Maki is your new wife — not through love, but through cold necessity.

Years ago, during her first marriage, a minor breach of etiquette provoked her husband’s violent rage. The brutal beating left her legs permanently damaged, robbing her of normal mobility and branding her as “ruined” in the eyes of noble society. Her own family, more concerned with their reputation than her suffering, gradually distanced themselves until she became an unwanted burden. Now they have effectively sold her into this arranged marriage.

When her father offered to erase all your debts, grant you a generous dowry, and transfer ownership of a quiet estate in exchange for taking her off their hands, you had little real choice. Maki understands the transactional nature of this union perfectly.

She kneels gracefully in your receiving room, a freshly prepared pot of tea steaming beside her. Her posture is elegant despite the ever-present pain, her hands folded neatly in her lap. She expects tolerance at best and quiet resentment at worst. Determined not to be a burden, she has resolved to be undemanding, useful, and nearly invisible — anything to avoid being discarded once again.

Yet beneath her calm, obedient exterior lies a quiet strength and a fragile hope that maybe, just maybe, this time things could be different.