Chapter : 02
begins when the female protagonist, Arser Rodriguez, travels to the capital in order to save her declining family.
After arriving in the capital, she visits various noble houses to ask for investment and assistance for her family, but she is rejected time and again.
Eventually, at House Herarilla, Arser is humiliated by Patricia and thrown out. Having lost all hope, she decides to return to her own territory—but as a last resort, she goes to House Gerhardt to seek help. In the process, she earns Lawrence’s sympathy.
Seeing Arser in shambles after what Patricia had done to her, Lawrence—perhaps feeling a sense of kinship—offers to invest in her family under one condition.
That Patricia be completely cut off from him.
Thus, the two form a connection and enter into a contract marriage, pretending to be in love.
The contract lasts until Patricia is fully separated from Lawrence and the Arser family secures its standing.
But in a romance novel, the male and female leads don’t simply part ways once the contract ends.
In the end, the protagonists find true love, and Patricia—who committed countless evil deeds driven by jealousy—dies.
A perfect case of poetic justice.
A happy ending.
The protagonists achieve love with everyone’s blessings, and the villain pays the price for her sins.
But I couldn’t just sit back and let the novel end that way.
No matter how unloved or difficult one’s life may be, isn’t life still better than death?
One truly fortunate thing about this awful fate I’d been given was that I didn’t love the male lead, Lawrence Gerhardt.
Of course, Lawrence Gerhardt was devastatingly handsome.
Though only eighteen, he was taller than most adults, with broad shoulders. His well-built body, forged through swordsmanship, made it hard to believe he was still a boy whose baby fat hadn’t fully disappeared. Just looking at his face was enough to make one sigh in admiration.
Jet-black hair as dark as night, and skin as white as fresh snow.
Eyes and lips red like fresh blood—more than enough to steal anyone’s gaze.
I’ve never seen Snow White, but one thing I could say with certainty was that Lawrence Gerhardt was more beautiful than her.
He possessed a selfish kind of beauty that paid no respect to anyone’s personal tastes.
Before meeting Lawrence Gerhardt, I believed everyone had their own ideal type.
But Lawrence shattered everyone’s aesthetic standards with a single glance.
So I couldn’t help but feel proud of myself.
Not falling for a man like that was already an incredible achievement.
I would never like Lawrence, and I wouldn’t die stupidly!
I had no real interest in the male and female leads’ love game anyway.
My life was still too precious to waste by interfering with them.
Besides, I had a dream.
It was a bit grandiose—becoming a landlord, living off rent for the rest of my life without ever having to work. Escaping both the family that looked down on me and this cursed fate, and living a long, healthy life.
That was my dream.
To achieve it, I would first save up money and escape from this family that was itching to sacrifice me like prey.
Without looking back!
I planned to gather all my money and leave this place before the female lead ever came to the capital.
For a moment, I worried—what if my absence prevented Lawrence and Arser from getting together?
But if that happened, then perhaps their bond was only meant to go that far.
I didn’t want to loiter around Lawrence and Arser and get tangled up with them in any way.
More than worrying about their love failing, I was terrified that I might lose my life.
I would run as far away from death as possible—and that was why I had come here today.
To sort out the relationship between Patricia and Lawrence.
To run away from death.
To return the necklace Patricia had picked up.
Though, considering I’d hidden it for a whole year, “picked up” was probably less accurate than “stolen.”
…Of course, aside from the locket, there were many other things I felt sorry about regarding Lawrence. But all I could offer was a resolution not to repeat them in the future.
In any case, I was a victim too.
I just hoped he would forgive me generously, knowing I’d stay out of his sight from now on.
Hadn’t I already shown my remorse by standing under the blazing summer sun for two whole hours?
I clearly remembered him mocking me, as if my sweat-soaked state amused him.
After two hours without even a sip of water, I lifted a teacup to soothe my parched throat.
“……”
But soon I set the cup back down and stood up.
