TNLY 00

Prologue

It was a perfect wedding.

“After surviving this many times, you should be grateful and just live your life.”

Except for me, who had turned my back on perfection and was now facing death.

“With grudges, I’m no slouch either… but to beat the madam, I’ll have to try harder.”

“You… you’re going to kill… me… *cough*.”

“I told you. There are plenty of people who want to kill the madam.”

Right. There had always been many people who wanted to kill me. But never before had I been this terrified.

My body was bound and I couldn’t see, but I struggled desperately to survive. Every breath I took felt like my throat was on fire.

Was what I drank earlier poison?

“Ca… Calla…”

The word I forced out through the pain was Calliope’s name.

“Duke Calliope? Ah, yes. The very one who’s kept the madam alive all this time?”

A giggle reached my ears, as if he found my state amusing.

“Duke Calliope has gone completely mad, they say. Doesn’t seem to be because he’s worried about the ledger… Does he really love the madam?”

The man already knew about the ledger’s existence. But only one thing registered in my ears.

‘Ca… Calliope loves me?’

Even after I married Calliope, there had always been people who doubted our relationship. For one reason only.

Because there was no love between Calliope and me.

The publicly known attempts on my life alone numbered three. Threats both great and small. There were even times when someone close to me targeted my life.

Through it all, the only one who remained calm was Calliope.

“Ca… Calliope…!!!!!”

The man was saying that Calliope had lost his mind.

“Calla… mmph!!”

I called Calliope’s name with all my strength. Because the moment I heard those words, I felt certain Calliope would come looking for me.

Come save me, just like you always have. I’ll believe that the act of losing your mind was genuine, too.

“You’ve said useless things. Was there any need to give her even the last hope?”

But a large hand clamped over my mouth. Unlike the man who had been speaking, a heavy voice rang out.

“Isn’t it quite beautiful to die calling the name of the person who has saved you all this time?”

“You crazy bastard. The ledger seems to be with this woman, so just throw her. If it’s like this next time too, there’s no final payment.”

As expected, they knew about the ledger.

Who could be trying to kill me? How do they know about the ledger? Fear and terror. And with a fierce determination to confirm their faces, I thrashed.

“In the end, she’s fated to die by poison. So the final payment, make sure it’s—”

“Final payment? The last one seems to have borrowed my hand.”

The man who had subdued my movements in an instant spoke in an indifferent tone.

*Splash!*

It was instantaneous. Cutting through the air, I plunged deep into cold water.

My vision was dark, but I knew instinctively that this was a very deep lake.

Water blocked my airway and began stealing my life in an instant. Along with the rushing water, I felt the poison spreading through my entire body.

*Gurgle, gwaaah.*

*S-someone, save me.*

The moment I sensed death, tangled and crumpled memories surfaced.

Reina Wales.

Eldest daughter of the Wales Count family of the Grace Allat Empire.

I think I lived a fairly happy life until I was ten.

— *Reina… my beloved daughter. You will grow up to be the happiest person in the world. Mother knows it.*

My late mother’s last words still remained in my heart.

*Mother, I’m sorry.*

The abuse that began after my stepmother entered, the betrayal of the man I loved.

A marriage without love. I don’t know what happiness is.

In my final breath, I prayed earnestly.

*’God. Give me just one more chance. Then I won’t wish for this damned love.’*

[Reina Wales.]

My prayer, filled with vengeance, did not reach God.

[I am the magical tool Douglas. Your desire and wish awakened me.]

Instead, it summoned a magical tool.

[I will give you the power to change your fate. Will you contract with me, pledging your soul?]

The pain vanished and tranquility began to settle in. If the magical tool had saved me…

“Yes.”

Even if that is the root of evil, I don’t care. In an instant, I rose from the deep water to the high sky.

[My condition is only one. According to your wish, never love.]

I felt my soul being drawn somewhere.

“Th-that’s!!!”

Someone shouted toward me as I surfaced. Would the last person to find me be Calliope?

On the wedding day of Prince Sirihan, the man I had loved, Reina Wales—the Duchess—was murdered.

And at that same moment, the magical tool Douglas, whose true nature was unknown, appeared in the world.