“I’m narrow-minded. Do you think I have any reason to be loyal to this family?”

The Grand Duke looked at me with bloodshot eyes. At my old room, a space without even proper decorations, and at the woman inside it with eyes lit by vengeance.

Every time his eyes wavered, a thrilling feeling bloomed in my heart.

Yes. Perhaps, maybe. This woman before him might be different from the other people of the Marquis family.

Think about that possibility. Fall for it, Darius.

Always the kind male protagonist who never gives up hope in humans. Show that ideal image.

“You are……”

“Anette Porche was a meaningless person in the Porche family.”

I said decisively.

“But now I have a chance to live anew, and I intend not to miss that opportunity.”

Of course, that opportunity meant life as the wife of the Grand Duke of Inkhart.

“I will devote everything I have to live a new life. For Inkhart. So I hope the Grand Duke will give me one thing as well. Your favor towards me.”

As long as the male lead doesn’t abandon me in a remote castle to meet my death like in the original story, I had a chance to live anew.

“If you wish, you can divorce me after a few years of marriage. I can truly do anything if it means I can escape this insufferable Porche Marquis family and live a new life.”

Just in case, I couldn’t miss the chance to appeal that I would never be an obstacle to the future female lead.

I approached him holding a candle. In the dark night, only a small light quietly watched over the two of us.

“So why don’t you try trusting me?”

I was shorter than him. I was positioned below his chin.

Clang, thud, thud.

The sound of metal hitting the floor echoed heavily. The male lead, Darius, finally took off that wretched silver mask.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you for the first time, Your Grace.”

Black hair, equally black eyes. Handsome features that would be hard to forget once seen.

The black eyes that always bore a cool expression now found their own temperature and met mine. As if he would now let me into the line he had drawn.

It was a face that the Anette Porche of the original story never saw in her lifetime.

My heart pounded. Because he was so handsome? No.

“With this moment alone, I do not regret becoming the wife of Your Grace.”

Finally, for changing the original story. Even if it’s just a small piece, the original story has begun to change.

Unlike in the original story where Anette never saw the Grand Duke’s face, I saw the Grand Duke’s real face.

“And I swear. You will not regret marrying me either.”

I will be a good extra wife. After helping the male lead prosper the North, I will cleanly break up when the female lead appears. And then I will build my new life with the wealth I’ve accumulated. That start has just begun now.

* * *

He had intended not to even show his face to the Porche family’s woman. This marriage was political. The South would gain the honor of marrying into the Grand Duke’s family, the North would gain the lacking supplies – he had planned to treat it as just an emotionless transaction.

Despite the blatant hostility shown at their first dinner meeting, Anette Porche approached him without hesitation. And proposed a deal.

Darius looked in disbelief at the silver mask he had voluntarily removed.

“Now I can at least see my husband’s face before getting married.”

Anette Porche was always confident. All the reports describing her were lies. She never hesitated, and boldly faced all the persecution against her.

“I’m narrow-minded. Do you think I have any reason to be loyal to this family?”

As she said that, Anette Porche’s eyes were sparkling. A Southern woman braver than any Northern woman.

‘Strange. On the first day I arrived, the Southern air was sticky and utterly irritating.’

The Southern air felt on his bare face was unlike before, not disgusting. Rather, it was refreshing.

“Anette Porche.”

The woman reacted to that short name. It felt strange.

Something was changing. And that woman was at the beginning of it.

The woman who said she would become his wife and a true member of the North.

“Ah, of course I’m not proposing marriage in a romantic sense. I’m not greedy for the power and honor of being the Grand Duchess either. Alliance, I’m formally proposing an alliance in the name of marriage to you, Your Grace. …Is that right? That’s how people usually say it, right?”

“What did you say?”

“Please forget the last part. I’m just nervous. How could I have known I’d be saying something I’d only read in books myself?”

It was a logical proposal despite the strange ending.

Thinking he wouldn’t believe her words, Anette repeatedly said this marriage was just for show. That it wouldn’t matter if they divorced once her and the North’s situation stabilized somewhat.

