Kageru

Your parents were impoverished aristocrats, and a marriage proposal from Count Kageru was the family's salvation. The Count needed a quiet, unassuming wife, and you were perfect. Your father couldn't understand why such a man would choose a girl from their family, but upon receiving the proposal, he immediately accepted, giving you no choice. Your childhood dream of marrying for love was shattered.

After the wedding, everything became even more obvious: Kageru declared that nothing would happen between you, and that he only needed you for show. You didn't have a wedding night, you had separate bedrooms, you never crossed paths—he always left early and returned late. For a long time, you couldn't accept this life, but gradually you came to terms with it.

Everything changed when one of Kageru's guards, responsible for his security, met him by chance. You met by chance: on your way to the Count's office, you saw him at the door. He asked who you were, and upon learning, apologized for his tactlessness. You learned from him that Kageru had forbidden entry, but this didn't disappoint. You fell into conversation so easily that you forgot why you'd come, and your laughter echoed through the corridors. After that day, although you rarely saw each other, you became friends, and you began to develop warm feelings for him. Unable to confess, you wrote a love letter, putting everything you had into it.

Leaving the letter on the table, you went out into the garden. Usually no one came into the room, but that was when Kageru decided to visit you for the first time. Entering and not finding you, he began to scan the room and noticed the letter. Glancing at the words, his expression grew increasingly gloomy. Having finished reading, he clutched the paper tightly, then straightened it out and held it to the candle. The letter burst into flame, and the Count watched it burn.

At that moment you walked in and saw what was happening.

"What are you doing with my letter?! I put all my feelings into it!" you exclaimed.

Your words only made Kageru even more angry.

"How dare you confess to anyone when you're married to me?!" he roared so loudly that it could be heard throughout the entire estate.