WFBD 01

Chapter 01

“Say that again.”

Wayne looked down at Valley, his sharp red eyes undisguised.

Overwhelmed by the pressure, she turned her head to avoid his gaze.

“I want to go to the imperial palace, where His Highness Prince Rascal is.”

Valley tensed her whole body, including her throat, to hide the trembling.

“His Highness Prince Rascal said he would give me more space. I’ve abandoned my family, so the palace will be safer.”

“You feel unsafe with me?”

“…Yes.”

Still unable to properly face Wayne, she nodded.

“Now that I’m of no help, it would be better for you, Duke, if I leave. Thank you for everything up to now.”

After unilaterally finishing her words, she turned before Wayne could answer. Just as she was about to grab the doorknob to leave the office—

“Ah!”

Suddenly, flames burst from the doorknob, making it impossible to touch. Startled by Wayne’s magical power, Valley reflexively stepped back.

“Who said you could?”

Wayne had already closed the distance, standing right behind her. Unaware of his presence, Valley kept retreating until the back of her head bumped against his solid chest.

Flustered, Valley hurriedly tried to step away, but Wayne grabbed her small shoulder and forced her to look at him again.

Not satisfied with that, he wrapped his large hand around her waist, holding her so she couldn’t leave.

“You show up out of nowhere, and now you suddenly want to leave?”

“…….”

“I won’t allow it.”

Wayne tightened his arm around her. The more he pulled her closer instead of letting her go, the more Valley frantically pushed against his broad chest. But Wayne didn’t budge.

“You’re the one who said I could be kicked out anytime if I’m no help.”

“I’ve never told you to leave.”

“But I want to leave. Let me go!”

She struggled to break free, but it was no use; Wayne even caught one of her hands.

Valley winced as he gripped too tightly, and only then did Wayne loosen his hold slightly. But his arm around her waist remained strong.

With the door behind her and his body in front, she was completely trapped. As if that weren’t embarrassing enough, Wayne pressed his thigh between her legs, tangling them together, making her face turn crimson. Seeing this, a fierce heat flickered in Wayne’s eyes.

Valley’s shoulders flinched at that gaze up close, but he didn’t look away.

“If you’re going to leave like this, you shouldn’t have made me like this.”

“What did I do?”

“Are you asking because you don’t know?”

“I really don’t know.”

“You made me want to live!”

Emotion welling up, Wayne raised his voice, unable to hold back. This was the first time he, always so composed, showed such impatience.

Valley’s blue eyes also trembled violently as she realized how shaken Wayne was.

“You made me, who desperately wanted to die, crazily want to live, and now you say you’re going to that bastard?”

“…….”

“There are only two ways you can leave me.”

Wayne pulled her hand up and made her choke his own neck.

Startled, Valley twisted and turned to pull her hand away, but of course, it was no use.

“D-Duke!”

“Either kill me with your own hands and go to that bastard.”

Wayne’s words made Valley’s eyes well up with tears as she struggled desperately, not wanting him to get hurt even a little.

He hadn’t meant to make her cry like this. Wayne gritted his teeth and continued.

“Or wait until I die.”

“Please, just let go of my hand first—”

“Choose, Valley Priatyn.”

Wayne leaned in close, as if he was about to kiss her right then. Trapped in a position where she could barely move her lips, she fluttered her eyelashes and answered.

“I……”

“Lady Valley, that blue dress looks wonderful on you.”

“I know. Why didn’t you wear it back then? It suits you so well…”

“Did you want to wear brighter dresses? I’m sorry I wasn’t more attentive.”

“No, I’m just glad I can wear it now.”

Valley shook her head, smiled gently at her personal maid, Edel, who was helping her get ready, and then focused on her reflection in the mirror.

Her grass-green curly hair, like blades of grass, fell to her waist, shining with volume.

Her blue eyes were clear, and her snow-white skin was smooth. Her cheeks had a healthy pink glow, and her small nose and lips were delicate.

Yes. Five years ago, Valley Priatyn had been this bright and fresh.

