There were two daughters in the House of Ester.

Isabel Ester had blonde hair and breathtakingly beautiful, jewel-like green eyes.

And—

Bang!

The door burst open violently.

The woman didn’t even have time to think about putting her veil back on, sensing the unnatural force of the approaching footsteps. She hurriedly rose from her seat.

“Ah—”

She turned her head to the side and a soft cry escaped her lips.

Her ears rang.

The cheek that had been hit started to swell immediately and turned red. It burned as though seared by fire. The blow had come so suddenly that she could not properly turn her head, only blinking slowly in shock

“Useless thing!”

An explosive shout struck her ears. Gradually, she regained her awareness. She touched her stinging cheek with trembling fingers.

“What is it that you can do properly?”

Logan’s furious voice poured over her.

“You couldn’t even handle that, and you’ve made this mess? Who do you think you are, daring to refuse the Grand Duke?”

The woman held her breath and endured his rage in silence.

She must not speak. She must not react.

No matter how wronged she felt, she could never fight back. It would only provoke him further. Silence was the only way to survive this moment.

The shock that had made her heart race quickly faded. The heat that had rushed to her head cooled just as quickly, leaving behind a hollow calm.

Lately, Logan hadn’t laid a hand on her. This was not because he had become kinder, but because she was merchandise, to be presented to the Grand Duke. He could not risk leaving visible marks.

The fact that he had hit her today meant that something had clearly shaken him to his core.

She tried to guess what it was.

Had it been because she had failed to spend the night with the Grand Duke?

Or because she had disobeyed his command?

These were reasonable explanations, but deep down, she sensed there was more to it than that.

“You couldn’t even keep the servants’ mouths shut, and you’ve dragged my reputation through the mud?”

Reputation? Servants’ mouths?

When she showed no sign of understanding, Logan clicked his tongue in disgust.

“There’s a rumor spreading everywhere—that the Grand Duchess was stood up by her husband. And you’re telling me you knew nothing of it?”

She had overheard the servants gossiping about the fact that she had not spent her wedding night with Damian.

However, Sarah informed her that Damian had already dealt with the matter. Those who had spoken recklessly had been dismissed. She believed the matter was now closed.

“What exactly can you do? Hm?”

Logan prodded her head with his finger. Her small head tilted weakly with the force. Gradually, his finger pressed harder.

“You know nothing, you can do nothing, and your birth is low. Because of you—”

The veins on the back of his hand stood out as he tightened his grip. He ground his teeth and raised his hand again before forcing himself to lower it with a deep breath.

“I’ve become a laughingstock!”

He seemed to recall some recent humiliation, his face twisting with anger and shame.

“All because of you.”

Only then did she fully understand.

It wasn’t really about her. It was because he had been mocked. Because of her, he thought he had been humiliated.

Whatever had been said to him, she guessed it was not much different from the whispers in the Grand Ducal Residence. They feigned concern for the Grand Duchess while secretly ridiculing the man who had raised her.

“Stupid. Useless.”

Logan muttered under his breath and clenched his fist. Out of habit, his hand twitched upwards again, but he stopped himself. There was no point in venting any more.

“Bel.”

He shook his head, as though correcting himself.

“No. No. Isabel.”

The woman — Bel — flinched, her shoulders curling inwards.

Hearing that name with its three syllables felt like a noose tightening around her throat. She bit down on her lip, her breathing becoming uneven once more.

Isabel Ester — the daughter of the noble House of Ester.

And Bel Ester, the other daughter.

The woman standing here now was merely a substitute for the deceased Isabel Ester.

Isabel died eight months ago in a carriage accident.

The story that an apothecary had found her and saved her life was a lie. No one survived that brutal crash.

The first person to receive news of Isabel’s death was Baron Logan.

When he heard the news, he wept. He raged. But it was not grief that drove him to despair.

It was the realization that her death had deprived him of his only means of paying off his crushing debts.

Through reckless expansion and foolish ambition, Logan had buried himself under mountains of debt. Even if he sold his modest estates and relinquished his title, the proceeds would never cover what he owed. The moneylenders had already begun to turn him away. Bankruptcy was no longer a distant threat — it loomed just ahead.

Then, a glimmer of hope appeared.

Isabel’s marriage.

If Isabel married Damian, debt would no longer be a concern. It would vanish as though it had never existed.

Moreover, Logan would gain the powerful backing of House Montevark. The humiliation he had endured at the hands of high-ranking nobles who dismissed him as an incompetent lord would disappear overnight.

However, Isabel’s death had crushed that dream completely.

He believed that everything was lost.

Until he saw Bel.

Bel was the illegitimate daughter of the late Baroness. Although she and Isabel did not share the same father, they had the same mother, and their resemblance was striking. In fact, they were so alike that at first glance they could have been mistaken for twins.

