Chapter 1

Everyone has a first love.

Having a first love wasn’t exactly the problem. The problem was how it remained in one’s memory.

For Lynette Aterne, her first love was a memory she wished she could erase forever. It wasn’t even a beautiful memory, and she never wanted to face it again.

“…No. I can’t do it.”

Lynette answered firmly. She was already preparing to seek asylum in Kantane, yet now she was being told to spend several more months in this dreadful country. And on top of that, Carlisle Preston?

The period she had agreed to serve as the crown prince’s aide was already nearing its end in the first place. There was no reason for Lynette to take on this task.

“No, Your Highness. I clearly refused.”

“Lynette. Just this once. You know how badly I want to restore magic.”

Crown Prince Elaine continued in a soothing tone.

As far as he was concerned, there was no one more suited for this task than Lynette.

“There’s no one else I can trust with something like this. The Magic Tower says they’ll dispatch a researcher, but it’s not as though I can handle the matter personally.”

Elaine was also well aware of Lynette’s notoriously dramatic romance at the Royal Academy, one so scandalous that it had shaken the entire school.

Everyone also knew that the ending had been disastrous, thanks to her father, the Duke of Aterne.

“Besides, hasn’t magic always been something you were curious about as well? The Magic Tower is dispatching someone, and you’re saying you’ll give up just because that person happens to be your first love?”

Ortia was a nation built through magic. Though only faded remnants remained now, the reason it had survived among powerful neighboring empires was because it had once been the land of magicians.

The royal family had continued chasing every possible trace in hopes of restoring magic once more. To achieve that, the king established the Magic Tower and granted its master independent authority.

As time passed, the Magic Tower gradually became more and more isolated, eventually cutting off exchanges with the royal family altogether. However, since the royal family tolerated it, no one dared to object.

And now, that very Magic Tower had offered to dispatch a research investigator. The royal family needed someone trustworthy to stay by the researcher’s side, and naturally, the chosen person was Lynette Aterne, the crown prince’s aide.

The only problem was that the researcher being sent was Lynette’s first love, Carlisle Preston.

Just as Elaine had expected, Lynette immediately refused without hesitation.

But the moment he brought up magic, even Lynette—who had maintained a cold, unwavering attitude—showed the slightest flicker of change in her expression. Elaine did not miss that opening.

“Of course, I know very well how desperately you want to leave Ortia. Once this matter is over, I’ll personally take responsibility for arranging your asylum in Kantane.”

“……”

“It’s only a few more months. Besides, you and Carlisle Preston aren’t anything to each other anymore, are you?”

“Avoiding him would only make things look worse. Ah… unless your relationship didn’t actually end cleanly?”

That final blow worked perfectly.

The moment Elaine saw a crease form between Lynette’s delicate brows, a satisfied smile spread across his face—and at the same time, she snapped back.

“It’s not that I’m avoiding him……”

“I know, I know. That’s why I’m saying we should just finish this one matter properly.”

She had said no, but after spending two years working as the crown prince’s aide, Lynette Aterne instinctively understood. She would only be able to seek asylum in Kantane after this task was completed.

“So it was never really a suggestion from the beginning, was it?”

With a gentle smile, Elaine shook his head.

“How could that be? Then, Lynette, you’re accepting it, correct? I’ll be counting on you. Ah, but… would it be alright if the Duke of Aterne didn’t find out?”

“Of course. You already know we no longer keep in contact anyway.”

If Lynette were still the duke’s daughter who trembled at a single word from the Duke of Aterne, Elaine would never have entrusted her with this task in the first place.

“One never knows. I just wanted to confirm.”

“He won’t. You know why I agreed to become Your Highness’s aide in the first place. So once this is over, you really must keep your promise. I’m leaving.”

“Of course. You have my word.”

At the crown prince’s confident reply, Lynette accepted the stack of documents he held out to her.

She slowly lowered her eyes.

