Chapter 1

In the harsh winter, Biflten had more people who died of cold than monsters. The Duke of there, Aden de Biflten, was the worst groom with a huge estate.

Aden had more free time to meet monsters than to meet a woman.

He, who always smelled blood, was unknown to the social circles of the Attenble empire. As he rarely showed up, rumors spread that he was a man of ugliness.

Then one day, a nobleman who was curious about his face was discovered with a stiffened body, so rumors spread that he was someone who wasn’t supposed to be encountered.

No woman wanted to marry the Duke of Biflten, who was full of rumors.

But Biflten, a young man, was neither interested in succession nor rumors of his pursuit.

As a result, these actions set the elders of the Biflten house ablaze.

[There is no problem with the family members of Biflten.]

The elders spread rumors, but the rumor of Biflten who didn’t have any social circle could not be reached.

When no one believed, the search for the monster Aden de Biflten’s bride finally came to fruition.

[You can get a divorce if you want. ]

There was a more severe condition of divorce attached to the unconventional search for recruiting duchess.

‘If you want, I will invite you to Biflten Castle with no one knowing, come and decide,’ that was what the content said.

[You don’t have to face each other.]

This was the case when they summed up the elongated words according to the long aristocratic etiquette.

However, it was counterproductive.

In a land full of monsters, you want me to spend my first night in a dark room with the Duke of Biflten called a monster?

[Aden de Biflten rarely stays in the mansion.]

So you’re asking me to live alone?

However, the folly of elders who tried to avoid the malicious rumors of the Duke of Biflten only backfired. So it was around the time the Duke of Biflten’s recruitment of brides failed for a year.

***

It’s a vivid dream.

When I woke up, there was always a symbol in my memorable dream. Ilyin, in the dream, looked up at the mobile twirling from the ceiling.

Even though it wasn’t the bed where the baby was likely to be, there was mobile hanging on the bed.

‘Precognitive dream.’

Ever since she was young, dreams with mobile has always shown the future to Ilyin. She watched herself in her dream.

She, who was in a bright room carefully browsed through the bedroom to see if there was someone beside her in the room.

At that moment, the bedroom lights went out. She heard a voice in the dark.

「Ilyin de Biflten」

Ilyin opened her eyes wide.

My name? No, my surname has changed.

It’s not Ilyin de Arlene, it’s Ilyin de Biflten?

A sharp, dull pain hit the back of my head as if a hammer had hit it.

「Ilyin.」

A low voice rang in the ear.

When the voice was heard all over the dark, it felt like the sense in my ears was amplified by several times.

The bed was shaking. To be clear, as if it had touched someone’s body. I could tell because it was a precognitive dream.  It was the Duke of Biflten who climbed up on the bed. Aden de Biflten. His hands, which seemed to be cold, were passionately hot. The hands sweeping my lips and the hand touching the ends of the clothes were more cautious than I expected. It was a delicate touch, as if he was touching a piece of glass that would shatter soon.

“Ha……”

In her dream, she exhaled a deep breath. The hands that carefully pressed her clothes were large enough to be reliable.

She could not clarify if it were the sound of her clothes rustling or the mattress rustling.

“mhm…”

The waist fluttered up.

I felt like I was holding a bedsheet in my hand.

The night was long.

***

Ilyin opened her eyes. In her hand was a letter to recruit a bride of the Duke of Biflten. Ilyin confirmed the name again and then opened the letter with an unbelievable face.

‘Ilyin de Biflten.’

My surname has been changed. Having the name of the Biflten family means that I will marry the Duke of Biflten.

Ilyin jumped out of her bed.

A long old mobile touched her forehead.

***

Rumors of Biflten were rife. Some said, because of the snowstorm, you can’t even see the outer walls of Biflten Castle unless it’s summer. In winter, they said that the cold was so severe that it was difficult to reach the province, let alone the castle gate.

The only people who could guide outsiders were the people who lived in Biflten. They were the only ones who knew the way.

But, the harsh winter was just in the boundary of the Biflten Territory.

Outside the boundary was a ray of veritable warm sunshine as if it was a lie, and the lines were drawn and painted in different colors.

“The land abandoned by god…”

Ilyin’s repeated Biflten’s nickname unpleasantly.

There were rumors that monsters who are entirely different from other provinces appeared in the cold weather.

A place full of monsters…

Besides, what about the Duke of Biflten?

There was also a rumor that he was ugly. That was somehow acceptable.

They said that your body stiffens when you encounter his eyes. And also for him, his sword comes first rather than the words. In different phrases, that meant he would cut you off without even letting you talk.

The crazy Duke of the north; That was the assessment of the current Duke of Biflten, Aden de Biflten.

“Aden de Biflten.”

She looked down at the Biflten family bridal letter.

[Helping the hostess of Biflten family]

Below it was conditions that lifted the spirits of all the empire’s ladies.

If she had to explain it in a long way, it was like this:

Unlike rumors, the Duke of Biflten is fine. However, if rumors bother you, you don’t have to look at his face forever. Also, the Duke doesn’t often stay in the mansion.

They were inconsiderate sentences that seemed to only kill the bride alone in a distant land.

Ilyin’s gaze went down.

[If you’re uncomfortable, you can leave immediately. 

I’ll take you anytime anywhere you want.]

It felt different from the dull writing right above it. It had a rough feeling, but the content was soft.

