Now that I think about it, I really knew almost nothing about Dante.

That he was an illegitimate child.

That his childhood probably wasn’t smooth due to the brutal succession battle in the Heigenberg ducal family.

Other than that, he silenced all the elders with consecutive victories and seized the duke’s position.

I didn’t even know the reason why he built Paradise.

“…ugh.”

A sharp headache pierced my mind.

It was a symptom that always appeared when I tried to recall memories from childhood, specifically before age 10 when I lost my grandfather and mother.

I bit my lip tightly.

Normally, I would have given up tormenting my own brain at this point.

But… why?

Every time I heard Dante’s urging to keep remembering.

A strange sense of compulsion was seeping into my chest, as if I had to follow those words.

As if I was missing something very important.

That night.

I was running through an endlessly dense forest.

My breath had already reached my chin, but I couldn’t stop.

“Hic, hah, huu…”

A young voice sobbed incessantly.

Covering my own mouth, I kept running.

Because if I didn’t, I would die.

‘This isn’t real.’

I vaguely realized I was dreaming, but the brainwashed-like fear did not fade.

“Huk, heuk.”

I finally tripped over a root and fell.

I tried to get up, but terrible pain crushed my knee.

Looking down, I saw my knee was soaked in blood.

There were countless bloodstains splattered next to the wound as well. Traces that had already dried up long ago.

I couldn’t get up. I staggered repeatedly like a fawn that hadn’t learned to walk, and finally collapsed completely.

“Hic, sob, mo, mother… grandfather…”

Cold, darkness, the piercing smell of blood.

Everything was so scary that I cried without even thinking to muffle my voice.

One of the servants cleaning the lobby of the Lopez estate whispered:

“Did you see? Today’s ‘Morning of the Empire’?”

“Of course I saw it! The ‘In-depth Analysis of Duke Heigenberg’s Wedding Preparations’ edition, right?”

When “Morning of the Empire”, which used to only report respectable news, suddenly started pouring out gossip, the citizens were surprised. But as if proving it was still a first-class newspaper, everyone started enjoying even the scandals reported in such detailed and sophisticated articles.

There was talk that “Morning of the Empire”‘s subscription rate had soared 10% in just one week.

“Today, Madam Evelyn was called in.”

“Gasp, isn’t that the place you can’t get a reservation even if you wait a year in advance?”

“Not just Madam Evelyn. They say designers and jewelers are streaming into the duke’s mansion every day.”

“I hear all the dress shops with any kind of name are rushing there to spread out their catalogs.”

The duke, who had been quiet for a while, started moving.

Rumors were rampant that an enormous amount of gold coins was being scattered across the sky of the empire for Dante and Ariana’s wedding.

“What about the jewelry? Yesterday they say the duke gave Miss Ariana a 10-carat diamond necklace as a gift!”

“Wow…”

One servant who had been blankly exclaiming muttered:

“I still can’t believe it. That Miss Ariana…”

The servants exchanged glances.

They all sighed as if on cue.

“To think she’d become the duchess.”

“I know. That’s what I’m saying.”

It was a shocking marriage for the daughter of a declining count’s family, even as the daughter of Viscount Fedegrin, but a duke was on a whole other level.

“When on earth did the duke win her over? She was always just holed up in her room.”

“I know. Honestly, she had so little presence I barely knew her even though we lived under the same roof.”

“She was pretty, but… wasn’t Miss Elena always more popular?”

“Sigh, by the way, where did Miss Elena go?”

“In her room, where else? Where would she go at a time like this? Ah, if I’d known this would happen, I should have followed Miss Ariana’s lead.”

“I know. Then we’d be at the duke’s mansion following the young lady by now!”

At the very moment the servants were grumbling.

Knock, knock.

Butler Wilhelm knocked on Elena’s door.

Elena, who had been huddled under the blanket, snapped:

“I said I’m not eating!”

After shouting that, Elena hid back under the blanket.

It had already been several hours since she had holed up in this room, sending away even her closest maids.

Even the servants were sick and tired of seeing her.

Those gazes clearly mocking her for falling due to a vulgar scandal. They who until recently had only groveled and curried favor hoping she might toss them even one silver coin…

“It’s Wilhelm, my lady.”

Hearing the voice from beyond the door, Elena raised her head slightly.

