Chapter 1
In front of the tightly closed gates of the royal capital.
“I’m sorry, my lady. We were ordered to burn everything immediately… this is all that remains.”
The head maid who had managed the count’s estate in the capital stood there holding back tears, handing me a neatly folded letter and an urn. Inside were my mother’s final words and the remains of her bones and ashes left after her body had been burned.
How… how could something like this happen?
“Milady!”
For a moment, the world spun, and I staggered—only to be quickly caught by the head maid.
My chest felt as if it had been torn apart by the sheer cruelty and suddenness of it all.
It was a midsummer that had been unusually hot that year. A plague suddenly broke out in the capital, killing countless people. By royal decree, the capital had been sealed off until the cold winds of autumn arrived, so no one could enter.
I had rushed here after receiving a letter saying my mother had contracted the plague—she had stayed alone in the capital to prepare for the salon gatherings she regularly hosted. But by the time I arrived, she was already dead.
To prevent possible contagion, her body had been burned immediately. I hadn’t even been able to see her off on her final journey.
My mother, who had once been so elegant and beautiful, had turned into nothing more than a handful of ashes in an instant. The absurdity of it all left me numb.
“Please return at once. The capital is not safe. If you stay any longer and something happens to you as well, I would have no face to meet the Countess even in death.”
“Are the others… safe?”
“Please don’t ask any more questions. Do not return until the capital is stable again. Please remember that.”
With those final words, the head maid pressed the urn and the letter into my arms.
And so, I had no choice but to turn the carriage around.
My mother had been the only person in my family I could truly confide in. The one I loved and depended on most had suddenly vanished from the world without warning.
The emptiness was like an abyss. It was a grief beyond words—tears would not stop falling.
If the Plague God brushed past someone even once, survival was impossible. They said it was a natural disaster beyond human control, but I never imagined it would take my family.
I had come with even a single thread of hope clinging to my heart. I wasn’t ready to say goodbye.
“What am I supposed to do now…?”
Far away, beyond the sealed capital, thick black smoke rose into the sky for days, a horrifying sign of the countless dead.
In history, there had been plagues that wiped out half the population. A cruel disease that spared neither humans, livestock, nor even wild animals. I never imagined it would strike the capital again like this.
I cried the entire way back to my family estate, soaking countless handkerchiefs with tears, overwhelmed by grief and emptiness I could not put into words.
“Milady, are you alright? I fear you may collapse from exhaustion.”
Even though the coachman and servants worried for me, I couldn’t stop crying. How could I possibly accept my mother’s death so calmly?
Everyone in the kingdom who had lost someone must be feeling the same.
My father had fallen into bed rest the moment he heard the news and had not risen for days. Thankfully, my two elder sisters had escaped the capital in time and were safe.
Most people had already fled, so the road back to the estate was quiet and empty.
My eyes were so swollen from crying that I could barely open them. I closed them again, trying to empty my mind—when suddenly…
The carriage screeched to a halt.
“W-What the—?!”
The coachman’s startled voice rang out.
I forced my swollen eyes open—and in the next moment, the carriage door was flung open.
A blood-soaked man climbed inside.
“Ghh—?!”
A sharp, metallic scent of blood filled the air. He was covered head to toe in red, like a monster from a nightmare.
“J-just… please… let me… rest for a moment…”
The man staggered and collapsed into the seat, groaning in pain. Blood dripped steadily onto the floor.
Only then did I notice his clothes were shredded, as if sliced by blades. Beneath them were countless wounds. He was clearly on the verge of death.
This doesn’t look like the plague. A fight nearby?
I couldn’t just ignore him.
“I don’t want to see anyone else die…”
“Milady…”
“Turn the carriage around. Now. To the nearest village. He needs treatment.”
At a nearby village, I had the carriage stop and brought him to a doctor.
He was already barely alive.
“I think we should stop the bleeding first… but even then, I can’t guarantee survival.”
“Treat him first. I’ll cover all expenses.”
“Are you… not someone from the capital, are you? With the plague spreading, we are hesitant to accept people from there.”
I showed my noble insignia and explained calmly:
“I left Mariel County three days ago and only reached the capital gates to find them closed. We’re returning now. I found this man on the road before reaching the blockade.”
“Ah… p-please forgive my rudeness. I’ll begin treatment immediately.”
Once my status was confirmed, the doctor who had been arrogant moments ago immediately bowed and began treatment.
The sight left a bitter taste in my mouth.
If I were a commoner, he might have just let this man die.
As the doctor cleaned the blood from his hair, I realized it wasn’t red—it was a pale silver-gray. His face, wrapped in bandages, looked almost like a corpse prepared for burial.
“Milady… your eyes are very swollen. Please use this.”
“Thank you.”
Someone handed me an ice pack to reduce the swelling.
People around us seemed curious about my relationship with the man, but I didn’t care. If a noble cried over someone, they’d assume the person was important—and give better care.
After a long while, the treatment ended.
“I’ve done what I can. The rest depends on him. He lost too much blood… I cannot guarantee survival.”
“I understand. We’ll monitor him.”
It was clear there was little hope.
But I believed he wouldn’t die.
Because even as he had climbed into the carriage covered in blood, those light brown eyes had burned with an intense will to live.
So I stayed.
Even though I should have returned home, I couldn’t leave.
If someone asked why, I had no good answer. But most of all… I wanted to see those beautiful eyes again.
“Please… live. Please…”
His bleeding had stopped and his breathing had improved, but he still hadn’t opened his eyes.
We still had two more days of travel to reach my estate, but I couldn’t leave him behind. And I couldn’t move him without risking reopening his wounds.
Then, one day—
“Are you awake?”
After three days, he finally opened his eyes.
They were unfocused, as if waking from a deep sleep.
I gently held his hand.
“You boarded my carriage while severely injured. Do you remember? You’ve been treated, but you’re not fully healed. Don’t move too much.”
I spoke calmly, like soothing a child, so he wouldn’t panic.
His wandering gaze slowly regained focus—and met mine.
At that moment, my heart pounded violently.
It was like looking at a mystical orb that didn’t belong in this world.
His light brown eyes, shimmering as if dusted with gold, were more beautiful than any jewel. Even his wounded face looked strangely striking.
Long gray eyelashes. Sharp, slightly upturned eyes. A straight nose. Even his cracked lips were a soft, pretty pink.
He wasn’t just handsome.
He was beautiful.
And then I smiled at him—only for my vision to blur with tears as I suddenly thought of my mother.
“Thank you… for surviving.”
My mother, who died helplessly from an incurable plague, suddenly felt even more precious in my heart. If this stranger had died too, I might never have recovered from this wound.
He was like a large injured dog that I couldn’t ignore.
Thankfully, he slept most of the day. When awake, he clenched his teeth in pain, drenched in cold sweat. So I decided to give him mild painkillers and sleeping medicine.
Because sleeping was far better—for both body and mind.
