 Prologue
“…My lady. Please… don’t abandon me.”
Between his disheveled black hair, beautiful golden eyes overflowed with tears.
His sculpted nose and pale cheeks were damp, making him look heartbreakingly pitiful.
Yet the hand gripping his wife’s arm held surprisingly firm, as though he had no intention of ever letting her go.
Seeing her husband begin to cry, Rayleigh panicked.
“Serge, listen. I have no intention of leaving you.”
“You secretly created an account under a false name without Father or me knowing. You’ve been moving your assets there…”
“W-What?! How did you find out?”
“The person you’ve been doing business with told me.”
She barely resisted the urge to smack herself in the forehead.
I put so much effort into keeping that secret, and this is how I get betrayed?!
Silently vowing to track down the traitor who had leaked her information, Rayleigh spoke gently, trying to soothe him.
“You know my family has… complicated circumstances. I didn’t feel comfortable keeping assets under my own name, so I used a proxy account.”
“…”
“I wasn’t preparing to abandon you and run away. I swear.”
To be fair, she had originally planned to run away.
Because…
“…Even though Father and I are fox beastfolk?”
“…”
“You weren’t planning to flee because you were afraid of us?”
That was exactly it.
This world was the setting of a novel Rayleigh had read in her previous life.
Beastfolk were descendants of demonsâfeared, hated, and shunned by society. According to the Holy Temple, they were heretics.
The Duke of Elestain’s family carried the secret that their direct bloodline consisted of fox beastfolk.
In the original story, that secret would eventually be exposed, leading to the complete destruction of the family.
That’s right. At first, I simply didn’t want to get caught up in that tragedy and die alongside them.
But after spending years with them, she had grown genuinely attached to both her husband and her father-in-law.
Now she had absolutely no intention of abandoning them. Instead, she spent her days wondering how to prevent the novel’s tragic ending.
I never expected my husband’s identity to be revealed this soon…
The House of Elestain had a unique tradition.
They would bring their future daughters-in-law into the family while they were still children.
However, to protect the family’s greatest secret, they never revealed to those young girls that they were fox beastfolk.
Only after years of observing themâand deciding they were truly trustworthyâwould the family officially acknowledge them as members once they reached adulthood and finally reveal the truth.
But before Rayleigh had even come of age, she had accidentally discovered that her husband, Serge, was a fox beastman.
Last night I fell asleep beside Serge while he was in his fox form… then this morning he transformed back into a human right in front of me. There’s no way I could pretend I hadn’t seen that.
Having read the original novel, Rayleigh had known about both her husband and her father-in-law’s identities from the very beginning.
She had simply pretended not to know.
After all, what could be more suspicious than a young daughter-in-law who somehow already knew the family’s most closely guarded secret?
She had planned to follow the original course of events and wait until she officially learned the truth after becoming an adult.
That careful plan had been shattered by this unexpected incident.
Even so, there was only one answer she could give.
“I have no intention of leaving House Elestain.”
“…”
“Not even if you and Father are fox beastfolk.”
Still holding her wrist, Serge stepped closer until their faces were only inches apart, close enough that she could feel his breath.
“My lady.”
“Yes, Serge.”
“The truth is… you’ve known all along that we’re fox beastfolk, haven’t you?”
“…!”
“So you’ve been preparing to escape for a long time… and now that you’ve been caught, you’re panicking.”
“N-No…”
“You’re only saying all these sweet things to reassure me. Then, when you find an opening… you’ll run away.”
Rayleigh could only open and close her mouth soundlessly.
Not only had he discovered the escape funds she had been secretly saving…
He had even figured out that she already knew his true identity.
Her mind went completely blank.
Seeing her speechless, Serge murmured sadly,
“But it doesn’t matter what your true feelings are.”
“S-Serge…”
“You’ll never be able to leave this ducal estate.”
His pupils narrowed into thin vertical slits.
It was the unmistakable sign that appeared whenever a fox beastfolk used their innate power.
Before Rayleigh could even process the dangerous aura suddenly surrounding her gentle husband, strength drained from her entire body.
…Pheromones?
As her consciousness gradually began to fade, countless questions raced through her mind.
My husband isn’t the kind of person who would do something like this…
Following the trail of those unanswered questions, Rayleigh’s thoughts drifted back…
To the very first day she entered House Elestain as its young future daughter-in-law.
Back then, both she and Serge had still been little children.
Here’s a fluent, natural English translation in the style of a published fantasy/light novel.
Chapter 1
“Young Madam, are you all right? You seem… a little out of it.”
Startled by the maid addressing her with the unfamiliar title, Rayleigh managed a weak reply.
“I-I’m… fine.”
“Do you have a headache, perhaps?”
“No… I just didn’t sleep well last night. Don’t worry about me.”
She wasn’t sick.
There was another reason she sat there in stunned silence.
This world… is the setting of the novel I read in my previous life!
It was the realization that struck her after waking from an extraordinarily vivid dream the night before.
