Chapter 28

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 28

Chapter Title: Date

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"Take them all."

Even after hearing Kaiyan's words, Clodel couldn't immediately grasp what was happening.

The jeweler practically leaped into the air at his spot, as if wings had sprouted on his back.

"Thank you! My lord. Haha! Indeed, with your lady's fair skin and beauty, no jewel would look out of place on her."

"Ah..."

Fearing Kaiyan might change his mind, the jeweler gestured to his assistant, who swiftly closed the lids on the jewel boxes in front of them and began packaging them. Only then did Clodel snap back to reality.

"D-Duke! Wait a moment."

She urgently grabbed the jacket of Kaiyan, who was already rising to leave the shop.

"You're buying all of them?"

"What's the problem?"

Clodel was speechless at Kaiyan's bold demeanor.

"There are too many."

"Too many? Do you really think so?"

She nodded quickly.

"You're wrong. It's not too many. These are necessities to uphold the dignity of the Duchess of House Temneth. You wouldn't know yet, having just become the duchess."

"..."

She wanted to argue, but no suitable words came to mind.

In truth, that very point had left Clodel feeling restless lately.

She hadn't truly realized she was the Duchess of House Temneth until she saw the tombstone engraved with her name.

This was the land where she would be buried upon death, not where she would live and walk.

Yet Kaiyan had saved her.

And in surviving, she had naturally become the duchess as well.

"When we go to the capital, we'll find even better ones, so this will do for now."

"I don't think we need to buy more. Really."

"You haven't even had your dresses fitted yet. How would you know if you need more?"

"Well..."

Clodel lightly bit her lower lip from the inside.

Kaiyan was right.

A duchess typically had multiple dresses tailored each season for social activities.

And with them came matching jewels and accessories.

"If you don't intend to shame me, act in a manner befitting the Duchess of House Temneth."

"Yes. I understand."

"I have another place to stop by. Here."

Kaiyan casually offered his arm, and Clodel lightly placed her hand on it.

However, as if he'd forgotten her presence, he strode ahead with wide steps, half-dragging her along until she finally called out to him.

"Duke. You're walking too fast. Slow down."

"I was going slowly."

Surprisingly, his eyes seemed sincere, as if he truly believed he'd been considerate.

"Our strides are different!"

"Ah. Right."

This time, as they started walking again, their paces finally matched.

The area was a quaint town not far from Rowen Castle.

From the carriage ride over, it seemed there were no residential homes—only commercial buildings and a marketplace clustered together.

Valmond was a frozen land, so frigid that shops frequented by merchants were fixed within the massive lord's castle.

Broadly divided into the outer and inner castles, the market and shops were in the outer castle, encircling the inner one. The inner castle housed the duke and his knights.

Rowen was milder, so they'd separated an entire commercial district outside like this.

Clodel's eyes darted about, taking in the rare outing.

Then, a wide garden bursting with blooming roses appeared along the roadside.

'Wow. So pretty.'

Now wary of seeming rustic, Clodel kept her admiration inside.

Upon closer look, it appeared to be a café.

Lovely tables were scattered amid the expansive rose garden, where couples and friends sat enjoying tea.

She found herself staring blankly at the café.

"This way."

Kaiyan pulled her along. Seeing him head toward the rose tunnel that served as the café entrance, Clodel studied his face.

His usual icy expression unchanged, he ducked his head to avoid brushing the tunnel's red, white, and pink roses, frowning slightly.

"Tea here?"

"Yes."

The café's rose garden was even more stunning up close than from afar.

Fist-sized blooms released a subtle, intoxicating fragrance.

And Kaiyan, dressed in his outing suit against the backdrop of red roses, looked utterly dashing.

Thump.

Clodel's heart fluttered.

About this marriage.

Strictly speaking, Clodel saw it as a union she'd entered willingly for the starving children of her territory, while Kaiyan viewed it as unwanted.

A forced marriage by royal decree.

She'd steeled herself against his hatred or disgust for her as a Vermonte.

But things changed after he saved her life.

Even before that, since the Crocodile Hunt, he'd treated her with a softened demeanor for a time.

She'd chalked it up to gratitude toward her savior.

Then, upon learning of her Herzol affliction, he'd raged about their "deceptive marriage"—yet here he was, procuring medicine for her, something she never could have imagined.

It had only been a month since her days of dying bit by bit.

Clink.

A teacup wafting a pleasant aroma was placed before her.

"Enjoy, my lord. My lady."

Watching the maid in her white-frilled apron flit about with trays of layered, delicate desserts, Clodel felt tears pricking her eyes for some odd reason.

"What's wrong?"

As she blinked to hold back tears, staring intently at the silver tray, he asked.

"It's just... so wonderful. I'm so happy to be sitting here right now."

Not lying forgotten in the dark underground mausoleum of the castle where no one would visit, but here under brilliant sunlight, enjoying flowers and tea.

