Chapter 1

This was the tenth time Adrian Hale abandoned me.

The first time he chose Rosalie over me was three days after her return to the capital.

That night, a fire broke out at Hale Manor.

The flames began in the east wing and, driven by the wind, licked their way toward the roof of the west wing where I lived.

When I woke, choking on smoke, my door had already warped from the heat.

Chaos erupted outside.

I covered my nose and mouth with a damp cloth and saw Adrian charging through the flames with a sword in hand.

After two years of marriage, it was the first time I had ever seen panic on his face.

“Adrian!”

The moment I called his name, Rosalie’s sobs rang out from the east wing.

“My lord, Miss Quinn is still inside!”

Adrian stopped.

He stood no more than a dozen steps away from me.

A few more steps, and he could have pulled me through the window.

But Rosalie cried out for him again.

He turned and walked away.

“Clara, you know the manor better than anyone. Get out through the back window.

“Rosalie is terrified of fire. I’m going to get her.”

With that, he wrapped Rosalie in his cloak and carried her out of the flames.

He never looked back.

When a ceiling beam came crashing down, I instinctively raised my arm to shield myself.

Blisters immediately erupted across my left arm.

I thought I was going to die.

Then a toneless voice sounded beside my ear.

[Deliberate abandonment detected in a life-or-death choice.]

[The Love Reset System has been successfully bound.]

[Life countdown: nine.]

[Affection remaining: ninety percent. Pain perception removed: ten percent.]

The pain scorching my arm suddenly faded.

Even the aching tightness in my chest that had nearly stopped me from breathing eased a little.

I kicked open the back window and crawled out through the flames.

Adrian stood in the courtyard with Rosalie in his arms.

Only the cuff of her sleeve was blackened by smoke, and she trembled against his chest.

I knelt in the snow, half of my sleeve burned away.

When Adrian saw me, his brow twitched sharply.

He took two steps toward me.

Rosalie suddenly clutched her chest and whimpered in pain.

Adrian stopped in his tracks.

“Have the house physician examine my wife first.”

After giving the order, he lowered his head to soothe the woman in his arms.

His voice held a tenderness I had never heard before.

“Don’t be afraid. I’m here.”

I lowered my gaze to the injuries on my arm.

I realized then how little a few words could mean.

They were enough to comfort one person, but never me.

After I returned to my room, the system sounded again.

[Each abandonment reduces the life countdown by one.]

[At the same time, ten percent of the host’s affection and ten percent of her pain perception will be removed.]

I asked, “Will I die when the countdown reaches zero?”

The system fell silent for a moment.

[Your current life will end.]

The answer was hardly reassuring.

But when I looked at my pale reflection in the mirror, I felt surprisingly little fear.

I only thought that Adrian might not choose her nine more times.

After all, he treated me well during those two years, too.

Whenever I felt cold at night, he would tuck a hot-water bottle beneath the covers ahead of time.

Once, I casually mentioned that I craved pastries from the southern quarter, and after finishing his duties at court, he went halfway across the capital to buy them for me.

On my birthday last year, he even strung a pearl bracelet for me himself.

Exactly ten pearls.

He said, “May the years ahead bring you perfection in every way.”

I laughed at him then. A man who led armies into battle had suddenly learned to say something so sentimental. He must have done something to feel guilty about.

He pinched my cheek.

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

I was still wearing the bracelet.

But at some point, the pearl closest to my wrist bone had developed a thin crack.

Adrian came to see me the following morning.

He stood beside my bed for a long time.

“I misjudged the situation last night.”

I waited for him to say more.

Instead, he said, “Rosalie was caught in a fire as a child. She still has panic attacks whenever she sees flames. You’re strong enough to understand.”

I touched the cracked pearl.

“Of course. I understand.”

Adrian’s expression relaxed.

“I’m glad you can see it that way.”

He didn’t know the truth.

I hadn’t suddenly become more understanding.

Something had already been taken from me.

It was part of the love I felt for him.

And the second time came soon after.