According to that novel, the House of Elestainâthe ducal family she had married into just yesterdayâwould be wiped out ten years from now.
Because my father-in-law and husband are fox beastfolk…
Beastfolk were said to be descendants of demons, a race believed to have gone extinct after the Holy War long ago.
But in reality, they had merely concealed their identities and disappeared from history.
Survivors still existed.
One of the bloodlines that had secretly endured through the generations was none other than her husband’s familyâthe House of Elestain.
Who would’ve thought a ducal house was actually descended from demons?
Across the continent, every kingdom recognized the Church of Ruhamta as its state religion.
According to its teachings, demons were humanity’s sworn enemyâbeings that had to be eradicated.
If the family’s secret were ever exposed, their complete destruction would be inevitable.
The more calmly Rayleigh analyzed the situation, the more hopeless it seemed.
If the whole family is executed, do you think I’ll be spared just because I’m the daughter-in-law? Of course not. They’ll chop off my head too…
She wasn’t even a beastfolk.
She was just an ordinary human.
The unfairness of it made her want to scream, but reality was merciless.
There was only one way for her to survive.
She had to leave House Elestain before the doomed future arrived ten years from now.
Easy to say.
Almost impossible to do.
Seriously… this is insane.
Run away on her own?
Impossible.
She was just a little girl with neither money nor the ability to survive alone. Running away would only leave her starving on the streets.
Break off the engagement and return to her birth family?
That option was just as impossible because of the circumstances surrounding her own family.
As Rayleigh sank deeper into thoughts that could determine the course of her entire life, the maid smiled gently.
“You must be nervous since today will be your first time meeting His Grace the Duke.”
“…Mm.”
Seeing Rayleigh’s gloomy expression, the maid had apparently misunderstood.
Rayleigh simply hummed in agreement.
She had arrived at the ducal castle late the previous night and had been sent straight to rest.
Because of that, she hadn’t yet met either the Duke or the young heir who would one day become her husband.
Today, she was waiting in the drawing room to meet her father-in-law for the very first time.
Although people said she had “married into” the family, there had been no wedding ceremony or grand celebration.
She had merely begun living in the castle.
That’s because of the Elestain family’s unusual marriage custom.
The House of Elestain brought in the child destined to become the heir’s future spouse while both were still young and raised them together.
She was treated as a daughter-in-law, but in reality, she was more like a child being fostered by the family.
Only after both reached adulthood would the future spouse be officially entered into the family register and a formal wedding be held.
It was a lengthy process designed to thoroughly evaluate the person before entrusting them with the family’s greatest secret.
Well… they’d be sharing the fact that they’re beastfolk with someone from outside the family. It makes sense they’d be careful.
Her thoughts turned to Walter Elestain, the fox beastman who was both the Duke and her future father-in-law.
Unfortunately, the original novel had never described the Elestain family or its members in much detail.
Still…
“Then I’ll wait outside. Please call if you need anything. His Grace is a very kind man, so there’s no need to be too nervous.”
“Okay. Thank you.”
Right.
That reaction.
The novel had mentioned how unfortunate it was that Duke Elestain had been such a good lord, and that both father and son had been genuinely kind people.
Kind people… even though they’re demon hybrids? Isn’t that a contradiction?
She was still mulling over the thought whenâ
“His Grace the Duke has arrived.”
“…!”
The aide’s announcement echoed through the room.
So soon…
It was already time to meet her father-in-law.
Rayleigh quickly stood and turned toward the doorway.
Whoa…
Without realizing it, she held her breath.
An astonishingly handsome young man was walking down the corridor toward her.
This was Walter Elestain, head of House Elestain.
His lustrous black hair framed a face of almost unreal beauty, while his golden eyes softened what might otherwise have been an intimidating expression.
He looked exactly like the stereotypical “Grand Duke of the North” from fantasy novels.
Rayleigh mentally began running through every possible strategy for dealing with such a powerful noble.
Stay calm… Be polite… Don’t embarrass yourself…
Just thenâ
“Ah…!”
The moment Walter’s eyes met those of his new daughter-in-law, his face lit up with a dazzling smile.
He’s even more handsome when he smiles…
But she didn’t have time to admire him.
Without warning, Walter suddenly broke into a run toward her.
H-Huh?!
Just as Rayleigh froze in confusion at her father-in-law’s unexpected behaviorâ
Crash!
Walter slammed his leg into a side table and spectacularly crashed face-first onto the floor.
“…”
“…”
An awkward silence filled the room.
After a long moment, he slowly pushed himself upright.
Apparently he’d hit the floor with his face first.
His forehead and the bridge of his nose had turned bright red.
His neatly styled black hairâno doubt carefully arranged by the servantsâwas a complete mess, and his immaculate military-style uniform was hopelessly wrinkled.
It was a tragic waste of a face that beautiful.
…He’s really a demon hybrid?
In that instant, every intimidating image she’d built up of her father-in-law came crashing down.
