Chapter 2: 2

It was raining at the funeral of her second husband. A stinging pain followed as the raindrops wet her black mourning robe and seeped into her wound.

‘Is it really over now?’

Eliana asked herself.

“Eliana.”

Eliana turned her head at the heavy low voice that came from her side. Eliana, wearing a black mourning clothes with a complicated expression on her face, gave strength to her legs when she saw the Viscount, her father.

“If you want to live, come to your senses.”

At the hazy dawn, those were the first words the Viscount spoke to Eliana.

By the time she returned, the mansion was already in a state of commotion over the death of the Marquis. Facing the Marquis, who couldn’t even lie upright in the coffin due to his hunched back, Eliana calmed herself down.

And on the third day, after being forced to come to her senses by Viscount Hoffmann, she was guarding the funeral of the Marquis.

“Thanks for visiting, Baron.”

“You’re welcome. I am so sorry for your loss.”

The Baron, who had talked with the Viscount, looked straight at Eliana. The Baron’s expression slowly became hazy.

“……thank you.”

Raindrops fell between her eyebrows.

Even without making eye contact, the purpose of those attending the funeral was easy to read.

She had goosebumps throughout the funeral because of the malicious gaze and curiosity she felt.

“How did the Marquis die?”

Elia clenched her fists at the gaze of a passing man who scanned her body. She shuddered at that snake-like gaze.

“The Marquis’ last room was the bedroom. It’s really unfortunate.”

Eliana raised her head at the man’s mockery. The Baron, who met her eyes, narrowed his eyes and left his seat in haste. Eliana smirked as she watched the back of the man mocking the widow left at the funeral.

“What kind of disrespect is that?”

When her baron disappeared, the Viscount sternly rebuked Eliana.

Eliana lowered her gaze.

“……”

Eliana chose silence instead of answering. And she looked at the long line without saying a word. There was a fake laugh for the purpose of being clearly heard, but Eliana gritted her teeth.

The moment she faced the Marquis lying in the coffin, Eliana felt free. She doesn’t need to get hit for no reason anymore.

Therefore, she should be able to accept the curious glances at her casually, only to live.

They put a smile on their lips in order to put their eyes on Viscount Hoffmann, an emerging aristocrat who is in the spotlight these days. And they stretched out their necks to see Eliana, the most beautiful woman in the Empire, who was widowed at the age of twenty-two.

Both were sights not to be missed by mourners. So the rain at this point didn’t matter to them.

“It’s already the second time, isn’t it?”

“Oh, my God, I feel sorry for you. I can’t believe you lost your second husband at twenty-two.”

Those who flocked to condolences to the young Marchioness, who had lost her husband, would occasionally bow their heads and talk among themselves.

The women comforted Eliana by referring to her bad luck, and the men explored her body with their eyes.

“Did her husbands die in the bedroom twice?”

Dirty rumors that even nobles could not even put into their mouths had already spread through the mouths of people.

Fortunately, no one doubted and questioned the death of the Marquis.

“Looking at her face, she’s so fine.”

All the men who saw Eliana in the rain in black mourning could not take their eyes off her. With buttons up to her neck and a voluminous skirt hiding her slender body, the mournful atmosphere emanating from Eliana was unique.

“Who is the third?”

“Huh? The funeral isn’t over yet, and you talking about a third marriage?”

“Don’t you know that Viscount Hoffman sold his daughter? Who did all that wealth flow to after the death of her first husband?”

“Do you think wealth is the only thing? Now that the Marquis has died without an heir, to whom will that title be bestowed?”

At the gossip coming from behind her, Eliana smiled sadly.

Her husband’s coffin hadn’t even been buried. Nevertheless, as she listened to people talking about her third marriage, her eyes naturally turned to Viscount Hoffman.

Her two marriages were for the revival of her father and her family. The Viscount had promised Eliana that there would be no third marriage for her.

