Twisted Salvation

Henesstia Ardin, the daughter of a duke, had her family’s title and land auctioned off due to her father’s debts. Meanwhile, Riad Ingel, the strongest and wealthiest man in the empire, had only one shortcoming—his lack of noble bloodline.

In a way, it seemed like a reasonable trade—if only Henesstia hadn’t been sold like a prized mare in exchange for the title and land of the ducal family. If only she hadn’t endured a miserable wedding all by herself, with nothing but the coat of her husband, who was away on the battlefield, unaware of their marriage.

Then, one year later, Riad Ingel returned.

***

He had plenty of reasons to despise her—too many to count. Whether misunderstandings or not, from their marriage to the rumors that followed, there wasn’t enough time in the day to go through each reason. Henesstia had made up her mind to endure whatever was thrown her way.

“Henesstia, if there’s one thing you’re mistaken about, it’s that I’m much more of a bastard than you think. Once I sink my teeth in, I never let go. All I know is how to greedily devour whatever I desire.”

However, she never imagined this was what she’d have to endure.

“So give up. From the moment you called yourself Countess Ingel with that mouth, it was already too late. Even if you regret it later, I’ll never let you go. Yes, never.”

She had never dared to imagine such a thing.