Dark storm clouds blanketed the sky.

Each time a massive wave struck the merchant ship’s side, the hull creaked and groaned.

Rain lashed the deck like whips, making it difficult even for the sailors to remain standing without holding on to something.

Lightning split the sky, illuminating a woman standing at the bow in stark white.

Countess Isabel.

Her dark navy dress was already soaked through and clinging to her body, and her short black hair, cropped above her ears, stuck out in wet spikes.

Though thunder shook the ship, her blue eyes alone shone with cold composure.

Before her stood a black-clad sea captain—the captain of this very ship.

The rough, drunken man gripped the railing with one hand and aimed a pistol at Isabel’s chest with the other.

“So this was your plan all along, Raymond.”

A cold voice escaped Isabel’s lips.

The name “Raymond,” spoken with such desolation, did not belong to the man pointing a gun at her.

This man had merely been paid off by her husband, Raymond Chester.

“Don’t resent me too much, my lady. A woman’s grudge brings bad luck to a voyage.”

Rainwater streamed down the man’s face.

“Just tell me one thing. Was it for the insurance money?”

She had recently heard that one of his merchant ships bound for the North Sea had run aground.

For a week afterward, Raymond had worn a shadow of despair around his eyes.

But at some point, his expression had cleared, and his eyes had regained their usual gleam.

Then he had asked Isabel to cross the Eil Strait and travel to Oden for him.

He said he needed her to obtain a signature concerning trade with the imperial family.

Amid the storm, the captain leered at Isabel.

“How would I know?”

Lightning flashed.

“Why the count wants his wife dead, whether he has a mistress, how much your insurance is worth… I don’t care about any of that. What matters to me… is getting paid when the job’s done.”

A gold tooth gleamed between his dry lips.

Isabel stared silently at his face, then slowly lifted the corners of her mouth.

Her voice was remarkably calm.

“I wasn’t expecting an answer.”

“What?”

“I just wanted to buy some time.”

The captain’s brow furrowed.

It happened in that instant.

A strand of wet rope fell from Isabel’s wrist.

She had been twisting her wrists little by little throughout their conversation.

“Oh, d*mn.”

The captain tried to pull the trigger, but Isabel seized the barrel and pushed it aside.

The bullets struck a rolling oak barrel, sending rum gushing out.

The moment Isabel kicked him in the groin, the captain screamed and the gun fell. She spun like a bird riding the wind.

Her wet skirts billowed.

“…!”

Below her, the dark, savage sea gaped wide.

To anyone watching, it could only look like s*icide.

Isabel glanced back, and lightning split the night sky, illuminating her.

As thunder boomed, Isabel took a quick, deep breath and threw herself into the waves without hesitation.

The black sea and the driving rain.

Her skirts spread like wings in the storm, and her body fell into the darkness.

Staggering, the captain gripped the railing and peered down.

“…”

He could see nothing.

No one could survive that sea.

* * *

Rain pattered softly against the study window.

Raymond Chester, head of House Chester and proprietor of the Chester Trading Company, had fine blond hair and gray eyes that curved gently.

In the dim study, he leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling.

Contracts and loan documents lay piled haphazardly across his desk.

Only a few years ago, the Chester Trading Company had been thriving.

But a string of reckless expansions and failed investments over the past few years had left things far worse than expected.

No one outside knew. In high society, he was still regarded as a successful young count and businessman, but…

House Chester was slowly sinking.

“…”

Raymond closed his eyes.

He remembered the day he had first seen Isabel, a mercenary with the Elias Mercenary Company.

Rain had been falling that day, too.

He had been visiting the Elias Mercenary Company’s headquarters to arrange an escort contract for his trading company when the conference room door opened and she walked in.

An expressionless face framed by black hair, a tall, slender figure.

She wore no elaborate adornments, but she was a woman.

Raymond still remembered. The moment she sat down across from him, she looked at his chest, laden with medals, and spoke before even offering a greeting.

“Doesn’t it get heavy, carrying all those medals around?”

He had come intending to bargain down the escort fee, as any merchant would, but instead, Raymond had signed the contract at thirty percent above the asking price.

After that day, he created several more opportunities for their paths to cross.

She carried out her duties flawlessly as a mercenary and showed a strong sense of responsibility.

Before long, he began devoting his time and attention to courting Isabel.

She was no easy opponent and did not readily succumb to his advances. But when a great storm swept through a person’s life, even a sturdy fortress could weaken.

