Chapter 1

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 1

Chapter Title: The Seventh Husband

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Crunch...!

The chilling sound of human bones shattering echoed everywhere. Agatha, slumped in a pool of blood, flinched and shuddered.

It was just like any other night. There had been a major assassination attempt, and her seventh husband—an exceptional knight—had repelled them with his usual ease.

The only difference was that one of the intruders had laid hands on her.

Dragged from the bed and thrown onto the cold marble floor, with a gleaming sword raised above her head...

Splash—

Her husband returned in an instant and cleaved the intruder's body in two. It was the first time she had been splattered with hot, pulsing blood.

From that moment, her husband, Enoch Aratus, seemed a little off. His large hand brushed her blood-soaked face before he turned and butchered the intruders.

When no one else was left standing...

The man turned back and crushed the neck of the assassin who had dragged her out. Agatha could only stare up at Enoch in a daze.

"I told you I'm different from your ex-husbands."

"...!"

A prominent scar crossed over his handsome features.

His clear gray eyes stared at her as if piercing right through.

"This is my chance to deal with your relatives once and for all. So..."

Clang. He tossed his sword aside carelessly and extended his hand to Agatha.

"Come here, Agatha."

Don't drive me insane right here.

Not only in the Roxiba Empire but across foreign lands as well, no one was unaware of the enormous fortune inherited by Agatha Noblesse. Her marriage history went like this.

At five years old, she lost both parents and her two older brothers. Following the will of the emperor who became her guardian, she held her first wedding with Duke Gregory Progus.

Agatha still remembered his first words to her at the ceremony.

'Five years old?'

'...'

'Wow, it'll be over ten years before you come of age. Well, doesn't matter with a golden little bundle like you. Hahaha!'

It was a political marriage with a gap of over thirty years in age.

The emperor expanded the borders through this union and added another layer of protection for her—a knight order—against the Noblesse relatives who constantly eyed the young heiress.

The marriage seemed to proceed smoothly until Agatha turned ten, but then...

'Die!'

'Aaaagh!'

The duke, fond of gambling, was stabbed at a gambling den and rendered impotent, leading to its collapse.

The emperor couldn't allow the succession rights to pass to relatives in another country if Agatha failed to produce an heir.

The second wedding was with the second prince of the neighboring Mainucor Empire, because the emperor coveted that nation's succession rights.

Second Prince Fernando Mainumconti was young, handsome, and had no issues in the bedroom, but...

'Now, hide! Tonight, I'll spend the night with women who haven't been caught by me yet!'

'...'

'Oh, of course, Agatha, you're still too young for that. Just sit there and watch. Got it?'

He was far too lecherous.

By the time he married Agatha, he already had ten concubines.

When illegitimate children even started showing up, Agatha could no longer tolerate it and demanded a divorce from the emperor. She was only thirteen at the time.

The third wedding came about because the emperor coveted a new port and resolved to go to war.

Her third ex-husband, George Fortis, was known as the empire's finest knight.

But with skills like his came deep inferiority complex and rock-bottom self-esteem—and a face so ugly it was hard to even look at directly.

He couldn't tolerate anyone staring straight at him.

'Don't look at me! Who do you think you're fooling, gawking because you find my ugliness so fascinating!'

'...'

Agatha, weeping as if eating raw garlic, accepted the emperor's mediation and held her third—and final—pre-adult marriage.

And divorced him in the blink of an eye. George marched ambitiously into battle and suffered a crushing defeat. Having learned from past experiences that she could divorce anytime the situation allowed, Agatha immediately demanded it from the emperor.

'I'll find my own husband from now on. Thank you for your care up to this point, Your Majesty.'

'...'

She was sixteen then.

Upon reaching adulthood, Agatha could fully exercise her rights as the Noblesse heiress, making even the emperor unable to handle her lightly.

'...Fine. I acknowledge your independence in marriage. But I remain your guardian and the master of this empire. Given the grave interests tied to the Noblesse family, I may intervene if necessary. Understood?'

'That's more than enough. Thank you, Your Majesty.'

Thus, after eleven years, Agatha secured independence in marriage from the emperor.

