Elise sat by the window and gazed out at the ash-colored sky.

It was a moment of transformation, the end of an era and the beginning of a new one. Everyone rode the winds of change and invested in the newness, unaware of the dangerous consequences.

It didn’t take long for one investor after another to go bust, and an entire town to be destroyed.

The same happened to Elise’s family.

They lost all their lands and all their money, saving only the old mansion where their ancestors had lived for generations, but even that was no longer sustainable.

The fall of her noble family, the shocking death of her father, and the breakup of her fiancé, whom she had sworn to love forever. A lifetime of aristocratic honor had come to an end.

?I can’t leave you like this, Elise. I’ll find a way, somehow.?

?Go…….?

?I’ll be right back. Just wait!?

But he didn’t come back. And she knew it.

That he couldn’t and wouldn’t come back.

Now she waits for one man, and one man only.

He was the only man who had offered to buy the house and everything in it.

Elise turned her head and looked around the house.

Her gaze traveled to the objects that would soon belong to someone else. Every single object in the house held memories of her childhood. In fact, the entire house did.

Elise was in pain and anguish at having her entire childhood stolen from her, but she was one of the lucky ones. If the house hadn’t been sold, she would have been thrown out on the street immediately.

Now there was only one thing on Elise’s mind.

Whether a gentleman of great means would take pity on her, and how much money he would give her.

In the morning, she busied herself with washing and preparing to receive her guests. Alone in a house with no hired help, she was already very tired.

Elise stared out the window, chewing on her red lips with a pale complexion. It was three hours past the appointed time, and the gentleman had not arrived.

Surely he wouldn’t stay away forever.

Elise’s chin drooped in despair, her face pitiful.

It was then.

A carriage drew up in the distance. Its dim lights colored the ashen air. Elise jumped out of her seat. There were no maids to greet them, no butlers to show them the way.

Perhaps she should go out.

After a moment’s hesitation, Elise sank back into her seat, resisting the urge to run out of the house barefoot.

This was a man who would put a price on everything in this house. How cheap it would seem if she were to run out and reveal her desperate state of mind and humbleness. This manor, its contents, and herself.

She was a fallen noble, but she wanted to keep at least some semblance of dignity.

Long afterward, a gentleman’s footsteps echoed clearly throughout the sprawling mansion. He didn’t knock on the door or send a messenger. He strode straight into Elise’s space with familiar strides.

“Long time no see, Elder.”

The voice behind him made Elise doubt his ears.

“Y, you…….”

Only one person had ever called her that.

The cursed orphan brought in by the village elder.

“Right.”

The man, dressed from head to toe as a perfect gentleman, smiled broadly. Elise shuddered in disbelief.

“Argen, how on earth could you…….”

“Hearing my name out of your mouth feels better than I can imagine.”

The corners of his mouth quirked up, and he brushed his fingertips across Elise’s cheek.

“Though now I shall be Argen von Bernhardt.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Literally.”

Argen tilted his head slightly. The elegant gesture gave the illusion that he had been a member of a noble family since the day he was born, but to Elise, who knew his past, it was merely a creepy mimicry.

“I said I would buy this house, and everything in it.”

Argen glanced around. His dark eyes held all of Elise’s childhood. But there was no emotion in his gaze as he surveyed the priceless items. His eyes only lit up when he saw Elise. A glow filled with burning desire.

His dark eyes locked onto hers.

“Elise von Bernhardt. Including you.”

The moment Argen’s dark eyes locked on Elise, she jerked back, unable to control herself. Her breath caught in her throat as if she were going to suffocate at any moment, thanks to the buttons at the end of her collar.

“No way.”

No, no, no.

Elise shook her head vigorously, denying the horrible reality.

“Oh, no, Elder.”

As Elise gasped for air with her hands clasped around her throat, Argen reached out. In one swift motion, he yanked at the buttons and loose black lace that cinched Elise’s neck.

“Gah!”

“Throw these clothes away now. These rags don’t suit you.”

The black dress she had worn since her father’s death was torn to shreds. Her white sternum, which she had kept hidden beneath the form-fitting black dress, was on full display.

“I think you look better in something a little more…….”

Argen said, running his fingertips along her smooth skin.

“Something that shows off your white flesh.”

“Get your hands off me!”

Elise shouted in abject humiliation, but Argen just laughed out loud, as if it were funny. His touch grew more and more blatant, digging into Elise’s chest. Elise squirmed and protested.

“Stop it, I said stop it!”

“Elder, you’re mistaken.”

Argen clutched at Elise’s chest, hard.

“Ugh……!”

“You still think you’re a cute little lady, but your master is me now.”

Elise’s face turned pale as she squirmed under his touch.

“So you’re in a worse position than I used to be because at least I wasn’t yours then.”

Argen gave the nape of Elise’s neck a long lick and whispered.

“Though I was your plaything.”

As Elise squirmed and whimpered, Argen tore at her clothes one more time. Her perky breasts spilled out of the half-removed dress without losing their shape, and soon they were crushed roughly in Argen’s palm.

“Aaahhh…… no!”

As Argen cupped her breasts, the beautiful rosy nipples poked out from between his fingers. The feel of the voluptuous breasts in his large hands made him shiver with pleasure and delight.

It was the only thing that had made this long hell of life bearable. Something he would never lose again.

“I thought it would break my heart to see you fall.”

Argen buried his face between Elise’s breasts.

A face that was still creepily beautiful.

“Not at all.”

The villagers called him the devil’s child.

His sudden appearance in the village had been accompanied by countless rumors.

Some said he was the illegitimate son of a noble family, while others said he was the child of a priest’s whore. Others claimed that his overly beautiful face, black hair, and dark eyes must be the work of the devil.

It was impossible to know which of these rumors was true. But he was the most beautiful human being Elise had ever seen, and of the lowliest birth.

Argen rubbed his beautiful face between Elise’s breasts. The sweet scent of her body lingered on the tip of his nose, an expression of unbearable ecstasy. He looked like an innocent child or an angel. But Elise knew the demonic pleasure and pain that would follow.

“Ah, ah……! No! Don’t!”

As if her protests were useless, Argen closed his red lips around Elise’s nipple and swallowed. A tingling sensation spread through Elise’s body, down to her toes. As he sucked hard and long on her breast, Elise’s hips bucked wildly.

“Ahhh…! Ungh…!!”

Her body still responded to him. As Elise moaned with uncontrollable pleasure, a cruelly beautiful smile spread across Argen’s face, and her slightly swollen nipples turned a deeper, prettier color.

When he flicked the tip of his tongue over the nipple, stimulating it, Elise threw her head back and let out a short moan. He stuck out his red tongue and licked a long trail from her breast to the nape of her neck, nipping at the rounded lobe of her ear.

“Listen to me, Elder.”

“Ungh!”

“Now that you only have me, you only need to listen to me.”

Argen’s hand gripped Elise’s breast in a familiar grip. He pinched and twisted the swollen nipples, and the heightened sensitivity made Elise shudder between her legs. An endless moan escaped her lips, and tears welled in her eyes.

“Angh…! Ah! Huek…”

“You will never take a step out of this house as long as you live.”

Red lips, wet with saliva, nibbled at the nape of Elise’s neck, whispering cruelly in her ear.

“Even when you die, you will be buried with me in my grave.”

Elise shuddered and sobbed in Argen’s arms, realizing that all that was left for her now was to fall into an endless downward spiral.

“Just like the promise you made to me.”

I like you.

I love you so much, Argen.

Let us always be together.

The words threatened to strangle Elise’s throat, reminding her of a forgotten promise, of a time trampled upon.