Chapter: 01
“Fine. Since you’re so stubborn about it, I’ll marry you. But there are conditions.”
Ian Ruscliffe, the “Defective Duke” who had remained single without ever marrying even as he approached the age of forty, looked younger than Vanessa remembered.
As she read the conditions being written smoothly across the paper by the quill, Vanessa drew in a sharp breath.
- There will be no sharing of a bed after marriage.
- There will be no heir.
- Under no circumstances will there be any physical contact.
……
From beginning to end, the conditions were filled with nothing but “no contact” and “no approaching,” leaving Vanessa completely bewildered.
‘…Could it be that I might make the first move? Otherwise, there’s no way the conditions would be like this…’
Then, suddenly, she remembered what had happened a week ago.
The day when Carlyle Leonard, the man she had believed to be her husband, had not only taken everything from her but had even killed her.
“What… what is this…?”
The sender was Carlyle Leonard.
She tore open the letter irritably at the sight of his name, but the moment she saw what was inside, all the color drained from her face.
[Agreement Regarding the Transfer of the Title]
An agreement.
Who had agreed to this?
If they thought they could threaten her with something like this, they were sorely mistaken.
Just as she was about to viciously tear the document apart—
[Signature: Vanessa Charose]
Her name was written in the signature section, and beside it was Carlyle’s signature.
The hand that had been about to tear the paper froze.
She had never signed it.
Why in the world would she willingly hand over her ducal title?
Especially to the man who had not only crippled her but had also branded her as an adulteress. What reason would she have to willingly give him anything?
“The Imperial Palace. I have to go to the Imperial Palace.”
If she requested a handwriting examination, it might take time, but at least the transfer of the title would be put on hold.
Vanessa wandered around the mansion with a pale face, gritting her teeth.
She couldn’t just sit back and let them take everything from her.
“You think I don’t have any evidence?”
During her marriage, the Marquess of Leonard’s family had committed countless illegal acts and corrupt dealings in order to obtain the ducal title.
And she had the ledger containing all of it.
She had to leave as soon as dawn broke.
But strangely, a chill ran down her spine.
The back of her neck prickled, and goosebumps rose across her skin.
For some reason, she felt as though she shouldn’t stay here.
Vanessa hurriedly packed her belongings.
She placed the ledger detailing the illegal acts and corruption committed by the Marquess of Leonard’s family into a document envelope, along with the agreement regarding the transfer of the title that she had never signed.
Then, keeping her lips tightly pressed together, she left the mansion.
She had only taken a few steps when—
Thud!
A piercing pain shot through her from her back, as though it had traveled from the tips of her toes all the way to her brain.
“Ah…!”
She couldn’t even breathe.
The sensation of something sharp piercing through her body made Vanessa’s strength give way.
“Wh… what…?”
Her breath came in short, broken gasps.
Whenever she opened her mouth, something seemed to rise violently from within her, making it impossible to form even a sentence.
Her eyes widened.
If only the attack had come from the front, she might at least have seen who it was.
But she couldn’t even turn around.
“No…”
The document envelope clutched against her chest became stained with blood.
Someone walked toward her from behind, step by step, and effortlessly took the document envelope from her arms.
And then—
‘Rest well, Vanessa. I’ll make sure you pay for your sins later.’
That voice above her head was unmistakably—
“Car… lyle…!”
She felt something flow from her eyes, though she could no longer tell whether they were tears or something else.
The last blurred figure she saw before her eyes closed was Carlyle Leonard.
As he checked the contents of the document envelope, his figure overlapped with the memory of when she had fallen down the stairs and become crippled.
The hand that had pushed her under the guise of an accident, the hand that had never reached out to help her, was the same hand that had now killed her and was checking the documents.
Until her eyes completely closed, no hand ever reached out to save her.
“Gasp…!”
When she opened her eyes, she saw an unfamiliar ceiling.
No—perhaps it would be more accurate to say she was lying on a bed.
‘Am I… not dead?’
Before Carlyle killed her, the scenes that had flashed through her mind had undoubtedly been a final vision of her life.
They had been filled with regret, hatred, and resentment.
As she repeatedly thought about her foolish choices, she seemed to have wished that, if only she could be given one more chance, it didn’t matter who granted it.
Could someone have heard her wish and saved her before she died?
If so, was the person lying beside her the one who had…?
The thought suddenly occurred to Vanessa, and she immediately turned her head.
She discovered someone sleeping beside her.
‘…This must be a dream. Coming back to life after dying? That’s impossible.’
After seeing the man’s appearance, Vanessa decided that everything was simply a dream she was having after death.
His sleeping face looked younger than she remembered.
He was youthful, innocent-looking, and smooth-skinned, without a single wrinkle.
Of course, even in her memories, wrinkles had been rare on his face.
Vanessa had known that face for a very long time—a face that looked at least ten years younger than his actual age.
Ian Ruscliffe.
A man who, even as he approached forty, had never married, nor even enjoyed a romantic relationship.
He had a nickname that was completely at odds with his noble-looking appearance.
‘The Defective Duke.’
There were differing opinions among the nobles about what exactly his “defect” was, but most rumors concerned a certain part of his body that people preferred not to mention openly.
‘Is that really true? Down there…’
‘I heard he’s incapable of performing his duties.’
‘I wonder if the Ruscliffe family will start looking for a new heir now.’
They said that if three unmarried noblewomen of marriageable age gathered together, they could produce an entire collection of vulgar stories.
The jokes were crude enough to prove that saying true, but Vanessa had never paid attention to them.
There was little point in gossiping about Ian’s nickname when she herself had a nickname that was no less infamous.
