In that place, my sister died.
Hoping to bring me there within a year to create a new family.
There, my new family exists.
Still an imperfect family without Louise.
But it’s the only lifeline to escape from my dreadful relatives.
The majestic mansion, emerging from the endlessly white winter forest, awakened my dulled sense of reality.
Louise had died, and I, her sister Yoo-An, took her place.
It’s just another marriage, a transaction between the royal family and a noble house.
“So that place becomes my new home.”
Without a wedding ceremony. I became someone’s wife and family as soon as I crossed the gate.
The wife of the monster, the deposed emperor Clad Euphrates… his seventh or eighth wife.
The carriage was stopped right at the entrance of the mansion.
I cautiously stepped down after Count Compagni, who had jumped out first to talk with the guards.
The black iron fence, towering two spans taller than the well-built guards, encircled the mansion.
It must be for security or protection, but to me, it looked more like a prison.
“…….”
The grandeur of the main building of the mansion was overwhelming.
The garden, seemingly untouched by human hands, was covered with snow, hiding its grotesqueness.
Lifting my gaze along this pitiful white garden, there stood the mansion, a stark and artificial contrast in this white world.
The mansion, resembling a giant’s dropped piece of black coal, made its surroundings look even more desolate with its grandness.
Even from a distance, its immense size was suffocating, making my eyes tremble slightly.
“Truly a black mansion.”
The words I managed to utter were such. But Count Compagni, having finished with the guards, quickly caught on to my remark.
“It used to be called the Red Brick Mansion.”
“?”
“It was engulfed in flames around the time the Emperor ascended the throne.”
Count Compagni looked back at the mansion as if recalling memories and then passed alone through the iron gate, leaving only a message to wait for his return.
I stayed silent for a moment, then carefully observed the mansion.
It seemed even more desolate after hearing that. Such a massive mansion was burned to the extent that no red bricks were visible, and it was never restored.
It’s been about ten years since the current Emperor’s enthronement.
Even if Clad Euphrates is a deposed emperor, he’s still of royal blood. Why would they leave it so, burnt and black as ash, almost like showcasing it?
‘As if on display.’
I was solemnly aware of the mansion’s past rather than its magnificence.
Did Louise also look at this mansion like this?
What did she think when she saw it?
As Count Compagni entered the second-floor corridor, following the butler’s lead, a pungent medicinal smell pricked my nose.
A sign that the owner of the mansion was awake.
Without any delay, he passed through a door that opened immediately and bowed respectfully.
“Your Highness. I can only imagine how deeply grieved you must be at the passing of your eighth wife.”
No response was heard.
Count Compagni slowly raised his head.
He greeted Duke Lev with his eyes, who was nodding at him, and saw the profile of the blonde man, the deposed emperor Clad Euphrates, sprawled in a rocking chair, not even bothering to look towards the door.
The owner of this Black Mansion.
Count Compagni hid his tension and tried to speak calmly and gently.
“Fortunately, her sister, Yoo-An Peliesse, has been appointed as the new empress and has come with me.”
A thick beam of light seeped through the slightly opened curtains.
The light shone precisely on the tip of the emperor’s nose, stretched towards the ceiling.
Count Compagni, staring blankly at it, added.
“She is as beautiful as Louise. Gentle in nature, too. She will surely make a good wife. She is currently waiting outside the mansion.”
No matter what he said, Clad gave no response, prompting Duke Lev to subtly clear his throat nearby.
Beneath his long eyelashes casting shadows, dark purple eyes suddenly glimmered into view.
Count Compagni waited in silence for the deposed emperor’s reply.
“Waiting for me?”
His deep voice was more a whisper than an attempt to communicate.
“Yes. Since you have come such a long way, it’s only proper that you personally.”
“Isn’t it better for both of us if I don’t go out?”
It was a question, but it lacked any strong intention.
After leaving a confusing mix of muttering and questioning, his eyes lazily hid back under his smooth eyelids.
Clad Euphrates, the deposed emperor, continued without a smile or a glance.
“If the royal family wants to bring a new woman into my mansion, it’s better I don’t go out. You know it, I know it, and Duke Lev here knows it too.”
Count Compagni, who skimmed over Clad’s half-exposed upper body in his nightgown, forced a smile.
“I’ll report to the palace that the ninth bride has safely entered the mansion.”
Count Compagni shifted his gaze from Clad, who was still keeping his eyes shut, to Duke Lev and made eye contact.
Turns Out He’s Been Secretly in Love with Me
One-line summary: He acts like he doesn’t like her but is actually playing hard to get.
Synopsis:
Xu Muzhou like her. He has liked her for a very long time, and through repeated schemes, he finally closed the distance with her.
But this is still far from enough.
He wants to be the one who stands out among her many suitors, to fight for her attention, and to make her take the initiative to pursue him.
_____
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