A youthful boy had recently marked the beginning of his adulthood at fourteen-years-of-age as the lord of Ilyanna Castle—an old castle in the Far East.

He and his younger sister, Aelia Elgar Ilyanna had, too, turned thirteen-years-of-age. Alongside her brother, she received ownership of Ilyanna Castle after the death of her father who died in battle two-some years ago.

Aelia, who was to leave her respected home, left her most treasured necklace with her older brother, Cyril. It was made of ruby and encased with diamonds—a valuable necklace unbefitting the shabby pair of siblings.

“Give this to Sophie when she turns of age, brother.”

Cyril nodded. “Alright.”

Their bedridden mother and younger siblings were much too weak to tend to housekeeping duties and their late father, Ron Elgar Ilyanna, a man of integrity, left a few acres of land gifted by the Emperor and a dilapidated castle for his children. Though he received more land and another castle as a reward for his heroic contributions to the war efforts, those possessions had been taken by enemy troops.

Regardless of their young age, Cyril and Aelia, the firstborns of the family, were forced to inherit the position of their deceased father as head of the house per Teniac tradition. But no matter how much the pairs struggled to keep the family afloat, they fell deeper into poverty.

Then one day, a letter arrived before the Elgar Family from the Teniac Emperor, Murray Theresia de Calise.

The letter spoke of the promised engagement between the Crown Prince, Lawrence Theresia de Calise, and the daughter of the Hero of Teniac, Aelia Elgar Ilyanna. It was the greatest reward offered to the empire’s hero.

On the day of Aelia’s departure, a mirthful celebration was held at Ilyanna Castle.

That night, she sought the presence of Cyril, now the only sole overseer of the castle, and said, “Brother, you must not expect anything from me because I am engaged to the Crown Prince. Father would not have wanted this. Even if Sophie gets married, I won’t give her another piece of jewelry. That necklace is the only one, truly. Okay?”

Cyril looked at his sister and smiled woefully. She was younger than him by a year, but she played the part of an older, mature sibling more than he did.

Used to her constant nagging, he shrugged, and said, “We’ll be fine. Worry about yourself. Don’t act like a country bumpkin in front of them just because you grew up in a small castle, you got that?”

“…How can I ever entrust mother to a jester like you?” Aelia chuckled.

“Aelia, dear sister, I am Cyril Elgar Ilyanna,” seeking to emphasize his trustworthiness, he stuck his chest out and thumped it with a fist and continued, “father was able to protect the entire empire, yet I can’t protect one family? Do you think that lowly of me?”

Aelia clapped her hands. “Wow. Big Brother’s all grown up.”

“I’ll look after the family. Don’t worry too much, sister. Live happily, my dear precious sister.”

He donned a cheeky smile and Aelia laughed and nodded.

Not wanting to see the sad and solemn gazes of her bedridden mother and younger siblings, Aelia bade Cyril a farewell and asked that he passes on her farewell greetings to them before sneaking out of the castle late in the night.

As the young girl stepped foot into the carriage, she gave the castle she called her home one final glance and one final wave to her loving brother before turning her head forward.

It was as if her heart had been torn in two.

Seven years passed since then. The only time Ailea was able to see her family members once again was the day her mother passed away.

During their first five years, Cyril rarely had the opportunity to leave Ilyanna Castle to visit the Imperial Palace. Moreover, she was sick and wrought with a contagious disease that afflicted her for the past two years and thus informed Cyril that he not visit her.

Ailea would soon be twenty years old soon. She was alone in the Outer Castle with only her wedding dress. It would take an hour’s time on a fast, speedy horse to get here from the center of the Imperial Palace.

Only wastelands surrounded the area and the servant who feared catching her infectious disease was long gone.

“Still, time passes. It can’t be kept at bay nor does it wait.”

Ailea looked at the stark white dress and then her darkened hands.

Since entering the Imperial Palace, she’d come across many women who flaunted their beauty. In comparison, she was a mere country bumpkin unable to capture the Crown Prince’s heart.

Then, in her sixteenth winter season, she caught a disease, causing dark spots to appear all over her body. Due to this, the date of her wedding which was originally set on her eighteenth birthday, on the fifteenth month of May, was pushed back by the Crown Prince without any reasonable explanation.

Two years passed since then and her wedding dress arrived in front of her. She stared at the dress quietly till she could no longer hold back the excitement rummaging inside her. With frantic hands, she took off her clothes.

“It might not fit me, so it’s best that I try it on,” she said.

She gave an excuse to no one else but herself and changed into the wedding dress. She had gotten used to dressing herself without the help of the servant girls. She had no help growing up, it was no different here in the Imperial Palace.

When she finally wore the dress, a dejected expression crossed her face. In those three months it’d take to make the dress, she’d grown haggard and thinner.

She rarely had food brought over in the Outer Castle. Though she wrote countless letters requesting more, her pleas were ignored and she received only a paltry amount.

