished ebony with a hint of blue, her eyes were a soft violet colour like precious gems, her cheeks and eyelids were tinged with a faint blush, and her straight nose led to lips the colour of fresh rose petals.

She was a rare beauty, even in the kingdom of Darec — pure and delicate, with an air rarely seen before.

The king smiled in satisfaction.

Even Edric Descartes, said to be indifferent to women, would surely find it hard to look away.

“But she’s still an Everett. Will Kalang accept her?”

“What if we register her with House Johannes first and then send her?”

While Yuis Everett diligently carried out her duties as a maid in the ducal household, preparations for her departure to Kalang proceeded flawlessly — and secretly — behind her back.

After staring at the documents laid before her for a long moment, Yuis finally cautiously opened her mouth.

“But… what if I get found out?”

“There’s nothing to worry about. We’ve taken care of everything. All you have to do is go and marry that Demon of War.”

Yuis pressed her lower lip tightly. As expected, she had no choice in the matter.

Edric Descartes.

The emperor’s closest friend and right-hand man. As head of House Descartes, he had defended Kalang — a country constantly embroiled in war due to its northern location — with unwavering strength. That was all that was publicly known about him.

The rest were nothing but rumours.

Some said he was hideous.

Others said that he had killed people not on the battlefield, but within his own capital.

They said that he did not shed a single tear when his parents died — a heartless man to the core.

Even in bed, they said, his cruelty remained unchanged.

Yuis slowly loosened her tightly clenched fists and smoothed out the creases on her skirt. A quiet breath escaped her lips.

“I never really had a choice to begin with, did I?”

At her question, Terian let out a soft laugh.

“A choice? Yuis, we’re giving you an incredible gift.”

Yuis’s eyes widened slightly at those words.

A gift?

What part of this could possibly be a gift to her?

“We’re giving you the Johannes name. We’re promoting you from maid to Duchess of Kalang. You should be grateful to us.”

Terian placed her cold hands over Yuis’ tightly clasped fingers. As she gripped them firmly, Yuis barely managed to suppress the urge to grit her teeth.

“Your father is drowning in gambling debts. Your mother clings to her title as viscountess while living off the money you earn. Without this opportunity, you would have spent your whole life as a servant in our household. But now, I’m giving you a once-in-a-lifetime chance.”