Chapter 2

“Drink while you listen. These are the divorce papers. It would be best if you signed them.”

The words spoken by the man in her dream filled Anais’s ears.

The future husband who would eventually kill her was standing not far away.

As though death itself had come to greet her, he wore a black military uniform, and his hair was as dark as night. Even his eyes were blood-red.

“……”

Anais instinctively flinched and took a step backward.

But the man began walking toward her, as though he could not allow her to retreat.

One step.

Then another.

The closer he came, the harder it became for Anais to breathe.

‘Don’t come. Don’t come any closer.’

Pale with fear at the death approaching her, Anais tightly curled her fingertips into her palms out of habit.

‘I want to run away.’

Just when she wanted to abandon everything and run—

The man’s red eyes were reflected clearly in Anais’s fear-filled violet eyes.

She stopped.

Frozen in place, she quietly stared at him.

Strangely, he……

‘……He looks sad. But why……?’

Deep within his red eyes, which seemed to have smoldered for an incredibly long time like an ember that had never gone out, there was an inexplicable sorrow.

“……”

Just then, a summer breeze blew from the direction where he stood, scattering Anais’s neatly arranged silver hair.

The man, whose cold appearance made him seem as though he belonged in the dead of winter, strode closer, narrowing the distance between them despite the sweltering breeze.

At last, when there was only one step left between them, the man stood still and carefully looked Anais over.

Then he smiled and spoke.

“I’ve wanted to see you, Miss Anais.”

“……!”

His eyes softened downward as he gave her a smile overflowing with emotion.

As though he were genuinely relieved and happy to finally meet her.

Unable to understand, Anais stared blankly at him.

He then lowered his head and introduced himself.

“Pleased…… to meet you. I’m Diego Lisandro.”

Only after hearing the man’s introduction did Anais remember that his red eyes were a symbol of the Imperial Family.

More than anything, his deep black hair—something never seen among the Imperial Family—made it immediately clear who he was.

The unfortunate second prince, born to the late Empress and cast out of the Imperial Palace.

The Grand Duke who ruled a grand duchy located on the border between the Kingdom and the Monster Forest.

“……!”

Finally recognizing him, Anais widened her eyes and lowered her head.

“It is an honor to meet you, Your Grace. I am Anais Orelsian.”

The fact that he had appeared despite being banned from entering high society meant that he had the Emperor’s permission.

Then perhaps……

As Anais’s eyes trembled, her face gradually began to pale.

The Grand Duke spoke.

“Could you spare me a moment of your time?”

“……Of course, Your Grace.”

Forcing a smile onto her face, she had no choice but to place her hand on the arm he offered her.

Just then, Ethel’s voice suddenly came from behind them.

“I’ll be waiting for you, Anais.”

Though he was speaking to her, his gaze remained fixed on the Grand Duke.

It was an extremely impolite look, but the Grand Duke merely gave a slight nod.

“Then, if you’ll excuse us.”

Displeased by the Grand Duke’s calm and concise manner, Ethel glared at him and issued a low warning.

“……Please don’t monopolize my partner.”

“……”

At Ethel’s provocation, the Grand Duke looked down at him indifferently.

The moment his cold red eyes settled on Ethel, the atmosphere around them froze.

But only for a moment.

“Hah.”

The tension Ethel had created shattered completely at the Grand Duke’s hollow laugh.

“Well. That is for Miss Anais to decide.”

The smile had disappeared from the Grand Duke’s face, leaving it as cold as the dead of winter.

Even though he was not looking at Anais the way he had moments ago, she felt the back of her neck grow cold.

Turning his back on Ethel, the Grand Duke spoke.

“Shall we go?”

The Grand Duke led Anais to a table far away from the curious gazes of the others.

Once they were somewhere relatively quiet, he lowered his voice considerably before speaking.

“To tell you the truth, I came to deliver an imperial decree.”

“……Ah.”

Anais was certain that her intuition had been correct.

If there was any reason for a man who ruled a grand duchy and the daughter of Viscount Orelsian to become involved with one another……

“His Majesty wishes for you and me to marry.”

The Grand Duke handed her a letter bearing the Imperial seal.

Suppressing the slight tremble in her hands, Anais slowly opened it.

Her face turned deathly pale.

[Necthar Orelsian, by imperial decree, you are to arrange for Anais Orelsian to marry Grand Duke Diego Lisandro at the earliest possible date.]

Just as in all the futures she had seen, her marriage to him had been impossible to avoid from the very beginning.

