FRL 1

Chapter 1

“Fine. Since you’re so stubborn about it, I’ll agree to the marriage. But there are conditions.”

Ian Ruscliffe, the ‘defective duke’ who had remained single without even marrying as he approached the age of forty, looked even younger than Vanessa remembered.

As she read the conditions being written effortlessly across the paper by his quill, Vanessa let out a sharp gasp.

There will be no consummation after marriage.
There will be no heir.
There will be no physical contact under any circumstances.

……

The conditions were filled from beginning to end with nothing but No touching. No approaching.

She was left bewildered.

…Surely he doesn’t mean me making the first move? Otherwise, why would the conditions be like this…?

Then, all of a sudden, she remembered what had happened a week ago.

The day she had not only lost everything to Carlisle Leonard, the man she had believed was her husband, but had been murdered by him as well.

“What… What is this…?”

The sender was Carlisle Leonard.

Vanessa nervously tore open the letter at the sight of his name, and 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 he thinks he can threaten me with something like this, he’s sorely mistaken.

Just as she was about to viciously tear the document apart—

[Signature: Vanessa Charose]

Her name was written in the signature box.

And right beside it was his signature.

The hand that had been about to rip the paper froze.

She had never signed it.

Why on earth would she voluntarily give up her ducal title?

Especially to the man who had crippled her and then branded her an adulteress.

“What about the Imperial Family? I need to go to the Imperial Family.”

If she requested a handwriting examination, it would take some time, but at least the transfer of the title would be put on hold.

Vanessa paced around the mansion with a pale face, gritting her teeth.

I can’t just sit here and let them take everything from me.

“Did you really think I had no evidence?”

During her marriage, the Marquess Leonard family had committed countless illegal acts and acts of corruption in their efforts to obtain the ducal title.

She had the ledgers documenting all of them.

She needed to leave as soon as dawn broke.

Yet, strangely, a chill ran down her spine.

The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end, and goosebumps spread across her skin.

For some reason, she felt as though she shouldn’t stay here.

Vanessa hurriedly packed her things.

She placed the ledgers documenting the Marquess Leonard family’s crimes inside a document envelope, along with the agreement transferring the title that she had never signed.

Then, with 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 toes all the way to her brain, flashing from behind her.

“Hng… Ugh…”

She couldn’t even breathe.

The sensation of sharp metal piercing through her flesh and tearing it apart caused Vanessa’s body to crumple.

“Wha… What…?”

Her breath came out in short, broken gasps.

Whenever she opened her mouth, something seemed to surge up from inside her, preventing her from even forming a sentence.

Her eyes widened.

If the attack had come from the front, she might at least have been able to see who it was.

But she couldn’t even turn around to look behind her.

“No…”

The document envelope clutched against her chest became soaked in blood.

Someone walked toward her from behind.

Step.

The person casually took the document envelope from Vanessa’s arms without exerting any noticeable force.

And then—

‘You can pay for your sins later, so get some rest, Vanessa.’

The voice coming from above her was unmistakable.

“Carl… is…”

She felt something wet run down her cheeks. She didn’t know whether they were tears or something else.

Before her eyes closed, the last blurry figure she saw was Carlisle Leonard.

As he examined the contents of the document envelope, the sight overlapped with another memory—the moment she had fallen down the stairs and become crippled, when he hadn’t even extended a hand to help her.

The hand that had pushed her under the guise of an accident and deliberately failed to reach out…

was the same hand that had stabbed her to death and was now checking the documents.

Until her eyes closed completely, that hand never reached out to her.

“Gasp…!”

When she opened her eyes, she saw an unfamiliar ceiling.

No—perhaps she should say she was lying on a bed.

Am I… not dead?

The images that had flashed through Vanessa’s mind before Carlisle killed her had undoubtedly been a life review.

A life filled with nothing but regret, hatred, and resentment.

She had endlessly regretted her foolish choices and wished that, if only someone would give her one more chance, anyone at all, she would—

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.

She immediately turned her head and discovered someone sleeping beside her.

…This is a dream.

There’s no way. Coming back to life after dying? That’s impossible.

After seeing the man’s appearance, Vanessa decided that everything happening around her was simply a dream she was having after death.

His sleeping face looked younger than she remembered.

Youthful, smooth, and flawless, without a single wrinkle.

Of course, even in her memories, wrinkles had been rare on his face.

But this face looked at least ten years younger than his actual age.

Vanessa had known that face for a very long time.

Ian Ruscliffe.

The man who, despite approaching the age of forty, had never married—or even seemed interested in romance.

He had a nickname that was completely at odds with his noble-looking face.

The Defective Duke.

There was disagreement among the nobles about what exactly his ‘defect’ was, but most of the rumors revolved around a certain unmentionable part of his body.

‘Is it really true? That he’s… lacking down there?’

‘I heard he’s incapable of doing what a man is supposed to.’

‘I wonder if the Ruscliffe family will start looking for a new heir now.’

They said that if you gathered three unmarried noblewomen of marriageable age, they could publish an entire book of obscene stories.

