"Impossible....." Clive muttered under his breath.

He put away the thick leather binder that was dark red in color, carved with golden edges. Inside it was the death certificate issued by the imperial palace.

"It's impossible"

His eyes wavered.

"There is no way that she....."

He read through the report that came along with the letter from the imperial palace again and again.

A search party led by the Captain of the Imperial guard, Alex Herrmann, ravaged through the Oric ocean in search of her.

After days of meticulous search, they were unable to find her body. The only evidence left was a piece of the dress she was wearing the day of the attack, found between the cracks on the mountain wall.

Three days after her death, the Frost knights who escorted her on the fateful day regained consciousness and gave their statements regarding the events.

'The Duchess's carriage was attacked by unknown masked assassins. She was killed by throwing off the mountain' was the bottom line.

The report was a thirty-page document elaborating on the death of the young Duchess Frost.

The noble lady he sent to the capital without her approval.

The craziest person in Ashford county.

His sister, Angelica.

Not only will she discover that she was kidnapped or 'sent on a favor' in Clive's terms, but she was also married to a man she had never met before.

From the moment Angelica wakes up in the Volos, she was bound to create chaos.

Clive had anticipated that much.

He expected her to storm out of the place to find and strangle him. Or send a death threat in the least.

But it was unexpectedly quiet for days.

Even after the things he sent reached her, there was still no response.

It left Clive puzzled about the situation in the Frost residence.

'Maybe she fell in love with Edward Frost? He did look pleasing in the eyes.....naaaah' Clive clicked his tongue. Even as a thought it was a ridiculous.

'There is a higher possibility of her burning the place down than falling in love'

His sister had the knack for chasing away any potential suitors in creative ways. Adam Norton was a living example of that.

The man was scarred for life ever since the snake incident when they were kids.

There was also that time when Angelica kicked the son of Marques Carlton into the lake for trying to hold her hand.

Clive's face hardened as he crumpled the report in his hands. He couldn't believe the words written in it, even if it had the imperial seal.

He closed his eyes and leaned back on his chair, thinking of how their lives became derailed, never to be the same again.









It all started around nine months ago, shortly after Angelica moved out of the house to live in the cabin with Chirpy. Although it was temporary, she left leaving everyone restless.

Angelica was too close to Countess Maria than anyone else, even more than her son Lorenz. So when she passed away unexpectedly, the grief took a big piece of her.

Lorenz and Rosaline were worried about their daughter endlessly.

They often caught her staring into space with a blank expression on her face.

When she told the couple she was moving out to live in her grandmother's cabin albeit temporarily, they were scared that they would lose her.

"Mom...Daddy......You know me. I just need some time alone to clear my mind"

It was only after she reassured them that she needed some time alone to recover, they allowed her to move out.

A few days after Angelica left, Clive took over his father's work to inherit his title. Given how smart he was, he quickly adapted to his new job without any fuss.

Between the Ashford siblings, Clive was always the favored student of the infamous alchemist Axel Gilbert, commonly known as 'the Conjurer'.

Master Gilbert was their tutor when they were kids.

Although Angelica was a fast and competitive learner for her age, she did not want to do anything that involves extensive use of her brain. Nor did she want to inherit the title.

She defined it as 'child labor'.

Yet she always completed all of her assignments without any qualms.

This laid-back attitude angered Gilbert. He could not allow the talent in front of him to go to waste.

The two would constantly break out into fights or argue with sparks flying between them, leaving Clive to mediate.

It was basically because of the two that he was swiftly able to master the art of negotiations.

Clive would negotiate as a mediator and made them reach a compromise every single time Gilbert and Angelica locked heads.

Due to the recurrent brawls, Clive naturally became the favored student of the ill-tempered Gilbert.

Not that Angelica cared. She was happy as long as Gilbert stopped nagging her.

Clive was able to start up multiple deals during his probation period. He even signed a trading partnership with the Kingdom of Murim in collaboration with the Howards.

He was finally able to give his parents the break they deserved.

Everything was fine till five months later when a series of storms reduced half of the southern part of the county into dust particles. Most of the commoners lost their livelihood and were temporarily staying in community centers arranged by the Ashfords.

Although aid from the capital arrived for the damages, it put a major dent in the Ashford finances.

It was followed by four of their trading ships loaded with shipments disappearing en route to the Kingdom of Murim, in the neighboring continent Nasia.

A series of unfortunate incidents put the Ashfords in a financial crisis for the first time in generations. The Ashfords were rich, but not to the point that they were filthy rich like the nobles in the capital.

The Ashford's were countryside nobles who lived a rightful life. People in Ashford county led peaceful lives compared to other territories.

Clive sent his parents on a long vacation right after the news about the storm arrived. He did not want to bother them and promised to handle everything since he was the Count now.

The Ashford couple in addition to the Howard couple were vacationing in a remote villa in Cherrel, a village located in the outskirts of the Howard Barony.

Clive barred every single news regarding the financial crisis from reaching his parents with the help of the Howard twins.

He did his best as a Lord to the people of the county. He opened multiple community centers in various regions and visited them from time to time to provide appropriate aid.

But disaster hit when more and more storms affected the other regions too.

It was as if the universe was his opponent, sinking every one of his ships even till the last lifeboat.

It was when Clive was on the verge of a meltdown, that a letter with a seal of a wolf arrived from the capital.

Clive's eyes widened as big as saucers when he read through the letter. At first glance, it was a letter inquiring about the welfare of the people and province.

But soon, it took an unexpected turn.

"A marriage proposal..?"

It was a marriage proposal between Angelica Ashford, the only daughter of Count Ashford, and Edward Frost, the future Archduke of the North.