Chapter 1
“Sh-she’s dead…?”
The woman hiding behind the man’s back asked in a shaking voice.
The man slowly knelt down with a stiff face.
He checked the breath of the woman lying there with her eyes wide open.
She wasn’t breathing.
“Damn it…!”
He glared at the woman with an angry, twisted face.
“What are we going to do now?!”
The woman shouted back, not backing down.
“You were going to kill her anyway! I only tried to help you!”
“If you’re going to kill someone, you prepare properly! How could you attack her all of a sudden like that here?!”
“What else could I do? Ellie suddenly ran off—”
“Shut up!”
Sigh…
The man grabbed his head roughly and let out a deep sigh.
They were at the riverside of the Volta River, on the outskirts of the capital.
Luckily, there weren’t many people around, but it was impossible to move the body like this.
The man looked back at the corpse.
Eyes frozen open.
Her lavender-colored violet eyes were filled not with life, but with cold resentment.
“…We can’t move the body. We’ll make it look like a robbery.”
“Okay. W-what should I do?”
“Take off her clothes and remove all the jewelry.”
“Alright!”
The woman nodded and did as he said.
She took off the dress, leaving only a thin slip.
Then she reached for the jewelry — the necklace, rings, earrings — expensive things she had never even touched in her life.
As the man stuffed them into his pocket, a short but sharp flash of greed passed through the woman’s eyes.
***
The Duchess of Lamore has died suddenly!
The shocking news threw the whole capital into grief and horror.
A noble with dignity.
Kind to the weak.
Beautiful, humble, perfect in every way.
Elisabeth Lamore — the duchess everyone loved and respected — was gone.
And she had been found murdered in the street, like a victim of robbery.
Her body was discovered downstream in the Volta River by a homeless man.
Her dress was gone.
She wore only a thin slip.
All her jewelry had been stolen.
Her platinum-blonde hair was tangled and even cut short in places.
Maybe because she had been swept along by the swollen river and hit rocks, her face and body were so swollen and damaged she was barely recognizable.
Her whole body was covered in wounds. Her fingernails and toenails were broken. The head injury was especially bad.
Ssssshhhhh—
On the day of her funeral, heavy rain poured down from the sky, as if even the heavens were crying.
All the mourners dressed in black lined up endlessly.
Crying and sighing could be heard everywhere.
“They say she must’ve been dead for days judging from the body.”
“Yes… and in this heat… it was badly decomposed.”
“How awful…”
The noble ladies looked shocked and sorrowful.
“They say the missing-person report was late too. Where was the Duke?”
“He was at a business meeting. He came home very late that night.”
“Poor thing…”
Their gazes turned to one man:
Duke Louis Lamore, the grieving husband.
He stood there greeting mourners with a pale face and trembling eyelashes, trying to hold back his sorrow.
The noble ladies looked at him with pity.
Then their eyes moved to the woman beside him — Bianca Noavel, Elisabeth’s dearest friend — who kept wiping away tears.
“Louis… you must be suffering so much…”
She spoke to him casually, as if they were close. His brow twitched slightly.
She gently took his hand to comfort him.
He nodded politely and thanked her.
But as he turned away, Bianca secretly brushed her fingers against the inside of his wrist.
Even through her lace glove, the warmth of his skin could be felt.
Louis’s face tightened slightly.
“…Thank you for your concern,” he said coldly.
Bianca paused for a moment, then bowed and wiped her eyes again.
The priest’s eulogy began, and people cried even louder.
But even during the solemn words, gossip whispered quietly.
“Did you hear that rumor?”
“What rumor?”
“My husband said… apparently the Duke…”
“No way— I heard they were very loving!”
“Well, who knows what happens behind closed doors.”
Then a dignified older woman spoke sharply:
“Watch your tongues. This is a place to send off the deceased.”
It was Grand Duchess Orta of House Lavie, close friend of the Empress and respected elder of society.
The women fell silent immediately.
Orta sighed inwardly.
Ellie… child… how did this happen? Was it really robbers?
Tears gathered in the eyes of the woman known as the “Iron Lady.”
The mourners around her were stunned.
Meanwhile, the eulogy came to an end:
“May she rest peacefully in the arms of God.”
Everyone bowed their heads.
***
That night, at the Lamore estate.
The bedroom once shared by husband and wife now belonged to Louis alone.
He sat on the sofa with a bottle of whiskey, exhaustion written on his face.
Thunder boomed.
Rain beat hard against the windows.
He poured a full glass and drank it all at once.
His expression twisted.
“Damn those idiots… acting like they know everything…”
As he muttered angrily, a woman quietly approached carrying a tray of snacks.
“If you only drink, your body will suffer. Please eat something. I prepared it for you.”
Wearing only a thin robe, she sat close beside him.
“You didn’t go home?”
“How could I leave you when you’re hurting like this?”
She fed him a biscuit. He ate silently, glancing at her.
It was Bianca — the same friend who had cried before Elisabeth’s coffin.
“I was hurt earlier… you spoke so coldly to me…”
She crossed her legs so that her robe slipped open slightly.
Louis’s eyes darkened with desire.
“There were too many people,” he said.
“I understand. You had a hard day. Let me comfort you.”
His hand slid around her waist.
But then she lowered her voice.
“You did check the body, right?”
His hand stopped.
“…Of course.”
“Then why was it found so late? She’d been dead for days.”
He frowned.
“The guards are useless. And it’s been raining.”
“Yes…”
“Don’t bring this up again. Understand?”
“Don’t worry.”
And the two clung to each other, kissing and touching, while the portrait of Elisabeth watched silently from the wall.
***
At that same time, somewhere in the capital—
BOOM! Crash!
A loud thunderclap rang out, and someone opened their eyes wide.
“Ah…!”
Under the flash of lightning—
