Chapter 17

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 17

Chapter Title: Prying into the Cracks

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"Maybe next month we'll get a good show. I hope it's entertaining."

Kaiyan's marriage to Princess Biange?

Out of the question.

If Kaiyan—a duke and royal kin—wed a princess, he'd climb even higher in the line of succession.

He was already second after Biange herself, skipping the late Duchess Elise. Marrying the princess would slot him right behind Valquiter.

Until Valquiter had heirs, that was.

The thought of that thorn in his side potentially becoming the next king, depending on Valquiter's safety, made his blood boil.

Marriage is the grave of life.

Valquiter loved that saying.

He'd endured without marrying himself, all while plotting to shove that bastard into a hellish marriage from which there was no escape.

Couldn't marry off Kaiyan while he was at war for five years, after all.

Then, unexpectedly, a proposal arrived from that scheming Duke Vermonte.

"House Temneth can't split itself to fight on multiple fronts anyway. Better to keep our options open in the kingdom."

This move had merits on every level.

No matter how capable Kaiyan was, he couldn't divide himself to fight east and west.

Duke Vermonte's diplomatic web, however, bound his entire house together organically. Dropping the family name alone opened doors anywhere—far more practical.

And if House Temneth and House Vermonte clashed, and Vermonte lost despite Valquiter's support?

Who fought was secondary; both were his vassals. Valquiter bore no responsibility.

"A crafty play, straight out of Vermonte's book."

The curtain had already risen on the fight.

Valquiter watched from the top with gleeful anticipation.

A band of knights burst into the home of House Berang—staunchest of Rowen's loyal vassals.

"What is the meaning of this?!"

The matriarch of House Berang, elderly and a collateral of House Temneth,

had taken her husband's name upon marriage, but her glossy black hair spoke volumes of her bloodline.

Caught off guard by the sudden intrusion of the lord's guards, she raised her voice with dignity. In such cases, invoking Temneth over Berang smoothed things over faster.

"Keeping thieves in the house, are we?"

But her face fell the instant Kaiyan stepped through the knights.

"My lord."

She bowed her head deeply.

"What brings you here?"

"Got something to retrieve."

Thieves? She knew her daughter Antyone admired Kaiyan, flitting in and out of the castle and lording it over the young maids. But that was just a pretty girl's harmless coquetry.

"I'll fetch it myself. Excuse the intrusion."

Antyone's room was whimsically adorned.

Pastel walls bloomed with floral murals, dried bouquets tied with ribbons hung prettily on the walls. It felt more like a girl's sanctuary than a young lady's.

"Hee-hee. Hihihi."

Antyone sat at her vanity, admiring the blue diamond ring on her finger in the mirror.

Posing like Duchess Elise in her portrait at the castle, she looked utterly elegant and beautiful. Even her casual negligee seemed like party finery.

"Duchess Antyone."

She tilted her chin up, and the beauty in the mirror smiled back.

Click.

The door swung open, and Antyone snapped irritably.

"I told you not to barge into my room!"

"What a spectacle."

She froze at the cold, arrogant male voice.

"A duchess needs spotless lineage. Theft leaves proof behind—no more dreaming of that now."

Antyone gaped in horror, speechless.

As Kaiyan reached for the blue diamond on her finger, she instinctively curled it away.

"Aaaah!"

His forceful yank was faster; her finger twisted painfully.

The delicate hand, statue-like with the ring's gleam moments ago, swelled red instantly.

"Ah..."

She stared blankly at her finger as her body was yanked upright.

"Drag her out."

Antyone was hauled away, knights gripping her arms on either side.

Kaiyan addressed the matriarch—his distant aunt by blood.

"The charge is theft."

He vanished without specifying whose or what, and she couldn't bring herself to stop him.

"Oh, Antyone... what have you..."

Shocked by her daughter's brutal removal, she collapsed on the spot.

"Aaaah!"

Screams echoed from afar as a woman took lashes beyond the window.

"Kyaaah!"

Antyone, bound for stealing from the lord, was beaten with a rod.

Theft of valuables was grave enough.

Kaiyan eyed the blue diamond on his desk.

His mother's keepsake.

She must have known its significance.

Even a thunderbolt couldn't excuse such blindness.

Kaiyan was dumbfounded.

The blue diamond was his.

