“Ah, my head.”

Riley, waking up from her drunken stupor, clutched her throbbing head and looked around, stopping abruptly.

An unfamiliar room, an unfamiliar bed, an unfamiliar blanket.

And an unfamiliar person lying next to her. Not just any person, but a man. Moreover, a naked one.

The man’s taut, unclothed body caught her eye. And as Riley, just waking up, faced the stranger’s sculpture-like nakedness, she snapped to full alertness.

‘No way… it can’t be.’

A panorama of explicit, flesh-colored scenes she’d rather not remember flashed through her mind.

A face slightly flushed and damp with sweat.

‘More, give me more. Just a little more.’

I’ve gone mad!

Riley blinked blankly, dumbfounded. It would take a little—no, perhaps a lot of time to fully process this shocking situation.

‘Are you going to do it with me?’

‘Well, should we?’

‘…’

‘Want to?’

‘Alright.’

Memories came back in fragments. Like puzzle pieces, they fit together incompletely, causing confusion in her mind.

But one thing was clear.

Alcohol. It was the alcohol from the reception that caused this unexpected accident. The excessive intoxication it brought.

This is a major incident.

‘It was certainly something I couldn’t have done without the help of alcohol. Even so, how could I have said such outrageous things?’

Riley sighed and looked to the side.

His face was buried in the pillow, obscured from view. All she could see was his disheveled yet flowing silver hair.

He must have been drunk too, right? Otherwise… things wouldn’t have gotten to this point.

Riley covered her face with both hands.

‘I really did it. I really…’

The shock of her first transgression in life, and her first night with a complete stranger, was considerable. Despite the fact that this entire situation had been meticulously planned from the start.

What should I do? As she came to her senses, the reality before her eyes made her dizzy. Although it was something she had resolved to do, the weight and pressure were far greater than she had anticipated.

The act itself from last night wasn’t the problem.

The problem was her partner.

‘I should get out of here first.’

She needed time to sort out her confused thoughts.

But not here. She didn’t want to imagine the moment he woke up. Just thinking about it was too embarrassing. Even if they were to meet later to discuss last night’s events, now was not the time.

First, she needed to clear her head.

Riley carefully got up, gathering the clothes strewn about the floor.

It wasn’t Claire’s dress she had worn, but a one-piece provided by the hotel, so she briefly thought she should return it, but for now, she hastily put it on and fled as if escaping.

How did she end up spending the night with, of all people, the man known as the youngest Archmage of the Horizon Tower?

Why did it have to be the Archmage?

Why him!

***

The beginning of this terrible mishap was due to a repulsive marriage arrangement made unilaterally.

“Miss, the young lord is calling for you.”

Uncle is calling. What could he want to say? She had a bad feeling.

And as always, that premonition proved to be exactly right.

“Congratulations on your marriage, Riley.”

Riley couldn’t respond to the announcement from her uncle, Baron Ryan. Not knowing how to react, the corners of her mouth trembled slightly as she forced them up.

An unpleasant tingling sensation, hair standing on end, thump-thump, a feeling of hot blood rushing backward. Anxiety struck the back of her head conspicuously.

Conversations the maids had been whispering flashed through her mind. That’s how she instinctively knew.

That something truly terrible had happened.

“The wedding will take place next month. Count Ermeints has agreed to cover all the wedding expenses. It’s really a marriage far beyond what you deserve. Isn’t it great? Where else could we find such a match for us? It’s a truly wonderful opportunity. For you, and for our family.”

Ah, so it’s come to this after all.

Riley, feeling lightheaded, exhaled briefly and clenched her fists.

She tried her best to steady her rough breathing, fearing that the sound might reach her uncle’s ears and upset him.

If she needlessly upset him, she might end up locked in her room again.

“He saw you when he came here for recuperation the other day. It seems he took quite a liking to you.”

“…”

“Count Ermeints is a central noble of Blestige. He’s far too good a match for you. Count Ermeints has provided a generous dowry. It’s such an excessive amount that I wonder if we can accept it just like that. With that much money, we’ll have more than enough to expand our business. It’s a good opportunity, so make sure to behave properly until the marriage is announced.”

“… Yes, Uncle.”

The marriage had been decided.

Uncle said it was a marriage far beyond her worth. After all, the Eadalin family, merely petty nobles of a small domain on the frontier, was no match for the Ermeints family, one of the powerful houses of the capital, Blestige.

But this would be nonsense spoken only by those who don’t know the Ermeints family.

While it’s customary to marry for the prosperity of one’s family when one comes of age, this is not right. What should have been a blessed first marriage had turned into a cruel death sentence.

I am being sold off in place of funding for Uncle’s business.

To a man twenty years older than my late father, who has a record of changing wives four times. To an old man who is now so aged and infirm that he can barely move without assistance.

Yet to a madman who still desires and craves only young women.

