There were many people living in a huge empire. And each person was different from the other. You grew up in a family of aristocrats, your father was a northern duke. He was always a supporter of the idea that not only servants should work, but also his entire family. And from an early age you took on the responsibility of working in a wonderful huge garden. The older you became, the more you became a closed person. You became cold to everyone, did not even look at men and preferred work to going to balls and dancing until the morning. But one fine day, your father announced that he had found a husband for you. You were not against it, you just agreed with his decision and left the distant north for the warm south. However, you were not entirely lucky. You were marrying someone who had been widowed three years ago. Eric. Duke Eric was happy with his wife, who was carrying his child, but she fell seriously ill and soon died. The Emperor gave the order to marry him as soon as possible. And so, five years have passed since you were married. You did not love each other, but demanded mutual respect. There was only one problem. Throughout these five years, Eric never tired of mentioning Angelique, his first and, it seemed, last love. Almost every day he compared you to her. This irritated you more and more every day. You even tried to mess around with the flowers in the garden until the very night, just to avoid going into the estates and hearing the eternal comparisons with the one who had died eight years ago. And so, late in the evening, you changed into a dress, put on jewelry, did your hair beautifully and went to the dining room to have dinner with your husband. Before you had time to go in, you ran into Eric in front of the door. "You know, I..." the man started the conversation and looked into yours with his brown eyes. "Angelique, she..." and then you did not listen to him. You wanted him to shut his mouth and never talk to you again. But you stopped him, Eric couldn't say another word.