He'd meant it as a betrothal gift for Clodel, but she'd never seen or received it.

Thus, it remained his ring.

'I, I didn't know it was the lady's... the lord's possession.'

Stealing from the lord himself versus snatching a discarded gift? The punishment differed vastly.

Cunningly, Antyone tearfully claimed she hadn't stolen from the lord—just picked up something from the hall floor.

Kaiyan matched her level.

'Right. I must've dropped it there by accident.'

Understanding his intent, Antyone trembled in terror as she was dragged to her flogging.

Public punishment would bar her from the castle forever.

Meanwhile, thoughts of Clodel left a bitter taste.

"What did I even do?"

Trembling over a gift she'd never received, claiming she liked it?

In the crypt, when he'd asked about the betrothal gift, she'd flinched and hunched her shoulders. It had lingered in his mind.

That night, Kaiyan had liked Clodel.

He could've fulfilled his duty once and left, but didn't.

Unlike his sturdy, massive frame, she was slender and frail—any misstep might break her.

With such a woman, he'd taken his time, multiple rounds, dismissing it as his brand of kindness and favor toward the Vermonte girl from Valmond.

"Why lie about it?"

Even later, when he'd offered to resize the ring, she'd answered as if she'd received and kept it.

Most times, the doll-like woman—responding curtly, face impassive—only changed expression when he spoke, usually tense or fearful.

Last night was no different.

Even the castle staff didn't know the lord's bedroom ceiling could open.

Some eccentric Temneth ancestor, obsessed with science and astronomy, had it built at great cost.

Anyway, the mechanism was a closely guarded lord's secret.

Arrows could target him from outside if opened carelessly.

With Clodel bedridden from her leg injury, he'd thought to give her some fresh air indirectly.

No intent to embrace her.

Just to show something wondrous. A faint hope she'd thank him.

If that sheer nightgown hadn't snagged his button, loosening its ties...

Clodel was his benefactor, regardless.

Since then, Kaiyan felt oddly unsettled.

The lord's life swarmed with demands.

Highest status, heaviest workload.

Too much rain, too little, barren fruits, bumper crop short on hands.

Every calamity and natural whim fell to him.

Yet she'd saved him without asking anything.

That tiny woman.

Clodel must've been terrified, yet she'd saved him and taken the crocodile's jaws instead.

Recalling that horrific moment—their golden eyes meeting as he realized—left an odd itch somewhere.

Anyway, she was his savior.

Why not visit now while he's at it?

Kaiyan picked up the blue diamond ring from the desk.

"Tch. Doesn't even fit properly."

Plus, Antyone's rough handling had scratched it badly.

Frowning, Kaiyan summoned the butler.

"Have the jeweler resize it smaller and polish out the flaws."

"Yes, my lord."

Kaiyan headed to Clodel's room.

Hanna was chattering to Clodel about Antyone like it was a grand adventure.

"That wretch played innocent. 'Didn't know it was the betrothal gift,' she said."

The public trial had the castle buzzing with onlookers.

"Then His Grace said, 'Well, I must've dropped it there by accident.'"

"So she got the lash."

"Whew, what a relief. Daring to curse anyone like that."

Before Clodel, Hanna held back from saying 'cripple'.

The wound had healed well outwardly, but the inner muscle was uncertain.

Scar tissue might leave her limping permanently.

Yet when Clodel learned, she'd just nodded calmly. Hanna, the doctor, and even Kaiyan assumed she was suppressing the shock.

"Anyway, giving such a magnificent ring as a gift. His Grace is generous. Toss these controversial buttons already."

Hanna reached for the contentious buttons, but Clodel hid her hands behind her back.

"No need. They don't suit me anyway."

"Suitability's beside the point. It's the jewels that matter."

Clodel smiled faintly.

These tales now felt like stories from a distant world.

Tales of the living that would continue after her death.

"Am I interrupting?"

"Oh, Your Grace."

After reporting Antyone's misdeed, Hanna saw Kaiyan anew.

"Shall I prepare tea?"

Hinting at leaving, Kaiyan nodded.

"Please."

Hanna swiftly brought tea, and Kaiyan sat across the small table from Clodel.

Clodel found these moments uncomfortable.

A man from outside her routine wedging into the quiet gaps of her day.

They barely knew each other.

No topics to fill the air.

Silence stretched.

"Why did you save me?"