TSTRP 02

Chapter 2 

All the expensive dresses and finely made accessories I owned were taken by Alice, my uncle’s daughter.

Even the room next to my parents’ bedroom was given to her, while I was driven into a shabby room that had previously been used as a storage room.

And yet, even then, I still refused to give up hope that I was the heroine.

The Cinderella-type story is pretty common in romance fantasy novels. I guess this is the route where the heroine suffers through a miserable childhood, meets the male lead, and finally blooms into happiness.

The price I paid for escaping reality for so long eventually came back to haunt me.

Just as I had finally become an adult, I fell into an inescapable trap.

“Even so… isn’t marrying an old man taking things a little too far?”

Even in this world, which was closer to the Middle Ages, a marriage between a young woman and an elderly man who was practically approaching the end of his life was hardly something people welcomed.

Everyone would surely be laughing and whispering behind my back.

This sort of thing rarely happened unless a woman was completely penniless, had no family, and had no other choice but to find a way to survive on her own.

And I even had relatives, including my uncle and cousins.

I knew my uncle regarded me as a thorn in his side, but I had never imagined he hated me this much!

No matter how much he disliked me, there was still the reputation of House Albre to consider.

How could he possibly send his own niece into a marriage like this?

“It has to be because of his debts.”

House Albre, which had been quite wealthy while my father was alive, had somehow managed to lose even the ancestral lands that had been passed down through generations.

Now, the only thing we had left was the mansion in the Imperial Capital where I had lived since childhood.

There were even rumors that this mansion would soon be auctioned off because of the debts my uncle had accumulated after failing in business.

And most of those debts had been borrowed from Viscount Montrache.

“Hah… Are you selling me off just to get rid of the money you owe Viscount Montrache?”

The old man was willing to pretend such a huge debt had never existed just to get himself a young bride.

He clearly wasn’t right in the head either.

“…What should I do?”

I gnawed on my innocent fingernails as I desperately thought of a way out, but there was nothing I could do.

Even if I ran away now, my uncle would probably catch me and drag me to the temple where the wedding was to take place like some criminal.

The only thing I could do was sit in this bathtub, deliberately taking my time and being difficult.

“……”

As I stared hopelessly at the droplets falling into the bathwater, I suddenly remembered a conversation between my parents from when I was young.

“Dear, what are all these portraits?”

“I’m looking for a boy who would suit our daughter. I think it’s about time we started looking for a fiancé. How about this one?”

“His family has produced nothing but ink-stained scholars for generations. Can a frail fellow like him protect our daughter?”

“Hmm… Then what about this one? He’s very handsome.”

“He’s the sort who’ll spend his life chasing after women’s skirts. Our daughter will obviously suffer because of him.”

“Hmm, this one…”

“His hair color doesn’t suit our daughter.”

“Then how about this family…?”

“I don’t like his eyes.”

“…Dear. Why don’t you go back to work?”

In the end, my father couldn’t find a single man who met his standards, so I never got engaged.

And there had been quite a few prestigious families among the candidates, too.

A man from a wealthy and loving family of at least count rank.

Intelligent enough to graduate at the top of his academy class.

A man who had no interest in other women but was warm and affectionate toward his own woman.

And someone whose skills surpassed even my father’s, who had once been the greatest knight in the empire.

Who on earth could possibly exist like that?

A sigh escaped me, mixed with a faint laugh at the memory that had now become nothing more than a nostalgic recollection.

“Dad, you should have chosen someone back then.”

Then at least I wouldn’t have ended up marrying an old man.

They say if you treasure something too much, you end up losing everything.

Just like the savings account from my previous life that I never got to spend because I died suddenly…

“My lady, if you’re finished bathing, please come out quickly!”

Yeah, yeah. I’m coming.

The wedding preparations didn’t take as long as I had expected.

Perhaps because my uncle was worried about what the groom, Viscount Montrache, would think, he gave me a decent, brand-new white dress instead of some shabby old one.

But that was it.

Unlike most brides, who spent three or four hours being dressed and pampered, I only had basic makeup done and looked hardly any different from usual.

Neither my uncle nor I had the inclination to fuss over every little detail.

