Prologue

“Wewcome home, Daddy!” exclaimed our home’s own little Princess Violet as she flung herself at her father—Cercis, the duke of Fisalis. Our Violet—or Lettie, as we call her—was such a big daddy’s girl that she’d jumped at the chance to be the first to greet her father at the door, dashing down the hall with light steps and throwing herself right into his arms.

Violet was the apple of his eye, so Mr. Fisalis caught her and lifted her up off the ground without a second thought. “I’m home, Lettie. Were you a good girl while I was gone?”

“Yeah!” she answered, flashing him a grin that stretched from ear to ear.

So cute!

Apparently I wasn’t the only one who’d been thinking that exact thing; a smile rose not only to Cercis’s face, but to the faces of the rest of the servants standing around too—our butler Rohtas and the head maid Dahlia among them.

Aww, look! This little angel of ours has the power to put a smile on anyone’s face!

It was a snapshot of an incredibly normal—no, a happy family’s life. Whoever could have predicted that a future like this awaited us back when we first got married?

* * *

I, Viola Mangelica Fisalis (née Euphorbia), and my husband, Cercis Tinensis Fisalis, began our relationship purely as a marriage of convenience...or more accurately, a contract marriage. Worse, it was an unequal treaty—one the words “balanced” or “well-matched” could never hope to describe.

I hailed from the Euphorbia family, an impoverished noble house—and one saddled with a boatload of debt to boot. Meanwhile, Duke Fisalis was one of the most distinguished aristocrats in all of the Flür Kingdom. That’s enough to tell you just how much of a mismatch it was.

On top of that, between how incredibly good-looking and elite he was, Cercis himself was a real catch of a guy. I, on the other hand, was a homely, wilted flower of a lady. Any way you sliced it, he was way too good for me!

Naturally, any marriage that unbalanced has got to come with a catch.

And lo and behold—at the time, Mr. Fisalis had a lover named Calendula, and he had to find himself a “show wife” if he hoped to stay with her going forward.

Being a mega-prestigious aristocrat and all, everyone around him was always getting on his case about “getting married” or “producing an heir”—but of course, he didn’t want to break up with his girlfriend. And so, this was the solution he arrived at: he would pick any old girl off the street to be his bride.

Given the situation, a noblewoman who actually had feelings for him would have been a non-starter. That’s how I ended up being the chosen one. Despite Mr. Fisalis being so famous and accomplished that there wasn’t a single soul in high society who didn’t know his name, I had so little interest in him that I barely even remembered who he was. Honestly, I really have to hand it to him for managing to find a girl like me—though maybe “dig up” would be more accurate.

Seeing as I didn’t have a sliver of interest in him, I couldn’t have cared less about whatever he did with his girlfriend.

To sum it up, due to various complicated, grown-up circumstances, Mr. Fisalis came to me proposing a contract marriage—one which would allow him to keep a mistress in exchange for shouldering my family’s debt.

“You’re free to do as you please, of course. I don’t mind if you find yourself a lover, so long as you remain discreet about it. Food, clothing, shelter—I promise you will never want for anything.”

I must say, that line of his sure left quite the impression on me. Why, I don’t think I’ll ever forget those words.

In any case, he was happy with the arrangement, and so was I. Seeing as we both only stood to gain from this engagement, I couldn’t think of a good reason to refuse. Thus, I okayed it without a second thought!

Amid Mr. Fisalis’s ongoing absences, I began my new life at the ducal manor. I met the butler, Rohtas; the head maid, Dahlia; the chef, Cartham; and the gardener, Bellis. I even had a maid named Mimosa waiting on me hand and foot. Living among them and the rest of the mansion’s numerous servants, I never even had the chance to feel lonely. If anything, I may very well have preferred having my “husband” out of my hair...

I took his assurance of “you’re free to do as you please” and ran with it, blending into the servants’ ranks and filling my days with hard, rewarding labor like cleaning and laundry.

But then, in an unexpected twist of fate, Mr. Fisalis actually started to take an interest in me. His girlfriend lost her temper after he began shunting her off to the side in order to spend more time with me, and after the two of them got into a big, dramatic fight in front of everyone, she left the manor for good.

We went through a lot of ups and downs after that.

But these days, the two of us were known throughout Flür high society as “the world’s most devoted husband” and “his beloved wife.” So much for that whole “show wife” deal, huh?

* * *

Whoops, I got caught up reminiscing there.

Mr. Fisalis and Violet were still standing in front of me, being as affectionate with each other as ever.

No matter how much of a little angel Violet was, I couldn’t just hang back and watch their father-daughter bonding moment forever. I hadn’t even had the chance to welcome Mr. Fisalis home yet!

