#1

Heavy rain poured down. The downpour that began in the morning showed no signs of stopping even after noon passed. It wasn’t a good day for a funeral. Especially not for commemorating the late duke of the prestigious House Klaus.

One might have expected the schedule to be changed to another day, but Jürgen didn’t do so. As the man who had now officially inherited the title of Duke, there was no one who could object to his decision.

Beneath the fiercely falling raindrops, dozens of black umbrellas gathered around a grave. Men in black suits carefully lowered the late Duke’s coffin into the deep rectangular pit.

“May God watch over our brother.”

Besides the elderly pastor, not a single person spoke. Jürgen watched as they shoveled dirt onto the coffin. There was no trace of grief for his deceased father on his face.

He merely looked down at his father’s grave with terrifyingly cold eyes.

Diez didn’t even dare to glance at Jürgen. Not wanting to draw people’s attention, she hid behind Jürgen like a coward. She firmly gripped her umbrella with both hands, her head bowed low.

But the nobles weren’t the type to overlook Diez. She could feel the sharp gazes that fell upon her, knowingly or unknowingly.

‘They say she was Duke Klaus’s favorite mistress?’

‘I heard he sold his daughter to pay off enormous debts……’

‘Who would have ever expected she’d end up like this.’

It was suffocating. Even though they were outdoors, she felt her chest tightening. Diez wished for this funeral to end quickly.

I want to be alone. Just for a moment……

Throughout the funeral, Jürgen didn’t spare Diez even a single glance. It was the same even as he sent away all the mourners after the long yet brief ceremony was over.

Jürgen coldly turned away from the grave as if there was nothing left to do with his dead father. As he passed by Diez, his pitch-black umbrella knocked against hers, causing raindrops to fall.

Diez, who was already shrinking into herself, carefully looked in the direction he was heading. Jürgen was giving instructions to the servants as he got into a black car.

Soon, the car carrying only Jürgen disappeared beyond the road. A servant who had received instructions from him approached Diez and spoke in a businesslike voice.

“The Duke has ordered that Miss Schleicher be escorted separately.”

However, there was no sign of any car bearing the Klaus family crest. The servant, watching her reaction, stiffly added:

“The car that took the Duke will return to pick you up. Please wait until then.”

“……I understand.”

Diez replied, feeling somehow wretched.

How pathetic of me to feel this way. A faint sneer escaped toward herself. What could be more wretched than this?

It might be disrespectful, but Diez was glad about the late Duke’s death. It felt as if she had been liberated from the narrow cage that had confined her, allowing her to breathe freely.

Now that he’s dead, perhaps my life will change a little too.

There was a moment when she had harbored such hopes.

But today, without a word, Jürgen had personally shattered Diez’s expectations with his own hands.

The man who inherited the Klaus dukedom…

Jürgen Klaus despised Diez, who had been his father’s mistress.

* * *

As soon as she returned to the ducal residence through the pouring rain, a stern-faced maid approached her.

“The Duke is calling for you.”

The maid moved toward the inner part of the house, indicating for Diez to follow, before Diez could even respond. Diez silently followed the maid across the hallway. It wasn’t just Jürgen who despised her. Diez was certain that all the servants working in the mansion thought the same way.

A woman sold due to debt and raised like the late Duke’s plaything. That was Diez’s reality.

But now it was all in the past. It had to be.

‘I wonder why the Duke wants to see me.’

Diez stood before the door of Jürgen’s office, carrying a faint fear.

“Your Grace, I’ve brought Miss Schleicher.”

“Show her in.”

The maid stepped aside to let her enter. Diez deliberately avoided the maid’s gaze as she stepped into the office.

Thud. She heard the door closing behind her. As soon as she entered the spacious room, she smelled a neat and clean scent.

Recently, after the late Duke’s health had rapidly deteriorated, Jürgen had moved his residence to the main mansion. During that time, Jürgen had been acting as the de facto head of the family, spending almost all day in the office.

The office was exclusively his space, and over the past two weeks, he had perfectly tailored this space to his taste.

‘A clean smell……’

She could tell as soon as she entered the room. Although he was the heir by blood, he was clearly a different person from his father.