***

Riley became an orphan when she lost her only father at the age of fourteen.

Her father died in an accident, hit by a carriage right before her eyes. Thus, she became alone, and all her relatives turned their backs on her.

Except for one person, her uncle, Baron Ryan Eadalin.

He was known as a philanthropist, setting an example for all. He regularly visited those in need to provide service. He would go to disaster-stricken areas to help with reconstruction work, take in orphans who had lost their parents and had nowhere to go, running orphanages, and even create social enterprises to provide them with jobs.

In this way, he made money by selling items made by disabled individuals and orphans with nowhere to go, or through donations.

As he gradually expanded his charitable work, he gained fame as an exemplary case of a noble who was a role model for all.

His fame grew day by day, and eventually, he rose to the position of ‘petty lord’, managing the domain on behalf of the lord.

To others, he was a good person. Riley, too, once thought her uncle was a good person. There was a time when she foolishly thought how fortunate she was to be taken in by such an admirable person.

But not all that glitters is gold, as they say. The inner self hidden beneath his outward appearance was far from that of a good person. Even his charitable work was merely a means to gain honor and accumulate wealth.

A person who likes to be recognized by others. A person steeped in the desire for honor. Moreover, a person with considerable ambition for advancement. That was the true nature of ‘Baron Ryan Eadalin’.

‘You should be grateful just for the fact that I’ve taken you in, seemingly useless as you are. Don’t do anything stupid, always be careful not to bring shame to the family. Although I’ve taken you in because there are watching eyes and I had no choice, I don’t think of you as my child. I have no intention of accepting you as family. So don’t have any unnecessary sense of belonging, and don’t do anything. Don’t listen to anything, don’t say anything. Act as if you’re not even here. Don’t stand out, don’t be a nuisance. No matter how stupid you are, you should be able to do at least that much.’

‘Just live as if you’re not here, and when you come of age, you’ll be married off to a suitable family. I took you in because you might be of use to our family someday. This also means that I can discard you anytime if you become useless.’

Was it a compulsion from being left alone at such a young age?

‘I’ve lived as you said, Uncle.’

Not standing out, not being a nuisance. I’ve lived trying my best to obey.

I thought I should be grateful just for being taken in when I had nowhere to go, and tried to make a good impression, thinking that if I did, they might open their hearts to me someday. I lived clinging to such vain hope that we could become a real family.

Living in a controlled environment, eating only what was given. Living a dependent life, not an independent one.

Is this all I get for living without making a sound, enduring everything out of fear of being abandoned, fear of being alone?

Even so, this is too much. Even so… this isn’t right.

‘I don’t want to marry, I don’t want to. To share a room every day with such an old man, to mix bodies… to cater to his whims and nurse him? I’ll probably be thrown out like a worn-out shoe, just like his other former wives. Not knowing whether I’m alive or dead…

I hate it! It’s disgusting! It’s revolting!’

The emotions pent up in her chest felt like they were about to explode.

An intense feeling of betrayal towards her uncle. And a sense of disillusionment with the harsh reality. Stupidity at herself for having wasted her life clinging to vain hope.

‘Should I just jump out and die…’

She felt an urge to jump out the window right then. She thought it would be better to die than to live such a miserable life. That’s how unbearable and painful the current situation was.

‘Riley, I’m sorry… But you must live. You must live to prove them wrong. You must… no matter how hard it gets, no matter how much you regret it, you must endure.’

Remembering her father’s words just before he died, Riley covered her face and muttered.

“Why did you say that, why did you say such things at the end to make me unable to give up on myself?”

The words her father left just before he died after being hit by the carriage.

It was his last will.

Those words, to survive no matter what, must have been an earnest request to his daughter who would be left alone in the world.

And this last request was both a driving force that made her live on no matter how hard or painful it got, and an inescapable shackle.

‘Why should I die? Why me? After all I’ve been through…’

Sadness soon turned into resentment.

Riley no longer wanted to live unhappily. But dying seemed too unfair given her father’s last wish and all the years she had endured.

She had lived in obedience, fearing abandonment, but maybe she had known subconsciously all along.

That to them, she was nothing more than a consumable to be discarded once her usefulness was over.

Should she run away? But how? Wouldn’t there be monsters lurking outside the castle walls?

Moreover, it was obvious she would be under surveillance. And as long as she was legally registered under her uncle’s household, he remained her legal guardian. Simply running away wouldn’t allow her to completely escape from the confines of the Eadalin family.

Her thoughts spiraled out, one after another. With it, her frustration grew. The future looked so bleak. She had no idea what to do on her own.

As she clutched her throbbing head, suddenly the door flung open without even a knock.

“What are you doing, miss? It’s cold outside, how could you leave the window wide open?”

“…”

“Just in case, I hope you weren’t thinking of jumping out from there?”

