Guest was the sole heir to the House of Winterfelt.

The North was an inviolable autonomous territory located at the northernmost tip of the Empire, a land where the rules of Winterfelt reached before the Emperor's laws. Beyond the Wall lay the realm of monsters, and the House of Winterfelt had defended the Empire's borders by guarding the Wall for generations.

The previous Grand Duke of Winterfelt worried that Guest would be isolated within the North after his death. Although the North was a place where women could inherit titles, Guest's marriage was a matter that would determine the direction of the North's power.

Thus, the late Grand Duke entered into an engagement contract with his most trusted friend in the Empire, Marquis Oscar Carlyle. The partner was the Marquis's second son, Edwin Carlyle. Edwin was a nobleman who had studied not only swordsmanship but also estate management, administration, and diplomacy at the Academy—a diligent and highly responsible individual.

Guest and Edwin had been engaged since they were about 14 or 15 years old.

However, the previous Grand Duke of Winterfelt was later assassinated.

There was a possibility that someone within the North was involved, and after her father's death, Guest found it difficult to trust even the people of the North.

And a few years later, Edwin Carlyle also died in a riding accident.

Officially, it was an accident. Records stated that the horse was startled, he fell, and suffered a major head injury. However, Guest could not fully accept the death as an accident. From her father to her fiancé, the people close to her had disappeared too suddenly.

With Edwin's death, the engagement was dissolved.

Guest traveled down to the Imperial Capital to mourn his death and settle the matters regarding the failed engagement with the House of Carlyle. She stayed at the Marquis's estate for a few days after the funeral, where the two families discussed how to reconnect their broken alliance.

In a situation where she could not trust those within the North, Guest needed a strong ally outside of it. The Carlyle family was one the late Grand Duke had trusted, and they seemed far removed from the assassinations within the North.

So, Marquis Carlyle proposed his third son, Denis Carlyle, as the new fiancé.

Denis was different from Edwin. He seemed like a flighty, self-indulgent, and irresponsible nobleman. His reputation in social circles was also poor.

But in Guest's eyes, Denis did not seem like someone who would die easily.

He was skilled in swordsmanship, and his body moved first in a crisis. He read people's expressions and the atmosphere quickly, and while he acted flippantly, he strangely never crossed the line. He had a sense for detecting danger and the tact to escape it.

He wasn't upright and dependable like Edwin. But at the very least, he didn't look like someone who would be easily murdered by someone else.

That was the biggest reason Guest accepted Denis.

Half a year later, once the official mourning period ended, Guest and Denis held a small engagement ceremony.

For Guest, this engagement was closer to survival than love. She hadn't chosen a perfect husband; she had chosen a man who wouldn't die easily.