Prologue

Swoosh.

Ael slowly opened her eyes to the sound of the strong wind passing by the window. At the same time, she felt a terrible thirst.

‘Water…’

Ael reached out to the side, groping to find the water jug she always kept on the bedside table.

Instead of the familiar touch of the table, she felt the soft texture of a cushion.

What is this?

Where is the water jug?

“Jenna, are you outside? I need some water…”

Calling for her maid, Ael struggled to open her eyes again as the thirst overwhelmed her.

As she blinked several times, her blurry vision gradually became clear.

The moment she saw the beautiful ceiling painting, Ael realized where she was.

“……!”

This was not her room. To be precise, it was her husband’s room.

“Ah…”

Upon realizing that fact, she felt a dull ache all over her body.

From her neck to her lower abdomen. Honestly, almost every part of her body felt sore.

Ael’s face turned red as she touched the areas that hurt. The pain was greatest in a place so deep that she could never reach it herself.

“Ugh…”

With a groan, Ael sat up.

Her body, still marked from the previous night, was exposed beneath the blanket that slipped down powerlessly.

Before looking at her own body, Ael turned her head to the side. To the spot where her husband had been the night before.

There was no one there.

All that remained were the crumpled wrinkles, as if to prove someone had been there.

Ael traced the wrinkles with her hand and then let out a bitter smile.

The wrinkled sheet was just cool, without a hint of warmth, as if to tell her the person who had been there had left long ago.

Ael turned her head to look out the window.

The horizon of the sea in the distance was turning red. Even though the sun had not yet risen, her husband had already left.

He might have left early because he was busy. As the owner of the continent’s largest merchant guild, countless tasks awaited him, leaving him little time to sleep.

But unless she was a fool, she knew. No matter how busy he was, it was impossible for the day after spending the night with his wife to always be busy.

Ael tried to recall if she had ever seen him after waking up from sleep. Ridiculously…

‘Not even once.’

Since their marriage, the only day she could see his face was one day a week. And even then, only at night.

And even that wasn’t long. He always came in late and moved without saying much to fulfill his duty.

Then, if Ael fell asleep first, he would leave without waking her.

As if there was no reason to see her anymore since he had done his duty.

‘Does he hate me that much?’

Ael’s lips twisted into a self-mocking smile as she thought alone.

Of course, he wouldn’t like her. She was just a wife he had bought with money out of necessity.

Even calling her his wife might be an excessive courtesy. To him, she was merely a tool to produce an heir to inherit the Golden Rule.

“……But I can’t even do that properly.”

Muttering with a bitter expression, Ael carefully got out of bed. But no matter how cautiously she moved, the pain still remained, making it difficult for her.

Ael barely picked up the robe that had fallen to the floor and put it on before heading to the adjoining room. Like the bedroom, it was empty, with no sign of life, but her clothes were neatly arranged there.

Ignoring the throbbing pain, Ael quickly dressed.

Soon, the sun would fully rise. Then all the servants in the main house would come out and start their day’s work, so she had to leave before that.

If they met, both she and they would feel uncomfortable.

No, to be precise… she couldn’t bear their gazes.

Ael hurriedly buttoned her blouse, not even fastening the top button properly, and put on her shoes before opening the door. Carefully checking the hallway, she was relieved to find it still empty. Ael quickly left the room and headed outside the mansion.

Leaving the wide corridor leading to the center of the mansion behind, she descended the narrow stairs used by the maids and opened the side door as if someone were chasing her, stepping outside.

Swoosh.

As soon as she opened the door, the strong wind that had traveled across the ocean to finally reach land blew Ael’s hair into the air.

But Ael didn’t even think to fix her hair as she hurriedly moved towards the garden.

If someone saw this scene, they would surely find it strange.

This mansion was the residence of Callon Ash, the owner of Ash Merchant Guild, and Ael was his wife. So it was only natural for her to stay in this mansion. Yet, she was rushing out of the mansion as if she were someone who had entered a place she shouldn’t be and was fleeing.

After passing through the well-maintained garden and entering the path between the woods, Ael turned her head to look at the mansion.

The light of the sun, now appearing above the horizon, softly covered the orange roof of the mansion, making it shine brilliantly.

Blinking slowly against the dazzling light, Ael gazed at the mansion.

It was the largest and most beautiful mansion in the Kingdom of Denertum. Yet, even at this hour, with the morning sun pouring down, the mansion remained silent, as if there wasn’t a single person in it.

Is it normal for such a vast mansion to show no signs of life until this hour?

Unlike usual, Ael stepped into the path and hid behind a tree.

After a while, people began to appear one by one in the previously silent mansion.

They hurriedly opened windows and swept the garden, moving busily. As if they had been delaying their work and could only now finally move.