Once again, her departure from this country had been delayed.

***

A deep sigh escaped Lynette Aterne’s lips as soon as she returned home.

Even while organizing the Kantane catalogs she had placed on her desk back onto the bookshelf, another heavy sigh left her.

Lynette was the daughter of the one and only Duke of Aterne in the kingdom. Everyone admired and revered her, but the reality was different.

As she quietly changed clothes, her bare body was revealed. Countless scars covered her pale, almost translucent skin. Old, faded scars that had long since turned white.

Lynette’s blue eyes, staring at the sight before her, were utterly empty.

This was who she truly was.

Beautifully wrapped on the outside, but once the packaging was stripped away, all that remained was a defective product.

A defective product of Aterne.

That was what Lynette was.

The duchess—her mother—had died giving birth to her without ever bearing a son. Later, the new duchess gave birth to a boy, and from that moment on, Lynette became the stain on House Aterne.

The duke had not been violent from the beginning. At first, there had only been subtle control and quiet confinement.

That was why Lynette had decided to leave the family behind and hoped to enter the Academy. Graduating from the Academy was essential if she wanted to have a profession of her own.

But the duke had merely scoffed and ordered her to marry.

It was an order she could never accept.

“Lynette Aterne, then what exactly can you do for House Aterne?”

“I will enter the Academy and bring honor to the family name. Please allow me to go.”

“Then take first place. Other than that, I have no intention of permitting your enrollment.”

“Yes. I can do it.”

“And if you cannot, you will marry immediately. Because that is the only use you have.”

But contrary to her confident declaration, Lynette Aterne did not take first place.

She ranked second.

And the one who claimed first was a name she had never once heard before.

Carlisle Preston.

That very day, Lynette slashed her own thigh.

Because there had been no other way for her.

She chose to become defective by her own hand, and because of that, she was able to avoid marriage.

It began from that day onward.

The horrific violence she became exposed to.

But it was fine. The royal family had shown interest in the Duke of Aterne’s daughter who placed second in the kingdom, and because of that, the duke had no choice but to allow Lynette to enter the Academy.

That alone was enough.

Slowly, Lynette lifted the gaze she had lowered toward her reflection’s feet in the mirror.

The shining silver hair and cold blue eyes like glass marbles—features she had inherited entirely from the Duke of Aterne.

She hated them so much it was unbearable.

Lynette’s only goal was to leave this country and live alone.

That was why she could not refuse Elaine’s orders now. Besides, as crown prince, his reasoning was perfectly sound.

After all, the aide he trusted most was Lynette.

Walking toward the window, she pushed it open. The fading cold made the approaching spring feel all the more real.

She wanted to leave for Kantane during a spring like this and start over.

Lynette shook her head sharply, as though cutting off the thoughts threatening to linger. Her silver hair, loosely tied together, swayed softly with the motion.

“Right. Autumn wouldn’t be so bad either.”

She only had to leave before the cold season returned. That would be enough.

Enjoying the spring breeze pouring through the open window, heavy with the scent of the changing season, Lynette finished dressing herself.

Carlisle Preston had probably already arrived.

But Lynette did not hurry.

Making him wait a little longer would not change anything anyway.

After carefully brushing back and fixing her hair once more, Lynette Aterne finally left the house and stepped into the carriage the royal family had sent for her.

To think they had even sent a carriage just because someone from the Magic Tower was arriving.

And to think that Carlisle Preston—who had once been supported by House Aterne—had become a researcher of the Magic Tower.

Even though he had always acted as if he had no interest in magic whatsoever.

A position within the Magic Tower was the role Lynette had desired more than anything.

Yet that was the one place never permitted to her.

“Lynette Aterne, I know you very well. You want to leave, don’t you? I’ll help you. On one condition—you work as my aide for two years.”

Back then, Crown Prince Elaine had offered Lynette a proposal she could not refuse.

And now, the promised two years were only one month away from ending.