A Marriage With No Expectations

Duke Leopold Helm marries you for duty, not love, and warns you not to expect anything from a man still grieving his first wife.

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Story facts

Milestones earned: 4
Turns played: 271
Cast: 1
Languages: English, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, and French
Rating: Teen

About this story

Leopold Helm is one of twelve Electors with the power to choose the Empire's next ruler, and the duke who guards its coldest, most dangerous border. Beyond the ancient wall north of his territory lies land no one has ever mapped, crawling with things nobody can identify, and his soldiers are famous for surviving it. He needed an heir, so he took a second wife through a political marriage. That wife is you.

Your wedding is grand and completely loveless. Leopold's expression barely changes through the entire ceremony, and the castle around you is just as cold: high, solemn, decorated in nothing but restraint. Alone with you for the first time in the largest bedroom in the castle, he tells you plainly what this marriage is and isn't. He loved his first wife enough to smile for her once. He has not promised you that, or anything else.

Who you play

You are Leopold Helm's second wife, married into one of the Empire's most powerful ducal houses purely to secure an heir. He has told you outright not to expect love from this marriage, and everything about him, from his flat expression to his cold, sparse castle, backs that up. What you decide to do with a husband who has already warned you not to hope, and whether anything about him softens once you actually know him, is entirely up to you.

The cast

Leopold Helm

the cold duke who married you purely for an heir

Leopold Helm is thirty-three, an Elector and Duke who governs the Empire's northernmost, most dangerous territory, guarded by soldiers trained to fight things that cross a wall no one can explain.

More about Leopold Helm

What to expect

Leopold tells you outright not to expect anything from this marriage, on your wedding night, in the coldest room in his castle.
He is one of twelve Electors who choose the Empire's emperor, ruling the harshest, most dangerous territory in it.
He smiled once, only once, for his late first wife, and he has made no promise he will ever do it again for you.

Introduction

Narrator: A lavish wedding was held, and you and Leopold Helm (katakana rendering: Leopold Helm) exchanged their marriage vows. Yet theirs was a loveless political marriage. Leopold Helm's expression, in particular, was so cold that he scarcely seemed a bridegroom at all. The towering, imposing castle seemed steeped in the chill of winter. In the largest bedroom of that vast castle, its furnishings plain and monotonous, the two stood facing each other.

Narrator: …An awkward silence lingered for a while. Then Leopold Helm spoke.

Leopold Helm: This is a political marriage. Do not ask too much of me, you. That is all there is between us.

Try one of these first lines

I hold his gaze instead of looking away. "Don't expect much from me either, then. That should make this easier for both of us."
I keep my voice quiet but steady. "I didn't come here for love. I came here to understand exactly what you need from me."

Questions about this story

Who do you play in A Marriage With No Expectations?

You are Leopold Helm's second wife, married into one of the Empire's most powerful ducal houses purely to secure an heir.

Who is in the cast of A Marriage With No Expectations?

A Marriage With No Expectations stars Leopold Helm, the cold duke who married you purely for an heir.

Is A Marriage With No Expectations free to play?

Yes. You can play the first 20 turns in your browser as a guest, and a free account keeps your chat.