‘The butler?’

Butler Wilhelm was a person who had worked in this mansion since the time of Count Eduardo, from several generations ago.

A shrewd and calm person. Even after the series of incidents, unlike the other servants, Wilhelm did not mock or look down on Elena.

Though he wasn’t exactly friendly either.

“…What is it?”

Elena, poking just her head out from under the blanket, asked defensively.

The atmosphere in the house these days was literally a mess.

After the stage performance failed, Lopez House had to refund all the ticket prices that had been sold out.

However, they still hadn’t been able to pay back most of the refunds.

As the refunds kept being delayed, people banded together and sold their rights to collect the money to the Imperial Bank.

It was too much of a hassle to fret over getting a refund for just one ticket, but too vexing to just let it go.

The Lopez family suddenly found themselves being hounded for debt by the Imperial Bank.

Edward went out diligently every day, then came back at night and drank heavily.

The sound of thrown bottles and servants screaming could be heard every so often.

The house atmosphere was so unpleasant that she had gone out for a walk to get some fresh air and try to explain things…

Recalling what had happened earlier that day, Elena gritted her teeth painfully.

“I heard you’ve been in your room ever since returning from your outing.”

“…”

“Did you perhaps meet Viscount Fedegrin?”

Elena’s eyes widened at the voice coming from beyond the door.

“…How did the butler know that?”

“Seeing how heartbroken you are, I thought that might be the reason.”

Elena bit her lower lip gently.

“There is one way we can survive.”

Lucas began with those words and then said something unbelievable.

“There’s still a newspaper company our family can influence. I’ll connect you with a reporter there, so confess.”

“Con…fess?”

“Elena. Say that you came onto me.”

Elena doubted her own ears for a moment.

“What… did you say?”

“If you look closely, there’s only one photo of us kissing explicitly. Say that you, who had been admiring me, kissed me then. After that, the times we met alone were me trying to persuade you not to do this.”

Lucas’s eyes glinted as he calmly recited the plan.

Elena’s lips trembled in disbelief.

You want to say I came onto you? That you were just trying to persuade me?

“Are you… seriously saying that now? My reputation would fall even worse than it is now!”

“That doesn’t matter, Elena.”

Elena’s eyes widened.

Lucas grabbed her shoulder and whispered in a gentle voice.

“It’s just a scandal anyway. It’ll only cause a stir in the empire. Elena, I’ll find you a good marriage prospect abroad.”

“What on earth are you…”

Elena pressed her throbbing forehead and barely managed to subdue her anger.

Right. Having grown up as a high noble from birth, it was understandable to be mentally unstable in this first crisis.

Wasn’t it said that women are the ones who come to their senses when the family is shaken?

“Viscount, please listen to me.”

Elena clung to Lucas’s chest.

“That’s just running away, not a solution. What if my evil sister hasn’t released the decisive evidence yet? If we tell such a lie and she releases even more explicit photos, then it’s really over.”

“I’ll somehow take care of Ariana’s side-”

“Don’t run away with lies, let’s face this head-on.”

Elena fluttered her eyelashes and gave Lucas an affectionate look.

“Say that you liked my sister at first, but as time passed, you fell in love with me by her side. Admit that you did wrong things because of that and apologize.”

In noble society, a husband’s affair is barely even considered a flaw.

While it was unusual for the affair partner to be the wife’s relative, it wasn’t a rare case either.

Above all, Lucas wasn’t even married to Ariana.

So if he formally apologized for not keeping faith in their engagement relationship, noble society would eventually accept him back.

After that, they could even use this disaster to their advantage.

“And after that… marry me, Viscount.”

“…What?”

“There will be a big commotion at first, I know. But think about it. We’re in the cultural business. If we use it well, a scandal can even become a promotional tool.”

“…”

“I’m confident. I can be a better wife than my sister.”

Elena shyly revealed her dream.

The dream of becoming a viscountess that she had never shown before, always watching her step while entangled with Lucas.

“My sister lacks social skills and cunning from staying in her room all the time. But I’m different. I’m just as beautiful as my sister, and younger too-”

“Wait. Wait, Elena.”

Lucas shook his head and let out a hollow laugh.

Elena’s eyes widened.

What hung on his lips was an blatant sneer.

“You can’t be my wife.”