Chapter 1 (Part 1)

Duke Rockbellion’s eyes were slightly upturned like a proud cat. Perhaps it was because of the tear duct at the bottom of his left eye, making him look even more mischievous.

She knew she should push away his face that was slowly approaching, but she had no confidence in avoiding his gaze. She feared, no, she felt embarrassed that he might hear the pounding sound of her heart echoing to the depths.

She allowed his lips to approach slowly. She felt the soft touch of his lips.

The sweet scent of his body brushing past her nose made her dizzy. As his head tilted, his lips dug in more persistently.

“Lia….”

His low, husky voice, which only family could call her by, whispered her nickname in her ear as he momentarily pulled his lips away and looked at her.

He laughed softly and bent down a bit more, pulling her closer while gently stroking her waist, back, and nape.

She looked up at his face as he pressed his thigh deeply between her legs that she tried to close. His glistening lips and flushed face looked extremely dangerous.

“From the moment we first met….”

He continued, gently caressing Yuliana’s cheek with his right hand.

“I’ve wanted to kiss and hold you like this.”

He clasped Yuliana’s hand with his left hand.

“I would like to marry you, Lady Yuliana, instead of just being engaged.”

“What?”

“Surely, you don’t intend to avoid taking responsibility after kissing me like this, do you?”

The elegant escort was no longer there. Only a beast-like man, licking his lips and staring at the delectable prey before devouring it, existed. Yuliana lowered her head in embarrassment.

He smiled contentedly, caressing Yuliana’s flushed cheeks and earlobes.

“Did you dislike it?”

His fingers lifted Yuliana’s chin to make her look at him. She knew she should refuse his slowly approaching lips, which were smiling contentedly.

“Surely……. You won’t avoid taking responsibility after taking my first kiss, Lady Yuliana Loengrin.”

“It was my first kiss too.”

“Since we shared our first kiss, we can take responsibility together.”

His eyes curved beautifully like a crescent moon as he smiled.

At that sight, she thought she might be devoured if she didn’t run away now. But she couldn’t run away. No, it was too late to run.

“I knew you had a fiancé due to the forced engagement by Emperor Rezeph 9 years ago. So I couldn’t easily show my feelings…… but I couldn’t give up my feelings either.”

His confession of secretly loving her for 9 years weighed on her heart.

“I have no regrets about my unrequited love. In fact, just watching you from afar, those moments felt like eternity to me, and even after those eternal moments ended, thinking of you, Lia, your smile… it kept making me excited and happy.”

He continued speaking while lovingly brushing Yuliana’s hair.

“Lia, unrequited love is neither a sin… nor a regret. All the time I loved you alone was a blessing to me.”

At a distance where they could feel each other’s breath as their noses touched, Anthus lifted Yuliana’s waist and kissed her again.

Unlike before, it was a passionate and quick kiss.

* * *

Yuliana of the Earl Loengrindom family manifested a spirit affinity at the age of 11. Since spirit affinity is a rare talent, Yuliana gained attention in social circles because of it. Naturally, Yuliana’s ability reached the ears of Emperor Rezeph.

Rezeph commanded her father, Matthias, to bring Yuliana to the imperial palace.

“What spirit have you contracted with?”

“The spirit of water, Your Majesty.”

“Show me the water spirit.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Leaving the worried Matthias behind, Yuliana calmly chanted a spell. The sight of water droplets gathering in the air amazed those present.

“Being the daughter of Saint Rosaline, I expected divine power, but spirit affinity… Haha! It’s a wonderful talent!”

Emperor Rezeph was very pleased with Yuliana’s abilities.

“Your Majesty, though it may be insufficient, I will dedicate this power to the Sirius Empire.”

“Come closer, Lady Loengrin.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Clutching the hem of her dress, she cautiously approached where Rezeph called and bowed.

“There’s no need to bow. Show me your face.”

“Yes.”

Yuliana lifted her face and met Emperor Rezeph’s gaze.

“You look just like the late Saint Rosaline.”

Licking his lower lip, Rezeph looked Yuliana up and down and chuckled.

