The shrill whistle of a train shattered the stillness of the night.
At this late hour, the station was nearly deserted.
Only a handful of travelers hurried along the platform to catch the train heading south from the northern territories to the islands.
Among them, one woman drew little attention.
With a bonnet pulled low over her face and dressed in a plain, modest dress, she boarded the train in haste.
No one recognized that she was the Duchess of Winterren.
I just have to leave. That's all.
Now was the perfect opportunity.
Her husband, the Duke of Winterren, was away on a monster-subjugation campaign. By the time he returned, victorious and unsuspecting, she would already be gone.
And even if he eventually realized what had happened and tried to find her...
She would be far beyond his reach.
A few days earlier, she had finally spoken the words she had kept buried inside her heart.
"Let's get divorced."
The expression on his face cracked for the first time, as though he had never imagined such words would come from Estelle's lips.
"Ours was a one-year contract marriage. I've fulfilled my purpose, so it's time to divorce as we originally agreed."
She was nothing more than a contractual wife.
A temporary arrangement.
A woman destined to become a stranger once the year was over.
That year had ended.
Divorce was only natural.
Yet upon hearing the word, her husband merely smiled.
It was a smile sweet enough to steal the hearts of countless women.
"Forget the contract."
Riiip.
He had torn the contract apart with those beautiful hands.
And at that moment, Estelle made her decision.
She would run away.
Inside her travel bag was a divorce petition bearing both her signature and her husband's.
When they had married, he had insisted they sign it in advance.
All she had to do now was submit it to the court.
Then they would legally become strangers.
Clutching her bag tightly, Estelle searched nervously for her seat.
Suddenly she froze.
...Lenox?
A tall man with black hair stood several rows away.
The instant she saw his back, her heart nearly stopped.
No. It can't be him.
Looking more carefully, she realized the man was shorter than Lenox, with narrower shoulders.
Relief washed over her.
She found her seat and sat down.
Soon, with a hiss of steam, the train began to move.
Watching the scenery blur past the window, Estelle finally allowed herself a small breath of relief.
Then—
"Ticket inspection!"
Her head snapped around.
An inspection? At a time like this?
A conductor was moving through the carriage, carefully checking every passenger's face.
"What's the meaning of this?"
One irritated traveler voiced the question everyone was thinking.
"It's an emergency situation. We ask for your cooperation."
The conductor repeated the same answer no matter how many complaints he received.
The inspection drew closer.
Estelle's palms grew damp with sweat as she gripped her trunk.
She couldn't be certain they were looking for her.
But she couldn't shake the ominous feeling in her chest.
Just in case...
She decided to hide for a while.
Picking up her luggage, she rose from her seat and headed toward the next carriage.
Then someone grabbed her wrist.
A conductor?
She opened her mouth to claim she had simply mistaken her seat assignment.
But before she could speak, a low voice—deep as a cavern—reached her ears.
"Tia."
Her body froze.
A voice she knew all too well.
A voice that should not have been here.
Still clinging to the faint hope that she was mistaken, she slowly turned her head.
"Lenox."
Her voice trembled.
"Why are you here...?"
"I came to find you."
The smile he wore was the same one he had shown while tearing up their contract.
Casual.
Gentle.
As though this weren't the scene of a wife being caught while fleeing.
As though they had arranged to meet here all along.
"Where's your seat? Your bag looks heavy. Let me carry it."
"No. It's fine."
"It may be fine for you, but it isn't fine for me."
His gaze dropped to the luggage.
"Our divorce papers are in there."
"...!"
It wasn't just her escape that he had discovered.
He knew about the papers too.
Shock loosened her grip for the briefest instant.
Lenox seized the opportunity naturally, taking the bag from her hands.
"Tia."
For some reason, his voice sounded weary.
Almost defeated.
The sight of him looking so dejected made Estelle's resolve waver.
"Do you hate me that much?"
"That's not—"
Before she could answer—
Tap tap tap tap—
Rapid footsteps echoed through the carriage.
"M-Mother!"
A small child with black hair came running toward them.
"Please don't leave!"
It was Duren.
Her adopted son.
The boy wrapped his arms tightly around her leg and looked up at her with tearful eyes.
"I won't be picky anymore! I can eat broccoli now! I promise!"
"Duren..."
On top of his head were fluffy dog-like ears.
His tail drooped sadly behind him.
With a child clinging desperately to her leg and a husband staring at her with the expression of an abandoned puppy, Estelle suddenly found herself trapped between the two.
This was nothing like how things had been at the beginning of their marriage.
Back then, Lenox had said:
"If you're hoping for a loving husband, give up now."
"..."
"I will never love you. And there will never be a child between us."
He had definitely said that.
So how had things ended up like this?
"Tia!"
A familiar female voice rang out from behind Duren.
It was her sister-in-law.