Perhaps, not everyone in the empire would believe it, but, Ilyin knew that this was Aden de Biflten’s handwriting.

This was also one of the reasons why Ilyin wasn’t afraid of her trip to Biflten.

Anyway, she already foresaw the beginning of the first night.

I’ll arrive at the Biflten mansion safely. And that man may be different from the rumors.

‘mhm…’

The first night was soft and sweet.

「Ilyin de Biflten.」

The dream foretold the first night with the Duke of Biflten. I’m getting married to him.

“Fate is inevitable.”

From my young age, precognitive dreams were never wrong. I tried to avoid it, but it ended up visiting me.

Ilyin folded the letter and put it on the table.

If I can’t avoid it, I won’t be dragged away. Only the first night had been foreseen. But how I’ll stay in Biflten is in my hands.

She stood up from her seat to hold her fate in her hands.

“Did you call me?”

A long time later, after I pulled the bell-rope, the maid knocked on the door.

“This letter, where is the man that brought it?”

The Biflten person inevitably delivers the letter from Biflten. Even if the Biflten man used another postman here, the postman would know how to reach the Biflten man.

It was time to send a reply.

I’ll be your bride.

***

Ilyin was a bit upset. She had never intended to marry the Duke of Biflten until she received this letter yesterday.

Of course, I changed my mind after I had a dream. Because of that, I couldn’t send a letter of consent directly to the postman.

It was a matter of course.

The problem was that the postman left the mansion right after delivering the letter.

“You don’t know where he went?”

“Yes.”

The maid answered briefly.

Ilyin waved her out. It was no use prying more into a maid with no loyalty. But that didn’t mean I didn’t have a way.

“Father, it’s Ilyin.”

Ilyin went to find her father, Viscount Arlene herself.

“What’s up with you?”

Viscount Arlene was reluctant to see her face.

Even though they lived in the same mansion, it was the first time they had a proper conversation in a decade.

Nevertheless, Viscount Arlene himself did not want to see her for another moment. There was one thing his gaze said, A terrible thing.

“Can I use some people from the mansion?”

Viscount Arlene’s face was distorted. He knew about her precognitive dreams.

At the age of seven, Ilyin’s first precognitive dream was her brother, Sid’s death.

When her dreams were right, and after her brother’s death, Viscount Arlene’s own wife went crazy, and so, he treated her as something terrible.

“Did you dream again?”

That’s right.

But Ilyin said no.

“No.”

I said it after I had already decided what to say.

“I just thought it was time to find my marriage partner.”

“Okay….”

After Sid’s death, Viscount Arlene’s wife, who went crazy, couldn’t make Ilyin’s debut in society. Thanks to this, Ilyin was even blocked from meeting the aristocratic gentleman of the Empire nobility.

“Are you thinking of attending the banquet?” asked Viscount Arlene himself with a reluctant look.

That wasn’t the case, but Ilyin nodded briefly.

“I’m just trying to find the Merchant’s Group.”

I had to go and do something else, but I didn’t tell him. If I said, there would be talks about precognitive dreams again.

There was a reason why she hadn’t talked to her father for more than a decade.

Viscount Arlene himself had always doubted her. He decided whatever she does would be after seeing a precognitive dream, so he never listened to her.

“You shouldn’t talk about dreams outside.”

However, marriage seems to have been an exception.

Ilyin swallowed a laugh.

Yeah, you don’t want to put anything terrible in your mansion anymore.

“Go on. You may use people of the mansion.”

Irene withdrew without a word at the congratulatory order.

I got what I needed. That’s enough. There’s no need to talk to a person who treats me like a monster anymore.

I’m treated as a monster, and I’m marrying a monster duke; what combination would suit me better than this?

Ilyin, who couldn’t repress her laughter, called out one of Viscount’s knight.

“Get me the merchant groups list heading north and the location of the capital’s branch.”

The knight knew what Viscount Arlene’s daughter meant to his master.

So he sneered and said,

“There are not just one or two places, my lady.”

There was a distinct sneer on his face.

She was just a lady in name, and because he didn’t really want to serve her, he didn’t feel like calling her name.

She grew up in a mansion, so she was treated like a person who doesn’t know the outside world. It was the treatment that she always received for nearly twenty years.

I’m used to those eyes and words.

“To the merchant’s group, which periodically supplies a large quantity of goods to the north. Most of the supplies are food that can last for months and should consist only of the things that stand in warm places.”

This can be limited to a few places.

In the north, which was close to Biflten, very few estates could consume large amounts of food.

There must be many people who want to live close to the monster-infested territory.

“But why are you looking for this?”

The knight asked poorly even when he received the orders.

“To find a marriage partner.”

The voice of the knight who laughed at her was heard quietly. He was probably thinking that no one was going to marry her.

Rumors about Ilyin de Arlene would have spread big enough to spread throughout society.

She was the esteemed lady who didn’t even make her social debut, even when she was already in her mid-twenties.

They probably would have wondered that the reason I didn’t debut was because I had a flaw. They might have imagined what that flaw was and created something amazing by pondering about it over and over again.

“Get out.”

The knight didn’t even answer and turned away.

“…..”

Ilyin persevered.

She’s a person too.

There was no way she wouldn’t be angry.

But it’s okay.

You’ve been doing this all the time.

It’s okay.

You won’t be coming back to this mansion anymore.

So it’s okay.

She put herself to sleep, as she always did.