RHNB 01

Chapter 1

Seventeen-year-old Ivenne Sweet was in such a good mood that morning that she couldn’t help humming.

As she couldn’t contain her overflowing joy and stomped her feet lightly, her black hair swayed beautifully. And unlike her slightly sharp eyes, her brown eyes were filled with warm and lovely affection.

In both of Ivenne’s hands, she held a pair of limited-edition golden shoes from Oz Company. She stopped her little steps and looked at the hard-earned limited shoes with loving eyes.

“Ahh… so pretty.”

Worried they might get dusty, she gently blew on them and carefully set them down. She took off her indoor slippers and put on the golden shoes. As sunlight reflected off them, they sparkled brightly. At that moment, Ivenne felt like the main character of the world.

“Wow~ these are totally made just for me!”

Holding her hands together, she admired them in delight. With these shoes, it felt like even her usual miserable commute could be endured.

She walked once and looked at the shoes,

walked twice and looked again.

Without realizing it, she hummed softly as she walked. Before she knew it, she saw the carriage prepared in front of the count’s estate for her commute. In a very good mood, Ivenne stepped toward it.

No—she was about to get on.

If only her heel hadn’t gotten stuck in the step.

“Eh? Why is this… why is it doing this?”

And if she hadn’t panicked and tried to pull it out quickly, the tragedy of her shoe heel snapping off and rolling on the ground would not have happened. She stared blankly at the broken heel sparkling under the morning sun.

Then, naturally—

“Do you know how hard it was for me to get that?!”

Like a tragic heroine abandoned by the male lead.

* * *

You might wonder why a seventeen-year-old girl is going to work, but Ivenne Sweet had been going to the Magic Tower since she was ten.

If you ask whether she is a once-in-a-generation magical genius, the answer is no. She had absolutely no talent for magic.

The reason she worked at the Magic Tower since ten was purely because of her parents.

Her father, who was with her mother—a mage of the Magic Tower—died together with her during a mission. As a form of honor, ten-year-old Ivenne was appointed as an alchemist in the Magic Tower.

And so, from the age of ten until now at seventeen, she had been working there. Until now, her commute had always been smooth.

But today was different.

“Miss, it looks like it will take quite a while to pull this out. Perhaps you should go on foot first…”

“What?!”

The carriage wheel got stuck in the mud on her usual route,

SPLASH!

“Ptoo! Ptoo! Ugh! Which family’s carriage is that?! You red carriage—I’ll remember you!”

While walking because of the broken carriage, she was splashed completely with mud by a passing carriage,

“Ah seriously! If I didn’t have to go to work, you should’ve told me earlier! This Magic Tower really has nothing I like!”

And after all that trouble, when she finally reached the Magic Tower, she found out it was completely empty because everyone had gone on a monster subjugation trip.

“Let’s have a talk, Ivenne.”

When she returned home, her uncle—the Count Sweet, whom she hated just by looking at—was smiling and asking to talk.

From that moment, Ivenne was certain—

Today was going to be unlucky from start to finish.

* * *

“My dear. Ivenne is already seventeen. I don’t know when she grew up so much.”

The Countess, who always disliked Ivenne, was suddenly speaking warmly like a caring mother. That alone was suspicious.

“Indeed. She now looks like a proper young lady.”

Her uncle, who disliked her even more than his wife, was also acting unusually kind.

What is this? Something’s strange. These people would never say nice things to me…

Ivenne looked at them with suspicious eyes.

Ugh. My eyes.

Feeling like she had seen something she shouldn’t, she frowned and reached for the snacks on the table. She needed something sweet to fix her expression.

It’s probably about the land anyway.

Resting her chin lazily on her hand, she swung her foot and thought.

Yeah… the land.

Two years ago, when she was thirteen, her grandfather had given her a very valuable piece of land.

Back then, her grandfather suddenly brought a container full of hundreds of sticks and said:

[Pick one each. Whatever property is written on it will be yours.]

Daisy, her cousin, excitedly wanted jewels. Ivenne didn’t care much. There were too many sticks—how many useful ones could there be?

Daisy carefully chose one. Ivenne picked randomly.

And Daisy—

Got jewels, just like she wanted.

Ivenne picked one with an address.

Daisy laughed at her and showed off her ruby necklace. But Ivenne trembled, covering her mouth.

Jackpot!

That address was for the most valuable land of the count family.

Later, her grandfather told her:

[If I die early, give part of the land’s income to Taimen. In exchange, you decide your own marriage.]

That was the most useful advice he ever gave her.

Though giving half the income is a bit much…

Her uncle and aunt, unsatisfied even with half the income, kept trying to manipulate her. Praise, criticism, persuasion—nothing worked.

Shameless people.

Now, she just wanted this conversation to end quickly. Instead of caring about what they said, she looked at her worn-out black shoes.

My Oz shoes…

She was thinking about how to get another pair—

Should I hire an informant and pay extra for them?

“Anyway, Ivenne. We have arranged a good marriage for you.”

“I was thinking the same—wait, what nonsense is that?!”

“We have arranged a good marriage for you.”

She immediately sat up straight.

“Marriage? What are you talking about?”

“You will marry Viscount Garen this September. I personally chose him.”

Garen?

Garen?!

“He saw you once and fell in love at first sight. Isn’t that a good match?”

Ivenne stared at her uncle in disbelief.

He’s over fifty, divorced, and has a child! How is that a good match?! Is he insane?!

Her uncle proudly stroked his mustache.

“I clearly said before—I’ll give you half the land’s income, but you won’t interfere in my marriage.”

Her aunt laughed.

“What kind of uncle gives up such a good match for his only niece?”

What is going on? Giving up money? That makes no sense.

Ivenne shook her head.

There must be some deal with Garen.

Crossing her arms, she became certain.

There was definitely something more profitable than the money she gave them every month.

“Then I won’t be giving you the income anymore. You know that, right?”

Her uncle’s lips twitched slightly, like he was holding back excitement.

“Ah~ that land~”

“My dear!”

Her aunt tried to stop him, but he waved it off.

“Why? She’ll find out anyway.”

Then, looking at Ivenne arrogantly—

He spoke.

And Ivenne froze completely at his next words.