Chapter 1
My Husband Candidate Changed
Pitch-black darkness enveloped the estate of Marquis Uzkal of the Harun Empire.
Creak.
Shattering the silence so complete that even a pin drop would be heard, the door at the far west end of the second floor slowly opened.
“Lady Lea, there’s no one outside.”
Millie, my maid, peeked cautiously into the hallway, then stepped out carrying a bag.
I followed her, holding a single bag of my own, pulling a black hood over my head and moving silently.
As the door closed quietly behind us, Millie and I hurried down the second-floor hallway and descended to the first floor via the west staircase.
In our haste, my hood slipped back, and in the blackness, my smooth platinum hair caught the faintest glint. I was too tense to notice.
Millie, glancing back at me by chance, reacted as if she’d seen a ghost.
“Gasp!!”
“Shh, Millie, quiet!!”
I quickly slapped a hand over her mouth.
“Sorry, my lady. Please put your hood back on. Your hair stands out like a lit candle in the dark.”
Realizing the situation, I hastily pulled the hood back over my head. Like blowing out a candle, we were once again swallowed by darkness.
“Wait! What’s that noise?”
Suddenly, voices came from the direction of the front entrance. Millie and I quickly ducked behind the stairs.
Moments later, the door opened, and the butler, Juan—clothes rumpled—rushed toward the marquis couple’s bedroom on the second floor.
“Lady Lea, what’s going on?”
“No idea. But we need to get out of here—fast.”
Then the second-floor hallway lit up and became noisy.
“Juan, are you sure he came at this hour?”
“Yes, Marquis. I was just as shocked.”
At the sound of my father Marquis Derik Uzkal’s urgent voice, my blood ran cold.
If we’re caught now, it’s all over!!
Hearing the Marquis and Juan’s footsteps quickly descending the stairs, I grabbed Millie’s hand, yanked open the nearest hall door, and slipped inside.
“Lady Lea, who could have come at this hour?”
“Whoever it is, they’re clearly not in their right mind.”
I frowned, anxiety prickling at me. This plan couldn’t fall apart from the start…
“If we take too long, Master Robby will worry.”
“We have no choice. Whoever it is will head to bed soon—it’s late. We’ll leave when it’s quiet. Robby can wait a little longer.”
While Millie pressed her ear to the door to listen, I glanced around the room we’d hidden in.
Bathed in faint moonlight from the window, the curtains, lighting, and paintings on the walls—all of it was more luxurious than any other room in the marquisate.
“Millie, what is this room? It’s huge and fancy.”
I was the marquis’s illegitimate daughter, and for twelve years since I was eight, I’d lived in this mansion.
But because of the marquise and my half-sister Hayley’s interference, I’d never been allowed to roam far from my small room at the far west end of the second floor.
I was rarely permitted to join family meals, and had been to the family parlor only twice before this morning. So, this large, opulent room felt strange and foreign to me.
“Oh, this is the guest reception room. This morning, the marquise had the servants scrub it spotless—she was making a huge fuss.”
Millie, still with her ear to the door, answered.
“Really?”
“Yes. The King of Fritan is coming in five days, so she was… ah!!”
She bit her lip mid-sentence, glancing at me nervously, because my face had gone stiff at the words King of Fritan.
At that moment, the reception room door swung open and light flooded in.
“Eek!!!”
Millie, standing right by the door, stumbled back and nearly landed on her backside, but quickly ducked behind the door.
“The House of Uzkal is normally well-organized, but your arrival was so unexpected that we were a bit flustered, Your Majesty. To think the King of Fritan would come at this hour… please, right this way.”
Suppressing the irritation rising in his chest, Marquis Uzkal forced a cordial smile as he ushered his guest in.
Behind him, alongside two towering men, came the butler and a line of maids.
I froze, unable to hide or move.
One man, burly-faced and broad, was imposing enough, but the other, a head taller, radiated such overwhelming presence that I instinctively lowered my gaze.
No way… is that King Milok of Fritan?
Sharp nose and jawline, skin pale as if untouched by sunlight, and eyes cold and indifferent—he looked every bit the ruthless ruler. But…
He’s ridiculously handsome!!
Even now, his unreal good looks struck me like a blow.
Wait… could King Milok be the “super-handsome face” Mom meant? Do I need to revise my plan?
While thoughts raced through my head, his icy, sharp gaze fell on me, and an inexplicable pressure made me shiver.
“If you wait here a moment, we’ll prepare your chambers… Hm? Who are you?”
