This work contains scenes of coercion that some readers may find disturbing. Please be advised before purchasing or reading.

Chapter 1

“Breaking news! Breaking news!”

War broke out right before the wedding.

While Julietta prayed for her fiancé—whom she’d fallen for at first sight—to return alive, several winters passed.

And now, on another bitterly cold, snowstorm-lashed winter’s day, the empire’s resounding victory finally brought four long years of war to an end.

Julietta learned the war was over through the breaking news, and, overjoyed, she ran straight to her father Brahms’ study.

“Father! The war has finally ended in victory!”

Julietta knocked briskly on the study door.

But even after a while, there was no answer from the other side.

Feeling uneasy, she carefully opened the door a crack.

Through the gap, she could see inside the study, where bookshelves overflowed with volumes.

Seated on the sofa with her father were two gentlemen—Mr. Valmer and Mr. Steven, friends her father had been meeting with often these days.

“Mr. Valmer, Mr. Steven, hello. I didn’t know you were here.”

At Julietta’s cheerful greeting, Valmer offered a warm smile, but Steven seemed to avoid her gaze.

“Father, did you hear? The war—”

Julietta took a step forward, about to enter the study, but Brahms gestured for her to stop and stay where she was.

“…..”

Unable to disobey her father’s silent command, Julietta stood rooted to the spot.

“My guests are about to leave. Wait just a little while.”

As if her father’s tense tone was all the cue they needed, the men gathered their hats and coats without hesitation and rose to leave.

After a brief farewell, they exited the study. Julietta gave them a slight bow in parting.

Left alone with her father, she spoke up without hesitation.

“The war with Cardin is over! It’s peace at last!”

Julietta spoke, overcome with emotion.

But her father’s expression didn’t change at all.

It was as if he’d already sensed this outcome.

His cold demeanor left Julietta a little intimidated, but she carefully pressed on.

“Um… Father, could I go to Braxiter tomorrow?”

Braxiter.

It was half a day away by train, plus another three hours by car.

The journey was arduous, but just seeing the estate there always made all her fatigue melt away.

Braxiter was a dreamlike mansion built in the heart of a beautiful forest.

Just thinking of Braxiter brought a smile to Julietta’s lips.

Waiting there were not only her soon-to-return fiancé, but his fairy-like younger sister, his kind and gentle mother, and the strict yet warm-hearted marquis.

They all cherished Julietta dearly, and she loved them just as much.

She wanted to rush to Braxiter immediately and share this joyous news with them.

At Julietta’s request, her father’s expression turned troubled, but he soon relented.

“Yes, go ahead.”

A chill lingered between Julietta and Brahms.

Ever since her mother died ten years ago, Brahms had grown distant and cold with Julietta.

Even now, they remained awkward with each other.

On a day like this, she longed to share her happiness, but as always, it was not permitted.

“What are you still doing here? I told you to go,”

Her father gestured for her to leave when she didn’t move toward the door.

Left with no choice, Julietta lowered her eyes and left the study.

Even after leaving, she lingered outside for a while, but her father quickly turned his attention back to work, offering no further sign or call for her.

With a deep sigh, she started toward her own room. Just then, the telephone in the parlor rang.

Julietta ran to the parlor, barely managing to pick up the receiver before the ringing stopped.

— Julietta!

An emotional voice leapt from the other end.

It was Lydia—her fiancé’s one and only younger sister, and the second daughter of the marquis’ family.

Being close in age, Lydia and Julietta were the best of friends.

— I just got word from my brother! He’s coming home in ten days! Julietta, come to Braxiter right away! We have to celebrate together!

“Ah…”

Julietta brushed trembling fingers over her lips, her eyes growing wet.

Struggling not to let Lydia hear her tearful voice, she managed to answer.

“Congratulations, Lydia! I’ll come to Braxiter right away.”

She put down the receiver immediately after.

She worried Lydia might find it odd, but that wasn’t important now.

‘Ivan is coming back.’

The realization brought tears to Julietta’s eyes.

She stood frozen by the phone, pressing her hand to her chest and taking a deep breath.

Just thinking about it made her heart race.

Tears streamed down her cheeks, but her lips wore a radiant smile.

“At last… I’ll see him…”

Slowly making her way to her room, Julietta let herself daydream about reuniting with Ivan.

