As their bodies moved together, skin against skin, Valetta bit her lip to keep the pain at bay. It wasn’t her first time with Leonard – but it was the first time he’d touched her without care or f*replay, which made it feel just as painful as the first time.

Tears trickled down the sides of her face and into her ears.

Thud, thud.

The sound of their bodies colliding echoed through the large room. A small sob escaped her lips as she struggled to hold back her screams. Still, Leonard didn’t stop.

“It hurts… Oh… Please, that’s enough…”

But her pleading only intensified his movements. Her body shook with each increasingly violent thrust.

Her blonde hair spread across the blanket as her entire frame shook beneath him.

She stared up at the ceiling, her eyes filled with tears. How had it come to this?

She had loved Leonard once.

She had once hoped to have a happy family.

She wanted three or more children and a happy family. But now she was trembling under Leonard Carnies, the man who had killed her brother.

“Ugh.”

At the sound of her sobs, Leonard growled and grabbed her chin, forcing her to look at him.

“Look at me.”

“……”

“I said look at me.”

“……”

His voice and eyes were overwhelmed with emotions that had long since reached their limit – now spilling over in a chaotic, uncontrollable storm. With each desperate thrust, Valetta’s body was pushed further up the bed.

This wasn’t the life she’d dreamed of. Not even close. She had never wanted any of it.

Leonard Carnieres had stolen everything from her – her family, her dreams, her future… everything.

“I hate you.”

At her words, Leonard’s face contorted in pain.

Thud.Thud.

The sounds of him nearing his climax grew louder.

“Valetta Carnies.”

“I’m not a Carnies… My name is – ugh, sob!- Valetta Irpman.”

“No, you are a Carnies. Valetta Carnies, Grand Duchess.”

His voice carried her name with an expression that came close to tears – but the emotion was far more anger than sorrow. It was a warning more than anything else. The kind a predator gives to prey that has been cornered.

But if there was one difference between a beast and Leonard, it was that Leonard seemed to be on the verge of madness.

“I hate you.”

Valetta choked out, her voice thick with grief as she sobbed.

At that moment, Leonard suddenly stopped moving – and released himself inside her. Heat flooded into her in relentless waves.

“Haa…”

Leonard let out a short breath. Valetta wiped away her tears with her hand. He stared down at her for a long time as she cried beneath him. Valetta couldn’t tell what he was thinking. She didn’t want to know.

Gritting his teeth, he quietly withdrew from her. As he pulled out, a thick white liquid oozed from between her legs.

Leonard, his face cold and hard with rage, climbed off the bed. Without a word, he grabbed the clothes scattered on the floor and left the room.

Bang!

The door slammed shut with such force that the air itself seemed to tremble. From the corridor came Leonard’s voice, shouting orders to the maids.

“Do not give her any clothes – not even a scrap of cloth. Make sure she can’t run away.”

Valetta’s face grew pale. His voice continued, sharp and commanding.

“The Grand Duchess is not to leave this room. If it happens again-“

‘You’d better be prepared to lose your heads.’

At his last words, Valetta pulled the blanket over her. She really, really hated Leonard Carnies.

***

It was a damp May, drenched with spring rain.

Still half asleep, Valetta pulled the blanket over her head. From outside the door she could hear Irmina’s shrill voice. Her cousin Irmina had been in a frenzy for the past week, ever since she heard that the Empire’s hero would be attending the upcoming Spring Festival.

‘Please, Irmina… just give it a rest.’

Valetta was not a morning person. Hearing that commotion so early in the morning was far too much for someone who loved her sleep.

“Hey, Valetta! Get up!”

The door to the storeroom where Valetta was staying rattled with a loud bang.

Valetta did her best to ignore Irmina’s voice. But her cousin’s screeching tone was impossible to ignore.

“Come on, get up! It’s past eight! How long are you going to sleep, you lazy parasite?”

‘I was up reading until four in the morning…’

But Valetta’s voice was muffled by the blanket and didn’t reach outside. As Irmina began to jiggle the doorknob furiously, Valetta had no choice but to pull herself up.

When she finally opened the door with a groggy sigh, Irmina stood there, draped in fluttering layers of lace. She snapped sharply.

“Are you going to the ball today?”

“I was invited, so I have to.”

Irmina’s eyes narrowed in irritation at Valetta’s calm reply. Unfortunately for Irmina, who was very concerned with appearances, she wasn’t particularly pretty.

In fact, apart from her status as a count’s daughter, there wasn’t much that stood out about her.

Valetta, on the other hand, who had lived in Irmina’s house for nearly ten years, rarely left the house, but her beauty alone had earned her a reputation.

Her thick, golden hair was unmatched in the region, flowing perfectly, not a strand out of place. Her skin, pale and radiant like pearls, was flawless. Her slender waist looked like something out of a painting, and her deep blue eyes, like clear ocean water, were famously striking.

Even in the most outdated dress, Valetta was inevitably the centre of attention wherever she went. There was even a saying: “Even sackcloth becomes fashion when worn by Valetta Irpman”.

She wasn’t just beautiful – she was captivating.

Much as she hated to admit it, even Irmina could see that there was something mysteriously magnetic about Valetta. And it would be the same at the upcoming ball.

“Do you really have to go?”

“It’s an invitation from the imperial family. What do you expect me to do, refuse?”

Valetta replied groggily, still half asleep. Irmina scowled, clearly annoyed at the idea of attending the event with her.

This year’s Goddess Festival Ball would be graced by none other than Grand Duke Leonard Carnies – hero of the Empire and cousin to the Emperor himself.

He was the lord of the vast northern territories, the man who had saved the Empire from the Black Dragon, and impossibly handsome to boot. Grand Duke Carnieres was, without question, the most perfect man in the land.

Irmina, who had seen him many times as a child, didn’t want Valetta to be there this time. Whenever Valetta appeared, all the men’s attention inevitably turned to her. Besides, Valetta and the Grand Duke Carnies were hardly strangers.

“You don’t feel well anyway. Just stay home.”

‘Since when do you care about my health?’

Valetta barely managed to stifle a sneer.

“You don’t even have a dress.”

“What do you mean, I don’t? Her Majesty the Empress sent me one – lace and all.”

Irmina’s cheek twitched in irritation. Valetta didn’t want to continue the conversation.

It wasn’t as if she really wanted to go to the ball. Unlike Irmina, who was eager to meet the Grand Duke and try to make a connection, Valetta felt sick to her stomach at the mere thought of facing him. But she had already declined the Empress’s invitations to the tea party three times. Turning down the invitation to the ball was out of the question.

‘If I’d known it would come to this, I should have just gone to one of the tea parties.’

Valetta had always avoided the Empress’s invitations, knowing that the kindness shown to her was rooted in pity – pity for a girl who had lost the only family she had.

“I’ll just show my face and leave early.”

With a dismissive wave of her hand, Valetta threw herself back onto the bed.

The ball that night meant nothing to her – what mattered was catching up on sleep.