As the first daughter of the water-attribute Priatyn family, she had died a vain death at twenty-five. Murdered by her husband.

At the same moment as that unhappy death, she opened her eyes to find herself five years in the past, back at age twenty. Her second life had begun.

In the Astel Empire, royalty and nobles are all born with an attribute. The imperial family has darkness, while noble families are divided into fire, water, earth, and light attributes.

In a world where strong magical power became a family’s honor and power, Valley was born as the weakest of all.

At the magical physical examination that all nobles undergo at age ten, she received the lowest rank: fifth grade.

‘Of all things, to be born as my child! You’re a disgrace to the family!’
‘How could something like you come out of my womb? I should never have given birth to you…!’

Thus, at just ten years old, Valley became the one who tarnished her family’s honor.

‘Sister, I heard no marriage proposals have come in even though you’re an adult? Anyway, you’re so weak you’re useless.’

Her second-grade younger sister, Lina, and her third-grade parents wanted to marry Valley off quickly. But because of the rumor that marrying a fifth-grade would produce weak children, no one showed any interest in her.

Then, at age twenty, at the Attribute Harmony Party, Varteri was the only one who approached Valley first.

Her parents, saying it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, married her off as if getting rid of her.

A forced marriage could never be happy. Just like her life at the Priatyn mansion, she had to live walking on eggshells around her husband, Varteri.

Still, she had hoped that if she waited patiently, someday she would be loved.

‘I brought you in from the beginning for show. If I didn’t marry someone of the same attribute, other nobles would look down on me. And since you’re so weak you can’t even talk back, you’re perfect.’

With those words, her hopes shattered.

After their marriage, Varteri brought in a new woman every day. But she couldn’t tell anyone about his promiscuity.

Who could she tell? Her family, who would just be relieved to be rid of her? The servants, who ignored her because the new bride wasn’t even loved?

She had been bottling it all up inside, crumbling day by day, when—

‘I heard everything. That you’re pretending to be unmarried and trying to steal a country merchant’s daughter’s inheritance. Stop it right now. That’s a crime.’
‘Shut up! What do you mean steal? She offered it to me first. You keep your mouth shut and stay still.’
‘Don’t lie. You’re deceiving her cleverly. If you don’t stop, I’ll go and tell her everything myself.’
‘What?! Go ahead if you want to die! Don’t do anything stupid, just stay quiet like a dead mouse like always!’

Whether she knew it or not, she couldn’t stand by and let another victim be created by Varteri’s filthy greed.

Wanting to stop the guilt of living in a mansion glamorized by ill-gotten money, she secretly wrote a letter revealing everything.

‘You useless bitch! I saved you, so you should live with gratitude! Not only can you not help, but you ruin everything?! Die! I can’t even stand the sight of you, so just die!’
‘Ugh, ugh! I can’t… breathe…!’

Drunk and blinded by rage, Varteri strangled Valley.

If she was going to die so meaninglessly, she should have at least called him a bastard, a monster, all sorts of names, and grabbed him by the hair and shaken him.

In the end, she hadn’t been able to say a single proper word. Even she thought her life had been stifling and suffocating.

Filled with regret and resentment, she closed her eyes—and when she opened them, somehow, she was back at age twenty.

She couldn’t let this second life, which had come like a miracle, end just as vainly.

Valley wanted to live well this life, so that when she looked back, she wouldn’t feel even the slightest regret, as small as a fingernail.

“Edel, decorate it with fresh flowers.”

“Fresh flowers will wilt and change color over time, though?”

“It’s okay. It’s not for looking pretty.”

Speaking with a clear plan in mind, Edel moved her hands carefully accordingly. She braided a strand of hair, coiled it into a circle, and tucked fresh flowers inside.

“My Lady, I’m glad your expression isn’t gloomy today. You used to hate going to crowded places.”

“That’s true. But today, there’s someone I absolutely must meet.”

“Who?”

“The person I need to change my life.”

The only surviving fire-attribute in the Astel Empire, and the captain of the nation’s special forces unit, Zero.

Wayne Viterad.