"They say he kills people for sport. His first wife vanished within three days."
My stepmother Berta said it as though she were remarking on the weather.
I—Elena Fordrick—stood frozen in the cold entrance hall.
"Mother, does that mean..."
"Yes. You will be the one to marry. You'll go to the Ice Duke, His Grace Claude Wallenstein."
Beside her, my stepsister Sophia giggled behind her fan.
"How lovely for you, Sister. From a count's house on the brink of ruin to a duchess, just like that. Provided you last three days, of course."
The snap of her fan closing struck at my heart.
Duke Wallenstein.
In high society, people shied away from even speaking that name.
He laughed as he cut down enemies on the battlefield, and the servants who entered his manor vanished one after another. He showed not the slightest interest in women and favored only beautiful young men—or so the rumors went.
In short, they were getting rid of me.
This marriage proposal had originally come for Sophia, the daughter my father's second wife had brought with her. But Berta had no intention whatsoever of handing her own flesh and blood over to a monster.
"Losing you is no loss at all."
Berta smiled—as she slid my mother's keepsake ring off my finger.
"I'm confiscating this. I'll sell it to pay for your trousseau. You'll be killed anyway, so you won't need it, will you?"
My finger went cold and light. It felt as though the last of my mother's warmth had been taken from me.
The words of protest froze in my throat.
If I defied her here, Hanna would be thrown out on the street as well. That, at least, I wanted to avoid.
Since my father had died of illness, I had no one on my side in this house. Only Hanna, our longtime maid, stood in a corner of the hallway, biting her lip.
"Miss..."
"It's all right, Hanna."
I straightened my back. I might be frightened, but I had no intention of selling my pride along with everything else.
As a daughter of the Fordricks, I would keep my head held high to the very end.
Even if what awaited me was death itself.
The carriage that came for me was as black as night.
Its crest was a naked blade. Its windows were barred with iron.
"Like a prisoner transport, isn't it?"
As I was leaving, Sophia whispered in a syrupy voice.
"Sister. Do try to last a good long while. Until His Grace grows tired of you, we'll be eagerly waiting."
Berta added:
"In a month, I'll come and see how you're getting on. I'll at least gather up your bones."
With their laughter at my back, I climbed into the carriage.
The wheels began to turn. My family's house fell farther and farther behind.
I clenched my hands together in my lap.
Would he kill me?
Or was something even more terrible waiting for me?
Just imagining it, I couldn't stop my fingertips from trembling.
Even so, I told myself, gazing at the scenery streaming past the window.
What would Mother have done at a time like this?
Surely she would have straightened her back and looked her fate squarely in the eye.
I drew a deep breath and clenched my trembling hands tighter.
By the time we reached the duke's domain, the moon had climbed high.
The towering castle looked as cold as a castle of ice, just as the rumors said.
The heavy doors creaked open.
At the far end of a long corridor stood a figure.
A tall man.
Silver hair. A cool, sharp profile, as though carved from ice.
The closer I came, the more inhuman his beauty seemed. And—his eyes were chillingly still.
"So you are Elena."
His low voice echoed off the stone floor.
My legs locked. I desperately held down the urge to run.
Even so, I sank into a curtsy and gave my name in a trembling voice.
"Y-yes. I am Elena Fordrick. From this day forward, as your wife—"
"Wife, is it?"
Claude walked slowly toward me.
Then, unhurriedly, he reached out his hand.
He's going to kill me.
The instant I squeezed my eyes shut—a hand that should have been cold touched my cheek, ever so gently.
The pain of a blade never came, no matter how long I waited.
Only the palm cradling my cheek was trembling, faintly.
When I timidly opened my eyes, those icy eyes were gazing straight at me.
"...At last, you've come."
Those were the very first words of the monster duke of the rumors.