The open air that gave the illusion that the windows were open, mixed with the subtle smell of paper documents.

These were all things she had never experienced in the late Duke’s room.

Diez stood still at the door without moving. It was as if her shoulders were already being pressed down by the pressure of the man who had inherited the dukedom.

Meanwhile, Jürgen, who had been looking down at documents despite having just returned from the funeral, suddenly raised his gaze. The woman in a black dress that covered as much skin as possible, almost to the point of obsession, was frozen before his eyes.

“What are you doing?”

Diez raised her head and met Jürgen’s eyes. The man who resembled his immaculately clean office without a speck of dust sent her a plain stare from across the desk.

Vibrant blue eyes. It was his only characteristic that didn’t resemble the late Duke.

As Diez continued to hesitate, Jürgen’s gaze became noticeably sharper.

“I asked what you’re doing standing there.”

“I…….”

“Are you trying to stand there for punishment on your own?”

His voice sounded on edge. Jürgen was speaking as if Diez had committed some offense deserving punishment.

Soon, Jürgen sighed softly, stared directly at her, and tapped his index finger on the desk.

“Come closer.”

Diez cautiously approached him. She was still stiff with tension. Although she and Jürgen had barely exchanged words, she always shrank in his presence.

Why was that?

Was it because, unlike her, he always smelled neat and clean?

Or was it because he was now the one who had become Diez’s new master?

“Relax.”

“……”

“At least in front of me, I’d prefer you not to act like a frightened mouse. It irritates me.”

“I’m sorry.”

Jürgen disliked her. She never expected him to be friendly, but she didn’t expect him to show such clear hostility either.

In the end, Diez failed to properly follow Jürgen’s instruction. As he stared intently at her still frozen figure, Jürgen eventually rose from his seat.

Circling around the desk to stand before her, Jürgen looked down at her and asked from close proximity:

“Why are you trembling like that?”

Of course, his tone was far from concerned. Diez kept irritating Jürgen’s nerves. What am I supposed to do? She was simply being crushed by his intimidating presence.

Moreover, he was now the man who had become Duke Klaus. Even if her master had changed to his son, becoming rigid in front of someone with the status of master had long since become a habit.

“Are you afraid of me?”

“……”

“Don’t try to evade with silence. Answer properly.”

“……It’s true that I still find it difficult with you, Your Grace.”

“Still, you say.”

Why does he antagonize me? What harm have I done to you……. Indignation rose to the tip of her throat, but she dared not show it.

“Do you know how you appear to me right now?”

“……I’m not sure.”

“Are you aware that you’re treating me like a dangerous person?”

“That wasn’t my intention.”

“Do you think I’m going to harm you?”

He was cornering Diez. It felt like being caught in a trap with no escape.

Then he struck at her core.

“I’m asking if you’re afraid I might wield a whip right now, like my father used to do.”

“It’s not like that.”

Startled, Diez immediately replied.

“It’s not intentional…… it’s just become a habit……”

“Let me be clear. I am a different person from my father. I mean that I will never make you do such vulgar things. Why would I even want to make you do such things?”

Jürgen was different from his father. She couldn’t claim to know him well, but at least that’s how he appeared to Diez.

He is…… different from the late Duke who would tenderly stroke a woman he had bought with money, but would whip her if things went wrong.

“So stop trembling.”

He said in a warning tone.

“I’ll find another way to clear the remaining debt.”

There was only one thing that made Diez the Duke’s mistress. Her father’s business failure. The company’s bankruptcy. Because they invested in the wrong places, her family’s fortune was ruined, and they incurred an unbearable debt.

What saved the Schleicher family was House Klaus. Thanks to the ducal house paying off their debt, they barely avoided falling into complete ruin.

Of course, the late Duke Klaus was no philanthropist. Diez could immediately recognize the intention behind this unexpected kindness.

What he demanded in exchange for clearing the debt was Diez, the only daughter of the family.

To replace a debt worth millions with just one daughter. It was like a bolt from the blue for Diez, but from the family’s perspective, there was no better option.

‘You saved our family.’

‘Life in the ducal residence won’t be that bad. So don’t worry too much…… If it weren’t for the Duke, your situation could have been much worse.’

