Unable to hold back any longer, Valetta screamed in agony. The count’s face grew pale. He clenched his cane tightly, seething with rage.

“Shut your mouth. Whatever happened, you’re now the wife of the Grand Duke Carnies. Do you really think you can annul the marriage after spending the night with him?”

“You’ve got your million Berks now, haven’t you? You’ve worked me like a maid all my life and now you’re selling me off like cattle. Does it feel good to make a profit on your own blood? If money means so much to you, why not sell Irmina too – AHH!”

At the mention of Irmina’s name, the Count could no longer contain himself and struck Valetta again. But even in his rage, he never touched her face.

He didn’t hold back his strength, hitting only those parts of her body that could be covered by clothing. Under the force of the blows, Valetta collapsed to the floor beneath the carriage seat. But the count didn’t stop.

“You wretched creature, lower than a beast! I fed you, clothed you, and now what? You think you and Irmina are one and the same? How dare you speak her name?”

Now he began to kick her. His boot soiled her once-white wedding dress, leaving stains and tearing the lace. Valetta curled up, sobbing and sobbing again.

Friedrich, broad-shouldered for his age and heir to the Irpman countship, had never dared to hit her like that when he was alive. But after his death, the count had begun to slap or push her whenever he lost his temper.

“You should be grateful that I made someone like you – who has nothing but bloodline to her name – the Grand Duchess of Carnies. You have no manners and no education! You don’t even know how to be grateful! Filth!”

With a final spit at Valetta to end his tirade, the Count sat down in a rage. Valetta lay on the floor, sobbing uncontrollably. He pointed a finger at her and gave another command.

“Get up and fix your hair. And if anything like this happens again, I swear I will sell you to a brothel.”

There was no trace of bluff in his voice. He meant every word.

Valetta, aching as if she might die, pulled herself to her feet and, still crying, began to straighten her clothes and hair. All that remained was a life of marriage to a man she despised.

Before she had time to dwell on her misery, they arrived at the Count’s estate. The Count, anxious to conceal what he’d done, immediately ordered the maids to wash and dress Valetta properly. When she was presentable again, he handed her over to Leonard.

Leonard stood ready to leave for the northern territory of the Carnies. His gaze lingered on Valetta, whose face still bore the unmistakable streaks of tears. She looked less like a newlywed bride and more like a mourner at a funeral.

“Valetta, live well in the north, I hope you find happiness.”

The Countess – Valetta’s aunt – patted her gently on the back and dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief soaked in fake tears. The moment her hand touched her, a shiver ran down Valetta’s spine.

She turned to stare at her aunt and uncle, her expression unreadable. As long as the Grand Duke of Carnies stood beside her, she knew they wouldn’t dare touch her.

If she was going to be dragged away like a dog, she would at least say what needed to be said.

“I hope your beloved Irmina ends up unhappy.”

“W-What…?”

Valetta’s deep blue eyes shimmered – not with tears, but with sad malice. Leonard looked at her, but she didn’t see him. Her attention was on those who had betrayed her.

“I hope she suffers as much as you made me suffer. No more, no less – just the same. I’ll pray with everything I have that Irmina hurts as I did, struggles as I did.”

She widened her eyes and forced back tears.

Even to a stranger, her words carried the unmistakable weight of long-buried grief – pain that had no place to go but out.

“I hope my aunt and uncle feel the same pain in their hearts when they look at Irmina as my mother and father – up in heaven – must have felt when they looked at me. So please, stay in good health… until then.”

With that, Valetta walked past Leonard and climbed into the carriage. Leonard remained silent, watching the Count and Countess, too stunned to speak.

When the carriage door closed behind Valetta, he finally spoke.

“When you went through with a fraudulent marriage, you should have expected at least this much hatred.”

“……”

“You and I – we’re both villains who twisted Valetta’s life beyond repair. That’s the truth of it.”

Leonard’s golden eyes darkened, heavy with unspoken weight. No matter how he looked at it, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he owed Valetta a debt – one he might never be able to repay.

He swallowed a sigh and continued, his voice calm but firm.

“Next time you see me, you’d better treat my wife with the respect she deserves. And if you ever lay a hand on her again…”

His words trailed off, but the warning was clear. There was a quiet anger in Leonard’s voice – a restrained, simmering rage that hinted at something far more dangerous beneath the surface. A palpable power seemed to emanate from him, commanding and immense.

