A man strolled into a basic-looking study with purpose and looked around.

"They really were poor bastards; why did they make things so difficult for me then?"

Two women flanked the sides of the slightly fat man and spoke in seductive voices.

"Husband, why do you chase this woman? Are we not good enough for you ~"

"Yes, what Victoria said is right. Do we not pleasure you every night? Where would a third woman even sleep!"

The man ignored the two annoying women and walked over to a large desk at the end of the study.

"Steven, hand me the key," the man said in a commanding tone towards a butler. The butler bowed and handed the man a small silver key.

"My lord, we recovered this key from Baron Karles' pocket upon his death."

The man ignored the comment and moved his heavy body to sit in the chair, putting the key into a keyhole and turning left; he pulled the drawer open with a slight click.

Inside was a single notebook. It was brown and seemed heavily used.

"Leave me be," the man commanded, and his two wives and butler reluctantly vacated the room.

"You thought you could escape me, Fay Karles? Since that day, I have had my eyes set on only you. So where did you run off to?" with a sinister chuckle, he opened the notebook.

Inside the notebook, there were random entries without titles or dates; it seemed that the Baron used this notebook as a way to vent out his frustrations.

***

The long war has finally ended; upon my return, his majesty saw in his infinite kindness to award me a border territory to rule. Unfortunately, I suspect he sees me as a threat and wants to keep me at arm's length, buried in paperwork managing this backwater fief.

***

I have been living here for the last five years, and in my old age, my servants and people have become worried that I do not have an heir. Apparently, I am the nicest lord they have ever had and wish for my family line to continue ruling over them.

***

This beautiful woman called Angelica arrived in my town recently with her family and has been chasing me for the last few months. She seems rather ambitious, which can be dangerous, but I have no other options; I'm getting old after all. So even though she is a merchant's daughter, I might marry her.

***

We got married! I enjoyed the whole process; it was pleasant to invite all my old war buddies over and see them again.

***

Angelica is pregnant, I hope it's a male, so I will finally have an heir to pass my knowledge onto. Angelica seems convinced it will be a boy and is already planning how he will take over my noble title and fief.

***

"It's a baby girl!" the midwife proclaimed but quickly shut up, seeing our faces. I was disappointed, and Angelica looked ready to kill the poor little thing.

***

We decided to name her Fay; although not a boy, we have found a use for her. A Duke of our kingdom recently had a baby boy and is looking for arranged marriages. I suggested that the boy meet Fay via a letter to the Duke.

***

Since the age of three, Angelica rigorously trained Fay to be the perfect wife. She is a ruthless teacher and shows no sympathy. Fay often comes to me crying. I read and tell her stories. She especially loved ones involving a prince charming coming to save a damsel in distress; maybe she's hoping for her own prince charming to save her from her mother?

At the age of ten, she asked, "Daddy can I learn magic too?" She seemed to love the stories about magic and adventures and used them as an escape from her daily routine.

"No," I replied. She cried.

***

Fay is 12 years old and will be meeting the Duke's son Dylan Henson today.

The man, Dylan Henson, who was reading the notebook, sat up slightly at the mention of his name. This was a memorable day for him, after all. Fay's looks and temperament completely encapsulated him. The other girls he met were all meek and submissive, but this girl was feisty. She fought back against him and made it far more interesting.

Looking back at the notebook, he continued reading with renewed interest.

***

The meeting did not go well. Fay ran away from Dylan despite all our training, proclaiming that he was ugly. Although I agree with her, it's still rude to scream it in his face.

To my surprise, Dylan proclaimed that Fay would become his wife and then left.

***

Fay continues to refuse the idea of marriage; Angelica beats her daily and hurls insults. My wife has become crazier ever since the Duke took an interest in Fay. I knew she was an ambitious woman, but this was extreme. She seems set on being the mother of a Duke heir's wife.

***

Due to Fay's continued refusal to marry Dylan, the Duke is taking the matter into his own hands. I have been sent a notice by Duke Henson to participate in a scouting mission into the vampire's stronghold in the mountains, basically a suicide mission. I assume he wants to kill me off to force Fay to marry Dylan to stay a noble. My title can sadly only be passed onto a male heir.

Seeing how ruthless the Duke is, I have second thoughts about the marriage. However, if I am going to die and have no heir to my title, I see no point in giving Fay a lifetime of suffering.

I quickly sold off my assets and ordered Angelica to move to the neighbouring country of Kassinki. She is not happy and puts up a resistance. I threaten to divorce her before I leave, meaning she will no longer be considered a Baroness and demoted to a commoner.

