“Get out.”

“M-My lady… please. I-I don’t want to leave this house!”

“That’s right. I didn’t want to go to the North either. But here we are.”

She had never really intended to go north – but for tonight she wanted to make Laura suffer. In truth, Valetta didn’t want Laura with her. If she was really going with Leonard, she’d be better off with a more obedient maid. But the way she felt right now, she almost didn’t care. If she was going to suffer, she might as well take Laura down with her.

‘No… Tomorrow morning I’ll file for annulment and press charges against Uncle. I shouldn’t think like that.’

Valetta forced herself to control her emotions. Now was not the time to waste energy confronting Laura. She needed to concentrate on how to avoid entering the bridal chamber.

“Well? What are you standing there for? Go and pack your things.”

“M-My lady… please don’t do this. It’s not like you!”

“How can I act like myself in a situation like this? I don’t have the strength to argue anymore. Leave. That’s an order.”

Valetta was so firm in her tone that Laura, almost in tears, had no choice but to leave her small attic room. As soon as Laura was gone, Valetta wasted no time in making her escape. She hadn’t even had a chance to take off her wedding dress – so she simply grabbed her handbag and crept quietly down the corridor. She headed straight for the side door used by the kitchen staff.

‘Who would have thought that my time working in the kitchen would come in handy now.’

Even though she was a noble, a relative of the Dampierre family, she and Friedrich had still been treated like servants. She had scrubbed dishes, washed clothes and cleaned; Friedrich had chopped firewood and cleaned the stables.

‘I just have to get through the night. When the sun comes up, I’ll go straight to court. Then it’ll all be over.’

Her chest tightened with fear and anxiety. If the plan failed, she would be forced to live out the rest of her days as Leonard Carnies’ wife – a fate she wouldn’t wish on anyone, let alone herself.

‘No. Never. I can’t let that happen.’

Being the Grand Duchess of Carnies…

The thought of having Leonard’s name attached to hers was sickening.

Valetta quickly opened the side door. Her plan was to deliver the complaint and charge to the court when it opened in the morning. She thought she could hide somewhere overnight and then go to the courthouse.

That was her plan…

“U-Uncle.”

Count Dampierre stood guard outside the side door. A look of fear spread across Valetta’s face.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Her uncle’s eyes glowed as if he had known all along. Valetta pleaded desperately, knowing her words wouldn’t reach him.

“Please Uncle, step aside.”

She gripped the hem of her skirt tightly. The lace of her wedding dress felt distinct under her fingers. Try as she might to think of a way out, Valetta was nothing more than a naive noblewoman who knew little of the world.

Count Dampierre had confined her to the house, giving her only menial tasks to keep up appearances, while treating her coldly. He never allowed her to go out into society.

Unlike the naive Valetta, Count Dampierre was cunning and fearsome – a man experienced in the political strife of the capital. He narrowed his eyes and spoke quietly.

“Go back inside, Valetta.”

“Move. I can’t go through with this wedding.”

“You’ve already had the wedding. What are you going to do now? Go and prepare to receive your husband.”

“How can this man be my husband? Why did you lie to me? If I had known that Leonard Carnies was to be my bridegroom, I would never have agreed to marry him!”

“You impertinent girl! Do you really think someone like you is fit to be the Grand Duke of Carnies? You should be grateful to have married someone of his standing!”

“I never wanted such a marriage – never!”

“To think you show no gratitude for being fed and brought up!”

“…”

Should she really be grateful for being raised when she was treated worse than a servant?

Unlike Irmina, she was never properly educated – did that count as an education?

The years she spent hungry, poorly clothed and sleep-deprived… what was their value?

“Aren’t you ashamed of yourself?”

“W-What…?”

“I heard that Irmina married Eric Rigius.”

Valetta had overheard the maids in the house gossiping. They said that Irmina had taken her place and married Eric Rigius, while Valetta had been given to the monstrous Grand Duke instead. At that moment, her aunt and uncle no longer felt like family. How could people be so cruel? Overwhelmed by the injustice, she spat out her anger.

“Now that there’s nothing left for you to take from me, you’re going to steal my fiancé? Let’s see how Irmina lives with a marriage built on theft. How happy can such a life really be?”

Valetta couldn’t finish her sentence. Count Dampierre, his face flushed with rage, slapped her across the cheek.

