Chapter 1

“So, today is finally our wedding day.”

The man sitting across from me spoke in a voice that betrayed his nervousness.

Sunlight streamed through the window, illuminating his face.

Bright blond hair, rare golden eyes, translucent white skin, and long, slender fingers.

And an air of melancholy that made him seem somehow shadowed.

He was an extraordinarily handsome man, the kind of man who could make anyone passing by stop and stare at least once.

Kai.

My fiancé, a poor man being hounded by debt collectors.

In other words, a man who supposedly had absolutely nothing.

And yet, he was also a man with enough determination to propose to me, the woman once known as the Ghost of the Battlefield.

I looked at his hand as he fiddled with his teacup.

Unlike mine, whose palm was deeply lined with calluses from years of wielding a sword, his was smooth, as though he had never held one in his life.

“Don’t worry.”

I spoke in a low voice to reassure him.

Then I discreetly showed him what I had tucked inside my clothes.

A thick leather pouch rested there.

“Everything is perfectly prepared.”

Kai’s eyes widened.

“What… is that?”

“The prize money and retirement pay I’ve accumulated over my entire life on the battlefield.”

Kai asked, and I answered.

“Kai, I don’t know how much you owe, but this should be enough to shut your creditors up.”

I continued nonchalantly.

“If they dare show up at our wedding and cause trouble, I’ll settle things with something other than money. You know how good I am with a sword, so don’t worry.”

Kai stared at me blankly before smiling with an odd expression.

His smile seemed to contain gratitude, guilt, and some other emotion I couldn’t quite identify.

“Regina, you’re such a, such a reliable person. And… you’re always so good to me.”

“That’s only natural. We’re going to be husband and wife.”

“…”

He hesitated for a moment before looking at me with a serious expression.

“But Regina, there’s something I want to tell you before we go to the wedding venue.”

He spoke as though he were giving me one final warning.

“What is it?”

“If you marry me, there’ll be a lot more trouble than you expect.”

His voice grew somber.

“You might have to work yourself to the bone every day, late into the night, without a moment to rest. You might not even get weekends off.”

At his words, I nodded inwardly.

Of course. He’ll have to take whatever work he can find to pay off all those debts. Poor man.

But I was someone who had once marched for three days and three nights on the battlefield without sleeping.

The hardships of hard labor hardly frightened me.

“That’s fine. I can help with the work. I’m confident in my stamina, so don’t worry.”

Kai fell silent for a moment at my answer, then carefully spoke again.

“And people will look at you differently, too.”

“Look at me differently?”

“Yes. There’ll be people who envy you, Regina, and plenty who’ll gossip about you behind your back.”

His tone was serious.

“It’ll be an exhausting life, one where you’ll be constantly restricted. Are you sure you’ll be all right with that?”

His adorable concern made me chuckle.

As a member of one of the North’s prestigious families, I was marrying a low-ranking noble who was buried in debt—and not even the eldest son, but the second.

Naturally, Kai was worried about the ridicule that would come our way.

“Kai.”

“Yes?”

“I’ve spent my entire life on the battlefield. Compared to the looks of disgust and fear people gave me when I returned covered in blood, a little backbiting from high society is child’s play.”

I rose from my chair and approached him.

Then I held out my hand to Kai.

“Don’t worry about what other people say. I’ll protect the people who belong to me.”

Kai gazed at my hand for a moment before taking it with a deep sigh.

“Phew… All right. If you insist that much. But I definitely warned you.”

“You won’t hear a single complaint from me later.”

He gave me a faint smile and stood up.

“Then let’s hurry. We’re running out of time.”

Our wedding was held in a dilapidated old chapel on the outskirts of the city, one that looked as though it might collapse at any moment.

There were no guests.

We had deliberately kept the ceremony secret and hadn’t even invited anyone from my own family.

My father and older brother had wailed, ‘How can we not attend Regina’s wedding?!’ but I had no choice. I was doing this for Kai.

The only people in the chapel were an elderly caretaker serving as our witness and a priest who could barely hear.

“Please hurry up.”

Kai urged the priest along.

He kept glancing anxiously toward the chapel doors.

Watching his worried profile, I clicked my tongue inwardly.