Faced with the sheer presence of the legendary dragon slayer, the Count couldn’t help but instinctively swallow hard, a cold sweat forming at the base of his neck.

Leonard had known that Valetta had left the house that morning. Whatever she had planned, he had deliberately allowed it to happen, knowing that in the end she would still accompany him to the Carnies’ estate.

Only after she had fought with all her might would she finally give up and accept her reality.

Leonard took a step forward. The Count and Countess, now standing close together, could clearly see the expression on his face. The murderous look he wore… was frightening enough to make one believe that he might actually kill Count Dampierre on the spot.

“I’ll make sure Friedrich isn’t disappointed.”

A wicked curve formed on Leonard’s lips. Even he hadn’t expected the Count to lay hands on Valetta after the wedding ceremony. The count, stunned and trembling, swallowed hard again and forced out a reply.

“M-my apologies. It… it won’t happen again.”

“It better not.”

Leonard’s eyes flashed coldly as he glanced over the count and countess. Then he turned and gave an order.

“Depart. We’re going back to the Carnies’ estate!”

***

Valetta Irpman’s life could be summed up in a single word: loss.

She lost her mother when she was two, her father when she was ten. She lost her brother when she was eighteen.

For Valetta, growing up meant learning to live with grief. And in many ways she has been trapped ever since – frozen in the moment when her world collapsed.

“Only Sir Carnies survived. The others… all perished at the hands of the evil dragon. Not even their bodies could be recovered.”

“Ah…”

Valetta stumbled, the rain hitting her face like a punishment.

“It was a death worthy of a hero. He died saving Sir Carnies – just moments before the dragon’s fangs would have torn him apart…”

But there’s no such thing as a heroic death. Death is just death, and what it leaves behind is always the same: grief for the living.

“I’m sorry.”

In the downpour, Leonard Carnies apologised again. His eyes were bloodshot. It was as if someone had reached into Valetta’s chest and crushed her heart in their fist.

Her mind went blank. She couldn’t breathe.

“Tell me it’s not true.”

She begged, her voice barely audible over the rain.

Leonard’s face contorted in pain and fear.

And in that moment, Valetta’s heart broke completely.

“Leonard… please…”

“…Friedrich died because of me. I’m the one who killed him.”

Valetta gasped for air, her chest tightening under the weight of her grief. The sorrow swelled inside her, overwhelming and raw. And then, like shards of glass, the memories came – sharp, recent, impossible to forget.

That day too, she had swallowed her tears, humiliated by Irmina’s cruelty. She had gotten used to it – Irmina showing off a new dress, mocking her lack of education, calling her a useless parasite.

But then came the words that cut deeper than any before:

“You’ll live like a brood mare.”

Cold. Precise. Intended to wound.

Valetta had felt something inside her crack. No matter that she had no parents, no fortune, no tutors – she still carried the Irpman name, a bloodline prized for its purity. And that alone guaranteed her a place in noble society.

But that was what Irmina meant.

Valetta wasn’t a woman to be respected – she was a vessel, a womb, a legacy to be inherited and bred.

For someone who had never had the chance to grow up like the other noble girls, the insult was more than cruel – it was dehumanising.

And at that moment, when her hand trembled with shame – when she could no longer look anyone in the eye – it was Friedrich who quietly reached out and took her hand.

“You’ll marry a man who loves you—and who you love in return.”

After giving Irmina a scolding for saying such cruel things, Friedrich had whispered to her.

“Valetta, don’t worry too much. You’re going to build the happiest home of anyone.”

Her brother Friedrich had always known her deepest dream. Perhaps because she had grown up alone, without parents, Valetta had always longed to create a warm, loving family of her own. Irmina had called it a boring, modest dream – but to Valetta it was a distant, unattainable hope.

“And there’s no reason for you to stay here any longer. Pack your things.”

That day, Friedrich had taken Valetta with him and left Count Dampierre’s estate immediately. A few days later, her brother bought a house in the suburbs and built a small refuge for the two of them.

And that same Friedrich… died trying to save Leonard. He was killed by the evil dragon in Leonard’s place.

Because of Leonard Carnies.

Whirring.

The sky spun around. A dark, clouded sky filled her vision. The world was turned upside down.

Ah-was it the world that was falling, or was it me?

Valetta couldn’t imagine a world without Friedrich. And just like that, she lost her whole world.