“You-you…! How dare a girl like you speak to me like that!”

Shocked by the slap, Valetta burst into tears. But her emotions meant nothing to the count. He immediately grabbed her wrist and began to drag her away.

“Let go! What are you doing?”

“I made you a Grand Duchess and this is how you repay me? Insulting me and my daughter? You ungrateful wretch!”

Count Dampierre didn’t care that the household staff were watching.

Valetta’s resistance was useless against his brute strength. He dragged her to the bedroom door.

“Let me go! This marriage is void!”

At her outcry, the count grabbed her by the collar. Valetta’s face turned pale as her breath caught in her throat. With an angry expression on his face, he growled through clenched teeth.

“From now on, you are the wife of the Grand Duke Carnies! If you resist again, I’ll sell you as a common wh*re and no one will ever hear from you again!”

Then the Count pushed her through the door. The dark, windowless storeroom swallowed her whole. It felt like the beginning of a grim and hopeless future, and her vision blurred with despair.

“Sit there and wait quietly for your husband!”

Falling hard to the floor, Valetta scrambled up and grabbed the doorknob.

“Please! Uncle! I’m begging you—please open the door! I can’t go through with this marriage! Uncle!”

“Is anyone out there? Please, someone let me out! Help me… Please, someone…”

But the count had already locked the door from the outside and walked away.

Valetta knocked once, then rested her forehead slowly against the cold wood. All her strength had left her – drained by the weight of a sham marriage forced upon her without an ounce of her consent.

And deep down she knew the truth.

No one in this house would come to her aid. There was no one left to stand by her. The only person who had ever truly been on her side… had died long ago.

‘Friedrich… I hate you so much.’

How could he die and leave her to face this nightmare alone?

If only it had been her instead. Friedrich would’ve carried on, strong, unshaken. But she was crumbling, sinking deeper into the mire with each passing day.

Valetta bit back the tears that were burning in her eyes. But then – she felt it. A presence behind her.

She turned, startled.

Leonard was standing there, having just lit a candle with a match. The small flame cast dancing shadows across the walls, but all she could see was him.

When had he come in? How long had he been there?

No-how had she not noticed him until now?

“W-What are you doing here…?”

“I thought I’d personally escort the bride to the bridal chamber.”

His voice, deep and steady, flickered through the silence like the candlelight he held – warm and cold at the same time.

The weight of it settled over her like a shadow, and a shiver ran down Valetta’s spine.

“So the runaway bride has returned. Well, this isn’t a bad bridal chamber, I suppose.”

“Stop saying strange things and get out!”

“As you know, the door is locked.”

With a lazy movement, Leonard put the candle on the desk. His face, as he looked around the room, was obscured by the thick shadows of the storeroom.

Valetta was mortified to death that Leonard had seen this cold, shabby storeroom she called her bedroom. Even Friedrich, his close friend, had never revealed how the siblings had grown up. That had been her last shred of pride.

She didn’t care if the whole world knew how she had been treated – but not him. Not Leonard Carnies. To be pitied by him was worse than death.

“I told you to go.”

“And I told you the door was locked.”

“You can open it.”

Leonard was a man as tall as the door itself. Tall, broad-shouldered, not a small part of him. He was strong enough to have once hunted a dragon – there was no way a simple door could stop him.

Yet all he did was lazily jiggle the doorknob before shrugging his shoulders. His nonchalant attitude felt like mockery, and it made Valetta burn with frustration.

“I am your husband. You’re my bride. So I don’t see how I can come where I don’t belong.”

“Do you… really want to marry me? Is that what you really want?”

Valetta’s voice trembled slightly.

“There’s no reason not to. You’re an Irpman, and I need a wife.”

“Leonard Carnies!”

“My bride is so sensitive and delicate. To think you’d get so angry over something so trivial.”

Leonard took a bold step towards her. Perhaps it was because of his size, but with just a few steps he was already very close. Valetta had to lift her head to see him standing right in front of her. Even in the darkness, his golden eyes sparkled as they briefly touched and then left the spot on her cheek that was still slightly red from the slap earlier. But the shadows of the night prevented her from seeing the slight furrow between his brows.

“Valetta. You brought this on yourself.”

“What?”

“For the past month, I have been sending you letters – several times a day. I even sent people.”