MDBYF ~ 01

Chapter : 01

Clara stood motionless in front of her fiancé’s room.

When she had come to stay at the Kirchner Marquisate because of the war, she had expected that she might witness something like this at least once. But now that it was actually happening before her eyes, she could not make herself move.

The flame in the lamp she held trembled as much as her quiet breathing.

She knew she should leave immediately, but Clara ultimately found herself peering through the slightly open door.

The first thing she saw was her fiancé’s black hair.

Dressed in a silk robe, he was reading through documents with dry, indifferent eyes.

The problem was that he was not alone.

Clara’s trembling gaze fixed on something else.

A woman with her hair falling down her back was kneeling in front of him, her face buried against him.

“Haa…”

At some point, her fiancé let out a satisfied breath and lightly stroked the woman’s head. His previously tense expression relaxed in an instant.

Just as the woman lifted her head and moved to embrace Joseph—

Click.

Clara swallowed sharply without realizing it.

So did the woman beyond the door.

“I’m certain I told you not to forget your place.”

Joseph was pointing the muzzle of a loaded gun at the woman’s forehead.

The softness that had filled his eyes moments ago was gone. His gaze had become razor-sharp.

“I-I only… wanted to do my very best for you, my lord.”

“Don’t do anything I didn’t tell you to do. I didn’t summon a whore.”

Once the woman became still, he lowered the pistol again.

She tried to resume what she had been doing, but the color had yet to return to her pale face.

As though nothing had happened, Joseph continued reading his documents and spoke in an ordinary tone.

But he was not speaking to the woman.

“Clara.”

He addressed his fiancée beyond the door, his voice sounding almost gentle.

“You should go to bed. It’s late.”

Clara clamped a hand over her mouth and fled as though running for her life.

Her heart pounded wildly against her chest as she hurried back to her own bedroom.

Did he know I was watching?

And yet… and yet he continued doing that anyway!

She felt as though she might cry.

An indescribable mixture of shame and betrayal wrapped itself around her entire body.

After returning to her room, Clara shut the door tightly and buried herself beneath the covers as though trying to hide from the world.

Even if this is a political marriage without love, isn’t this too much? What does he even take me for…?

“Congratulations on becoming engaged to Colonel Kirchner.”

“Being engaged to a man like him is something your entire family can be proud of.”

The voices of her family echoed clearly in her mind.

When she had first become engaged to Joseph, it had seemed as though nothing could possibly go wrong.

Clara had gained the colonel she had secretly loved, while her family—gradually declining until it possessed little more than its honor—had been given an opportunity to rise again.

The joy that had once made her feel as though she could fly had begun to fade when she discovered that, as a Guide, she was incompatible with Joseph.

Even after their marriage, he would bring other women—no, other Guides—into his bedroom.

To obtain the things Clara could not give him.

There was nothing particularly strange about Joseph not seeking her out. Even if he embraced an incompatible Guide, the effects of her Guiding would be minimal.

But…

Could I endure a marriage like that?

Clara squeezed her eyes shut and pulled the blanket over her head, trying not to think about anything.

There’s nothing I can change anyway.

Just accept it. I have to accept it.

No matter how desperately she tried to comfort herself, she could not stop the tears from spilling.

Clara had come to stay at the marquis’s residence in the capital because war had been declared.

Orvitz, where her family estate was located, was a relatively safe region, but her family wanted her to remain with Joseph.

“There’s nowhere safer than the capital, my dear.”

“And there is no safer place in the capital than at Colonel Kirchner’s side.”

Since the political marriage with Marquis Kirchner was itself an important arrangement that would elevate their family’s standing, it was hardly surprising that they were so concerned for Clara’s safety.

It was unusual for two unmarried people to share the same estate before their wedding, but Clara had readily accepted her family’s proposal.

And now, with the wedding only about a month away, Clara was living as the future marchioness and being treated with the utmost respect.

Everyone in the estate tried their best to cater to her.

The wedding had yet to take place, but in all but name, Clara already occupied the position of the marchioness.

