Chapter 1

"Lady Leopold, your fiancée, has arrived, Your Grace."  

"…What? Is there some special occasion? The wedding is still a year away."  

"Yes, but… it is indeed Lady Karina Leopold."  

The man, who had been buried in paperwork, coldly raised his head with his eyes narrowing. As he clicked his tongue, he rose from his seat in annoyance. From the southern lands to the north, how could she come visiting without a single word?  

His red eyes glowed with irritation at the disruption.  

"Doesn’t she have any manners at all? Even if we are engaged, how could she come unannounced without even a letter?"  

Duke Millian Pastelio’s words were sharp, his patience worn thin by the recent monster attacks in the northern region.  

Behind him, his butler, Fang, wore a troubled expression.  

"Tsk, what was my father even thinking when he arranged such a ridiculous political marriage before he passed? I'd drag him out of his grave just to hear his explanation."  

It was an impolite remark, but Fang remained silent.  

To be honest, Millian had no time for women. His life was dedicated to work and the endless war against the monsters. Right now, he was busy managing his territory in preparation for the upcoming winter.  

And yet, out of nowhere, news of his fiancée’s arrival?  

Other than a brief meeting during their formal engagement ceremony, he had never once seen her. He was certain she had no interest in him—just as he had none in her.  

"At this point, breaking the engagement would be difficult, wouldn’t it?"  

“..."  

Fang, who always answered swiftly, remained silent.  

Annoying in every possible way.

Millian, more irritable than a starving man, turned his head, only to notice Fang's gaze fixed on the entrance.  

Tsk, she must have heard everything. 

Clicking his tongue internally, he followed Fang’s gaze, and found his fiancée standing there.  

She looked even paler than before, her expression unreadable as she stared at him.  

Millian was about to explain himself when she spoke first.  

"Breaking the engagement… sounds good to me."  

"…What?"

"Our wedding is scheduled for about a year from now, right?"  

Millian crossed his arms, leaning back with a skeptical expression as he listened to her.  

He was already in a foul mood. Having stayed awake for three days in a row, working through documents, his patience was at its limit. The dark shadows under his eyes made that clear.  

"To get straight to the point, I want to stay here for about six to ten months."  

"…Are you insane, my lady?"  

Millian asked, genuinely confused.  

It was rude, certainly something a noble wouldn't normally say, but this situation made him do it.

Karina's coarse brown hair swayed at her waist as she met his gaze with her deep blue eyes.  

"In exchange, I'll break our engagement before I leave."  

"…At your age, don't tell me you've run away from home?"  

"At my age, it's called leaving to get married. Besides, it's less than a year. Six months at the shortest, ten at most. There’s an annex on the estate, right? If I can’t stay in the main mansion, that’s okay too. As you can see, I didn’t bring much. Oh, but I did bring the annulment agreement."  

With pale hands reddened from the cold, unprotected by gloves, she pulled out a single sheet of paper from her worn off cloth bag.  

Millian's face twisted in displeasure.  

That ragged bag looked like it belonged in the trash. Where had she even picked it up?  

"…Is the Count’s family struggling financially?"  

"Huh?"  

Karina blinked.  

Following his gaze, she realized he was looking at her bag and shook her head. It wasn’t anything serious. She had simply bought it at a cheap price from someone who was throwing it away.  

"If I carried an expensive bag, I might’ve run into trouble on the way here."  

"Just how did you even get here?"  

"I paid for carriages when I could, walked when necessary, and sometimes hitched a ride with traveling merchants."  

The Leopold County was located at the southernmost end of the kingdom. The Count himself rarely traveled to the capital, so that meant she had come all the way from there to the far northern duchy where he resided.  

Even with a private carriage traveling non-stop, the journey would take at least a month. Millian's expression darkened.  

"When did you leave?"  

"Two months ago."  

"And in all that time, you never once sent a word? No. More importantly, what does a pampered noble lady like you even know about traveling alone through such a dangerous route?"

"…This will probably be my first and last journey."  

Karina spoke with certainty.

A chilly breeze swept in through the wide-open mansion entrance. She silently gazed at the scattered autumn leaves before continuing.  

"I wanted to try doing something on my own, taking steps forward by my own will."  

This journey was the first thing she had ever decided to do for herself.  

With the time she had left, she planned to spend it doing what she wanted.  

Last journey?

Millian’s expression grew unreadable.  

Well, it wasn’t as if a noble lady could take on such a reckless journey twice. He shook his head.  

She had been lucky nothing happened to her. If things had gone even slightly wrong, she could have met a terrible fate.  

"What if I refuse?"  

"I have a backup plan. I could just join a merchant caravan as a low-level worker, doing odd jobs while traveling around…"

She had considered it, but the truth was her body wasn’t in good shape.  

Maybe it was the cold northern air, but ever since arriving, she had experienced moments where her consciousness briefly slipped away.  

Her plan was to stay here quietly, spend her days painting, take short trips to nearby places, and prepare for her ending.  

"Hah!"  

Millian let out a short, incredulous laugh.  

Not only were her words outrageous, but she seemed like an entirely different person from the one he had met before. He even wondered if she was the same woman.  

Seeing his reaction, Karina simply shrugged.  

"Honestly, I never thought you'd refuse, so that backup plan was nothing more than a passing thought."  

"And why is that?"  

"Because you don’t like me."  

Millian blinked, caught off guard by her unexpected answer.  

"You’ve had that look in your eyes since our engagement ceremony, the kind that says you’re looking at something that doesn’t meet your standards."  

As he stared at her dumbfounded, Karina added, as if proud of herself, "I'm quite good at noticing things like that. So, I figured you wouldn’t pass up this opportunity."

She waved the annulment agreement in front of him once more.

Millian glanced at Karina before shifting his gaze to her reddened fingertips.  

He couldn’t just leave a guest standing at the entrance forever, no matter how unexpected her visit was.  

“Come inside.”  

“Alright, thanks. I’ll live as if I don’t exist. And one day, when I disappear, just assume I’ve gone back. Just think of it as an annoying burden finally being lifted.”  

Millian let out a sigh at her words.  

Looking at her pale complexion, an inexplicable sense of guilt crept up on him, even though there was absolutely no reason for him to feel guilty.

Feeling unfairly burdened by this sudden emotion, he shot her another sharp look.  

She didn’t show it openly, but she was visibly shivering from the cold.  

Millian swallowed back whatever he was about to say.  

“Fang, prepare a suitable empty room for her immediately. Also, have one of the maids prepare a bath.”  

“Yes, Your Grace.”  

“You should wash up first, Lady Leopold. We’ll talk later.”  

Leaving Millian’s glare behind, Karina followed Fang, who was perfectly dressed in his formal tailcoat.

Millian watched her retreating figure for a moment before heading back straight to his office.  

There was still a mountain of unfinished work waiting for him.

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