TED 01

𖹭 Chapter 1 𖹭

Bang!

An explosion echoed through Gluck Castle.

At the sudden disaster, birds took flight and rats fled in a straight line.

It was the beginning of a riot.

“Kill the witch pretending to be the Duchess!”

“Find her and cut off her head!”

The enraged voices of the domain citizens drew closer and closer to the Duchess’s bedroom.

Adriana gripped the bedroom curtains and watched the scene unfold.

Even beasts run in search of survival—but she had nowhere to escape.

“The slut from the south!”

“A spy planted by Thracia!”

“A barren stone woman who can’t even bear children while playing with men!”

These were insults she had grown sick of hearing since arriving in Hielo.
She thought she had gotten used to them, but it seemed there was still a part of her heart that could be hurt—because her chest ached.

So this is what the end of a political marriage looks like.

It had all begun by imperial decree. The purpose was to end the long-standing hostility between two territories, Thracia and Hielo, which had treated each other like sworn enemies, and bring reconciliation.

But the people of Hielo, who had decided to hate Adriana from Thracia, never opened their hearts no matter what she did.

In the end, the villagers stormed the castle, claiming they would burn the grain supplies sent from the south at Adriana’s request.

All because of an absurd rumor—that the Duchess had poisoned the food and caused a plague.

And behind all of this… was Teresa, that woman.

“There is no place for you here. Don’t dare covet Hielo and leave on your own feet.”

Should she have really followed Teresa’s words and gotten a divorce?

Seeing today’s situation, maybe that would have been the right choice. But Adriana could not bring herself to leave Dietrich’s side.

Because…

Adriana shook her head.

What was the point of thinking like that now?

Once the castle burned down, the hatred of the people and Teresa’s torment would all end.

Hielo had always been cold—but at least it was comforting that everything would end with warmth on her final path.

Adriana bit her lip and twisted the handle of the dagger she held. From inside, a red coral fragment rolled out.

“Adriana. This is a medicine that lets you dream a very happy dream. Only once. Take it when a moment comes that makes you wish you could turn everything back.”

“Is it a medicine that lets me die without pain?”

“It might be something similar.”

Her deceased mother’s voice rang clearly in her mind.

If she swallowed it now, at least she would not feel the pain of burning—she could go to her parents and comrades.

If only death could be less painful than life.

“Ugh…”

Adriana collapsed after swallowing the coral.

As strength left her body, the aquamarine-inlaid dagger beside her seemed to slowly harden into white stone.

Soon, sensation began disappearing from her fingertips.

And then—

“Adriana!”

The bedroom door was violently shattered, and she saw a figure in the flames.

Her emotionless husband, who would never have come for her even if she died, was there.

Dietrich, whom she had not seen for months, had broken through the fire and was covered in black ash. The usually elegant man looked completely disheveled—strange and unfamiliar.

So even at the moment of death, I get to see that face.

Such a tender expression at the very end.

It felt like a final mercy from God—granting her the face she most wanted to see.

Adriana gave a bitter smile before her husband’s illusion.

Dietrich.

My husband.

Whenever she thought of him, all she could recall was tears, pain, and wounds.

She had fallen for him as a child after seeing his beautiful smile in the imperial palace, and accepted the political marriage because of it.

And she had never been able to leave his side… until this horrifying day.

“Adriana! Open your eyes!”

“Nice… seeing you worry about me. It’s the perfect gift to end my life.”

“Damn it—why are you acting like you’re dying!”

Dietrich cursed violently as if furious at her approaching death.
His arms, which held her tightly, were covered in burns.

“Diet…rich…”

You should get treated… it must hurt…

“Don’t talk! You’re breathing in smoke!”

He bit his lip and lifted her in his arms. But the flames had already spread everywhere—there was no way out.

“Just… a little longer… hold on…”

“So I finally get to be in your arms at the moment of death.”

His kindness only proved that this moment was an illusion.

Even knowing it was fake, she still wanted to confess at the end.

“I… hate you…”

But you probably hated me too.

She was sorry she could not be the perfect duchess he wanted.

“Hate me all you want—after you survive! I don’t care if you hate me, just shut your mouth!”

“You said… you wouldn’t protect me.”

Dietrich Brecht, do you vow as a husband to protect your wife with your life and remain with her forever?
On their wedding day, he never completed the vow.

He never even acknowledged her as his wife in words.

“I didn’t… I didn’t mean I didn’t want to protect you…”

Dietrich tried to explain, but Adriana could no longer hear him.

If only she could say one more thing—just one last thing…

But blood surged up her throat, cutting off her breath.

She lifted her hand toward his face, but her arm fell powerless before reaching his lips.

In the end, Adriana could not say what she truly wanted to say.

And with that regret left behind for her husband…

She closed her eyes.

And just as she thought everything had ended—

A freezing blade-like wind swept through the world.

What…?

Adriana opened her eyes with a sharp headache.

She was standing upright on her own feet.

Confused voices surrounded her.

Was this still the dream her mother spoke of?

Her body swayed, but she instinctively regained balance.

“You barged in and demanded to participate, and now you’re refusing?”

Startled by the mocking voice, she turned around.

The man who had just been holding her… was here again.

The same husband who had run into the flames to save her.

“Di…Di?”

At the nickname she had never used after marriage, Dietrich visibly faltered—before quickly returning to his usual cold expression.

The same sharp gaze, the familiar face, the blue eyes like northern ice, and black hair like her loneliness.

It was all the same Dietrich.

Then… had she woken from a dream?

But she hadn’t been dreaming.

She had died.

…Ah. So this must be the afterlife.

She thought she was crossing the river of death and seeing fragments of the past.

“Are you going to keep delaying? You are the last shooter today.”

“Shooter?”

Only then did she realize she was holding a massive bow.

It seemed she had slipped into a memory from a year ago, the day of the archery competition.

The archery match was held to boost the morale of the Gluck Knights.

It was normally closed to outsiders—but Adriana had once participated as an exception.

No one had welcomed her.

But she had joined anyway, for the prize given to the winner.

“If you’re not confident, step back.”

Dietrich tried to take the bow from her, but Adriana instinctively held it close.

“No. I’ll do it.”

She took her stance without hesitation.

Whether she was dreaming, dead, or crossing the river of oblivion, she didn’t know.

But she had a bow in her hand.

And if this was a battlefield, an archer had only one duty.

To shoot at the target.

A sharp wind swept through the crowd as snow began to fall.

Adriana drew the bowstring.

Whoosh.

An arrow sharper than a blizzard cut through the northern mountains.

“I–it’s a hit! From that distance, she hit that tiny target!”

“How did someone who looked like she would collapse draw the bow so steadily?”

The crowd was stunned—but the archer did not waver at all.

Only Adriana could hit that palm-sized target placed between rocky cliffs.

Yet no one applauded. There was no one in the north who cheered for her.

“The winner is… Her Highness, Duchess Adriana Verano Brecht.”

The victory was declared in Captain Oscar’s uncertain voice.

Adriana stood before Dietrich.

“My wish… is said to be granted to the winner of today’s competition.”

“Let’s hear what you want. I doubt there’s anything in Hielo that the Duchess desires.”

Behind Dietrich, the knights looked displeased. Their annual reward had been taken by the hated duchess.

“My wish is the wish of everyone here.”

Dietrich frowned, signaling her to continue.

“I, Adriana Verano Brecht, Duchess of Hielo, have only one wish.”

A tense silence fell.

“I demand a divorce from Duke Dietrich Brecht.”

At those words, the tournament grounds fell into chaos.