Eliana, determined, clenched her trembling hand. The last moment of the Marquis, who was bleeding and opening his eyes wide, came to mind, but she closed her eyes tightly.

“Thank you for coming.”

Eliana bowed her head.

It was her second marriage, but she had never actually had a conjugal relationship with her two husbands, much less had a child. Her first husband was homosexual, and her second husband was disabled. But regardless of this, the only thing her two marriages gave her was the disgrace of being a widow.

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The raindrops took the place of her tears and ran down her pale cheeks.

Eliana’s fingertips turned icy cold as she lowered her head after thanking the mourners.

“What are you doing? Eliana! You won’t say hello?”

Viscount Hoffman who was standing beside Eliana with a sad face urged her.

Eliana, who was lowering her head and uttering meaningless greetings to those who attended the funeral, raised her head at Viscount Hoffmann’s shout.

“Oh……”

Eliana froze looking at the man in front of her.

“As the rumors say, I’m sure she’ll have a good baby.”

“The funeral isn’t over yet, Duke.”

Viscount Hoffman lowered his voice. It was a reluctance to talk about selling his daughter again before the funeral was over.

‘Duke? Could it be that Duke Lloyd, the Emperor’s teacher?’

Without time to organize her thoughts, Eliana opened her mouth as the Duke looked at the Viscount with contempt.

“Viscount Hoffmann. Have you ever forgotten who am I?”

“I’ve been rude. Please forgive me.”

That’s him. There is only one person who can be called a Duke.

Her gaze turned to Viscount Hoffmann, who stood beside her.

“Father……”

Viscount Hoffmann did not turn his head despite Eliana’s call. Eliana closed her eyes.

He said it was the last one. She shouldn’t have trusted her father so easily.

The job of Duke Lloyd, the Emperor’s teacher, was to find suitable toys.

Beautiful plaything to please the capricious Emperor Matteo.

The meaning of Duke Lloyd’s visit to Eliana was clear.

She thought she would not be able to remarry after two marriages, but apparently, there was still a position as the Emperor’s concubine.

Perhaps that day, the dawn when she fled after the Marquis fell was the only chance to escape this nightmare life. The will to the life that had barely been attained faded.

Eliana exhaled a little.

It had only been three days since the Marquis died. In that short time, her father, Viscount Hoffmann, had again sold Eliana to another man.

“I never thought black mourning would make a man go crazy. She’d better wear a black dress when she meets him.”

Duke Lloyd couldn’t take her eyes off Eliana.

Eliana swallowed her saliva and was about to step back.

“I will get her ready.”

The behavior of the two men, who freely bargained for her price, made Eliana lose her mind.

“You can’t make him wait too long.”

The Duke of Lloyd, who proudly looked down at Viscount Hoffman, left.

As soon as people’s gazes moved away, Eliana turned her head to her father.

“No way. It’s not…… isn’t it? You said my marriage to the Marquis would be the last!”

Viscount Hoffmann frowned at Eliana’s words. The Viscount, who could not even raise his head in front of Duke Lloyd, was gone.

He rubbed his forehead with his hand and whispered in Eliana’s ear.

“……if you hadn’t killed the Marquis, it wouldn’t have happened, Eliana.”

At Viscount Hoffmann’s words, Eliana gulped. Her trembling body betrayed her will.

Viscount Hoffmann, who forced Eliana to stand up as she was about to fall, gently stroked her shoulder.

“Hey, Eliana!”

Viscount Hoffman, who comforted her with his worried face, was a caring father himself. But Eliana shivered whenever his hand touched her.

With the death of the Marquis as an excuse, Viscount Hoffmann intends to sell her over again.

“You are lucky enough as a woman who has been married twice to become the Emperor’s concubine.”

“Father!”

Eliana couldn’t stand her father anymore. Tears flowed in an instant without stopping.

“You have to think about raising your family by doing your duty.”

His words made no sense at all.

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