Just how vicious must those debt collectors be for him to be this nervous even on his wedding day?

I squeezed his hand reassuringly.

Then I turned to the priest as well.

“Father, let’s skip the long speeches and get straight to the point.”

“Pardon? Ah, yes… Then we’ll proceed directly to the vows…”

The ceremony proceeded so quickly that I almost wondered whether a wedding was really supposed to be like this.

Following the priest’s instructions, we looked into each other’s eyes and exchanged our vows.

We promised to stay together through poverty, sickness, hardship, and everything else until death parted us.

“Then, in the name of the Great God… I hereby declare you husband and wife…”

The priest had barely finished his proclamation when—

BANG!

The massive wooden doors were ripped off their hinges with a deafening crash.

“Stop!”

“This cannot be allowed! This marriage is invalid!”

A dark, imposing crowd poured through the chapel entrance, shouting that the marriage had to be annulled.

Through the dusty backlight, I could make out the silhouettes of men panting heavily. There were dozens of them.

Kai muttered, “Already…?” and hid behind me.

I sighed.

As expected. They caught wind of it and came running.

Attacking us the instant the ceremony ended? These men had no sense of decency whatsoever.

I roughly tore off my bridal veil and threw it to the floor.

Then I snatched up the heavy brass candlestick resting on the altar with one hand.

“Please step aside, Father.”

I pushed the terrified priest behind me and stepped forward.

Whoooosh—

The candlestick cut through the air with a menacing whistle.

“Who are you bastards?”

At the sound of my low, chilling voice, the men rushing toward us faltered.

As the dust settled, their appearances became clear.

They were all elderly men dressed in silk garments and covered in medals, accompanied by knights in red uniforms.

Oh? These loan sharks are pretty well organized. Judging by their clothes, they must have made quite a fortune from usury.

I unleashed my killing intent to intimidate them.

The air inside the chapel turned icy.

“You’ve come to collect my husband’s debts, I presume? Well, you’ve picked the wrong time.”

Pointing the end of my candlestick at them, I delivered a cold warning.

“Our marriage vows have already been exchanged. He belongs to me now. If you need money, I’ll pay you. So get the hell out of my wedding venue this instant.”

A menacing silence descended.

The faces of the elderly men who had been hit head-on by the killing intent of a battlefield veteran turned deathly pale.

“M-Money…?”

The white-haired old gentleman standing at the very front trembled as he spoke.

“That’s right. I’ll pay you the principal plus interest, so take the money and leave.”

“What are you talking about?! Money?!”

The old gentleman pounded his chest with an aggrieved expression before turning toward Kai, who was hiding behind me, and crying out.

“Your Majesty! How could you hold your wedding in such a shabby place without the gods’ permission?!”

“This marriage is invalid under the laws of the empire! You must return to the imperial palace immediately!”

…Your Majesty? The laws of the empire?

I tightened my grip on the candlestick.

‘Your Majesty’? Was that some kind of code word used by debt collectors?

Or had Kai been pretending to be a fake emperor because of his debts?

At that moment, Kai slowly stepped out from behind me.

“Gentlemen. You’re late.”

He looked down at the prostrate old men with an utterly shameless yet elegant expression, one completely different from the innocent face he had shown me until now.

His voice carried a chilling authority.

“The marriage declaration has just been completed. We’ve already sworn our vows before the gods, so it’s too late to take them back, regardless of what the law says.”

“Y-Your Majesty…!”

The old men wailed as they struck the floor.

Still holding the candlestick, I stared blankly at the man standing beside me.

His pale face, shabby appearance, and pitiful circumstances as an unemployed husband pursued by debt collectors…

The man I had believed to be all those things was actually…

As I struggled to process the sudden turn of events, Kai smiled sweetly and gently lowered the candlestick from my hand.

“I’m sorry for surprising you, Regina. It’s just that my creditors are rather influential people.”

“If they’re calling you Your Majesty…”

“That’s right. They’re referring to me.”

“So Kai is… His Imperial Majesty the Emperor?”

“Looks that way. Oh, but you don’t have to bow or anything. We’re husband and wife, after all.”

Kai helped me back to my feet just as I was about to kneel instinctively.