Chapter 02
The moment Chloe returned to her room, her legs gave out beneath her.
Sliding down along the wall by the door, she eventually collapsed onto the floor. Her breath caught in her throat.
Clutching her neck, Chloe gasped desperately. The harder she tried to breathe, the more frantic her breathing became.
Transparent liquid poured from her eyes, nose, and mouth.
Only when she was utterly exhausted—when she gave up even the will to breathe—did her body finally begin to calm.
“…How on earth.”
She couldn’t forget.
Even now, the face of the man speaking of love so casually remained vivid in her mind.
“You know it too, don’t you? How much I love Helena. I’ve played the role of your husband without issue for the past year, so now let me live my own life.”
If only he had shown even a trace of guilt.
If he had, Chloe might have had no choice but to understand him.
But the sight of Callis arrogantly boasting that he had fulfilled his duties as a husband was utterly detestable.
Did he truly not remember what he had done over the past half year?
After “that incident,” Callis treated Chloe as if she didn’t exist within the estate.
Even the residents and members of the ducal household joined in.
Only at social gatherings was she barely treated like a human being. Without her status, she might as well have been treated worse than an insect.
As if that weren’t enough, Callis left the estate for weeks and refused to share a bed with her.
The room she was later given was smaller than an attic.
And that wasn’t all.
When she fell severely ill from the unfamiliar northern cold…
When she was attacked by a monster that invaded the estate and was left bleeding…
He ignored it all.
Yet Chloe never resisted.
It was because of the guilt she felt toward him.
She endured his insults because she wanted to ease his anger.
Because she hoped their distant relationship might one day improve.
Because she believed that someday, he might forgive her.
“…It was all meaningless.”
Despite all her efforts, what returned to her was yet another humiliation.
There were many reasons behind Chloe and Callis’s marriage.
But the most important fact was this:
Neither of them had wanted it.
It all began three years ago, when war broke out with the Empire.
The Kingdom of Valont, which had long maintained peace, suddenly received a proposal:
Unite with the Empire and become part of it.
If they refused, war would be declared.
It was, in truth, nothing more than a threat.
Amid divided opinions—whether to accept or reject—the king ultimately chose refusal.
“Though joining the Empire may benefit both nations, I cannot betray my homeland. The Kingdom of Valont refuses to become a vassal of the Freheid Empire.”
As expected, the Empire declared war.
To minimize casualties, the battle began at the Lian River, a barren wasteland separating the two nations.
Compared to the Empire, the Kingdom was weak.
Still, its knights fought valiantly, even knowing defeat was inevitable—
To protect their families, their friends, their loved ones, and their homeland.
Among them was Chloe, a princess of the royal family.
Born with a frail body, she could not fight like the knights.
Instead, she secretly took on the role of a nurse, tending to the wounded day and night.
But their sweat and tears could not overturn harsh reality.
Eventually, the kingdom ran out of knights who could fight.
In the end, they resorted to a last desperate measure:
Sending members of the knight order to the Empire’s camp.
The injured knights were dispatched with one of two missions:
Assassinate the Emperor,
or succeed in negotiations.
It was a mission with almost zero chance of success.
Even surviving the attempt would have been a miracle.
Ten days passed.
Thirty-one knights had been sent. Twenty never returned.
Then—
“Negotiations with the Empire have succeeded. The Empire has declared the end of the war…”
When the twenty-first knight returned from the Empire’s camp, the war came to an end.
Astonishingly, he had succeeded in negotiating with the Emperor.
“Who is the knight who achieved this?”
The man who saved the kingdom was Callis Arhen.
It was a name no one had heard before.
Neither his intellect nor his swordsmanship had ever stood out.
And yet, he had saved the kingdom.
Moreover, the Arhen family had been a declining noble house burdened with debt.
“Callis Arhen—the hero of the century who saved the kingdom!”
But such a past was erased by his brilliant achievement.
Callis Arhen!
Our hero!
His name spread throughout the entire kingdom.
He became a figure worshipped like a god.
At first, the royal family honored his achievement.
They granted him wealth, titles—
Even a dukedom.
But when his fame began to surpass that of the royal family, the king recognized the danger.
If this continued, royal authority would decline.
Worse, Callis could not be ruled out as a potential rebel.
Seeking a way to restrain him, King Valont XV devised a solution:
Bind the hero to the royal family by marrying him to his daughter.
By making him part of the royal family, he would receive endless benefits—
But never be able to claim the throne.
The ideal candidate was the third princess, Chloe.
Her elder sisters were already betrothed,
and the younger ones were too young.
Thus, the decision was made.
The king informed Chloe of her marriage—
Without telling her who the groom would be.
Surprisingly, Callis readily accepted the arrangement.
A dukedom, vast lands, and a royal stipend—
It was too great an offer to refuse.
In truth, he had never intended to pursue rebellion anyway.
On the day of the wedding, Chloe finally met the man who would become her husband.
Standing before her—
Was the hero of the century.
Her father had told her that her groom had fallen in love with her at first sight and proposed.
Could it be true?
Had the hero who saved the world fallen for her?
“The hero… proposed to me.”
It felt like a dream.
And Chloe, who had always admired heroes, inevitably fell in love.
Their early married life wasn’t bad.
Though it was strange that Callis showed no passionate affection.
“You are truly intelligent. The duchy has grown thanks to you. You are my wife—and my benefactor.”
She believed that trust and support were also forms of love.
The people of the duchy treated her kindly.
She adapted quickly to her new life.
Peaceful days seemed to continue—
Until that incident.
Six months into their marriage, a scandal shook the kingdom.
“The Tragic Cinderella”
A major newspaper published an article about Callis’s former lover—
A woman who had been devoted to him, only to be abandoned once he became a hero.
Chloe had never heard of her.
The man who had supposedly fallen in love with her…
Had another woman?
Before she could ask, Callis left the estate.
The answer came the next day—in another article.
“The Tragic Hero?”
It stated:
Callis had indeed been in a long-term relationship.
He had never intended to abandon his lover.
The marriage had been forced upon him by the royal family.
“…What is this…?”
Chloe was overwhelmed with confusion.
But that was only the beginning.
The newspaper continued exposing the scandal.
Public sympathy turned toward Callis.
The royal family was criticized harshly.
Meanwhile, within the duchy—
Chloe became the target.
“How could you do such a thing to the duke…!”
Even Callis turned on her.
“Dear, can we talk—”
“Dear?”
“…Don’t call me that. Do you have any idea how disgusting it was to live with you for half a year? Don’t call me that again, Chloe Valont.”
The man who had once lived peacefully with her now rejected her completely.
She couldn’t even ask if he had ever loved her.
Only later did she realize—
Everything she had believed was a lie.
In the end, the only thing left was the love she had nurtured alone.
