The Requirements for a Collectible

“You are my greatest masterpiece.” Too aristocratic for a prostitute’s son, yet too seductive for a duke’s heir… Carlyle Berthheimer, lover of Lafreia. To seal the final deal that will cut off the last breath of the ducal house that has discriminated against him for being a bastard, he hires a foreign teacher, Iris Mora, as his contracted lover. A blank, unadorned face that doesn’t pair gracefully with jewels but makes them shine all the brighter. A background with nothing to recommend her as the lover of Lafreia’s most eligible bachelor. The novelty of being a foreigner, yet the progressive image of a teacher. A desperate financial situation, always chased by money to pay for a younger sibling lost to gambling addiction. Carlyle’s eye for choosing Iris was not wrong. She was a woman who could not help but be placed in a position of complete subordination. At least, until he began to see not a jewel but a woman, and found himself consumed by longing for someone who seemed to carry no attachment, as though she might leave at any moment. The greed he thought would be satisfied once he possessed her only grew larger. His anxiety grew in proportion. The power between them reversed.