The Marquis’s polite tone shifted to sharpness as his eyes landed on me, standing like a statue in the center of the room.
“Who are you, and why are you here?”
“Marquis, it’s me.”
Resigned, I slowly pulled back my hood.
Silky platinum hair and a fair, luminous face emerged, making the Marquis frown in confusion.
“Lea? How did you…”
Just then, the entrance became noisy again—this time with the marquise and Hayley rushing down in their nightclothes.
“Marquis, how could you keep such an important guest waiting? Quickly—… Wait, why is she here, dressed like that?”
Only then did the Marquis really take in my appearance: the black hooded cloak down to my knees, the travel clothes peeking out from beneath, and the small travel bag at my side.
Now, everyone’s eyes in the reception room were fixed on me.
“Well, the truth is…”
I tried to remain calm, but the corners of my eyes trembled uncontrollably. How was I going to get out of this?
The start of this mess had been a month ago, the day the Marquis and Marquise summoned me to the family parlor.
In my twelve years here, it was the first time they’d included me in a family gathering.
Until then, I’d always eaten separately with Millie in my small room, treated like a shadow, and forbidden even to call the Marquis “father.”
That day, without preamble, they told me I was to marry the Emperor.
“To think His Majesty will take you as his twelfth consort—what an honor!” the Marquise gushed.
But the Emperor was sixty-three years old this year. Damn it all!
Despite the estate’s outward splendor, my father the Marquis had recently sunk deep into debt after a string of failed investments.
They were banking on my looks to reverse their fortunes through a politically advantageous marriage.
But I had zero intention of complying. I couldn’t.
The old, unattractive Emperor of Harun was not what my mother’s dying wish had called for.
Until I was eight, I had lived with my mother in one of Harun’s worst slums.
Why my beautiful mother ended up there with me, I still don’t know.
But she had refused every man who offered to “look after us,” working any job, no matter how hard, to raise me.
Two days before the Marquis found us, my mother, weakened by years of coughing blood, finally passed away.
Her last words, clutching my tiny hand, were:
“Your husband must be… cough… handsome… make sure… you’re happy… Lea…”
Tears welled in her eyes as she died, unable to close them, unwilling to leave me alone.
“Mom, no! Don’t die, Mom!!!”
At eight years old, I was overwhelmed by grief and confusion.
Why she’d left me that peculiar will—“Your husband must be handsome”—I didn’t understand.
But in the twelve years since the Marquis took me in, I’d never forgotten it.
Her words were broken by coughing, but those four syllables—handsome—were etched in my memory.
So I could never marry that old, ugly Emperor.
In front of the Marquis couple, I pretended to agree, but I immediately began planning my escape, researching ways to raise enough money to disappear.
Then, just this morning, they summoned me again. I had a bad feeling—and I was right.
“Marquis, are you saying my fiancé suddenly changed? Just like that?”
I stared at him in disbelief. He avoided my eyes.
The Marquise, however, simply nodded as she fanned herself.
“You’ve eaten our food for twelve years, and I thought you’d repay us in the imperial palace, but this is the Emperor’s command—you can’t refuse.”
Despite her words, she looked delighted.
“You know what the Kingdom of Fritan is, don’t you? The only nation to subdue the Dark Dragon. You’ll be the queen of such a brave land—what an honor!”
Perhaps worried I’d refuse, the Marquis began lavishly praising Fritan.
Yes, they were brave, and in recent years had grown rich from conquering neighboring lands. But…
Nine months of the year, their land was frozen, and the King’s nickname was…
My half-sister Hayley, looking amused, chimed in, “Well, they don’t call him the ‘war-mad blood fiend’ for nothing.”
She smirked, clearly hoping I’d break down crying. But I didn’t bite.
If my groom had merely changed from an old emperor to a battle-mad king, my escape plan still stood.
In fact, the change meant the wedding would likely be delayed—giving me more time to save money.
Resolving to think positively, I smiled as innocently as I could.
“Being a queen—how exciting! I’ll get to wear gorgeous dresses and lots of jewels, right? So, when’s the wedding?”
Relieved I wasn’t protesting, the Marquis replied, “The ceremony will be held in Fritan. Unfortunately, we won’t be able to attend.”
I pouted. “Oh no, you won’t get to see my wedding—what a shame.”
“A carriage from Fritan will arrive in five days. You’ll go with them.”
“What? Five days??”
The words knocked the breath out of me.
