For Ines, this was her second marriage in name only. In her first marriage, her husband already had a lover and abused her. Ines continually refused to consummate the marriage, and was slandered by those around her as a frigid woman. When her husband’s lover became pregnant, they divorced.

Her new husband, Lars Vuet, told her, “I will never love you, live as you please.” Rumor had it that he was the tyrant emperor’s alias, and that he had killed all of her relatives. Ines had previously been ridiculed by the emperor’s servants under his cold orders and had been humiliated. This time, she decided to live a comfortable married life even without love.

Meanwhile, the emperor’s younger brother, Simon, began speaking to her every day, making her suspicious. Although she had nothing but a bad impression of the emperor, one night under the full moon, she saved a black cat…