Marie, the second daughter of the impoverished Baron Shaderan, has spent her entire life as a servant to her own family while her older sister Anastasia is treated as a treasure. On her eighteenth birthday, Marie’s parents use her celebration as a debut opportunity for Anastasia, leaving Marie to wander the garden in her tattered clothes. There she meets Count Kyros Granado, a wealthy and strikingly handsome nobleman known for his disdain of shallow aristocratic women. The two share a genuine, fleeting connection, but Marie’s crippling lack of self-esteem causes her to flee without properly introducing herself.

When a marriage proposal arrives from Count Kyros, her family assumes it is for Anastasia and eagerly accepts. However, the gown that accompanies the proposal is clearly tailored for Marie’s taller frame. Before the confusion can be resolved, Anastasia’s carriage suffers a fatal accident on the way to Kyros’s estate, leaving her presumed dead. With the dowry already spent, Marie’s parents force her to take her sister’s place as Kyros’s betrothed, telling her she must essentially sell herself to make up for the loss.

Upon arriving at the Granado estate, Marie discovers the truth: Kyros had fallen in love with her that night in the garden, but her parents introduced her as Anastasia, leading to the mistaken proposal. The dress was indeed made for Marie, and Kyros has no interest in her sister. Yet years of abuse have left Marie unable to believe anyone could genuinely want her. She remains convinced she is merely a replacement, a second choice sent to comfort a grieving nobleman. Kyros, along with his sharp-witted head maid Mio and his warm-hearted mother Liu-Liu, must patiently teach Marie that she deserves kindness, choice, and love.

The story is set in the kingdom of Dilts, a fantasy European-inspired world of nobility and estates. The first volume primarily follows Marie’s slow and often frustrating psychological recovery. Her first-person narration reveals a young woman so beaten down that she thanks her captors for allowing her to use soap. Every gesture of kindness from Kyros is met with confusion or fear, forcing him to shower her with unnecessary gifts simply to prove she is allowed to want things for herself.

A major narrative arc involves the secret fate of Anastasia. It is later revealed that she survived the carriage accident, which was actually a deliberate attack by a corrupt coachman. Presumed dead, Anastasia hides in the royal capital’s artisan district, taking the name Arthur and becoming an apprentice to a blind button craftsman. From there, she secretly watches over Marie, initially believing rumors that Kyros is a cruel tyrant, only to discover the truth of the misunderstanding. Another arc involves Kyros deciding to bring Marie’s parental abuse into the public eye, not only to free her psychologically but also to save her incompetent father’s failing territory, which Marie had secretly been running for years.