“I know you were caught up in that terrible incident at the mercenary company. I also know you could be expelled from the empire at any moment for leaving your post without permission, especially given your status. But if you marry me, all of that will be neatly resolved.”

“Marriage is no joke.”

“Do I look as though I’m joking, Isabel?”

He pressed his case as she frowned at him.

“If you can’t see me as a man, you can think of me as a friend. If you ever wish it, I’ll gladly agree to a divorce. Just let me help you.”

“Raymond. Why would you…”

“I’ve always wanted a woman as strong and beautiful as you for my wife. House Chester needs a lady like you now.”

Isabel had insisted to the end that she had no feelings for him. But one rainy day, her eyes had wavered when she learned that Raymond was the one who had been leaving fresh flowers at a certain mercenary’s grave.

“Isabel. Someone dear to you is dear to me, too. I’ll remember him with you for as long as you wish.”

Having finally gained access to a corner of her heart that she had kept locked away amid the storm, Raymond slipped an insurance policy among the various documents required for their marriage and handed them to Isabel.

“If I die, the insurance payout will let you live comfortably for the rest of your life. And if something happens to you, the same applies to me. There’s nothing strange about it. Mutual insurance policies are common in merchant marriages. You just need to sign it.”

Having proved her health and physical capabilities with the Elias Mercenary Company before becoming Countess Chester, Isabel qualified for low premiums and an enormous death benefit.

Sometimes, Raymond would look at Isabel sitting by the window, gazing into the distance as the autumn breeze brushed over her, and wonder.

Could he turn his business around and live an ordinary life with her?

But things kept getting worse.

Then the merchant ship he had sent to the North Sea ran aground, leaving House Chester on the brink of bankruptcy.

And in the end, he had crossed that line of his own accord.

“…Isabel. You’ll never understand… But…”

Raymond quietly murmured, his meaningless words drifting through the empty study.

“…I had no choice, either.”

Outside the window, rain fell just as it had on the day they met.

Soon, an insurance payout of one million riks would be deposited into his business account.

Enough to repay all his loans and buy a new merchant ship.

Then came a knock at the study door.

Raymond slowly opened his eyes and spoke in a hoarse voice.

“Come in.”

The door opened, and a young woman in a maid’s uniform entered, bringing with her a faint scent of black tea.

“You’re working again. You’ll wear yourself out.”

Raymond looked at her.

The woman, who had once been Isabel’s personal maid, set down a silver tray bearing a warm teapot.

“Raymon…”

Before she could finish, Raymond wrapped his arms around her waist.

Cold rain streamed down the windowpane.

Far out at sea, the storm would still be raging.

And somewhere in that storm, Isabel’s cold, lifeless body would be sinking endlessly into the depths.

Raymond closed his eyes.

“Comfort me, Ria.”

* * *

Isabel curled in on herself and vomited seawater.

Salt water spilled endlessly onto the sand as she coughed violently.

Every breath felt as though it would tear her ribs apart.

“Hah… Hah…”

Her chest heaving, Isabel lay on the sandy shore of an island and stared up at the sky.

It was still raining.

“…I’ll kill him. That bastard. That piece of sh*t!”

After voicing that bitter vow, she let out a deep breath and slowly sat up.

She pictured Raymond’s face, smiling at her with such tender concern, and felt sick with the urge to tear it apart.

Those damned flowers he had left every single day on that shabby grave no one but her ever visited… If it hadn’t been for them…

‘I wouldn’t have fallen for it.’

Isabel clenched her trembling fists.

But this was no time to sit alone, shaking with rage.

She had to clear her head and start moving.

“West… Probably one of the islands about a hundred and fifty nautical miles southeast of Oden Port?”

The Eil Strait was a dangerous shipping route connecting the eastern and southern regions of the continent.

Hundreds of reefs and small uninhabited islands dotted its waters, making it a route ships rarely took.

Judging by how long she had drifted and the direction of the current, this had to be one of the islands in the Eil Strait.

She fixed the approximate coordinates in her mind.

Then, without delay, she walked up the beach, stopped, and began scooping out the sand with her hands.

The wet sand gave way more easily than she had expected, and she dug a pit large enough to hold a few buckets of water.

She gathered several suitably sized stones nearby and used them to shore up the edges.

The rain was growing lighter, so she had to hurry.

‘Next, a container.’

Without hesitation, Isabel tugged off the petticoat beneath her dress.

She tied its waterproof lining into a pouch, spread it over the pit, and secured all four sides.

It made a temporary basin for collecting clean rainwater.