His season had ended, and it was entirely Rabiana’s fault.

Chapter 2

A heavy knot of guilt pressed on Rabiana’s heart and she shut her eyes.

Don’t cry. Not yet. The groom hasn’t even arrived—bursting into tears now will only make people stare.

Almost as though summoned by her thoughts, the main doors of the chapel swung open.

She felt the air itself change. Footsteps—steady, unhurried, yet carrying a distinct weight—marched up the virgin road.

He’s here.

Rabiana pressed her trembling fingertips together and waited.

“Eh? Why…?”

“Who is that man? What’s he doing here?”

Startled whispers rippled through the pews.

Instead of turning—what use were her clouded eyes?—Rabiana honed every other sense.

She read the world with sound and the tremor of air.

The measured tread drew closer; a cool draft slipped beneath her veil.

At last the stranger halted beside her. An imposing presence filled the space at her left.

“I seem to have arrived late,” he said.

The voice—low, smooth, far younger than the sixty-odd years rumor had given the count—made Rabiana’s brow knit in confusion. Surely the speaker was only a little older than she was.

While she tried to make sense of it, the man addressed the officiant.

“Begin.”

“B-but … the groom is meant to be Count Bill Ford—”

A chair scraped back. Lawrence, sounding half-amused, half-outraged, interjected:

“What sort of discourtesy is this, barging into another man’s wedding?”

Rabiana turned useless eyes toward the commotion. If only she could truly see… Panic fluttered in her chest; something had gone terribly wrong.

The newcomer glanced at Lawrence, then at the murmuring guests, lifting his brows as though apologizing for the scene.

From his pocket he produced a folded letter and held it out to the officiant.

“Please read this. Securing it is what delayed me.”

“Ah, y-yes…”

The officiant’s face turned pale as he unfolded the letter. Cold sweat formed on his brow as his eyes darted between Rabiana, the stranger beside her, and Lawrence, who was glaring daggers at them.

He swallowed hard before reading aloud.

“I, Count Bill Ford, hereby state that I have sold my intended bride, Rabiana Selden, for a large sum of money…”

What?

“From this day forward, the man delivering this letter shall be her husband, not I.”

Rabiana couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

Technically, she wasn’t married to Count Ford yet. Today was meant to be their wedding day, after all. But even so—married or not—he had no right to sell her.

She took a shaky step toward the officiant, disoriented and angry—

Only to be yanked back by a hand clamping firmly around her wrist.

“You’ll fall. There’s a step there.”

“…What is this? Sold? Why would he sell me?”

The sudden touch left her frozen. Rabiana jerked her arm free with a sharp pull.

To her, the one who sold her and the one who bought her were no different.

Panic twisted her insides, and her body instinctively sought the one person she trusted. She turned her head in the direction where Lawrence had said he’d be—on her left.

They had just spoken about it before entering the chapel. She reached out, about to move—

But the man grabbed her again, dragging her back to his side.

Rabiana lifted her head, cursing her blindness. She wanted—needed—to see the face of the man who had just barged into her wedding claiming to have bought her.

The murmur of voices fell into silence as he spoke again, his tone cool and composed.

“Your legal guardian, Marquess Carter, accepted a payment from Bill Ford in exchange for you.”

“……”

“And I paid a fair price to obtain you.”

The moment those words turned her suspicions into truth, Rabiana felt her world tilt.

Her faint, desperate hope—that Lawrence, the man who had treated her like family, could not possibly be part of this—shattered.

She wanted to rip off her veil, throw it aside, and storm out of the chapel.

But the iron grip on her shoulder held her in place.

There was no escaping the strength of this stranger. His scent hung heavy in the air between them, pressing down on her like the weight of chains.

The man finally spoke again.

“My apologies for the late introduction.”

He lightly took hold of Rabiana’s hand. It was an introduction as one-sided as his entrance.

“I am Alberto Vel Roen, your soon-to-be husband.”

Who on earth was this man?

***

The wedding ended roughly. Strangely, Lawrence didn’t protest further after that. His silence implied approval of the marriage.

What was clear was that the deal between this man and Count Bill Ford hadn’t been made with Lawrence’s agreement.

Rabiana accepted everything quietly. Even though the groom had changed, the fact that she had to get married remained the same.

How long could an unmarried man like Lawrence continue to look after her just because they were friends, even sacrificing his own life?

The groom—Alberto Vel Roen—cited personal circumstances to skip the reception, and Rabiana had no chance to say goodbye to Lawrence. That was a relief. After hearing that she had been sold for money, she didn’t think she could face him calmly.

The journey to Alberto’s territory was long and arduous.

Right before their departure, she’d been told they were heading north, so the distance would be considerable. She had never been to the north before, and wondered—fearfully—what kind of place it might be.

The carriage was filled with a heavy silence. It was Alberto who spoke first.

“You’re taking this more calmly than I expected.”

“……”

“I thought you’d resist more. Well, I suppose I’m better than that old geezer?”

Rabiana gave a slight shake of her head. She lowered her gaze to avoid looking at Alberto, who must have been seated across from her.

There was no way this man hadn’t heard the rumors about her. Even if he hadn’t, he would have realized she couldn’t see once the veil had been lifted.

Even knowing everything, she didn’t want to show him her empty eyes. They were conversing now as if nothing were amiss, but once he saw her unfocused gaze, he would surely find it unsettling. No matter how prepared she thought she was, experiencing it was something else entirely.

“To me, it doesn’t matter who the other person is.”

“To be lumped together with that old pervert—your standards are harsh.”

“That’s not what I meant. I just meant that I place no significance on this marriage, so whether the other person is old, has a bad personality, or is unattractive—it doesn’t matter to me.”

Alberto nodded as if in agreement. Indeed, this woman knew her place very well.

“It seems the rumors were true.”

At Alberto’s words, Rabiana bit her lip.

“The rumor that Rabiana Selden has little attachment to life.”

“…Was there such a rumor?”

“I heard it and came to find you myself.”

He was a strange man. Unless there was another motive, it didn’t make sense for someone to choose a woman with no will to live as his bride. No one wanted to spend a lifetime with a gloomy, blind woman. In fact, if not for Count Bill Ford, Rabiana might have grown old and died unmarried, leeching off Lawrence’s goodwill.

She waited for Alberto to continue. Just then, the carriage, which had been moving smoothly, came to a sudden stop. The side where Rabiana was seated jolted violently, and her body lifted into the air.

“Ah, ah…”

Startled, she flailed her arms. A hand caught hers. At the same time, a strong arm wrapped around her waist.

It happened in an instant. Her nose touched not the wall but the man’s shoulder, and their bodies were far too close.

Her startled heart pounded fiercely. It must have been from the shock of tilting in the dark just moments before.

Rabiana didn’t even think to pull away from Alberto, who was firmly holding her. Her heart refused to calm down.

“What happened?”

Alberto’s voice was calm as he opened the window to the coachman’s seat to ask. The coachman said a deer had leapt out from the mountain, and only after firmly warning him did Alberto look down at Rabiana, still in his arms.

Rabiana stared blankly at him. Unconsciously, she lifted her head, revealing her eyes.

Alberto’s lips twitched faintly.

Her unfocused pupils were blue. But they were empty and dark. Strangely, there was a gripping force in those eyes that held his gaze tight.

Alberto felt a tightness in his chest. Just from locking eyes, his mouth went dry.

It felt like he’d forgotten something. As if in a trance, he opened his mouth.

“Your eyes…”