Chapter 1

“Odely, as of today, our contract is officially terminated.”

The words were cold, sharp enough to cut.

Spoken by Ludeville Ecsepsion, the Grand Duke of the North, it was a farewell as glacial and precise as the man himself.

Odely’s eyes fell to the marriage contract resting on the desk. Pure white, untouched, not a single crease. As if neither of them had ever bothered to open it since the day they signed.

“This is the promised compensation. Please accept it.”

He held out a neat stack of documents.

A certificate severing all familial and legal ties between Odely Cardel and House Cardel.

Land deeds. Property lists. Alimony. 

She paused briefly when she saw the amount.

“You don’t need to give me this much. As you know, I…”

Her voice faltered. She took a breath and forced herself to finish.

“...I will not live much longer anyway.”

But Ludeville’s voice cut clean through the air.

“You’ll need it.”

“……”

Odely looked up at him.

His expressionless face, his perfectly tailored clothes, his unruffled posture. Not a wrinkle out of place. 

He was as flawlessly perfect as ever.

Even if she were to collapse in front of him right now, he would calmly summon a doctor, then proceed with his scheduled appointments without skipping a beat. 

Her husband on paper, bound by a contract marriage, was such a man. 

A man who never wasted time or emotions.

Which is exactly why she never asked.

She didn't ask why he was being so generous to a dying woman. 

‘He must've calculated even that.’ 

Ludville briefly scanned the contract with his gaze devoid of warmth. 

Five years of marriage.

No private conversations. 

No physical contact. 

Separate residences. 

Every clause, upheld without fail.

Confirming all the payments made and promises kept, he unhesitatingly dropped the papers into the flames. 

As if it were now just a meaningless scrap of paper.

The contract burned away in an instant, leaving no trace of ash. 

As if those five years had been for naught.

“It’s over.”

Yes, this was the end.

“Thank you for playing your role well.”

At the Grand Duke’s words, Odely wore a momentarily blank expression. 

Of course, considering their transactional relationship, this farewell was fitting. 

He was the employer, she was the employee.

He was the upper hand, she was the subordinate.

Still, after five years of being called "husband and wife" she had hoped for something more human.

But even that was too much to ask for. 

“Is there anything else you need?”

So when Ludville asked, as if he would grant her anything. She smiled faintly. 

“……I’ve already received more than enough.”

Odely swallowed her emotions. She wanted to leave a good last impression on the man who desired a clean ending of their relationship. 

But… 

‘The End.’

The words echoed painfully in her mind. 

Because she knew this might actually be the end for her life, she wanted to confess many things. Pathetic, maybe, but honest. 

Odely ultimately couldn’t swallow the surging emotions that rose to her throat.

“I loved you.” 

She blurted it out softly. 

“The day I took your hand, it wasn’t to save myself, it was because it was you.”

“……”

“When I look back now… I realize that's really how I truly felt.”

She wasn't wishing for anything in return. It was just a confession made by someone about to die. 

She just wanted, even for a moment, to be someone his perfectly calculated mind could never foresee. 

She wanted to throw out the fact that she had continuously held an emotion that wasn’t in his plans.

Hoping, even if it'd only for a heart beat, he might be surprised. 

Even though she knew it wouldn’t happen. 

“Anyone would have been fine for me.” he replied flatly. 

“……”

“You simply met the requirements best.”

But she didn’t expect him to calmly brush off such a confession, like someone who had heard it a hundred times before.

But she should have. 

Ofcourse he knew. Even her feelings, which she believed she had hid well, were within his calculations.

“Is that all you wanted to say?”

Odely lowered her head and let out a small laugh.

Everything felt so absurd.

Ofcourse, he was perfect. From start to finish. 

Cruel, without a single flaw. 

“Yes.” she replied. “That's all.”

The emotion that pierced her chest like a thorn still stung, but she concluded it wasn’t worth much in the end.

First love, puppy love, or something like that.

Something people experience once in their lives had just come to her later than others. 

It wasn't anything special. 

“Thank you for everything.”

“……”

At Odely’s words, he, who had been looking at her with an expressionless face, slowly replied.

“We won’t see each other again.”

It was a businesslike response, leaving no room for misinterpretation.

She was rather glad she had shed useless lingering attachments before she died.

Their five-year contract ended just like that.

Odely left to find a final resting place.

She had a hunch her days were numbered.

She settled in a rural village she found, living a new life as a healer.

Waiting quietly for the approaching day of her death.

But…

‘…Why am I still alive?’

She remembered vividly the days of coughing up blood, of her heart aching as if it might explode.

But instead, her body, which had been losing vitality, slowly began to recover. 

That wasn’t all.

‘In fact, I feel healthier than before…’

It wasn’t just her imagination. Her body seemed to be restoring itself to the ideal condition. 

‘How can this be?’

It was a miracle.

She had no idea why, but since she was alive, she just went with the flow. 

Ordinary days continued.

She treated patients, prepared herbs, walked around the village entrance, and occasionally browsed the market, leading a quiet life. 

Peace, happiness, stability.

She felt those emotions, perhaps for the first time since leaving her family. 

‘It wouldn’t be bad to live like this.’

Sometimes, deep loneliness would sneak up on her.

At such times, those memories of that quiet, steady affection, the kind that burned silently for five years, would slowly flicker again like dying embers.

A useless emotion called lingering attachment.

But now she had a ‘tomorrow,’ so she wasn’t able to get bogged down by such feelings.

Thus, a year passed in the blink of an eye.

It was around the time Odely had grown accustomed to each day she was alive.

Without any warning, the Grand Duke’s aide, dressed in black formal wear, came to visit.

“His Excellence has passed away.”

Announcing her ex-husband’s death.

“……What?”

“……”

“That can’t be…”

He had been perfectly healthy a year ago. 

He wasn’t terminally ill like her, nor did he have a chronic illness. 

How could he suddenly… it was unbelievable.

She searched his aide’s expression, but he offered no more explanation. Just handed her a sealed scroll.

Odely, with trembling hands, barely managed to break the seal and unroll the scroll.

It was a notice of inheritance.

And…

The Grand Duke’s last words, his will.

[I hereby bequeath all the lands, titles, authority, and assets of the Ecsepsion family to Odely Cardel after my death.]

“……”

“Why…”

Her thoughts tangled into chaos.

She only had one question. ‘Why?’