She screams at me and curses me to die but leaves with Fay and a few servants.

***

Today I leave for the suicide mission. If you ever read this, Fay, I hope you find happiness. I am sorry I failed as a father.

Goodbye.

***

Dylan Henson grinned, "What a foolish man, why write down your daughter's location for me? Now I finally have a clue to chase her."

Fay POV

My door opens, and a tired-looking maid walks in.

"Morning, Jessica," I say to the woman, and she gives me a tired nod, "Morning, milady, how shall I style your hair today?"

I get out of bed and sit at the dresser; a 19-year-old girl with long black hair and ocean blue eyes stares back at me through the mirror. I am relatively short at only 160 cm, but I have well-defined features.

"Straight, but two small strands of braids to go over my ears."

The maid grunts in reply and begins the hour-long process of styling my hair, doing makeup, and choosing my outfit.

Finally ready, I twirl in my white dress and admire my hair, "Yep, it's perfect~."

At the table downstairs, I am served eggs and bread for breakfast. Eggs are a local speciality of Kassinki.

Hearing the loud clink of heels on the stone floor, I freeze up slightly.

Mother's coming.

"Fay, you ungrateful bitch, this is all because of you!"

I reply calmly, "Mother, I want to decide who to marry; although Dylan is the heir to a Duke family, he already has two other wives and is also ugly. If you force me to marry him, I will kill myself first."

Threatening suicide is the only tactic I have found to make my mother back off. If I die, her chances of ever climbing the noble hierarchy are gone. Father was sent on a suicide mission and is unlikely to return; she has no way to produce more children without a husband.

After finishing breakfast while under the hateful glare of my mother, I leave the house and take the carriage into the city. We have almost no money, so I can't eat in these restaurants. Instead, I spend the day in the university library.

I go straight to the magic section and continue trying to read Basic Principles of Mana Manipulation.

I was not allowed in the library, but the guards assumed I attended the university and let me inside without question due to my noble clothes and temperament. Getting access to this many books would otherwise be impossible. My mother forbids me from learning magic, and I have no money to pay a tutor or enrol in this university, so my only option is self-study.

Reading a magic book is like trying to understand advanced mathematics written in an ancient language. It's impossible. After two weeks of coming here every day, I have only mastered a fundamental skill, [Mana Manipulation] at the F grade.

In the library was a stone; when I placed my hand on it and injected some mana, the stone would glow slightly, and some information would appear on its surface:

[Fay Karles]

Skills:

Mana Manipulation [F]

The stone displays a person's skills on its surface. An expert mage should have around five to ten different skills. But I only have one. Maybe Dad refused to let me learn magic because he already knew I was hopeless at it?

Feeling dejected, I decided to return home. It was early December, so the inside of the carriage was cold; I could see my breath.

Once I finally arrive home, the door seems smashed in, as there's a fist-sized hole where the doorknob used to be.

Did a monster break inside?

Barry, the carriage driver, bravely steps in front of me, and we cautiously approach the door. The smell of fresh blood hit us both, and we looked at each other with pale faces.

Barry goes first through the door with cautious steps, trying to avoid bits of broken furniture on the hallway floor.

A woman's sobbing could be heard from the room on our right. It sounded similar to mothers crying ever since we left our country, Oshal.

Barry recognises the sound and quickly enters the room; if his employer dies while he is in the building, he will be executed for abandoning his master.

Right as he entered the room, his head went flying. It impacted the door frame and exploded in a shower of brain matter. His now headless corpse stood still before falling backwards onto me.

"AHHHHHHHHHH" I scream as Barry's headless corpse threatens to crush and cover me in blood.

While falling, I see mother tied to a chair and a piece of cloth filling her mouth. Snot and tears cover her face. I feel slightly happy to see her in such a miserable state. So many times, she brought me to tears but never cared. I can see the corpses of the other four servants on the floor, including my maid, Jessica.

While I was distracted, a tall man appeared next to my mother. His red eyes flashed with murderous intent.

"Since a prized lamb has appeared, I have no use for a used wretch like you," he says deeply.

His black nails then elongate to the size of small daggers, and he rams them straight through my mother's skull. She squeals like a pig before her head falls forwards with devoid eyes.

I feel immense happiness seeing my mother so brutally executed. She was my tormentor for my entire life. Never once has she been kind to me, only wanting to sell me to the highest bidder for her gain. I give silent thanks to the man but then realise he is staring intensely into my eyes.

"I wonder how you will taste."

He moved over to me with phantom-like speed and sunk his fangs deeply into my neck. The world starts spinning,

"Delicious"

The monster proclaims before the world goes black.