Anais composed her pallid expression and lifted the gaze she had lowered.

Looking into the Grand Duke’s red eyes, she asked,

“……Is it because I have royal blood?”

“That is His Majesty’s intention.”

Anais thought she understood what the Emperor wanted from this marriage.

A sort of hostage to keep the Kingdom in check.

The Kingdom, growing increasingly powerful by forming alliances with neighboring nations.

The Empire, which regarded them as a thorn in its side.

Anais and the Grand Duke were caught between their struggle for power.

Having understood the situation, Anais said what she needed to say.

“I…… am not connected to the Kingdom in any way.”

It was a painful thing to say, but it was not a lie.

Looking directly into the Grand Duke’s eyes, Anais continued.

“You will not obtain whatever result you are hoping for.”

“I believe you probably anticipated that as well. So you needn’t worry so much.”

The Grand Duke’s answer was perfectly reasonable, but Anais was afraid.

Because she thought she understood why this marriage ended in her death.

“I’m sure you know very well how much damage this marriage has caused me and the Imperial Family. Therefore, I have no intention of reversing my decision to divorce you.”

The words he had spoken in her dream echoed in Anais’s ears.

He was a man who would mercilessly kill her once she was no longer useful to him.

Anais had been tightly clenching her hands beneath the table for some time, yet she did not even notice the numbness spreading through her fingertips.

“……”

Amid the death from her dream flooding her mind, she desperately clung to reality and managed to speak.

“An imperial decree…… This is news I knew nothing about.”

“I only heard it from His Majesty myself just now.”

At the Grand Duke’s words, Anais furrowed her brows and impulsively asked,

“Did you come here to tell me about it?”

If she could find even the slightest trace of affection for her in him, perhaps she would be able to relax.

The future had not happened yet. She wanted confirmation that everything was still all right for now, that she still had a chance.

But the answer she received was completely unexpected.

“I came because I wanted to see you.”

His tone was unmistakably sincere, as though it were not merely empty flattery.

Anais stared blankly when she saw his red eyes focused entirely on her.

She felt a strange sense of dissonance.

The man who would kill her was telling her that, for now, he had simply wanted to see her.

The gap between those two realities made her stomach churn, and dizziness washed over her.

Unable to endure it, Anais finally closed her eyes.

“……”

The gesture was rude, so the Grand Duke was naturally concerned, but he said nothing.

Thanks to that, with her vision cut off, even the world around her seemed to grow quiet.

With her eyes closed, Anais belatedly realized that the heavy summer breeze had been gently circling nearby.

The breeze, carrying the heat and high humidity of summer, caught strands of Anais’s hair and the edges of her dress, slowly swaying them back and forth.

Strangely, feeling it seemed to calm even her wildly racing thoughts, settling them into a heavy stillness.

After a while, Anais cautiously opened her eyes.

“Are you all right? Is there somewhere that hurts?”

The Grand Duke asked as though he had been waiting for her to open her eyes, carefully examining her with concern.

Perhaps that was why.

Anais impulsively spoke once again.

“Have we ever met before? I mean…… enough for you to have wanted to see me this badly?”

His answer came only after a very long pause.

“……No. We haven’t.”

Yet in that moment, the emotion that rose in the Grand Duke’s eyes resembled what Anais had felt when their eyes first met.

Something so deep that he could hardly breathe.

Something that made him want to cry, yet somehow left him unable to do so.

Though it passed in an instant and disappeared without a trace, Anais kept turning that moment over and over in her mind.

After a brief silence, the Grand Duke spoke with a gentle smile, as though nothing had happened.

“But it is true that I wanted to see you. I have been interested in you for a long time, Miss Anais.”

“……”

It was Anais who was rendered speechless by his direct words.

While she blinked in confusion, the Grand Duke paused for a moment before continuing.

“If…… you would permit me, may I propose to you now?”

“No!”

Anais immediately answered with wide eyes.

The Grand Duke stared blankly for a moment, then seemed to understand her rejection.

A lonely expression appeared on his face.

For some strange reason, it looked genuine.

Anais, who could not understand him at all, blinked twice before speaking again.

“There’s something I need to tell you first.”

The moment she began speaking, Anais grew nervous.

She clenched her sweat-dampened hands once more and hardened her expression.

‘Yes. If I want to survive, I have to do something that never happened in my dream.’

Having made her decision, Anais spoke in a firm voice, as though she were pushing back against the death that had drawn so close.

“I would like to propose a contract marriage. When this marriage is no longer of any value, I wish for us to divorce.”