She initially considered traveling to savor her freedom, but...

'It's an ambush!'

With adulthood came reduced imperial protection, and her relatives seized the chance to send assassins in earnest. She gave up on the idea.

For the first time in her life, Agatha chose her own husband. That man was Henry Insidio, her fourth ex-husband.

'I love you so much it feels like I'll die.'

Before and after marriage, life with her sweet husband—who seemed ready to pluck the moon from the sky—felt genuinely beautiful for a time.

'Do you really love Agatha Noblesse?'

'What bullshit is that? I'll kill her after she bears a child. Then I'll become the proxy head of the next Noblesse family and live it up in power.'

The fourth marriage ended when Agatha learned his true intentions.

More seasoned now, Agatha promptly selected a man to wield the sword in her stead and disposed of her fourth ex-husband, Henry.

That man became her fifth ex-husband, Leonard Sinjera.

It was a political marriage that fit the conditions, and the fifth one wasn't bad.

They seemed to be getting by decently, but...

'Congenital impotence.'

'What!'

Tests due to lack of children revealed Leonard had a minor—no, a major—problem.

The emperor flew into a rage at the thought of succession rights going abroad, dooming the fifth marriage as well.

Finally, on the eve of her sixth marriage, Agatha pondered.

'If I marry into a family that has everything, at least I won't die, right?'

That led her to accept the proposal from the young duke of the Neuta family, Theodore Neuta.

In truth, her sixth husband plotted no schemes to kill her.

He treated her gentlemanly, and his powerful knight order ensured her safety, but...

The problem lay elsewhere.

Seven months before that attack, in the grand and antique mansion of the Neuta ducal family.

Agatha Noblesse stormed down the historic corridor in fury. Her husband's office came into view, guarded by knights.

"Greetings to the duchess."

"Open the door."

"Your Grace. The duchess is here."

"Let her in."

A deep, resonant voice came from within. The fury in Agatha's violet eyes deepened.

Theodore Neuta, her husband, rose from his seat as she entered rather roughly.

"My lady? What brings you here?"

"I have something to say. Can you spare a moment?"

Agatha sat on the sofa first and pointed to the seat opposite. Theodore removed his glasses and sat quietly.

"What—"

"I can't take it anymore."

Agatha fixed her gaze on her sixth husband.

Handsome face. High status as a duke.

Capable as foreign minister, young, wealthy, powerful, honorable—wanting for nothing but one fatal flaw.

"Send your grandmother, mother, and sister out of this mansion immediately. Let's live just the two of us."

"My lady? But—"

"Choose your words carefully. Depending on your answer, this might be my final request."

Caught off guard by the sudden demand, Theodore sternly shook his head. He couldn't send his grandmother, mother, and sister away from the mansion.

He mistook it for just another spat among the women.

"What did Grandmother, Mother, or Sister say this time?"

"Is that your answer?"

"Agatha. Haven't I handled things well so far? This is so sudden, it's confusing—"

Agatha raised her hand to cut off Theodore's words.

"You've handled it well. Moderating, returning in kind, enduring... all because I considered them your grandmother, mother, and sister. But I've decided I can't anymore."

Had accepting the proposal from this perfect man been another mistake?

Her husband's family hadn't welcomed her, divorced five times already.

'That dress is utterly tacky. A woman with five marriages under her belt just can't help it.'

Her mother-in-law and grandmother-in-law treated her like some blemish on the Neuta family.

'Is it so hard to give up a bit of land?'

Her sister-in-law resented that Agatha, despite her vast wealth, didn't shower her with extravagant gifts.

If they felt that way, they should've opposed it from the start.

Moderating, retorting, enduring—it was fine once or twice, but now it was harming her sanity.

"But I can't send Grandmother, Mother, or Sister somewhere else—"

"Theodore."

"Yes?"

There was no helping a husband oblivious enough to dismiss women's issues as household matters and stay on the sidelines.

"Let's divorce."

Theodore's face went blank as he saw her smiling brightly.

The Roxiba Empire's greatest heiress.

Agatha Noblesse's sixth divorce.