Looking for a Husband to Confine Me - Chapter 1
Chapter 1
Clang! Without realizing it, I dropped the teacup I was holding. The teacup slipped from my hand, staining my skirt and shattering into pieces on the hard floor.
But no one looked at the broken teacup. I was still staring at him, and he was still staring at the table.
“…What did you just say?”
“I’m sorry, Amelia. Please break off our engagement.”
My lips trembled at the words of my fiancé, Hector Asid. I tried to lift the corners of my mouth, but I couldn’t even manage a proper smile.
“Hector, what are you talking about? Breaking off the engagement…?”
“….”
“We’ve been fine until now. If there’s a problem, tell me. I’ll fix it, whatever it is.”
“No, it’s not your problem. This is solely my problem.”
“Why, exactly…?”
As I stared at Hector with confused eyes, something suddenly flashed through my mind.
‘Could it be…?’
It had been a year since I got engaged to Hector, and ‘that time’ was slowly approaching. But it was earlier than I expected. Had all my efforts to avoid ‘that event’ been in vain?
Hector slowly raised his head. My fiancé, my childhood friend and first love, whose face I hadn’t seen in a long time. In his red eyes, there was only regret for me.
There was no affection in them at all.
“Amelia.”
“That’s impossible.”
I knew what Hector was going to say, so I shook my head and replied. But he didn’t care and continued speaking. He even got up and knelt down.
“…I have someone I love.”
“Hector!”
Hector’s knee was pressed against the broken teacup, and red blood seeped out, but he didn’t change his posture.
“Get up, your leg is…!”
I tried to force him to stand, but he wouldn’t budge until he heard my answer.
“I, I understand. It’s okay if you don’t love me. So please, just don’t abandon me.”
Childhood friend, first love, arranged marriage, our first kiss as children, everything that made up the bond between him and me swirled in my head.
I begged Hector, but his expression didn’t waver.
“She’s carrying my child.”
“….”
“I’m sorry, Amelia.”
“Hector.”
“I don’t think I can be with you.”
He slowly stood up. Hector’s eyes, looking down at my face, flickered for a moment. For a fleeting moment, the emotion he felt for me was reflected in them, but he coldly turned his back on me.
“I’ll tell your father.”
With those words, Hector left the drawing room. Red blood trailed behind him, like a mark of his passing.
“So, this was my fate…?”
Only my empty voice echoed in the space where Hector had been.
I slumped into a chair and buried my face in my hands.
It was something I had known since I was born as Amelia Hazel, since I met Hector and got engaged to him. He wouldn’t choose me, and I would eventually be abandoned by him.
But I thought things would be different if I became close to him from a young age, if I broke free from being just a formal fiancée. I thought he would at least be swayed by my pleas.
“…Hector.”
Hector Asid. He would realize his feelings for me too late. And he would come looking for me, already the wife of another man. But by then, I would already be…
“Hector. …You bast*rd!”
I removed my hands from my face and shouted.
I knew this would happen, so I met Hector earlier than I knew and rushed into the engagement. There was practically no time in his life when I wasn’t there!
“How dare you cheat on me while you have a fiancée?”
In the original novel, he would have had time to meet someone else, but now, he wouldn’t have had the chance. What the hell happened?
I gritted my teeth.
“As expected, I have to throw away the regretful male lead.”
I was reincarnated as Amelia Hazel, the heroine of a tragic romance novel. I thought I had thoroughly analyzed the original story and eliminated all the crisis situations! Hector was just a bast*rd.
Damn it!
I messed up, I messed up. If this continues, I’ll be sold off by my family to pay off the Hazel family’s debts, forced into marriage.
“With a crazy guy who wants my power, no less.”
I’ll meet Hector again when I’m worn out and exhausted?
I gnawed on my nails and quickly racked my brains.
There’s no other way. Since things have come to this.
“I’m going with Plan B.”
I’ll find a new husband.
Someone who will hide me from my family, Hector, and all the crises that will come my way in the future…
Job Posting: Looking for a Husband to Confine Me.
***
“My lady?”
Tepine, the only maid in Count Hazel’s mansion, knocked on the door and listened intently. Usually, the young lady would come out immediately, but today, not even her voice could be heard.
“Lady Amelia?”
