Tweet, tweet-tweet―

The sound of birds chirping awakened Lily’s consciousness, which had been submerged below the surface of sleep.

Is it morning already? Realizing she had to start another miserable day, Lily inwardly swallowed a sigh and pushed open her heavy eyelids.

“Ugh.”

As soon as she came to her senses, she felt a terrible headache. The sensation of something creepy like a snake wriggling through her head was both unfamiliar and dreadful.

Was it just a headache? Her stomach also felt sour and nauseous. Feeling like she might throw up everything she ate yesterday if she opened her mouth, Lily kept her lips tightly sealed and buried her face in the soft pillow. An unfamiliar floral scent tickled her nose, but the headache was too severe for her to pay attention to it.

Whoosh―

With her face buried in the pillow, Lily lifted her head when she heard the sound of water. Is it raining? Turning her head towards the window, Lily blinked her eyes wide at the sight of unfamiliar curtains.

It wasn’t just the curtains. The carpet, sofa, table, and even the bed she was lying on – everything was unfamiliar.

This… isn’t my bedroom.

It was already disconcerting to wake up in a strange place that wasn’t home, but what made her even more flustered was the realization that she wasn’t wearing a single thread of clothing.

The clothes she had worn out yesterday were hanging on the back of the sofa. Turning her head a bit more, she saw a stranger’s clothes. Upon confirming this, her green eyes trembled anxiously.

Wh-what on earth happened last night?

Wrapping the blanket tightly around her body, which was defenseless against the cold air, Lily tried to recall what had happened the night before.

I ran out of the mansion, unable to bear my husband Fredic’s nonsense any longer. Then I rented a room at an inn and drank in the hall. I drank because I heard drinking makes you feel better when you’re depressed, but that turned out to be false. Instead, Fredic’s outrageous words came back even more vividly, tormenting me.

Thinking it might get better if I drank a little more, I kept drinking, but I remained depressed. Meanwhile, the alcohol kept going down smoothly, so Lily continued to lift her glass.

After drinking like that for a while, my consciousness became hazy, and then…

Click―

Hearing the sound of a door opening behind her, her small shoulders stiffened. Her hand gripping the blanket tightened.

“You’re awake.”

A low, deep baritone voice. Though the stranger’s tone was unfamiliar, it was unmistakably a man’s voice.

I hoped against hope, but I really did sleep with a man. Lily squeezed her eyes shut. The fact that she had spent the night with a stranger, when she hadn’t even had her wedding night with her husband yet, mercilessly pricked her conscience.

“Why are you so quiet?”

Because I don’t know what to say.

She wanted to run away without looking back, but that was impossible. Because she wasn’t wearing anything. She didn’t want to become the subject of gossip as a crazy woman wandering the streets naked.

And if she just ran away, strange rumors might stick to her or other problems could arise, so she needed to handle the situation properly right now.

You can do this.

No, you must do this.

Lily took a deep breath to calm her churning emotions, then slowly turned around.

The man’s hair was so black that light couldn’t pass through it, and it was slightly damp. Water droplets that hadn’t been wiped away gathered at the tip of his sharp jaw before falling.

His eyebrows, as black and thick as his hair, looked like those of a stern man, but his golden eyes, sparkling as if they held sunlight, were peculiar, like those of a mischievous child.

Following the smooth, straight bridge of his nose down, one could see the red smile formed by his thin, smoothly upturned lips. Though it was clearly a smiling face, it was so eerie that Lily shuddered slightly and pulled the blanket tighter.

“…Could you step out for a moment so I can get dressed?”

The man tilted his head slightly.

“You want me to go out like this?”

“Th-that’s…!”

At those words, Lily instinctively looked down and saw his bare chest exposed through the open robe. She was startled and completely lowered her head.

A low chuckle was heard above her head.

The embarrassment was short-lived as the sound of laughter drew closer, and Lily frantically cried out.

“Then turn around, and you can change first!”

“Is there really a need for that between us?”

The man’s voice, full of laughter, was heard right above her head. Flustered by his suggestive words, Lily jerked her head up.

“U-us?”

The man sitting at the head of the bed leaned his upper body towards Lily and asked.

“Don’t you remember?”

“…”

At the uncomfortably close distance, Lily hunched her shoulders. Run away. Her instincts screamed, but sadly, she didn’t have the courage to throw off the blanket and flee naked.

Instead, Lily pulled her hips back as far as possible and glared at the man, conveying that she wouldn’t stand still if he laid even a fingertip on her body.

However, the man wasn’t afraid of Lily at all. Rather, he laughed softly as if amused, then gently removed a strand of hair stuck to her face and said kindly.