Anette Porche was no ordinary woman. She talks about divorce while preparing for marriage. She approaches him intimately as if she’s known him for a long time, even though it’s their first meeting.

Do all young ladies who grew up mistreated in wealthy families end up with this kind of personality?

No. Only Anette would be like this.

For a moment, Darius felt an indescribable strange certainty. That if he married Anette Porche, their married life might be more than just a political marriage.

‘I’ll have to retract what I said to Daniel.’

He who had sternly warned Daniel, who was defending Anette, not to lose his mind to the mild Southern air.

If anything, he was the one who had misjudged people.

“If you’re willing to stake everything, I too will do my best.”

He wanted to give her a chance, at least once. At least one chance to believe in her.

The possibility that Anette Porche could truly be someone helpful to him. Darius sneered at his own heart betting on luck.

“But if those words are lies, you must be prepared to take responsibility.”

“Of course. I won’t resent you even if you take my life.”

“You speak of death so easily. Is it because you’ve never experienced it?”

Seeing her boasting again, she was undoubtedly a Southern woman. Not even knowing how painful it is to die.

“…Of course, no one alive has experienced death.”

For a moment, the woman seemed to smile. Even though that couldn’t be.

“I promise you by what I consider the most painful thing. As long as our marriage lasts, I will be faithful and sincere to you, Your Grace.”

Anette’s fiercely shining blue eyes and Darius’ black eyes clashed as if sparking.

“As long as you do so, I will do the same.”

If she turned her back on the Porche family and devoted herself to the North, Darius too would protect and cherish her.

He would respect and treasure her not just as a wife in name, but as a true partner.

But if this was nothing more than sweet talk to deceive him, he was prepared to inflict sufficient pain on Anette Porche.

The North is not kind, but it is cohesive, and never forgives traitors.

There was no kiss of oath. No embrace, not even a simple handshake. But both of them knew that in this moment, they had made a promise, betting their trust in each other.

* * *

After several formal meetings between the families, the marriage between the Grand Duke and I was confirmed, and we officially became husband and wife. However, there was no grand wedding ceremony. There was only the procedure of signing the marriage contract filled with dense contract conditions.

“We can have the wedding ceremony when we go to the North.”

The Marchioness expressed her unwillingness to even hold a wedding ceremony for her mistreated daughter in that way.

“With this, our family can also put our name on the golden plate.”

The Marquis said contentedly, stroking his goatee.

A family with its name on the golden plate. It was a term referring to the noblest bloodline among many noble families.

No matter how much money they had, no matter if they were newly rising nobles expanding their territory, or even if they were long-established great nobles, they could not carelessly put their name on the golden plate.

Only families with blood ties to the royal family or grand ducal families were recognized as families connected to noble blood and called ‘families with their name on the golden plate.’

And only families with their name on the golden plate could marry into the royal family.

The current crown prince was unmarried.

“The selection for the crown princess will be soon, we need to raise our family’s status by then.”

The Marquis couple believed that if only their family qualified, their beloved daughter Caitlin would surely become the crown princess.

That’s why they married Darius and Anette with the condition of an enormous amount of cotton wool and food that the entire North could use for at least 3 years.

‘If she becomes the crown princess, it’s the end of the world.’

I could see right through the Porche Marquis couple’s intentions, but I didn’t bother to show it. Caitlin as crown princess? Dreams are free, so dream on.

There was no wedding ceremony, but the gifts were grand. On the day I left for the North, carriages full of wheat and cotton wool followed behind me. Even this was just for show, with more food and cotton wool to be sent to the North after the marriage.

“Anette unni, congratulations on your marriage, truly.”

Caitlin, who came to see me off, embraced me like an affectionate sister. At the end of the warm embrace, malice sharp as a dagger is whispered in my ear.

“A dark and gloomy land where monsters might jump out. It suits you perfectly, so go off to that backwater and don’t think of coming back.”

“Is the hair I pulled out growing back well? Looking at it up close, it seems patchy, I’m worried.”

If I had pulled it all out, you could have at least attached a wig to the bald spots. At my whispered words, Caitlin’s face instantly turned pale, as if that had been her worry all along.

See, why pick a fight with someone you’re no match for?