She tilted her head and knocked on the door again. Still, only silence greeted Tepine. At this point, Amelia must not be in the room. At least in the mansion, she wouldn’t ignore Tepine.
“Where did she go…?”
She asked the chef and the butler, but no one had seen Amelia. Moreover, she hadn’t eaten since yesterday, which made it even more suspicious.
Could it be that Amelia had left the mansion yesterday and hadn’t returned, or had she been in an accident? Her worry for Amelia grew deeper.
“What am I going to do? I have to tell the butler, no, the mistress!”
Tepine’s face turned pale instantly.
The Count’s daughter, Amelia Hazel, was about to get married. And to the Grand Duke Hector Asid, whom she had known since childhood. Count Hazel had been holding banquets for months, already excited about becoming the Grand Duke’s father-in-law.
But the person involved, Amelia, had disappeared. This was a big problem. Tepine was about to go downstairs and tell the mistress, who would be enjoying tea and snacks, about this.
But then, click, the door opened.
“H-huh!”
“Sorry, Tepine. I was sleeping.”
The moment Tepine saw Amelia’s face, her expression softened. She shook her head, relieved.
“No, Lady Amelia. You never sleep in, so I thought something must have happened.”
“I couldn’t sleep last night.”
Tepine stared at Amelia, who was forcing a wry smile, her expression hardening. It was unusual for her to sleep in, and Amelia’s face seemed slightly swollen. Her eyes, especially the corners, were red and puffy, as if she had cried all night.
“My lady, is something wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“But…”
“I’m fine, Tepine.”
Amelia shook her head, reassuring the hesitant Tepine. It wasn’t anything important, and it wasn’t something she needed to worry about. It was a sign that she didn’t need to tell the Count and Countess.
“Alright, my lady. Should I bring you some ice?”
“Thank you, but I’m fine. It will be alright soon.”
Tepine nodded, her face clouded. Unlike other mistresses, Amelia treated her well, making her feel even more attached to her. Yesterday, her fiancé, Hector Asid, had come to visit. Had something happened between them? Tepine’s heart sank with unease.
“But what happened?”
“I heard that you haven’t been eating since yesterday, and…”
Amelia nodded, encouraging her to continue when she hesitated.
“The Countess said that we should start preparing for your marriage to Grand Duke Asid, and that she has something to discuss with you about it.”
“Ah…”
“Should I tell the Countess that you’re not feeling well?”
“Please.”
“Yes, my lady.”
“Oh, Tepine.”
Tepine was about to leave after finishing her conversation with Amelia when she stopped at her voice. She turned to Amelia, who was still standing by the door, her eyes wide.
“What is it, my lady?”
“Could you bring me any invitations that came for me recently?”
“Invitations? Yes, of course.”
“Thank you.”
With a short reply, Amelia closed the door first this time.
Tepine walked slowly, still puzzled.
“She said she was fine, but…”
Not only was Amelia’s condition different from usual, but she, who had never cared about social events, had asked for invitations for the first time.
“What’s going on?”
The maid muttered under her breath, her eyes constantly returning to Amelia’s room.
***
“Whew…”
I leaned against the closed door and let out a long sigh. I rested my head against the top of the door, making a dull thud, and stared at the ceiling for a while. I traced the patterns on the ceiling with my eyes, aimlessly trying to calm myself.
“Okay, I’m calm now.”
Turning my head, I saw my reflection in the mirror. I understood why Tepine was so surprised earlier.
“I look like a fish.”
I had been crying since last night, or rather, shortly after I parted ways with Hector yesterday. My eyes were definitely not going to be spared. Seeing that my mother, the Countess, hadn’t said anything, she must not know about the broken engagement yet.
‘I saw the Countess Hazel meeting with Hector today, so she’ll find out soon.’
I forced a wry smile as I approached the bed. I threw myself onto the soft bed. I liked the slight swaying feeling.
The Count of Hazel’s family was one of the few noble families in the Ronellid Empire with a long and distinguished history. The problem was that for generations, the Count had indulged in gambling and pleasure, slowly draining their family fortune.
Unfortunately, the family fortune was depleted during my generation. As a result, the Count of Hazel was left with nothing but his title, and his family was not in a good financial state.