Bel was the perfect substitute.

But they were not identical. They were only half-sisters. If Bel were presented as she was, it would only be a matter of time before someone noticed the difference.

After much deliberation, Logan decided to conceal her face with a veil and alter her voice with a magical artefact. Ideally, he would have used a different artefact to alter her appearance too, but he could not afford two.

For now, the veil would have to suffice. But even that was only a temporary solution.

For now, the explanation that she was hiding scars on her injured eyes was believable. Yet over time, even the Grand Duke would begin to question it.

Desperate for a solution, Logan searched for ways to secure more money until he remembered the allowance Bel would receive upon marriage. If she used those funds to purchase an artefact capable of altering her appearance, the deception could finally be complete.

Until then, the veil would have to suffice to deceive Damian.

Having only just managed to control his anger, Logan spoke again.

“What is your role?”

“To bear… the Grand Duke’s child.”

Bel bit her lower lip in shame at reducing herself to nothing more than a vessel. Self-loathing surged through her.

“That’s right. All you need to do is give birth to his child. A few coy smiles, lie quietly beneath him—that’s all.”

Child. Child. Child.

His obsession made her stomach churn.

That obsession stemmed from fear. Fear that the truth would one day be revealed. No matter how hard he tried to hide it, he knew he couldn’t deceive the perceptive Grand Duke forever.

Thus, Logan urged her relentlessly to conceive. If she had Damian’s child, her life would at least be spared when the truth came to light.

“The child is the only way for both of us to survive. So do whatever it takes. Seduce him. Bear his heir.”

‘Is that truly so?’

Baron Logan believed that if Bel were to bear the Grand Duke’s child, it would solve all their problems.

However, Bel was not so certain.

Even if the truth came to light, would a child matter to a man consumed by betrayal?

She could not begin to imagine how angry Damian would be if he discovered the deception. He might kill them both without hesitation. Perhaps he would spare the heir to secure his lineage, but he would not spare Bel and Logan.

And still—

“…Yes.”

Bel had no choice but to submit. It was the only path left to her.

***

Neither blue like the Baron’s nor green like the Baroness’, Bel was born with ash-grey eyes — an unusual and unwelcome color in the House of Ester.

She was an illegitimate child.

Logan often raged that this was the result of taking in someone unworthy of nobility and raising her in comfort. The Baroness had died giving birth to Bel, and in Logan’s twisted mind, it was only natural that his misplaced fury would be directed at the child who survived.

Bel endured his contempt and *buse alone. Not a single servant dared to defend her. To show her kindness was to risk becoming the next target of his wrath.

Isabel had been no different. She tormented Bel whenever she felt like it. Having grown up watching her father treat his other daughter like a subhuman being, perhaps she had simply learned that cruelty was acceptable.

And then came the fire.

In its aftermath, Bel lost her sight.

With that, she was left completely alone.

Cut off from the outside world, she often imagined that if she were to die, her body would not be found until it had decayed beyond recognition. This thought returned to her again and again, dragging her into quiet, suffocating despair.

Then, one day, Logan came to her.

Not out of kindness. Not out of regret.

He came because she could serve as Isabel’s replacement.

Nevertheless, Bel felt a faint spark of joy.

Once she had reached the age of her coming-of-age ceremony, however, Logan stopped acknowledging her existence altogether. While Isabel shone during the social season, surrounded by admiration and suitors, Bel had been erased.

Loneliness had hollowed her out.

The only person she saw each day was the maid who brought her meals, and even she rarely stayed long enough to talk.

Bel was starving — not for food, but for human contact.

Being sought out, even as a substitute, felt like salvation. To have someone answer when she spoke. To be noticed.

It felt as though, for the first time in years, she could breathe again.

But the illusion did not last.

It did not take Bel long to realize the truth about the role she had been forced into.

She had to impersonate her deceased sister and deceive the Grand Duke.

It was not a request. It was an order backed by threat.

If she refused, she would not merely be locked away. She would be sold. Logan was desperate for money and only valued her for what she could earn.

In the end, she agreed.

After marrying Damian, Bel spent most nights lying awake in the dark. She was tormented by the fear that she could never deceive him forever. She was consumed by guilt, knowing that she was deceiving him.

At first, she tried to justify her actions. She told herself that she had no choice. What power did a blind woman have to resist? It was survival.

But deep down, she knew it was cowardice.

Regardless of the circumstances, she had stolen her deceased sister’s identity and betrayed Damian.

That truth would never change.

‘If only Damian would abandon me. Then I could feel less guilty toward him.’

A faint, hollow laugh escaped her lips. Even now, she was thinking only of herself. This disgusted her.

As the carriage took her back to the grand ducal estate, she closed her eyes and, absurdly, wished that she would die in an accident like Isabel.