Chapter : 01
“Get married, Charlotte.”
At the dinner table of the Noah family.
At the words spoken from the very head of the family table, all the utensils that had been moving across the plates abruptly froze.
An unnatural, bleak silence.
It was so cold that one would never think this was a simple family dinner with only three people sitting together.
The one who broke that silence was the black-haired young man seated to the right of the head of the table.
Clink.
Setting down his utensils, Quincy Noah opened his mouth with an unpleasant smile.
“…It’s true that Charlotte has reached marriageable age, but this is sudden, Father. It’s only been a week since Char collapsed and regained consciousness. She should rest a bit longer—”
“This is not a matter that allows us to waste time on such things.”
The middle-aged man seated at the head of the table, Dominic Noah, cut Quincy off sharply.
“Information has come in that Alfonso Linus Eduart has submitted a premarital pledge to the Temple.”
A premarital pledge.
At those words, Quincy’s expression stiffened slightly.
“…Are you saying Duke Eduart intends to marry?”
“Yes. The information was obtained immediately after the Duke submitted the pledge yesterday.”
All marriages on the continent were currently guaranteed by the Temple.
And in order to receive that guarantee, it had become customary to submit a premarital pledge to the Temple in advance.
Submitting such a pledge was, more than anything else, the clearest sign of an impending marriage.
“There has been no other family that maintained close relations with Eduart, so he must be preparing to look for a spouse now. Before long, word that he submitted the pledge will quietly spread as well.”
Once that rumor spread, it was obvious that families would rush to present marriage proposals to Duke Eduart.
“We must seize Eduart before that happens. This is an opportunity we cannot miss.”
Dominic spoke calmly, without raising or lowering his tone, but the meaning behind his words was unmistakable.
“Marry Alfonso Linus Eduart, Charlotte.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
But before Charlotte could even speak, Quincy let out a cold laugh.
“Do you think Eduart would accept a proposal from Noah? He’s the kind of stubborn man who wouldn’t even glance in the direction of Noah.”
Who was Eduart?
A prestigious and ancient noble house, led by Alfonso Linus Eduart, cousin of the current emperor Benoit III.
And standing at the exact opposite end from that noble house was the Noah family.
A family backed by the Temple that committed all sorts of illegal acts with their immense wealth.
Especially because of their cruel and ruthless family tradition, they were widely known as villains.
And now a marriage between Eduart and Noah?
It was so absurd that merely bringing it up seemed strange.
“It’s impossible. Even if we send a proposal, Eduart will refuse.”
With other families, Noah could simply pressure them with their name.
But Eduart was too powerful.
Such a crude method would never work on him.
“If it isn’t possible, then we will make it possible.”
Dominic remained calm, as if he had expected Quincy to say exactly that.
Bang.
Dominic struck the table with his fist.
Despite the wrinkles on his face, his sharp green eyes shone cold and venomous like those of a snake.
“Recently, part of the southern maritime trade rights that we monopolized with the Temple was transferred to the Emperor. That means the Emperor is gradually tightening his grip on us.”
Dominic had been wondering how they could escape this crisis.
And now Eduart was planning to marry.
“If we become in-laws with Eduart, even the Emperor won’t be able to touch Noah.”
Conversely, if they missed this chance, it was obvious the Emperor would continue to tighten the noose around them.
“This marriage must succeed no matter what!”
“Father, but—”
“That’s enough. Shut your mouth, Quincy. Just because you’ve become the heir, do you think you can challenge the head of the Noah family?”
Dominic’s fierce pressure cracked the smiling mask Quincy had been wearing.
But just as the atmosphere was about to grow sharper, the red-haired woman who had been silent on the left side of the table finally spoke.
“I’ll marry him. Stop arguing.”
“Charlotte!”
“You don’t have to call me like that, Brother. If it’s something Noah needs, then it has to be done. That’s what Noah is, right?”
“As expected, Charlotte, you understand well. Do you think you can make Eduart yours?”
A satisfied expression appeared on Dominic’s face.
Charlotte smiled sweetly, her eyes curving softly.
“Of course. It’ll be easy for me.”
Yes.
It really would be easy.
Because in the past, Charlotte had already made Alfonso kneel and kiss her feet.
What needed to be done to make him submit was as clear to her as the palm of her hand.
There was only one difference.
This time, the goal was different from the past.
Back then, I followed the family’s orders no matter what…
But not now.
Cough.
Charlotte coughed briefly and slowly crumpled the napkin that had covered her mouth.
The red bloodstain that soaked into the napkin disappeared into her clenched hand without anyone noticing.
As if nothing had happened, Charlotte hid her thoughts perfectly and smiled brightly.
“Just watch.”
Because in this life, she would definitely save Alfonso.
* * *
Sometimes love is a tragedy.
Perhaps that was an obvious truth, but in Charlotte’s case, it was especially so.
The reason was simple.
She had never seen anyone who loved destruction end up happy.
Charlotte Noah.
She herself was destruction.
A flame that killed everything she loved, yet never stopped burning.
The day she first realized that—
Charlotte lost the person she loved.
“…Why?”
A cracked voice escaped from her dry lips.
Her green eyes, which always gazed sharply—or with cruel allure—at others, had lost their focus.
The cold, cynical expression that rarely revealed her inner thoughts was shattered.
The infamous villainess spoken of everywhere for both her cruelty and beauty, Charlotte Noah, asked with a pale face:
“Why did you kill my husband, Quincy Noah?”
She asked the one person she had believed to be her only blood relative.
At the sound of his name, the man standing across from her finally turned.
A young man who looked remarkably similar to Charlotte.
He smiled and spoke gently.
“You’ve grown quite rude to your older brother since I last saw you, Char.”
“Just answer me!”
Unlike Quincy’s calm attitude, Charlotte was practically forcing her voice out.
She could barely even stand.
Just hours earlier, she had seen her husband’s corpse.
Alfonso Linus Eduart.
A man who had never once smiled at Charlotte.
And yet, despite that, he had stolen her heart completely.
The man who shattered Charlotte’s belief that she could never give her heart to anyone.
“Even if I marry you, I will never love you.”
And the first regret Charlotte had ever experienced in her life.
Three years after marrying Alfonso and becoming the Duchess of Eduart—
Charlotte deeply regretted that marriage.
Why?
Because she had fallen in love with a man who hated her.
Their marriage had been purely political for the sake of the Noah family.
As soon as rumors spread that Duke Eduart was looking for a wife, Noah immediately sent a marriage proposal.
Of course, the Eduart family reacted fiercely.
Eduart was openly known as the Emperor’s right hand.
And Noah—a family backed by the Temple that ignored the Emperor entirely—dared to propose marriage?
It was like a weasel trying to marry a wolf.
They mocked the proposal as laughable, accusing Noah of shamelessly trying to cling to Eduart’s prestige.
But Noah—
More precisely, Charlotte—
didn’t care at all.
There was only one reason.
Because it was the family’s order.
So Charlotte repeatedly interfered with Alfonso’s marriage talks and set traps several times to create scandals between them.
“Did you hear? The villainess of Noah and Duke Eduart are involved.”
“I heard several people saw them tangled together in the lounge.”
“My goodness… how could they behave so indecently…?”
Once those rumors spread everywhere, Alfonso had no choice.
No family was willing to marry him anymore.
And due to issues within the family, he urgently needed to marry.
In the end, he had to exchange a vow’s kiss before witnesses with the woman he despised the most.
So perhaps it was not surprising that Alfonso came to hate Charlotte.
Nor was it surprising that he eventually fell in love with another woman.