“You’re very beautiful. Beautiful. You’ll grow up to be even more beautiful than Rosaline. To think I would see the golden hair and golden eyes of the Saint again in my lifetime.”

Yuliana felt uncomfortable at the Emperor’s words about her mother who passed away a year ago. It felt like a disgusting cockroach was crawling all over her body.

“…Thank you for the compliment, Your Majesty.”

“Your voice is beautiful too. I heard you’re 11 years old now….”

“Yes, that’s correct, Your Majesty.”

“In a few years, you’ll become a more mature woman than you are now. I like you. Soon, I will give you a good gift.”

The Emperor’s gaze, which scanned her body, brought fear to young Yuliana. She wanted to rub her goosebump-covered arms, but she had to endure it.

Exactly 10 days after that day, Yuliana received a gift from Emperor Rezeph. It was a political engagement.

Using the grand reason of uniting the imperial and noble factions, Rezeph pushed for a political engagement between the imperial faction’s Loengrin family and the noble faction’s Fedeurus family.

From Matthias’s perspective, who had a bad relationship with the Marquis of Fedeurus, he couldn’t help but jump up.

The imperial faction supports the Crown Prince Cloud, who is the son of the Emperor and Empress. The noble faction wants a prince born from a concubine to become the Crown Prince.

If it weren’t for Crown Prince Cloud, the prince promoted by the noble faction could become the Crown Prince. Naturally, to the noble faction, the Empress and Cloud were like thorns in their eyes.

And eventually, an incident occurred. It was the death of the Empress.

Cloud, who had disappeared some time ago, was accused of poisoning his mother, the Empress.

People wondered if Cloud, who respected and loved the Empress, could do such a thing. However, all evidence and witnesses pointed to Cloud as the culprit.

If Cloud were caught, it was certain he would be killed somehow. And the prince promoted by the noble faction would become the Crown Prince.

In a situation where they were trying to move to help Cloud somehow, Rezeph suddenly pushing for the engagement under the guise of uniting the emperor’s faction and the noble faction gave them a headache.

“It is a great honor that you are considering my daughter, but she already has a betrothed.”

Bang!

When Rezeph slammed his fist down on the armrest, Earl Loengrin flinched.

“Even if there is a betrothed, the imperial decree comes first! Can you, Earl Loengrin, who disregards the Emperor’s decision made for the sake of his daughter, be called a noble of the Sirius Empire? The Marquis Fedeurus calls my command an honor….”

Marquis Fedeurus is not someone who would do anything without profit. It was hard to shake off the feeling that there must be some sort of deal between Emperor Rezeph and Marquis Fedeurus. Otherwise, it was impossible to understand the current engagement.

In this situation, insisting on the already arranged engagement for his daughter would be tantamount to insulting the Emperor.

Matthias was deeply troubled by the forced engagement by Rezeph. His daughter, Yuliana comforted him.

“I’ve heard that Young Lord Beonar of Fedeurus is very kind.”

“A rumor is just a rumor.”

Matthias recalled the unsettling look in Rezeph’s eyes as he gazed at Yuliana. His worries grew.

Rezeph started sending Yuliana to war, emphasizing that the water spirit she summoned was useful for healing and providing drinking water. Matthias’s agony grew day by day as his beloved daughter was forced into an engagement and sent to war.

And one day….

The missing Crown Prince Cloud overthrew the tyrannical Rezeph and ascended to the throne.

Matthias could not hide his joy at the thought that Yuliana would return from the war once it ended.

And with the change of Emperor, any deal between the Marquis Fedeurus and Rezeph would be nullified. Thus, Matthias briefly rejoiced at the hope that Yuliana’s engagement might be broken off, but the Marquis Fedeurus did not mention breaking the engagement.

Disappointed that the engagement was not annulled, Yuliana smiled and said to Matthias,

“Father, Young Lord Beonar is a good fiancé. Marquis Fedeurus treats me very well. There is nothing to worry about. I am satisfied with my engagement.”

“But… Lia.”

Yuliana continued to say she was fine.