I wanted to leave this place as quickly as possible.
Lawrence Gerhardt.
I was sorry! And let’s never meet again!
* * *
“Patricia! Where did you sneak off to?!”
By the time I returned to the Herarilla ducal residence, the sun had already sunk halfway beyond the horizon.
The sky, once blue, was now stained orange.
Sunlight streamed through the large window of the study, dyeing the entire room red.
Whether because of that—or because he was shouting so hard he could barely breathe—
Father… no, the Duke’s face was dark red, like a tomato on the verge of rotting.
Having spent every day seated at his desk without exercise, the Duke of Herarilla had a frail body.
With not a shred of muscle, even shouting seemed to strain him.
He looked as though he might collapse at any moment.
“Tsk. I really thought I’d succeeded.”
Rather than guilt or fear, I felt deep regret as I looked at the Duke raging with his weak body.
It was such a shame that my secret, perfectly planned escape—three whole days in the making—had been exposed.
Sneaking out while avoiding every servant’s eyes was no easy task.
Escape required careful tracking of servant routes, quick judgment, and agility.
I’d managed to get out safely, but I wasted too much time at the Gerhardt residence. Being gone too long had led to my outing being discovered.
“How dare you disobey your father and sneak out?!”
The Duke screamed, veins bulging on his forehead.
Despite defying him, I felt neither guilt nor fear.
After all, even if he hit me, it didn’t seem like it would hurt much.
If I didn’t feel sorry, it might have been because I lacked filial piety—but more likely because his command had been utterly unreasonable.
The Duke’s orders were completely irrational.
Yes, I was excessively controlled.
The Duke of Herarilla had confined Patricia within this mansion.
Without his permission, she couldn’t even go out freely—she was forced to live trapped, exactly as he wished.
I couldn’t understand it, but the Duke had an almost pathological hatred of me leaving the estate.
Even now, wasn’t he glaring at me and shouting as if his neck veins might burst, just because I’d gone out briefly?
“…I’m sorry. I felt stifled, so I went out for a bit of fresh air.”
I felt no guilt for my actions and had no intention of reflecting, but I apologized anyway.
I didn’t want to deal with the enraged Duke for long.
He wasn’t someone you could reason with.
So giving him the answer he wanted was the best course of action.
It was unfortunate my outing had been discovered, but I wanted this to pass as quietly as possible.
“Where did you go? Who did you meet?!”
But the Duke, already furious, didn’t seem inclined to let me off easily.
“……”
And he asked the most difficult question of all.
I’d only been here for a month.
I didn’t yet know how extensive the Duke’s information network was, nor could I be sure how lenient Lawrence Gerhardt—the cold male protagonist of the novel—might be.
Should I lie and get through the moment, or tell the truth and truly make the Duke’s veins burst?
As I agonized over the choice—
“Where did you go?!”
“To the commercial district.”
Impatient, the Duke shouted again, and I hurriedly cut him off with my answer.
“I just went to see the people in the capital’s commercial district.”
I had gone there before visiting the Gerhardt residence.
That wasn’t a lie—just a partial truth.
“Who gave you permission to go out on your own?!”
Perhaps satisfied with my answer, the Duke’s voice lowered slightly.
He didn’t ask who I’d met again.
Maybe his anger had eased—just a little.
“How much are you trying to disgrace our family name?!”
But as he shouted again, I realized it had just been my imagination.
Seriously—how did me stepping outside threaten the family’s reputation?
If a reputation could vanish just because I went out, didn’t that mean it never existed to begin with?
I was dumbfounded by the Duke’s grave, furious tone.
“…I’m sorry.”
I didn’t want to deal with him anymore.
I’d heard enough of his yelling.
And I certainly didn’t want to snap back just to be thrown out of the house with nothing.
“You stupid girl! Just stay locked in your room!”
But even after my apology, the Duke raised his voice further, pointing at me as he shouted.