After spending the previous night tossing and turning, Clara woke with an exhausted expression.

She lay beneath the covers for a moment before suddenly remembering why she had failed to sleep properly.

She abruptly sat up.

“Haa…”

That definitely wasn’t a dream, was it?

When she pulled the bell cord, two maids entered to attend to her.

“Did you sleep well last night, my lady?”

Because she had not yet married, the servants still addressed Clara as “young lady.”

She rose in a thin negligee, washed her face with the water prepared by the maids, and sat before a large mirror while they helped her dress.

Reflected in the mirror was a gentle-looking woman with brown hair falling over her shoulders.

Her clear, emerald-green eyes had been praised by others since childhood.

Except by him.

After witnessing what had happened the previous night, thinking about Joseph had become somewhat painful.

But since she would soon have breakfast with him, Clara resolved to somehow endure it.

“Hurry. I don’t want to keep the marquis waiting too long.”

“Yes, my lady.”

Once her preparations were complete, the maids stepped back.

Dressed in an ankle-length empire-waist gown, Clara looked every bit the perfect future marchioness as she stepped out of her room.

The dining room, to which the servants escorted her, was as neat and comfortable as ever.

As expected, Joseph had arrived first and was waiting for her.

He raised his eyes and met hers.

“Clara.”

“Good morning, my lord.”

She took the seat opposite him, trying her best to behave as though nothing had happened.

With Clara’s arrival, the servants began setting a perfect breakfast on the table.

The meal was even more luxurious than anything she had eaten back in Orvitz, but today she could barely bring herself to look at the food.

“The weather is nice today. Why don’t you take a walk through the gardens?”

“I will. Thank you for thinking of me.”

“You look tired.”

Clara flinched at his words, though only briefly.

Keeping her expression blank, she moved some omelet onto her plate.

“I suppose I didn’t sleep very well last night. I’ll feel better soon, so please don’t worry.”

She forced the soft egg dish into her mouth and endured the silence.

Strangely, Joseph was not moving his utensils.

Instead, he was simply staring at her.

Why?

As soon as that thought crossed her mind, she looked up.

Her eyes met Joseph’s gray ones.

A man who could only be described as the very image of masculine perfection was sitting close by, facing her.

The founding head of the prestigious House of Kirchner.

A colonel and strategic commander who repeatedly led the Empire to victory.

And a Sentinel of an extraordinarily high rank.

Those were only some of the many titles attached to Clara’s fiancé.

Joseph studied Clara with a gaze similar to the one he had worn while reviewing documents the previous night.

Then he spoke.

“Clara.”

“Yes?”

“You were spying on my bedroom last night.”

The knife in Clara’s hand stopped moving.

“Were you upset?”

“…”

“Because I had another woman in my room in the middle of the night?”

“You needed Guiding. It couldn’t be helped.”

Clara forced a smile.

“I understand.”

It was only half a lie, but she felt no guilt about it.

After all, she could hardly tell him the truth to his face.

Joseph quietly studied her eyes before taking a sip of his coffee.

“You looked upset.”

“I wasn’t.”

“Why lie to your fiancé?”

Then what am I supposed to do? Launch into a lengthy speech about the betrayal you so graciously inflicted upon me?

Clara pressed her lips tightly together.

Joseph, meanwhile, continued eating as though nothing were wrong.

“From now on, I’ll receive it somewhere you can’t see.”

With the precise, unhurried movements of a soldier, Joseph cut his food and added,

“As you know, a Sentinel cannot properly use their abilities without regular Guiding.”

“…I know that too.”

“I can’t expect effective Guiding from you. So I have no choice but to call other Guides.”

Why did he keep bringing up what she had witnessed the previous night?

Clara stared down at her plate.

Then, at some point, Joseph gave his fiancée a calm, faint smile.

“But I’ll only share my body with you. So don’t worry.”

To Clara, it sounded as though he were telling her to be grateful for his generosity in accepting such an inadequate Guide as his wife.

She could not bring herself to smile.