“Welcome home, Cercis. Hee hee—Lettie was so excited to talk to you that she’s been waiting around in the entryway for ages.”

“Thanks, Vi. Oh, but what’s that? What did she want to talk to me about?”

“I couldn’t say. She’s been full of questions these days; maybe she wants you to answer ‘why this’ or ‘why that’ for her.”

Yes, indeed—in recent days, Violet was starting to take an interest in all manner of things, and she’d developed the habit of flagging down the nearest servant to bombard them with an endless stream of questions.

“I see. Then why don’t we have a nice, long chat once we’re done with dinner?”

“Okay!” responded Violet, giving her father a tight, delighted squeeze around the neck. Hmm, I’m starting to get a little jealous over here.

* * *

When supper was over and we were unwinding in the parlor, Violet was sitting on Mr. Fisalis’s lap, looking pleased as punch.

“Um! Ummm!” Violet blurted out, doing her best to talk even though she still had trouble stringing full sentences together.

Mr. Fisalis looked absolutely enchanted. “Yes, sweetie?”

How precious—they’re like the perfect picture of a loving father and daughter, I thought, watching them with a smile as I brought my cup of tea to my lips.

“Why did Mommy and Daddy get mawwied? How did you meet?”

Her perfectly innocent question almost made me spit out my drink.

V-Violet?! That was what you wanted to ask him?!

I swallowed my mouthful of tea in such a hurry that I nearly choked. Mr. Fisalis didn’t look too thrilled at this turn of events either.

Given Violet’s day-to-day interrogations—and given her fondness for Rohtas and Dahlia in particular—I had noticed the sharp, dramatic increase in her knowledge of the world, but I never imagined she would turn around and ask her father that.

Looking unsure of what to do with Violet’s pure, sparkling eyes turned on him, Mr. Fisalis flicked his gaze over to me and Rohtas. That was probably his way of saying, Help me!

Hmm, what should I do here? The servants and I have to deal with my daughter’s questions day in and day out. Maybe it’s for the best if Mr. Fisalis answers this one in his own words!

And so I decided that ignoring him was the way to go.

Rohtas and the rest of the servants seemed to have come to the same conclusion, judging by the way they all glanced off in different directions.

Cottoning on to the implication of those looks, Mr. Fisalis gave Violet an awkward smile. “Let’s see... The first time Daddy ever saw Mommy was at an evening party, if memory serves.”

“So you liked Mommy first?”

“Indeed I did!”

That’s the one thing you can say with confidence, huh? I guess it is technically true. Nobody’s saying whether those feelings came before or after the wedding, though!

“How did you ask Mommy?”

“Huh?”

“Did you say, ‘Will you mawwy me?’”

Violet was being awfully pushy today.

If I remembered correctly, Mr. Fisalis had first proposed the marriage in the garden of the Euphorbia manor. And when he did...

“Of course I—” That was as far as Mr. Fisalis got in his explanation to Violet before he trailed off.

You’ve got “I didn’t say that” written all over your face! Makes sense, since I don’t remember hearing it either!

That initial encounter had been nothing more than a glorified signing ceremony for our “contract marriage,” after all. Together we had hashed out the terms of our marriage and anything else of relevance; everything about it had felt like the conclusion of a business deal. It certainly wasn’t anything as mushy as a proposal.

Mr. Fisalis wasn’t about to come out and say that, of course, so he was clearly stumped for a response. All the while, Violet kept gazing up at him with those pure, earnest eyes of hers. Oh dear, he’s starting to look a little green about the gills.

Perhaps it was about time I threw him a lifeline.

“Well, you see, Daddy helped Mommy out when her family was having a tough time! And Mommy was so taken by Daddy’s kindness that the two of us decided to get married!”

I mean, it’s technically true. But even if it’s not a lie, exactly, it sure doesn’t sound right. And it barely makes any sense. But it sounds like a good answer, so it’ll do!

Mr. Fisalis was visibly relieved.

“Ohh, I see!”

“Yes. There you have it.”

My answer was all over the place, but if it’s good enough for Violet, it’s good enough for me! It won’t be long before she’s old enough to start poking holes in it, though, so Mr. Fisalis and I had better get our story straight before she has the chance. This is a highly urgent matter.

But putting that aside...

“What about when I was bown?” Violet launched right into her next question.

“Oh? You want to know about how you came into the world?”

“Yeah!”

She wants to know how we ended up having her, hm? Mr. Fisalis and I each started reflecting back on the past. Hmm, that one’s a long story...