“You asked me to become your lover.”

Liliana grew up in a harmonious family, not extremely wealthy but filled with her parents’ love, enjoying a peaceful childhood. Dark clouds loomed over Lily’s future just a week before her coming-of-age ceremony.

After spending time with friends, Lily returned home at dusk only to find the mansion engulfed in flames redder than the sunset painting the sky.

The terrifying inferno, licking its crimson tongue, devoured both the Baron Benjamin estate and the life of her father, Baron Benjamin.

The Baroness Benjamin miraculously survived, but she suffered severe burns and lost her mind from the shock of losing her husband.

Overnight, Lily was left alone with her physically and mentally unwell mother, having lost her beloved father and the precious home filled with memories. She was in despair.

But even despair was a luxury she couldn’t afford right now. Finding a new home was one thing, but she needed to get treatment for her mother as soon as possible.

Lily pawned everything she had, including the coming-of-age gift she had received in advance from her father, but it was far from enough to cover her mother’s hospital bills.

“Please, please help me!”

Lily begged for help from those around her, but no one came to her aid.

People who had been kind and friendly when Baron Benjamin was alive turned their backs on her as if they had never known her. Even those Lily once considered friends were no different.

Once again falling into the pit of despair, Lily reluctantly played her last card.

It was to marry a wealthy commoner who dreamed of social advancement.

No matter how much money they had, commoners were often looked down upon, so there were many wealthy commoners who wanted to marry into poor noble families or be adopted to improve their social status.

As expected, as soon as Lily posted a marriage advertisement, suitors flocked from all over the continent. Among them, Lily took notice of Fredic, who was in the transportation business.

While other suitors were busy listing reasons why Lily should marry them, Fredic didn’t do that. He respected Lily’s choice and listened attentively to her story.

‘He’s a gentlemanly and kind person.’

Thinking she could spend a lifetime with someone like this, Lily decided to marry Fredic.

In the quiet bridal chamber dimly lit by candlelight, following the long-standing tradition that the groom should be the first to remove the bride’s veil and dress, Lily waited for Fredic without removing her dress or veil.

But no matter how long she waited, Fredic didn’t come.

The wedding reception must have ended long ago, so why isn’t he coming? Could something have happened?

“Where is he right now?”

Worried about Fredic, Lily asked a maid about his whereabouts. The maid, at a loss for words, bowed her head deeply.

“What’s wrong?”

“Well, you see…”

The maid, trembling, spilled out an incredible story. It was the news that Fredic was having a passionate tryst with Countess Balliman.

Even for a loveless marriage, a groom rubbing flesh with another woman on his wedding day…

“My, my lady!”

As Lily staggered, suddenly feeling dizzy, the maid cried out in surprise and supported her.

“…It’s fine.”

Barely regaining her balance by leaning against the wall, Lily glared down the dark corridor.

She wanted to run right over, grab Fredic by the hair, and shout that this marriage was null and void, but she had already signed the marriage contract.

The image of her ailing mother also flashed before her eyes.

If the marriage to Fredic fell through, her mother might not receive proper treatment and could join her father. So Lily couldn’t go confront him and quietly returned to the bridal chamber.

Fredic came to the bridal chamber where Lily was waiting at dawn, a time that could be considered either late or early.

Discovering Lily sitting quietly at the head of the bed, still in her wedding dress, Fredic tilted his head.

“You haven’t slept yet?”

“…”

Is that what a man who spent his wedding night in passion with another woman should say? Lily, suppressing her boiling anger, asked calmly.

“Sleeping with another woman on your wedding night, what kind of inconsiderate behavior is this? Were you always such an insensitive person?”

Fredic stared blankly at Lily’s face, contorted with anger she couldn’t fully hide, then opened his lips.

“Do you want to be loved by me?”

“What… did you say?”

“If you want to be loved by me, bring something useful. Like how Countess Balliman offered exclusive rights to transport iron ore.”

“What are you…!”

So he had a tryst with the Countess because of iron ore transport rights?

At these words that completely defied common sense, Lily’s eyes widened.

“If you’re trying to take credit for giving me the title of Baron Benjamin, you’d better not. That’s already been settled.”

Fredic’s outrageous words didn’t end there.

“If anything, it was a losing deal for me, but I let it slide because your situation was pitiful. I was also in a bit of a hurry for noble status.”

His indifferent voice held not a shred of guilt or compassion.

“I’ll take full responsibility for Mrs. Grace Benjamin’s hospital bills, so I’d appreciate it if you didn’t interfere in my affairs anymore. I won’t interfere in yours either.”

Only then did Lily clearly realize that her choice had been wrong, that her future married life would be hell.