Chapter 1

There is an old proverb from a faraway land.

“Sometimes, when a god closes a door, the devil opens it back up.”

But, is the door closed by a god and the door opened by the devil the same door?

* * *

Slap-!

The sound of a cheek being slapped echoed throughout the hall, where just a moment ago, only soft music could be heard. The sound’s sharp pitch cut into the soft accompaniment.

Two women were suddenly under the complete attention of everyone present. Valerie, who was yawning as she picked up her glass of wine, was no exception.

Those smooth, white cheeks looked soft and were probably made-up especially for today’s event. Well, that lady probably had fair skin even without any careful touches done to it.

Anyway… a clear cut could be seen over the red handprint on one of those soft cheeks. The cut was from Joani, the one who had slapped her on the cheek, or to be precise, the ring on her finger.

A few drops of blood dripping from the long, thin cut made the situation even more dramatic.

“How dare you filthy, lowborn wench even look at me! How dare you! Did you really think I would tolerate you setting your foul foot in here and beguiling His Grace? Seducing Duke Dwello?!” An ear-piecing screech resounded in the hall.

“This is way too cliché.” Valerie covered her mouth after realizing she accidentally spoke out her mind. No one heard her, thankfully, as the two ladies had everyone’s attention in the room.

“This is not a place the likes of you can come!”

Valerie had to hide her mouth with her fan, feeling the yawn she held in coming out. The lady’s choices of words and rhetorics were in a rut, even the tone of her shrieking was boring. Valerie’s warm breath misted a violet fan that matched the color of her eyes.

She wiped the bored tears in the corner of her eyes and tilted her head, wondering when “he” would come.

“How dare you look straight back at me!”

Joani once again raised her hand as if to slap her again. Valerie’s eyes followed her hand but then turned to the other woman.

Today was the Empire Founding Day commemoration party at the Imperial Palace, and two ladies were standing in the middle of the palace hall where the biggest and most extravagant party of the year was held. If the woman who slapped the other woman was stereotypical, so was the one who was being slapped on the cheek, standing opposite to her.

Whether it was the vivid red handprint was visible on her soft, white cheek, the straight face she maintained despite the marks on her face, the radiant black eyes gleaming under the light of the chandelier, her straight back, or her confident and lofty stance of not batting an eyelid after a mere slap to her face… this lady, who had black hair and eyes unseen in the Empire, was undeniably the main character at this party.

Valerie felt the expectations she had before the party rapidly going down. She let out a shallow sigh. The whole situation turned out just as she expected. She wouldn’t have felt out of place even if there was a sign stating, “The main character is here!” It was a boring scene that made her yawn over and over again.

Valerie twisted her hair with her fingers. It was a habit her mother hated because it made her look inelegant. She grabbed a small amount of her hair and twisted it again and again, waiting.

Joani’s hand, which was rising ever higher to slap down again, would soon come to a stop. There was no way the woman would be slapped again. Someone would probably jump in midway, and that someone was highly likely to be the very Duke Dwello that Joani spoke of.

Valerie gazed at Joani, whose face had turned red with an expression that was not often found on her usual, cute face. Joani was venting her emotions; a mix of her collapsing self-esteem and burning jealousy.

The Joani Valerie knew was just an ordinary noble girl with a bit of a hot temper. She liked cakes but didn’t eat them often because she was afraid of gaining weight. Instead, she enjoyed having a cup of tea with the other girls. She was a typical noble girl, the kind that could be seen just about anywhere throughout the Empire. Yet, when Joani became involved with that black-haired woman, she looked like a vicious woman unmatched in this world.

Before long, Joani and her family would be destroyed. Valerie was only close enough to her to say hello, but it was still slightly regrettable to see her in such a situation. Well, even if it weren’t Joani, another girl would be standing there doing the same thing.

Right before Joani’s hand reached the black-haired woman’s cheek, a large, rough hand grabbed her wrist.

Valerie unknowingly tightened her grip on the fan in her hand.

So, he was finally here.

Being grabbed by the wrist, Joani’s body jolted, disheveling her prided light blue hair.

“What are you trying to do to my partner?”

Valerie heard a deep voice that struck her ears. She rubbed her arms along the goosebumps that had suddenly formed there.

The black-haired woman’s eyes didn’t move at all, looking at him standing in front of her.

“The main cast is all here now.”

They were the sort of man and woman who would appear in a typical romance novel.

Duke Dwello and the black-haired woman, these two people were at the center of the rumors stirring up the Empire.

The most-wanted groom in the Empire; the youngest Duke of the Empire; the youngest sword master on the continent and the leader of the Imperial Knights of the Lionhearts; the idol of every swordsman on the continent; the target of adoration of every unmarried noble girl in the Empire; the center of power that every noble family in the Empire wanted to keep a close relationship with; the only blue blood to earn the trust of the emperor while also having a true friendship with the Crown Prince.

That was not the end to him.

He had dazzling blonde hair with indigo eyes, a statuesque face with the intelligence and reason to match. He was a man who didn’t talk much with women, let alone get involved in scandals with them, which even further incited the desires of women.