And Kaiyan, who seemed cold on the surface but was somehow different.

"Thank you."

Clodel smiled at Kaiyan.

It had been so long since she'd had reason to smile.

Each time she picked up one of the small, pretty desserts before her, a silly grin bubbled up unbidden.

'Good thing I took the butler's advice.'

Kaiyan couldn't fathom why places like cafés existed, why one had to go there, or how sipping tea in such a shabby spot constituted a date.

'My lord, you mustn't think that way.'

'What shouldn't I?'

'When courting with dates, you must always listen to the lady's preferences and accommodate her.'

'So you're telling me to pay money to drink cheap tea in some rundown building.'

When the finest leaves in Rowen could be had at the lord's castle.

The butler had looked utterly perplexed at Kaiyan's questions.

'You think that woman would really like something like this?'

'From what I know, Valmond is too cold for garden cafés like this. Roses especially represent the southern regions.'

The butler had insisted firmly.

'Can you guarantee Clodel will like it?'

'Of course. If she doesn't, I'll gladly accept a pay cut.'

With the butler so adamant, Kaiyan had relented.

After buying jewels for Clodel, they'd stop at the nearby café.

"Thank you."

But he hadn't anticipated seeing this.

Clodel's face beaming with a full smile.

He hadn't known the woman who'd sat there pale, hollow-cheeked, lips pressed tight in expressionless silence could smile like that.

In the midst of her recovery, color had returned to Clodel's skin, her cheeks rounding out.

Her red hair and golden eyes somehow made her look like one of the rose garden's blooms.

At the modest Margaret white flower beds, he'd thought such serene quiet suited her.

But seated amid vibrant flowers, Clodel shone as the brightest among them.

Wondering if he'd stared too openly, Kaiyan cleared his throat and called for the menu.

"See if there's anything else you want."

Clodel's face lit up.

"Really? Is that okay?"

Kaiyan crossed his arms in response.

Before leaving, the butler had repeatedly emphasized it.

'My lord, at the café, be sure to let the lady choose what to order herself.'

'Does that matter?'

'It matters greatly. Denying her menu choice could make it worse than not going at all.'

Of course, he'd absentmindedly ordered the shop's priciest dessert set and tea for two.

Remembering too late, he figured ordering more would fix it and called for the menu.

"Hmm."

Unlike at the jewelers, Clodel actively pored over the menu, reading each item with intense focus.

'Is that fun?'

Kaiyan couldn't believe that list of food names, ingredients, and prices was what "ladies" enjoyed, per the butler.

Yet the Clodel before him seemed genuinely delighted, just as predicted, so he held his tongue.

Instead, he slowly took her in as she studied the menu.

A slender woman like her suited the thin southern-style dress far better than the heavy northern ones rising to her neck.

'She must have worn only northern dresses until coming here.'

Valmond Castle was infamous for its chill even in summer.

Her slender, elongated neckline, gracefully set collarbones, and the pale nape below—unadorned by any necklace—captured his gaze completely.

The thought that before midday sun could touch that white throat beneath, his own lips and hands had gotten there first stirred an irritating emotion in Kaiyan.

Lately, he felt this way often when looking at Clodel.

It was odd to feel annoyed watching a woman he'd personally revived grow healthier, her sickness fading.

Especially since it was a life he'd saved with his own hands.

Today, amid the red roses, her lips—like blooming petals—drew his eyes repeatedly.

He still hadn't kissed Clodel.

Looking back, it was strange, but their first night had been rushed, and he hadn't paid it mind then.

Her illness caused pain like a thousand blades scraping her chest with every breath.

So during their union, her clenched eyes and gritted teeth must have been enduring that agony from the disease ravaging her chest.

Unaware, Kaiyan had assumed it was horror at yielding her body—a Vermonte's—to a Temneth like him.

Even so, with no reason to indulge an enemy clan's woman in a marriage forced by royal command, he'd done what was required, regardless of her suffering.

But a pain-free woman had lips freed from torment, fluttering before him like petals on a summer breeze.

Having flashed that smile—first shown to him today—at the unfamiliar maid with generous orders, Clodel finally set down the menu and looked at him.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Anything."

"Why did you save me?"

On this fine day.

She asked Kaiyan the same question once more.

'You're not dying. I won't let you.'

'Why? I'm a Vermonte.'

'I won't allow a stain on my life. Do I look like someone who'd carry the dishonor of holding my bride's funeral three months after marriage for the rest of my days?'

She surely wasn't seeking that same answer again.

Yet the unresolved, tightly knotted feelings impulsively drew a response from him.

"Just because."

Like when she'd once saved him meaninglessly.

"I'd have saved anyone dying like that."

At that moment.

Clodel's face bloomed like a flower in full splendor.

'Why that expression?'