Episode 03
Estelle made eye contact with a man leaning lazily against the hallway wall.
She quickly walked past him.
“Estelle.”
“…”
“Estelle!”
The man called her name again, then cursed under his breath and hurried after her.
“Are you ignoring me?”
His green eyes flashed with anger.
“Yes, I am, Mathias.”
Mathias Bellonsa.
The eldest son of the Bellonsa family, and Estelle’s stepbrother.
Their relationship was worse than strangers.
“What? Brother? Don’t call me that. You’re just some beggar who showed up out of nowhere.”
Estelle could clearly remember him flicking her forehead and saying that when they were younger.
Thankfully, after that, she never called him “brother” again, even by mistake.
He wasn’t someone worthy of being called family or respected.
‘Useless, reckless, addicted to business. Most of the money I earned probably went to him.’
Every time Mathias started a new business, he bragged that this time he’d succeed big.
But in the end, he just wasted more money in different ways.
“You little…”
“If you’re going to hit me, go ahead. But you’ll have to explain to everyone why my cheek is swollen.”
Estelle responded calmly as Mathias raised his hand in anger.
He hesitated, looking confused, and lowered his hand.
“Ha… If it weren’t for the banquet tonight… I’m letting you off.”
Typical bully — weak to the strong, strong to the weak.
That was Mathias in one phrase.
Even now, his fake pride looked ridiculous.
Pfft.
Estelle let out a small laugh and walked past him coldly, not wanting to see him anymore.
But Mathias didn’t see her laugh.
He followed her all the way to the carriage and held out his hand.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m your partner today.”
When Estelle showed how annoyed she was, Mathias smirked.
“You didn’t think Father would send you alone, did you?”
Partner, sure — but really, he was a guard.
‘Since I’m about to get married again, they’re keeping an even closer eye on me.’
It was a clear warning: Don’t even think of doing anything stupid.
“Fine.”
Ignoring his hand, Estelle got into the carriage.
Mathias quickly sat across from her.
He had dressed up for the party, but of course, left the top buttons of his shirt undone — like always.
“I heard from Father. You’re getting married again.”
“…”
“Why did you try to kill yourself if you were just going to marry again? Did you think that would get you out of it? If so, you were wrong.”
“…”
“Even if you try to die again, it won’t work. So don’t pull that crap again.”
Mathias clenched his teeth in anger.
Maybe he was just mad that he almost lost his golden goose.
To Estelle, his threats were disgusting.
“You make money easier than anyone. All you have to do is marry, and you get a fortune. What’s so hard about that?”
“…”
“It’s not like you even spend the wedding night for real.”
Every man who married Estelle ended the same way:
They had a wedding.
They spent the wedding night.
And the next morning, the groom was found dead — of a heart attack.
“Didn’t the bride kill him?”
“Right? That old man was her third husband already. He only had money, nothing else. No wonder she snapped.”
People suspected Estelle killed her husbands.
But there were no wounds. No poison. No proof.
Even when questioned, no one could prove she did it.
“Miss Estelle, are you sure you didn’t do anything?”
“I was the first one to report his death. If I had killed him, I would’ve tried to hide it, not report it.”
“You could’ve reported it after hiding the evidence.”
“I woke up to find a corpse beside me. I still see it when I close my eyes. Do you have any idea how that feels?”
Her hands were shaking.
Only she and the groom knew what really happened.
And since her story never changed, suspicion faded.
She looked too delicate to be a killer.
“Well, if he died on the wedding night, then it was the bride who killed him in the end.”
That’s when the rumors started — that Estelle was a man-eating witch.
She kept saying her husbands died suddenly.
But the truth was—
“A man died. How could I stay calm?”
“It’s not like you killed them with your own hands. Don’t blame yourself for nothing.”
But she did kill them.
Three of them.
And soon, there would be a fourth.
“They were all old and gross anyway. They preyed on young women. They basically donated all their money as punishment.”
Mathias’s eyes darkened.
“To me, it doesn’t matter if you kill one or a hundred of those old creeps.”
“Mathias.”
Estelle stared at him coldly.
“Whether I kill one or a hundred, I’m still a murderer.”
Even if it wasn’t what she wanted.
Estelle always had only two options:
Sleep with the old man and become his wife.
Or kill him and stop the marriage.
But how did someone as gentle as Estelle manage to kill without leaving any trace?
“Thing is, you’re just like those old men in my eyes.”
Dark energy slithered up Estelle’s arm like a black snake.
Mathias turned pale.
Just touching that energy would kill a person instantly.
But Estelle wasn’t affected.
“Why don’t you die too?”
Because she could control the dark power — the demonic energy.
Meanwhile, at the imperial palace…
A grand banquet was being held to honor Duke Lennox, who had just defeated a group of monsters in the west.
But Lennox himself was nowhere to be seen.
“Where’s the child?”
“He arrived safely at the estate. I told everyone he’s going to be officially registered, so they’ll treat him well.”
Lennox was whispering with his aide, Pippin, in the royal garden.
“Did His Majesty refuse the adoption?”
“Yes.”
“Did you even try to convince him?”
Pippin sounded doubtful. Lennox looked offended.
“The child is immune to demonic energy.”
“Hmm, but you’re unmarried. I can’t make exceptions.”
“He’s my child.”
Lennox even claimed a stranger’s child as his own.
“If he’s your son, then marry the mother.”
“…”
“I’m not a strict man. Even if she’s a commoner, I’ll bless the marriage. Just bring her to me.”
“The mother died long ago.”
Lennox even made up a dead mother — but it didn’t change the emperor’s mind.
“You should move on with a new love. I know some nice girls…”
“…All I did was look at a bunch of portraits.”
The emperor felt more like a matchmaker than a ruler.
“It’s all that princess’s fault.”
Everyone knew the princess had fallen for Lennox’s looks.
The emperor was desperately trying to pair Lennox with anyone else.
“No parent would want to send their daughter to Winterlen.”
Winterlen was a cursed land — filled with death and demonic energy.
No matter how strong, anyone who lived there would eventually go mad.
And Lennox wasn’t exactly a warm husband, either.
“I don’t want to marry the princess.”
“Yes, yes. Honestly, I can’t imagine you having a happy family with anyone.”
Pippin answered without much care, looking exhausted.
“Oh right. I quietly spread the rumor that you’re looking for a one-year wife.”
“…”
“I’m sure some unlucky girl will show up, broke and desperate.”
Yawn.
Pippin handed Lennox a bottle of coffee after finishing his report.
“Want some?”
“Are you crazy?”
“Oh. Right.”
He forgot — Lennox was known for being extremely obsessive about cleanliness.
He wouldn’t even touch things others used.
He once killed a man for brushing his sleeve.
Would someone like that really make a happy home with a wife?
‘He wants to buy a wife and kid like they’re items. No wonder.’
Unless a woman immune to demonic energy who could tolerate his personality appeared…
‘But why would such a woman ever marry him?’
Even surviving a year in Winterlen would be a miracle.
“I’ll head off now since we can’t submit the adoption papers yet.”
Pippin left, dark circles still under his eyes.
And as Duke Lennox waited alone for a one-year wife…
“Oh my! Isn’t that Estelle Bellonsa?!”
The ballroom without its main guest was now buzzing with whispers.