My uncle probably just didn’t want to spend any more money on the wedding.

Once I was ready, I descended to the first floor using the central staircase.

I walked slowly, worried that I might step on the hem of my dress and fall.

As I did, I heard voices coming from below.

“Did you hear that the First Prince caused another incident last night?”

“What did that disgrace to the imperial family do this time?”

“I heard he barged into the temple, caused a scene, and burned all the indulgences. I was worried that the incident might somehow prevent today’s wedding from taking place. I sent a telegram in a hurry, and apparently there’s no problem with the ceremony venue.”

“He’s worse than a beast. Has he really gone mad because he couldn’t become Crown Prince?”

It was nothing more than idle gossip.

If the incident at the temple had escalated enough to cancel the wedding, I certainly wouldn’t have complained.

The people waiting on the first floor looked up at me.

Among them was Viscount Montrache, who had arrived ahead of time.

“Oh, Solana. You’re truly beautiful.”

Viscount Montrache laughed heartily, the wrinkles around his eyes folding together.

Beside him, my uncle watched his expression and chattered away like an overexcited bird.

“You said this is your fifth marriage, didn’t you? I’m so pleased that my niece has found such a wonderful match in a gentleman like you, Viscount. All this time, I’ve prayed to my late elder brother that I would find his daughter a suitable husband. Now that my prayers have been answered, I can finally rest easy. Haha!”

“Heh heh. I heard people have been whispering these past few days about our considerable age difference. Saying that an old man like me has no shame.”

“Oh, heavens! Who would dare say such a thing? The older a man gets, the more refined he becomes, just like wine. Besides, if this is your fifth marriage, then you’re already an expert when it comes to married life. If you take good care of my inexperienced niece, I’ll have nothing more to ask for.”

“Hahaha. Aren’t you my father-in-law now? You can speak more casually with me.”

“Then allow me to be a little informal, brother-in-law~ Please take good care of our niece.”

“That’s a little unpleasant to hear.”

“Ah… Yes.”

According to the rumors I had heard, Viscount Montrache had tormented his previous wives terribly whenever they failed to bear children.

He wasn’t an expert at married life.

He was an expert at making his wives die young.

If he had already gone through five wives, he should have realized by now that perhaps he was the reason they couldn’t have children.

But there was no way he would ever admit that.

He was the perfect embodiment of the patriarchal and arrogant male aristocrat.

Just then, my uncle spoke to me.

“What are you doing? Aren’t you going to greet Viscount Montrache?”

I stood quietly among them, suppressing my miserable feelings.

I didn’t particularly feel like greeting him, so I sharply turned my head away and ignored my uncle.

Just as my uncle’s face twisted and he was about to shout—

Knock, knock, knock!

Someone began pounding on the door from outside.

“My lord, the carriage is ready!”

The wedding carriage that would take us to the temple was ready.

I had been preparing myself for this to some extent, but the moment I realized that I actually had to climb into that wedding carriage with that old man, I felt like I was breaking out in hives all over.

Why do I have to marry that old man?

I had never been married in my previous life, so this was my first marriage across all my lives.

I was being forced to marry an old man I didn’t love—a man who abused his wives.

It was painfully obvious how hellish the rest of my life would be.

Is there really, really no way out?

It wasn’t as though I had simply sat around doing nothing.

In fact, I had spent the past several days desperately searching for a way to sabotage the marriage.

I even wrote to a duchess whose name I had only heard before, explained my circumstances, and begged for her help.

I wandered around the merchant guilds, trying to find enough money to escape.

I even went to see a lawyer.

And because I wanted someone powerful to have my back, I submitted an application for a position as a secretary in the Imperial Palace.

It was a position that only the elite graduates of the Imperial Academy had any real chance of getting, so I knew I would probably be rejected.

But that was how desperate I was.

And yet, in the end, I couldn’t find a way out.

And now, this moment had arrived.

“No.”

The despair I had been suppressing suddenly surged up, impossible to hold back.

My breathing grew ragged, and my hands and feet turned cold.

Soon, my eyes became red and bloodshot.

The maid who had been hurrying me along since morning, Mary, called out to me softly.

“My lady…”