"Everything must be my idiot brother's fault! If you're going to leave this house, I'd rather kick him out instead! So please, don't go!"
Even her notoriously sharp-tongued sister-in-law was begging her to stay.
...How did it come to this?
Who is the most beautiful person in the Empire?
Ask anyone, and the answer would be unanimous.
"Obviously Estelle Bellonsa!"
The Thorned Rose of House Bellonsa.
The Poison Apple.
The Femme Fatale Who Devours Men.
Such dazzling notoriety had been earned through four marriages.
Her first husband.
Her second husband.
Her third husband.
All died on their wedding nights.
The fourth husband survived, but he was divorced before the wedding night could even properly begin.
According to the bride's family, the man suffered from severe sexual dysfunction.
Most people would consider a single widowhood tragic.
Estelle Bellonsa had endured three.
And one divorce.
Yet now she was preparing for a fifth marriage.
Given that, her decision to choose death before the wedding was hardly impulsive.
I'd rather die than keep living like this.
She attempted suicide by poison.
The result?
Failure.
She spent an entire week bedridden.
Then recovered completely.
And during that week, she remembered something.
She remembered that she was a character inside a novel she had read in her previous life.
Was she the protagonist?
Of course not.
The novel was titled "Vera."
So what role did she play?
"Just one more marriage."
Estelle stared blankly at her father.
"You know our family is struggling financially. We're even worried about Vera's tuition next semester. As her older sister, you need to help."
She was the heroine Vera's stepsister.
"And this will be the last marriage of your life. You've already endured four. One more won't stain your reputation any further."
She was also the woman who repeatedly married and inherited vast fortunes from her husbands.
Thanks to Estelle, the once-impoverished Bellonsa family had become wealthy in a remarkably short time.
"Do you think I'm asking this for my own happiness? I'm saying this for the happiness of our family."
But Estelle wasn't included in that "family."
According to her father, she never had been.
And according to the novel, I'm destined to die young anyway.
Her role in the story was simple.
Leave behind a massive fortune for the impoverished heroine's family.
Then die.
The fact that the fortune came from her dead husbands' inheritances was merely a detail.
"...And?"
"I selected several marriage candidates while you were unconscious."
Her father had summoned her to his study the moment he heard she had regained consciousness after her suicide attempt.
Only to pressure her into another marriage.
"Among them, Count Blim seems the most agreeable. We're proceeding with him, so keep that in mind."
Then he muttered under his breath.
"Greedy old man. One foot in the grave and still wanting more."
Estelle's expression turned cold.
Realizing his mistake, the count hurriedly softened his tone.
"Estelle. You know you're the pillar and treasure of this family, don't you?"
"..."
"So please. Help us just this one last time."
"..."
"I'm not asking much. You only need to stay alive."
It was the first time in her life that the words stay alive sounded so horrifying.
"It won't even be difficult. Just do what you've always done."
He smiled.
"All you have to do is kill your husband on the wedding night."
That was how two marriages became three.
Three became four.
And now she stood on the verge of a fifth.
"...Count Bellonsa."
Her voice emerged dry and brittle.
"What if you asked Vera to do the same thing?"
"What?"
"Tell her to marry a man who's practically dying anyway because the family needs money."
His face twisted instantly.
"How dare you say that about your unmarried sister!"
The count raised his voice.
Estelle's expression tightened.
Realizing he had gone too far, he quickly tried to smooth things over.
"Don't drag Vera into this. She's already busy with her studies abroad. You know how delicate she is."
Then what about me?
Because I was merely the stepdaughter your second wife brought into this house...
Does it not matter what happens to me?
The question rose to her throat.
But she swallowed it.
She already knew the answer.
"I understand. This is my responsibility, isn't it?"
The count beamed.
"You're speaking nonsense because you've only recently recovered. I understand."
Then his smile widened.
"Rest well until the wedding and—"
"I want to attend one final banquet."
"A banquet?"
The count frowned.
"I heard the imperial family is hosting a celebration for Duke Winterren after he returns from defeating the monsters in the west."
"..."
"A great many people will attend just to see Duke Winterren's face."
"And?"
"I'd like to attend before I get married."
"You'll only hear unpleasant things if you show your face in public."
"But wouldn't showing my face raise my value?"
If her role in this family was merely to die and leave behind wealth—
Then she would use that role herself.
"Count Blim approached us because of the rumors surrounding me. If he hears more praise about my beauty, perhaps he'll offer an even higher price."
"Hmm..."
The count's eyes gleamed with greed.
There was no loss for him.
Only profit.
"Very well."
Estelle smiled.
To change the future, she first needed to choose her fifth husband herself.
Lenox Winterren.
She intended to meet him.
The second male lead of the novel "Vera."
The man who loved Vera so obsessively that, when his feelings were rejected—
He became the villain who destroyed the world.