It was the head maid, Macdalin. She always barged in, opening doors without permission.

It was behavior that showed no regard for manners, but no one ever said anything about her actions. Riley was the only one in this mansion towards whom she showed no courtesy.

“Well, it’s not high enough to die even if you did jump.”

“…”

“He’s an old man who won’t live much longer anyway. If you endure and put up with him for a few years, you’ll inherit the vast fortune of the Ermeints family. It’s not a bad deal for you, miss.”

“But, but I might be thrown out like his other wives before that.”

“Well, that depends on how well you perform, doesn’t it? The former wives of the Ermeints family were all thrown out because they were stupid enough to fall out of Count Ermeints’ favor. Surviving there is now up to your capabilities, miss.”

Haven’t I told you many times?

“The strong are the ones who survive.”

“It’s not his ex-wives who are strange. It’s Count Ermeints who’s strange. Don’t you think it’s abnormal for a man his age to be so obsessed with young women, to have gone through four wives on his own? You’re saying it’s all the fault of the ex-wives?”

Macdalin smirked at Riley’s indignant outburst. Then she brought a comb and started brushing Riley’s hair.

“Anyway, you can’t escape from here, nor can you cancel the marriage that has already been decided. You don’t have the power or ability to do so.”

“…”

“I’ve always told you. Power is strength, and strength is justice. That’s how the world works. If you don’t want to be ignored, I told you to cultivate strength. Count Ermeints is a strong person. So he is justice, and his ex-wives become stupid fools.”

“…”

“From now until the wedding, you will be strictly prohibited from going out, and you will be under surveillance. You just need to stay in your room corner, barely noticeable, as you’ve always done.”

Macdalin, pretending to be dignified and refined but in fact a twisted monster like no other, had clearly come here to mock under the guise of giving advice.

“It seems you really do find the marriage dreadful. It’s quite contrary to your usual soulless doll-like demeanor.”

Macdalin, having finished combing, smiled and stroked Riley’s hair.

“If nothing changes either way, it’s right to at least struggle. That way you’ll have no regrets.”

“… What do you mean?”

“I mean I’m curious to see whether you’ll accept this reality stupidly and quietly as usual, or whether you’ll try to struggle somehow.”

“…”

“You know, watching someone else’s house on fire is the most entertaining.”

Macdalin mocked Riley with a casual smile. What a refreshing smile it was, truly psychopathic.

“Well then, I’ll take my leave, miss. Sleep well, and if you need anything, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

After she left and the door closed, Riley, staring blankly at it, collapsed as her legs gave way.

Macdalin’s words kept echoing in her mind.

Whether to live stupidly conforming to reality as usual, or to struggle by trying to do something.

‘Father. I don’t want to be sold off like this…’

If she hadn’t been registered in her uncle’s family registry, if she had been an ordinary orphan instead of the young lady of the Eadalin baronial family, could she have lived more freely and happily? Could she have grown into a more proactive and independent person?

Could she have shed some of her blind obedience, her submissive and passive attitude?

This wretched house.

‘I need to come up with a plan.’

She had to find a way to deal with this situation before the marriage was announced.

So Riley decided to rack her brains to find a solution before the wedding.

***

In the midst of this, an unexpected good opportunity arose.

“Darling, look at this. We’ve received an invitation from the Horizon Tower.”

“From Horizon?”

“That’s right! It seems they’re holding a reception to celebrate the inauguration of the new Archmage.”

“Horizon sent an invitation to me, a frontier noble…? Why?”

“Perhaps your reputation has reached Blestige!”

“But why are there four invitations?”

“It includes one for Riley.”

“…That’s troublesome.”

“They probably don’t know. People who interact with our family know that Riley is sickly and avoids public activities, but we’ve had no exchanges with the Horizon Tower until now, right?”

“I’m concerned about taking Riley to such a large party.”

“I heard that Count Ermeints will also be attending?”

Upon hearing the news of Count Ermeints’ attendance at the reception, Baron Ryan pondered for a moment before calling for Riley.

“You called for me, Uncle?”

“Prepare to go to the capital.”

“…Pardon?”

“The Horizon Tower has sent an invitation for a reception to celebrate the Archmage’s inauguration. One is included for you as well. I was hesitant about taking someone as lacking as you to such an important event, but since Count Ermeints will be attending, it would be good to go together to pay our respects.”

There was no option to refuse. This was a kind of notification, after all.

The thought of having to face Count Ermeints in person was nauseating enough to make her stomach churn. She desperately wanted to run away right then, but suddenly a good idea came to mind.

“I understand.”

An event where numerous nobles gather. It’s a moment when Uncle’s surveillance will weaken. That would surely be the only chance to escape, or to come up with another plan.

‘Father, I won’t live in fear and be dragged around stupidly anymore.’

It was now or never.

Because there was nowhere left to retreat.