‘Think of it as good fortune.’

It was common for daughters of those who couldn’t repay their debts to be sold to brothels. Diez knew that being a Duke’s mistress was somewhat better than working in a brothel.

But…… in the end, being sold to someone for money was the same thing.

Diez had no right of refusal. She had to serve as the Duke’s mistress for about 5 years.

When she first set foot in the ducal residence, Diez thought the Duke would immediately take her to bed. However, the Duke did not violate her. There was no time to be grateful that what she feared most didn’t happen.

Instead of ordering her to spread her legs, the Duke dressed her in pretty clothes, fed her good food, and showed her love, but sometimes he would inflict violence on her without reason and manipulate her.

It was no different from being raised like an animal.

Diez was the object that received the Duke’s abnormal desires. Overhearing conversations secretly exchanged among the servants, it seemed she wasn’t the first to be brought here and raised like this.

Before Diez, there were many women the Duke had purchased, and they all left this place dead.

Diez was lucky.

Thanks to the Duke dying first, she was able to save her life.

After 5 years that seemed like they would never end, the late Duke who had bought her was gone.

Now, Diez was facing his son, Jürgen Klaus.

“Did you understand everything I said?”

“Yes, Master……”

Diez, who was about to answer habitually, paused and watched his reaction. The late Duke had instructed her to call him Master.

As she suddenly sensed, Jürgen despised that title.

“From now on, call me Your Grace.”

“I understand, Your Grace.”

“I heard you had a contract period with my father.”

“……It was 20 years in total.”

“20 years, you say.”

Jürgen let out a razor-sharp sneer. Even though she knew it wasn’t directed at her, Diez flinched.

“What a damn bastard.”

He muttered. Although he had never liked his father since childhood, this was the first time he felt such disgust toward him.

Was he really planning to manipulate a woman for 20 years?

It made him feel sick.

To the point where sharing the same blood was disgusting.

Meanwhile, Diez, who wanted to escape from this place before Jürgen’s mood hit rock bottom, hastily continued.

“There are 15 years left. The late Duke cleared the debt on the condition that I stay in this mansion for 20 years. So I hope Your Grace won’t dismiss that condition……”

“Then what do you plan to do here for the remaining 15 years?”

“That……”

“What can you do for me? Miss Diez Schleicher.”

It was impossible to answer that question easily. As Jürgen coldly looked down at Diez, who was at a loss for words, his expression seemed to soften slightly when—

“Take off your clothes.”

He instructed. For a moment, Diez, doubting her ears, unconsciously asked back.

“Pardon?”

“I said, take off your clothes.”

He, here? She wanted to ask that, but she was too afraid to do so. This place was a space maintained without a speck of dust. To undress in such a place… It seemed twice as shameful as becoming n*ked in front of people.

But she couldn’t refuse the Duke’s order. That was the condition when she was sold here. Absolute obedience to the master, and never showing dislike no matter what.

With no choice, Diez began to remove her clothes one layer at a time. The black clothes she had worn for the funeral soon fell to the floor with a soft thud.

Why did he tell me to undress?

I thought he, at least, wouldn’t make me do such things……

It was when Diez, now in her underwear, was hesitating. The gaze examining her half-n*ked body held no sticky lust.

Jürgen, still looking at Diez’s body with a coldly hardened gaze, ordered:

“Turn around.”

She hesitantly turned her back to him. On her smooth back, traces of old whippings were clearly visible. They were scars that hadn’t healed properly because she hadn’t received treatment in time.

Glaring at those marks, Jürgen ordered again.

“……Look at me.”

It was a voice that seemed to be barely holding back boiling anger. Is he angry because of me? Diez, who had turned pale, fidgeted with her clasped hands as she watched his reaction.

“I need to hear everything, without exception, about what my father made you do.”

Why do you need to know that……

“Come to my room at this time tomorrow. A maid will guide you when the time comes.”

“……Yes, Your Grace.”

“Get dressed and go now. Stay in your room without moving.”

Feeling a strange sense of relief at being dismissed, Diez hurriedly picked up and put on her clothes. After roughly fastening her clothes, she quietly left his office, watching his reaction.

Thud. Soon the door closed, separating their spaces.

* * *