Chapter 1 · Prologue

Zakahari Ivan Sonnier.

In this country, every member of the imperial family used the name of the first emperor as a middle name.

But the man before her had stripped away the first emperor’s name of his own accord and become wholly himself.

Now called Jacques Sonnier, he regarded the woman before him with interest and slowly began to speak.

“Now that you have come to the ducal residence as you wished, it is time you told me why you have been tormenting me all day.”

At the low rumble of his voice, Adel’s heart gave a single thud.

She could not believe she was about to negotiate—or threaten—this man.

Countless words swirled in her mouth and vanished, and even the simple act of raising her teacup felt impossible.

But Adel did not hesitate.

“Please marry me.”

Enoch, the aide standing nearby, staggered, but the face of the man himself showed no particular change.

“So the second daughter of the great Millium family is proposing to me?”

The black-haired handsome man wore an expression so cold that it was hard to believe he was the same person who had faced her all day with a smiling face.

When Adel nodded, he set down the teacup he held, leaned back, and crossed his long legs.

His movements were as natural as flowing water, yet they carried a peculiar air of intimidation.

“Perhaps you are unfamiliar with the laws of the Empire?”

“Of course not.”

In the Hessenia Empire, a divorced woman could not become the mistress of another noble house.

And an unmarried duke had no first wife.

Naturally, it defied common sense to speak of taking a second wife when there was no first.

“Surely you are not suggesting that you become my wife as a second wife, Madam.”

“That is correct. If the law says so, there is nothing to be done.”

“So you don’t mind….”

“If there is someone you want, you may take her as duchess first. I can wait, though not for long. If only you promise me.”

“Madam, once I marry, I have no intention of taking a second wife or a mistress. I am quite a romantic, you see.”

At these incongruous words, Enoch kept clearing his throat.

“I merely need the Sonnier name.”

“My name is not something I can give to just anyone….”

“I am a Millium.”

“Of course I know. That is why you are able to be here at this hour.”

A Millium who came crawling of her own accord to an outcast of the imperial family….

“Are you perhaps offering me the Empire itself?”

“Not that. It is true I have nothing to give you now. If we marry, I will stay on your estate. You may remain in the capital if you wish.”

The duke stopped speaking and looked at Adel for a moment.

His red eyes took on a deeper color, as if he meant to gauge every hidden thought in her.

“But… why me, of all people?”

“As you know, the only way I can divorce in this Empire is… a proposal from a member of the imperial family.”

“If you told me you were proposing for the sake of the Empire’s future, that would be more convincing.”

The young duke looked at Adel, who had been left speechless, and smiled.

It was a smile as beautiful as if God had carefully sculpted it, yet as merciless as ice.

Adel read rejection in his expression.

Panic rose in her heart; she had to try another move.

“If you gain Millium, you could establish a kingdom.”

“I understand what you mean, but… I have no interest in a kingdom built on a woman’s life as collateral.”

With each reason for rejection piling up, Adel slowly lost confidence.

“Besides, there is nothing I need to protect badly enough to put my woman in danger. If I must build a kingdom, I will build it with my own hands. That is, if I ever must.”

“M-my woman?”

“Naturally, once we marry, you become mine, do you not?”

“But I told you I would go to the estate alone. I have no intention of being a burden on your life.”

“What would you do on that barren land? How would that benefit me?”

Every word he said was right.

If this continued, she would clearly be thrown out of this mansion without gaining anything.

“I have years of experience managing an estate. I heard your estate is no better than abandoned land.”

“I intended to settle on my estate after marriage. Naturally, I have no intention of living apart from my wife. And besides, to me….”

The man stopped speaking and looked at Adel with a slow gaze.

“I don’t particularly need a wife right now.”

It was a clear expression of rejection.

Adel finally realized the negotiation had failed.

He was, after all, the social butterfly most beloved by high society at present, and she had heard that he, too, was a man who hoped to stand at its center.

So she had thought it would be good for him, too, if he gained a worker to tend his abandoned estate while he remained in the capital.

But was this not what he wanted?

Driven to the edge, Adel straightened her back before that gaze that strangely provoked people.

From the beginning, this man had made her feel as though he had a firm grip on something inside her.

He wore a smile more proper than anyone else in the world, yet his posture was always slightly askew.

