Lily's dream was to meet someone she loved like her parents and create a harmonious and happy family.
However, on the day the Baron Benjamin's mansion burned down, Lily was forced to move away from her dream against her will.
When she married Fredic and learned his true identity, her dream was completely shattered.
Of course, she had anticipated that it would be difficult to fulfill her dream when she chose a marriage without love, based only on each other's conditions, but Lily still didn't give up hope.
Fredic was a kind and caring man after all.
Lily thought that she would eventually come to love him, and that they could have beautiful children and live happily together. But it was all a vain dream.
It was completely destroyed on the very first day of their marriage, not even a day had passed.
"I was really so foolish."
Lily chuckled bitterly as she recalled her husband who had stayed out overnight again yesterday.
It was only after marriage that she learned that Fredic had been providing bedroom services to noble ladies for a very long time. He would warm their beds in exchange for business investments.
Moreover, now he was voluntarily acting as a mistress to some noblewoman and showing his face at social parties.
Since most nobles had arranged marriages, it was common for them to have separate lovers or mistresses. Even the Emperor and Empress had several mistresses.
As a result, having a mistress became a trend in high society. There were even competitions about who had the most impressive mistress, which says it all.
But Lily was different. No matter how loveless their strategic marriage was, the idea of having an affair was something she could never understand with her common sense. She didn't want to understand it either.
So Fredic's behavior made her very angry and disgusted, and she felt miserable that she couldn't properly express this in her current situation.
As if this wasn't painful enough, there was another problem tormenting her.
"How is it that a young woman comes later than her old mother-in-law?"
It was the harassment from Samantha, Fredic's mother.
As soon as the breakfast room door opened, Lily internally sighed at the irritable shout that flew at her. Her already nonexistent appetite completely disappeared. She wanted to just go back to her room and forget about breakfast, but knowing that Samantha would throw a fit if she did, she had no choice but to enter.
"I'm sorry for being late."
"Hmph!"
Even though Lily bowed her head and apologized, Samantha seemed unsatisfied and turned her head away with a snort.
Today won't be smooth either.
Well, when was it ever smooth? Lily resigned herself as she sat down. As she was about to moisten her dry mouth with cold water, Samantha looked at her sharply and asked.
"What about Fredic? Don't tell me he didn't come home yesterday either?"
The servants would inform Samantha first, not Lily, the wife, whenever Fredic went out or came back.
In other words, there was no way Samantha didn't know that Fredic had stayed out last night. The fact that she still asked meant that she intended to use this as an excuse to scold Lily.
Here we go again. Lily swallowed a sigh and neatly placed both hands on her knees.
"Yes. He seems to be busy with work."
"That's not it, he just doesn't want to see you!"
When Samantha shouted angrily, the servants all stopped what they were doing and watched her cautiously.
"I've told you many times. A man is what a woman makes him. But what is this? How incompetent must you be for Fredic to stay out every single day!"
Lily, on the other hand, remained calm. It was a common occurrence after all. The repertoire was always the same, to the point where she was getting calluses on her ears.
Samantha blamed all of Fredic's infidelity on Lily. Even though Fredic's bedroom business had been going on since before their marriage, she scolded Lily for not properly fulfilling her duties as a wife.
"And then there's the child issue. It's been over a year since you married, why is there still no news?"
You need to look at the sky to pick stars. Lily swallowed her true thoughts and offered an unwilling apology.
"I'm sorry."
It's easier if you give up. This was the motto Lily engraved in her heart every day.
At first, she tried denying it and explaining in detail, but it was all futile. Samantha didn't even listen to her words and instead got angrier, accusing her of talking back. Not wanting to create more exhausting situations, Lily started apologizing immediately from then on. She didn't want to pointlessly fight with someone who wouldn't listen no matter what she said.
"You're just saying you're sorry with words. Huh? What's the use of just saying sorry with words all the time! You need to show it with actions!"
Usually, this would be followed by a bit more nagging about doing better in the future before stopping, but today her anger seemed particularly intense and continued.
"You're not... having difficulty conceiving or something like that, are you?"
Now she's even suspecting that. Lily laughed bitterly inside.
Samantha didn't know that Fredic and Lily had never shared a bed. Neither Lily nor Fredic had told her.
Lily found it strange yet somewhat grateful that Fredic kept quiet about it, even though he must have been nagged by Samantha about the child issue as well.
If Samantha knew the truth, she would blame everything on Lily and make her life even more miserable than it already was. The thought alone was terrifying.
"No, that's not the case."
For the same reason, Lily couldn't tell the truth, but she wasn't lying either. It was true that she had no health issues. Lily didn't think there was anything wrong with her body.
"What do you mean no? Looking at how you haven't conceived yet, it seems like that's the case."
But as always, Samantha didn't believe her words.
"I heard that your mother took a whole 10 years to have you, isn't it the same for you? They say daughters take after their mothers."
When Samantha mentioned her mother, Lily's eyes hardened. Her hands clenched tightly.
She had a bad feeling.