‘As expected… so it was.’

Seeing the servants appear only after she had disappeared from view, Ael lowered her head.

Of course. They had been deliberately avoiding her.

Was it Callon’s order? Or was it their own judgment?

It didn’t matter either way. There was no way Callon wouldn’t know they were moving like that.

In other words, not only the owner of the mansion but everyone there didn’t want to face her. That’s why no one showed up while she was around.

Ael’s face turned red as she turned around, her face flushed.

Facing the truth she had been trying to ignore, she couldn’t lift her head in shame.

Plod. Plod.

Her already weak steps slowed even more. It took her much longer than usual to get out of the path, and she found herself on a hill overlooking the sea.

And at the end of that hill stood a small house.

It was an old house where a researcher had once stayed to observe the weather of the distant sea from this hill.

Now, it was where Ael stayed.

“Ael!”

As Ael approached the house, the door burst open, and a maid with red hair tied up in a ponytail hurriedly ran out. It was Jenna, Ael’s maid.

Long ago, Jenna used to call Ael ‘Miss.’ After she got married, she called her ‘Madam.’

But now, she called her Ael.

She couldn’t call a married woman ‘Miss’ as before. But after seeing Ael look like she was about to cry whenever she was called ‘Madam,’ Jenna seemed to have settled on and compromised on calling her Ael.

“I was worried because you were later than usual… Oh? Ael, did something happen?”

Chattering as she approached, Jenna’s expression hardened when she saw Ael’s reddened eyes and face. Then she turned her head to glare at the mansion beyond the woods.

As if she thought the people there had made Ael this way.

Ael hurriedly shook her head and grabbed Jenna’s hand. Then she entered the house as if fleeing from something frightening. After closing the door, Ael deliberately coughed and spoke to Jenna.

“No, it was just the wind was strong, and dust got in my eyes, so I rubbed them. More importantly, I want to wash up. Can you prepare a bath for me?”

“Huh? You always wash up before… No, never mind. I’ll get it ready right away.”

“Okay. Please do. I’ll wait in my room.”

At Ael’s request, Jenna quickly dashed inside.

Ael climbed the steep stairs leading to the second floor, holding onto the railing step by step.

When she first came here, the wooden stairs were so rotten that she was afraid to even step on them.

Now, not only the stairs but also the railing and even the walls had been completely repaired and gleamed.

It was thanks to her husband, Callon, when he ordered to repair it after she said she wanted to use this place as her residence.

At his command, workers from the Ash Merchant Guild swarmed in,

and the old cabin, which had been on the verge of collapsing, became a cozy space suitable for Ael and Jenna to live in comfortably in less than a week.

On the day she came here, Ael was very satisfied. She had finally obtained a place that could give her a little peace.

But Jenna cried her eyes out, blaming Callon for how he could send his wife to such a place.

Even though Ael repeatedly said it was her request, Jenna wouldn’t listen. She cursed Callon and all the servants in the mansion.

Ael couldn’t stop Jenna’s actions. She knew it all came from a place of caring for her.

Perhaps that’s why. On days like today, once a week, when Ael returned from fulfilling her duty at the mansion, Jenna was especially attentive, faithfully doing everything Ael asked.

Reaching the second floor, Ael entered her room and closed the door. Then she lay on the bed as if collapsing.

She was always exhausted after dealing with him, but today, the fatigue was especially overwhelming.

‘Yesterday, he was particularly… relentless.’

He usually pushed her to the point of exhaustion, but yesterday was especially intense.

‘He might think the money he spent buying me was a waste since I still haven’t conceived.’

Burying her face in the sheets Jenna had changed in advance, the fatigue from the previous night came rushing back.

‘How long has it been?’

Ael counted how long it had been since she married Callon. Exactly one year ago, the two had a wedding more grand than that of royalty.

It was a marriage that had turned not only the Kingdom of Denertum but the entire continent upside down.

It was understandable. Callon Ash, who had never even been rumored to be in a relationship, suddenly married the daughter of a fallen noble family.

People said he had finally found true love.

Every newspaper and magazine on the continent proclaimed Ael as the lucky woman who had captured the heart of the continent’s wealthiest man.

‘…But that’s not it.’

Ael buried her face in the sheets. The tears she had been holding back fell again, quietly soaking the sheets.

‘It was just a transactional deal.’

People didn’t know. The fact that there wasn’t a single speck of love in this marriage.

Why he wanted this marriage.

How coldly Callon had determined her price.

People would never know.

Her silent sobs seeped into the sheets and disappeared.

‘I didn’t know it would turn out like this.’

Ael recalled the first time she met him.

When he called her name and looked at her with trusting eyes.

When he smiled at her every time their eyes met.

The past when she, too, harbored a secret affection without fear or guilt, simply admiring him.