No—hers was even more ridiculous because it was not merely a rumor.
It was the truth.
‘The Lame Duchess.’
It was an expression that seemed to prove the failure of her marriage, a blemish severe enough to drag both her honor and reputation through the mud.
‘I heard that happened after she wore heels for the first time in ages.’
‘If she fell down the stairs just because she wore a pair of shoes, then I can see what kind of education the ducal family provides.’
‘She had no proper lady to guide her, after all. Is that why they never produced an heir? Since she has no education, I suppose expecting her to teach anyone would be…’
Every one of those words had struck her like a dagger.
No matter how well someone had been taught, they could not withstand force that was deliberately applied against them. Those were two entirely different matters.
Vanessa was not a knight, and after enduring one difficult day after another, she had become so thin that she could barely manage proper meals. Naturally, she had even less strength.
That was why she wanted to protest, why she felt nothing but injustice.
But it had happened inside the mansion.
Within that mansion, she had been completely isolated.
There was no one who would take her side, so she could not even correct the distorted stories being spread about her.
Everyone was on the same side except her.
Yes.
The same side.
Even the husband she had trusted refused to take her side.
With nowhere to turn, Vanessa could do nothing but stagger helplessly.
And on top of that, not long ago…
‘Wasn’t there something similar before our marriage? If you’re seen in such a situation twice with the same man, what else am I supposed to think except that you’re having an affair? An affair with your childhood friend while leaving your husband behind. You injured your leg, and now you’ve really gone too far, Vanessa.’
The memory was as vivid as though it had happened only yesterday.
Vanessa fought back the tears that were threatening to rise and carefully sat up.
What a terrible dream.
To show her the very cause of her divorce right before her eyes.
Was she being forced to relive that horrifying moment?
Otherwise, there was no reason she would have such a dream.
Even when she was young, even before she married, Vanessa had never held any desire or feelings toward Ian.
After deciding to marry, she had grown distant from her childhood friend, and they had barely had any contact at all.
At least, that was how things had been until the incident that ultimately caused her divorce.
‘…Come to think of it, why did we become so distant?’
There had definitely been a reason they had grown awkward with each other.
As Vanessa thought about it, she unconsciously began to sit up before suddenly stopping.
‘…My leg?’
After her bones had healed incorrectly and become twisted, she had suffered strange pain whenever she moved her leg.
But now, it was as though…
Vanessa carefully lifted the blanket and immediately covered her mouth.
“Gasp…!”
A smooth leg without a single scar was revealed.
And that wasn’t all.
Her toes, which should not have been able to move even slightly, were moving perfectly according to her will.
Rather than feeling happy at experiencing the sensation again after so long, cold sweat poured down her face.
‘Wh… why is this…?’
Was her leg moving normally because this was a dream?
Vanessa looked at the young face of Ian sleeping beside her with a pale expression, then slowly turned her head.
But if this was a dream…
Vanessa carefully moved her toes again.
‘…They’re moving. They really are moving!’
Vanessa bit her lip to suppress the scream that almost escaped her.
Only then did she raise her hand and pinch her cheek as hard as she could.
“Ah…!”
Vanessa let out a quiet cry from the pain and instinctively turned toward Ian beside her.
Fortunately, he seemed to be sleeping deeply, because he did not move at all.
Ian’s face was unmistakably younger.
Her toes were moving.
And she could feel pain in her cheek.
All of it pointed to one undeniable fact.
‘This… isn’t a dream.’
What had happened to her was not a dream.
It was fortunate that she did not faint on the spot.
She had returned to the past.
It was absurd. Such a thing was impossible.
But after seeing Ian’s younger sleeping face and realizing that the leg that should have been crippled was moving perfectly, she had no choice but to accept it.
She had returned to the past!
Once she finally managed to accept that fact, another question arose.
How had she ended up lying beneath the same blanket as Ian?
But she had no time to wake him and ask.
If she truly had returned to the past, there was someone she had to meet before anyone else.
‘Father…!’
Vanessa left the sleeping Ian behind and checked her appearance.
Her clothes were somewhat wrinkled, but there was nothing particularly conspicuous about her outfit.
After looking around, Vanessa hurriedly wrapped the scarf around her neck over her head like a helmet and carefully slipped out of the bedroom.
Now that she looked around, she could tell for certain.
This was Ian’s mansion.
The light outside the window was faint, so it seemed to be dawn.
If she could get out before the sun fully rose, she would not have to encounter anyone.
Even as she hurried along, the sensation of her perfectly functioning leg felt so unfamiliar that she had to stop several times.
When she descended the stairs leading to the entrance of the mansion, she moved as quietly as a mouse sneaking through a house.
Her hand gripping the railing trembled slightly from the cold that traveled through her palm.
‘What if some unnecessary rumor starts?’
Even if nothing had happened, the fact remained that two unmarried men and women had slept in the same bed.
Moreover, she had no idea what had been said between them before they fell asleep in the same bed.
The thought that she absolutely could not let anyone discover this situation made her tense.
‘Almost there. Everyone should still be fast asleep at this hour… It’s fine.’
She was almost there.
Just as she saw the main gate and finally felt relieved—
“You haven’t seen me in a long time, and you’re leaving without even saying hello?”
“Gasp!”
At the voice from behind her, Vanessa froze completely, holding her breath.
“Vanessa.”
The voice sounded unfamiliar, soft and languid, as though he had not fully awakened yet.
As the sound of approaching footsteps grew closer, Vanessa squeezed her eyes shut.
“You should at least give me a chance to explain. If you leave like this, people might misunderstand.”