She pictured him approaching from afar, imagined his voice, his gaze, and felt her heart flutter.

She hardly remembered her childhood, but back then, she’d run wild with Lydia through the forest at the Braxiter estate.

The only reason Julietta—who had so suddenly become the daughter of a count—could mingle with the prestigious Marquis of Hartfield’s family was because she was betrothed to the marquis’ eldest son.

Julietta still remembered the first time Ivan spoke to her.

‘So you’re the one who’ll be my wife.’

Their first meeting was in the woods at Braxiter, after she’d gotten lost playing with the rambunctious Lydia.

Ivan Le Hartfield.

Even at their first encounter, he was a paragon of nobility and breathtakingly handsome.

He was so tall that her head barely reached his shoulder, with dark brown hair and mesmerizing green eyes.

Julietta sketched his image in her mind and soon found herself smiling.

She would leave for Braxiter right away.

It felt as if, just by going there, he might return sooner.

Heart racing with anticipation, Julietta began to consider what she should wear when she met Ivan, standing in front of her mirror.

In the reflection was a beautiful woman with long, curly blonde hair, her cheeks flushed in a bashful smile.

Julietta blushed at her own reflection.

It was, by anyone’s eyes, the face of a woman in love.

Seeing herself so transformed, she could only dream of the reunion that lay ahead with Ivan.

***

The train from the military base at Siwood soon arrived at the Schurence station.

Ivan gathered his bags and stepped off the train, where the waiting staff from Braxiter were already visible.

Among them, especially, was the elderly head butler, Divil, ready to greet him.

“Good day, sir. You’ve been through so much,”

Divil offered Ivan a respectful greeting, and the staff around him bowed their heads as well.

Immediately, the servants stepped forward to take Ivan’s luggage.

Ivan handed them his bags, offering only a brief nod.

His expressionless face and firmly set lips gave off a cold impression.

“I’ll take you to the car now, sir. This way, please.”

At Divil’s prompt, Ivan followed without a word.

A black car with the engine already running was waiting for him.

With smooth, practiced movements, Ivan slid into the car and pulled a cigarette from inside his uniform.

As he brought it to his lips, Divil quickly took the passenger seat.

As the door snapped shut, the hiss of a lighter signaled a small flame.

“Has Lady Julietta arrived?”

Divil glanced in the rearview mirror at the faint smoke curling up from the back seat as he spoke.

“Yes, sir. She’s already been at Braxiter for ten days.”

Ivan gave a slight nod, satisfied with the answer.

Julietta Lumiere.

Without a sound, Ivan mouthed her name, recalling the girl with golden hair cascading to her waist.

He wondered what she might look like now, after four years apart.

Julietta’s father, Brahms Lumiere, was a renowned and distinguished physicist, a professor at a prestigious university, and the inventor of the “kill-bomb”—a missile capable of large-scale destruction in war.

Because of his invention, Julietta’s mother was shot and killed during a peace demonstration, but Brahms’ creation raised the Connaught Empire to the status of a great power, and Brahms himself was granted a count’s title.

As soon as he entered high society, Brahms caught the eye of the Marquis of Hartfield, Orlando.

Orlando stood at the pinnacle of the upper class, his family having amassed vast wealth through generations of banking and railroads, holding power that could sway even the highest in the land.

Not content with this, Orlando was looking to further accelerate his munitions business, so he sought close ties with Brahms and wanted to invest heavily in his kill-bomb research.

But he needed a justification.

He didn’t hesitate to arrange an engagement between his eldest son and Brahms’s daughter, giving him the pretext he needed to invest.

Whether this was ambition or foresight, the Connaught Empire soon went to war with its neighbor, Cardin.

War broke out when Julietta was twenty—right before her wedding.

Ivan, having just graduated from the military academy, was naturally conscripted.

From the start, Ivan knew who would win this war.

As he predicted, Connaught’s victory came thanks to Brahms’ research.

As a result, the Hartfields’ prestige soared even higher.

With Julietta in his life, there were countless advantages to be gained.

She was indispensable to his father’s munitions enterprise, his fiancée, and—above all—family he was bound to protect.

Family.

Ivan watched the landscape slip by outside the car window.

For the first time, a faint smile touched his previously emotionless face.