The jokes were crude enough to prove the saying true, but Vanessa had never paid them any attention.

After all, she herself had a nickname just as bad as Ian’s.

No.

Hers was arguably even more ridiculous because it wasn’t merely a rumor—it was based on fact.

The Crippled Duchess.

It was an expression that seemed to prove the failure of her marriage, a stain 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 could fall down the stairs just from wearing a pair of shoes, I can see how much education the ducal family gave her.’

‘Well, she didn’t have a proper husband to begin with. Is that why she never produced an heir? If she had no education herself, I suppose it would be difficult to expect her to teach anyone…’

Every single one of those words had struck like a dagger.

No matter how well one had been trained, there was no way to withstand force deliberately exerted against them. The two were completely different matters.

Vanessa wasn’t a knight.

And after enduring one difficult day after another, she had barely been able to eat properly, leaving her thin and weak.

That was why she had wanted to protest.

Why she had felt so wronged.

But it had happened inside the mansion.

And inside that mansion, Vanessa had been completely isolated.

There had been no one on her side, so she couldn’t even correct the distorted stories being spread about her.

Everyone except her had been on the same side.

Yes.

The same side.

Even the husband she had trusted refused to stand by her.

With nowhere left to turn, Vanessa could only stagger helplessly.

And then, not long ago…

‘Wasn’t there something similar even before we got married? If you’re caught in that kind of situation twice with the same man, what else am I supposed to think except that you were cheating on me? Having an affair with your childhood friend behind your husband’s back… You hurt your leg, and apparently you’ve decided to go all the way, Vanessa.’

The memory was as vivid as if it had happened only yesterday.

Vanessa swallowed back the tears rising in her eyes and carefully sat up.

What a cruel dream.

It was showing her the very person who had caused her divorce from just inches away.

Was it forcing her to relive that horrible moment?

Otherwise, there was no reason for her to have such a dream.

She had never harbored any desire or feelings for Ian when she was young—not even before she got married.

After deciding to marry, she had grown distant from him, despite the fact that they had once been childhood friends, and they had barely had any contact at all.

At least, not until the incident that ultimately led to her divorce.

…Come to think of it, why did we become so distant?

There had definitely been a reason they had grown awkward around each other…

Vanessa stopped midway through getting up.

…My leg?

After her bones had healed incorrectly and become twisted, she had suffered unfamiliar pain every time she moved her leg.

But now, it was as though—

Vanessa cautiously lifted the blanket and immediately covered her mouth.

“Gasp…!”

A smooth, flawless leg was revealed.

There wasn’t even a scar.

And that wasn’t all.

Her toes, which should have been completely immobile, were moving perfectly according to her will.

Rather than feeling joy at experiencing a sensation she hadn’t felt in so long, cold sweat poured down her body.

W-Why…?

Is my leg moving because this is a dream?

With a pale face, Vanessa stared at the young face of Ian sleeping beside her before slowly turning her head away.

But if this were a dream…

Vanessa cautiously moved her toes again.

…They’re moving.

They’re really moving!

Biting her lip to suppress the scream threatening to escape, Vanessa finally raised her hand and pinched her cheek as hard as she could.

“Ouch…!”

She let out a small cry from the pain and reflexively turned toward Ian beside her.

Fortunately, he seemed to be sleeping soundly.

He didn’t move even an inch.

Ian’s unmistakably younger face.

Her toes that could move.

The pain she felt in her cheek.

All of it pointed toward one undeniable fact.

This isn’t… a dream.

What had happened to her was not a dream.

It was fortunate that she hadn’t fainted right there.

She had returned to the past.

It was absurd.

Something like that couldn’t possibly happen.

But after seeing Ian’s younger face and feeling her leg move perfectly despite the fact that she should have been a cripple, 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.

Why on earth was she lying beneath the same blanket as Ian?

But she didn’t have the time to wake him and ask.

If she really had returned to the past, there was someone she needed to meet before anyone else.

Father…!

Vanessa left the sleeping Ian behind and checked her clothes.

They were wrinkled in places, but there was nothing particularly conspicuous about her appearance.

She looked around, then hurriedly wrapped the scarf around her neck over her head like a makeshift helmet before carefully sneaking out of the bedroom.

Now that she looked around, she could tell for certain.

This was Ian’s mansion.

It was still dim outside the window, so it seemed to be dawn.

If she could get out before the sun fully rose, she wouldn’t have to run into anyone.

Even as she hurried along, she had to stop several times because the feeling of her perfectly functioning leg was still so unfamiliar.

When she descended the stairs leading to the mansion’s entrance, she moved as quietly as a mouse sneaking into someone’s home.

Her hand gripping the banister trembled slightly from the cold that traveled through her palm.

What if someone starts some ridiculous rumor?

Even if nothing had happened, the fact remained that an unmarried man and woman had slept in the same bed.

Moreover, she had no idea what had been said or done before they fell asleep in that bed.

The thought that no one could find out about this situation made her extremely tense.

I’m almost there. Everyone should still be fast asleep at this hour… It’ll be fine.