His name was Kylus Zykellen Dwello.

Then there was the black-haired stranger he brought in.

Valerie put down her glass, now half-emptied of wine.

It was over now. The long, boring Empire Founding Day commemoration party, which she couldn’t miss and which her mother dragged her out to participate in, had finally come to an end.

She rolled her eyes and looked for her family. Her mother and younger sister were looking at Duke Dwello with their mouths wide open, but she couldn’t see her father anywhere. Perhaps his meeting with the head of another family wasn’t over yet.

Then, Valerie saw a pair of eyes which were the same violet color as her own.

Those eyes widened for an instant, before curving into a smile.

“Marshall?”

The person who had made eye contact with her moved as if he heard her mumbling his name softly.

As he strode closer to Valerie, who was standing there slumped over, he asked her curiously,

“Valerie? Is something wrong?”

“No, it’s not that….”

Before she finished talking, Duke Dwello spoke again.

“Your answer?”

His voice was so frosty it made her bones inside her body ache. The accompaniment had stopped, and now the hall was dead quiet.

Joani’s father, who appeared in a rush from behind Joani, had a pale face.

“Y-Your G-Grace, I….”

Unlike a few moments ago, Joani’s voice was now trembling. Perhaps her temper which had led her to slap another had dissipated into thin air, as her vicious expression had all but disappeared.

Valerie grabbed her skirt and began to move one step at a time towards the entrance.

Marshall was looking at her strangely.

Valerie spoke to Marshall silently, only moving her lips.

‘I’ll leave first.’

Valerie bumped into other people on her way to the entrance. But everyone was so caught up with the ruckus that it was easy to reach it. Standing right in front of the entrance, Valerie once again turned to look at the center of the hall.

The one who rescued the elegant and mysterious stranger, i.e., the duke said something that didn’t escape her expectations.

She muttered again without even realizing it.

“‘What are you trying to do to my partner?’ he said. It’s a line that wouldn’t even appear in an outdated romance novel.”

“What? A novel?” Marshall asked as he caught up to Valerie.

She just smiled in response and gently stroked her brother’s hair on his forehead.

“It’s nothing. I’m feeling tired, so I’ll leave first.”

“But what if mother finds out?”

“I fulfilled my duty to come to the party, so it’ll be fine.”

Valerie grabbed the golden doorknob of the entrance.

As she tried to open the door, a voice as deep as a well cut through the air.

“I have already asked you the same question twice.”

“Well, it’s that….”

Joani’s voice was mixed with sobbing as she answered, and that made Valerie flinch. Joani was a young noble girl with whom she had only exchanged greetings, but the bookmark made of dried flowers that Joani gave her shyly was something she used often to this day.

Valerie slowly turned around.

Joani’s face showed her mixed feelings of embarrassment, slight excitement from seeing the person she admires, and fear tempered by his presence. She was paying a hard price for slapping and insulting an unknown woman.

Valerie clicked her tongue. Joani would never be able to set foot in high society ever again. She could tell that much without having to think about it.

If the duke was the kind of person that Valerie heard he was, he would give Joani the punishment she deserved without hesitation for insulting and hurting his woman. He wouldn’t stop there either. Valerie could easily tell that he would drag Joani’s entire family down and throw them into a dungeon.

Would the female lead know what he was about to do? The beautiful stranger was standing at the center of the scene with everyone surrounding her and smiling quietly as though she was in the epicenter of a typhoon.

* * *

It was about a month ago at a tea party where Valerie had heard rumors about her. There was something unusual about the tea party that day, which she annoyingly had to attend. It was as though there were dark clouds of war gathering above the tea party.

As soon as the tea was served—a sign that signals the start of the tea party—the young noble girls around her started speaking, their tones rough as sandpaper for some reason.

-Have you all heard? They say that the duke has brought a woman into his mansion.

-Of course, we’ve heard! He apparently picked up a stranger!

-How could he bring such a woman into the duke’s mansion?

-Where the hell did she come from?

It was all that everyone could talk about at the tea party. Valerie could hear the words “black hair” and “black eyes” throughout the conversation.

-Two weeks away from the capital, there’s that… uh I can’t even member the name now!

-It’s a viscounty from what I heard.

-Right. A monster appeared in that viscounty I don’t know the name of.

-Really? I didn’t know the details.

-The monster isn’t the important part. You’ve heard that His Grace Duke Dwello achieved great feats in the expedition this time, right?

-Why yes! As expected a sword master. How could he be so perfect? I heard he faced dozens of orcs by himself when other knights can barely face one by themselves!

Valerie quickly rolled her eyes around. The important part of the story hadn’t come to the table yet.

Hello? Wasn’t there some mention about someone with black hair and black eyes? Who the heck is that? — As if seeing into her thoughts, another noble lady burst out in a fit of anger.

-What’s important is that when the Duke returned, he came back with an unknown, dark-haired woman cradled in his arms!

Valerie became all ears when she heard these words — Oh lord! Unbelievable! After 18 years of having reincarnated into this fantasy world, something akin to a real fantasy was finally about to happen!