The servant’s award of her illness believed that she was struck with a curse. Their continuous whispers behind her back made her believe that she, too, was cursed. But on the day she saw that wedding dress, all her heartbreak, pain, woes, and suffering flew out the window.

Ailea stood in front of the mirror and examined her reflection.

“It needs to be adjusted,” she murmured with a smile.

Since she already had the dress on, Ailea decided to practice her wedding day makeup and began applying the makeup while looking at the mirror meticulously. When finished, she practiced her smile multiple times in full ensemble.

After a long while, the girl forgotten by the world would soon stand in front of them once again. She was scared, but it was better than wallowing in pitiful loneliness.

Donning a happy face, she picked up a pen and wrote a letter.

Dear Cyril,

At last, my wedding day will come. It must’ve been difficult for you to concoct many excuses on behalf of your foolish sister to our dear family. I tried on my wedding dress for the first time today. Choosing one from the endless arrays was so difficult. I felt sorry for the servant girls.

I’m sure they were struck with exhaustion.

My dearest brother, I apologize for leaving you to take care of our family while I’m out here living a life of splendor. No matter how many times I apologize… it’ll never be enough.

While writing the letter, the sound of hooves echoed and Ailea lifted her head.

Startled, she rushed over to the window and peered out. She saw the man whom she was to marry… Crown Prince Lawrence and his subordinates stood outside the Outer Castle.

Her heart felt like it’d burst out of her chest at any moment. She hurried out to greet her soon-to-be-husband.

Lawrence was there.

He came to see beer.

It was as if her wedding day was growing near.

Her heart pounded erratically.

Rushing over to the front door, she stopped momentarily before opening it. There was an age-old superstition that the groom should never see his bride in her wedding dress before the ceremony.

Looking around the vicinity with frantic eyes, she spotted a blanket and quickly wrapped it around her.

As she finished covering herself, a handsome and well polished red-headed man glistened under the boughs of light. Sitting atop the horse, he entered the castle courtyard. He showed the manners of a gentleman from the royal family, but to Ailea, she thought that there was no need.

“Ailea, it’s been a while,” Lawrence gave his greetings curtly.

“Your Highness.”

Upon seeing Ailea’s current appearance, Lawrence’s face wrinkled in distaste.

Black spots spread across Ailea’s skin. The remaining white of her normal skin color were but speckles of dots scarring her body. The color – a charred black – looked nothing like the skin color of a healthy living human being.

Embarrassed, Ailea hastily said, “I apologize for my appearance. However, if the groom sees the bride in her wedding dress before the day of the ceremony…”

Looking at her current state of appearance, it made it less difficult for Lawrence to mutter the words he prepared days ago.

“Rita won’t see me till I settle things with you.”

“…I’m sorry?”

Lawrence must’ve been referrring to the noblewoman that is Rita Brea, the daughter of Marquis Alex Brea. The House of Brea was a well-known family name that even the socially ostracized Ailea knew of its name.

“It’s why I came to visit you. I’ve no intention of marrying you, Ailea Elgar Ilyanna.”

Ailea lost her hearing as she zoned out momentarily, but when she came back to, she was met with cold, piercing eyes staring at her.

“I’ve heard that if people obsess over something before their death, they’d turn to ghosts and haunt you. You kept bothering me over and over about that ugly dress, so I sent you one. I guess you took a liking to it,” Lawrence spoke calmly.

Ailea paled at his words and she let go of the blanket she gripped tightly.

…So… it was like that…

She’d been dreaming a hopeless dream, a false illusion.

‘I dolled myself up so you would love me… so I’d not be lonely… so I can escape this world of cold darkness…’

As those pervading thoughts drowned her mind, she tightened her corset till she could not breathe and applied as much makeup as she could to the point that no one could recognize her. Her face was stark white in comparison to the rest of her black, speckled body. It was as if she’d put on a mask.

Though it proved challenging for her, she was finally able to don the wedding dress her prince charming gifted her. Towards the girl like her whose skin was blackened with dark spots, the white dress was awfully horrid in comparison to her black skin. It only further emphasized her ugliness.

The crown prince was six years older than the thirteen-year-old girl he was engaged at the time they met. He had no interest in underaged girls and went around fooling with women his age.

But when she grew of age, when she became the face of beauty, and when she suddenly caught the crown prince’s eyes and affection, she was struck with a mysterious disease and thus cast out of the Imperial Palace.

Ailea hung on to that brief show of affection he once showed her. He was the only man she’d ever known and the only once she’d come across romantically.

When they first met all those years ago, he looked at her mockingly and with derisive laugh, but to her, Lawrence was her first life.

She would marry him.

That false dream of marrying him since ages ago never changed… from when she was thirteen years of age at the time to when he gifted her the white wedding dress at the age of twenty.

Though their engagement was arranged by the emperor, when she donned the white dress, she thought she’d finally escape the cold, dark world she lived in and become his wife.

A hypnotized expression crossed her face and Ailea walked towards Lawrence.

He did not wish to be near her presence.

He took a step back.