He acted without a single deviation from etiquette, but his gaze was always lowered.

But that strangeness did not intimidate Adel the way Ethan did.

For some reason, she even felt as though she were being urged to keep going.

Adel lifted her head high and, imitating him, tilted it slightly.

The negotiation was over, so now it was time for threats.

“Duke Sonnier.”

When Adel called him, he smiled without answering.

The faint curiosity in his eyes was Adel’s only hope.

“You know it well, don’t you? That arm holding the teacup, that leg crossed so arrogantly—they remain where they are entirely thanks to me.”

Adel pressed him again to repay the debt for the life she had saved.

She had not wanted to go this far, but in the end, this was the only card she had.

Fortunately, it worked.

For the first time, this handsome man’s mouth fell shut.

He let out a soft laugh, lowered his gaze, and did not raise his head for a long while.

‘Huh? But what is this? Is he holding back laughter?’

In that moment, Adel saw that, with his head bowed, he was holding back laughter, his ears flushed red.

But when Jacques raised his head, Adel realized it was an illusion born of her desperation.

At the sight of his face—calm to the point of indifference—the strength drained from the fist she had unconsciously clenched.

“Very well.”

“Yes?”

“I will consider your proposal. Very favorably, at that.”

Adel was not the only one thrown off by his sudden change in stance.

His aide, too, stared at the duke as if dazed.

“Is this because I saved you—because you feel obliged to repay the debt…?”

“Now that it has come to this, my intentions don’t seem to matter much.”

“Still, I’m asking because I’m curious what made you change your mind.”

Jacques did not answer; he merely shrugged.

With his arms crossed, he rubbed his chin with his fingers and soon spoke again.

“I have a condition as well.”

Of course.

At the word “condition,” Adel’s heart pounded, though she had nothing to give.

The more she thought about what she could offer, the more anxious she became.

“What… is it?”

“Marriage does not mean we must love each other. After all, love is not something one can control. Besides, I prefer loyalty to love.”

Adel stared blankly at the man who spoke the word “love” so incongruously.

“Is that… so?”

“Once I marry, I will not give so much as a glance—let alone my heart—to anyone but my wife. So….”

“….”

“If what you are doing now is truly proposing to me, then you had better hide the man in your heart somewhere very deep before you come to me.”

After she married Ethan, a few incidents soon made everyone on the estate aware that she possessed an extraordinary power.

But her worthless little talent was merely good material for a love story fated by destiny.

It was hardly a secret that Countess Devryan had carried a torch for her husband for quite a long time, so it was no wonder this man knew of it.

While Adel felt a pang of dismay, he rose from his seat and stood beside her as if to escort her.

It meant there would be no further conversation.

He had said he would consider it favorably, but… was this a rejection after all?

But Adel did not hesitate.

She simply steadied her trembling legs, rose with a firm expression, and slipped her hand through his arm.

Jacques escorted Adel only to the office door and turned back; Enoch immediately followed him inside.

“What exactly did I just witness?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, why did a man who seemed like he would never marry suddenly change his mind?”

“I haven’t said I’ll do it yet.”

“Didn’t you say you would consider it favorably?”

“Can’t I even think about it?”

But Enoch had no intention of letting it go.

“No. There’s definitely something—something is off…. There must be a reason.”

He muttered it as if to himself, but he was not expecting an answer.

Yet, surprisingly, the duke’s mouth opened again.

“It’s just….”

Jacques trailed off and smirked again.

Enoch, who could endure curiosity less than anyone in the world, waited anxiously for his master to speak.

“Her leg is trembling.”

“Pardon?”

“With that elegant, flawless noblewoman’s face, she coldly threatens me while her leg trembles with nerves.”

“That’s… the reason?”

“The hem of her dress trembling is just too… cute.”

“Pardon?”

Enoch could not immediately comprehend the word “cute” coming from the duke’s mouth, and he could not close his gaping mouth.

He wondered whether the word “cute” had acquired some other meaning while he had been away from academia, then suddenly started and looked at the duke.

The fact that the duke’s face had turned serious in the meantime only deepened his confusion.

The duke had not said so outright, but Enoch could tell he had made up his mind.

So soon, a scandal starring the still-not-yet-divorced mistress of House Devryan and Jacques Sonnier, the social butterfly of high society, was about to shake the social circles of the Hessenia Empire.