Chapter 5

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 5

Chapter Title: Were You Waiting for Me?

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“It was quite a meaningful item to me. Didn’t you like the gift?”

Kaiyan’s question was sudden and out of nowhere.

“Or was I not to your liking?”

Clodel doubted her own ears for a moment.

Still watching the baggage carts kick up clouds of dirt as they receded into the distance, he murmured as if to himself.

“No matter that you were raised like a commoner before becoming an adopted daughter, surely you learned at least that much.”

Hands clasped behind his back, he slowly turned to look down at her.

“That it’s proper etiquette to wear your wedding night gift right away and show it off.”

This was the first time she had faced him directly since the wedding.

If asked for her impressions of the wedding, Clodel would say it felt like she’d been turned into human laundry.

Devoid of any will or sense of self, she had been dragged off and dunked into a bath, scrubbed clean by the hands of maids.

Once out of the water, other maids had dragged her away to dry her off, comb her hair to a glossy shine, and apply powder to her face and rouge to her lips for the first time in her life.

After that came the unfamiliar, stiff bridal gown, along with all manner of heirloom jewelry from the family.

Most of it consisted of thick jewels the size of a finger joint, dangling heavily in clusters, set into hefty chunks of gold or platinum and secured to thick leather belts.

The belts couldn’t possibly have been thin if they were meant to support such massive lumps of precious metal, and once she had them hanging all over her body, she felt like a convict on the way to the gallows.

Dragged around by various hands in that state, she had finally come face-to-face with her husband-to-be, Kaiyan. The moment her eyes met his cold red ones, brimming with displeasure, she had bowed her head deeply.

That had been her last glimpse of Kaiyan on their wedding day.

Only that expression had left a vivid impression. She couldn’t even properly recall what clothes he had worn or how the ceremony hall had been decorated.

Unlike on the wedding day, there was no contempt for House Vermonte in Kaiyan’s eyes now.

The look on his face probably hadn’t been dissatisfaction with Clodel herself. There was no reason to feel displeasure toward something—or someone—he didn’t even know.

Anyone across the whole of Valmond would pull the exact same face at the mere mention of House Temneth. That was why he had stared at her with such icy chill, she figured.

And so Clodel found herself unwittingly studying the man bathed in the ruddy glow of the setting sun.

Her husband, whom she was facing properly for the first time.

Kaiyan towered over her so much that, standing close, she had to tilt her chin up and crane her neck back just to see his face.

Even though he wore no armor today—dressed in formal attire for the banquet with his vassals—the broad shoulders and thick, muscle-packed arms hidden beneath his clothes looked as sturdy as if he were clad in plate.

That man with me…

Suddenly, her gaze swept over his body, and her thoughts drifted to the previous night’s first bedding.

The difference in their builds was like that between a rabbit and a lion—entirely different species.

Recalling how that imposingly massive man had hunched down, folding his body as if to fit himself to hers, Clodel felt her cheeks heat and her mind go blank.

Kaiyan’s brow twitched as he watched her.

“Are my words not reaching you?”

“...Pardon?”

“I asked if you didn’t like the gift.”

“Ah. That, um...”

Flustered at having let her mind wander completely in front of him, Clodel blurted out excuses.

“I liked it...”

“Is that so? Then why didn’t you wear it to the cemetery?”

“W-well, because... it didn’t seem to suit me.”

Her mind had gone completely blank.

In her fluster, words tumbled out of her mouth unbidden.

“Hmm. I see. So it wasn’t some protest because it didn’t please you?”

“Absolutely not. Never. It’s so pretty and stylish.”

“Right.”

Thankfully, the answer seemed satisfactory enough; Kaiyan gave a slight nod without another word and headed into the castle first.

Thump, thump.

Her heart pounded with an odd, aching rhythm.

The blood finally circulating through her tensed-up shoulders and back brought a stinging sensation, and all strength drained from her body.

Oh no. That’s not what I meant.

Clodel didn’t know what to do.

The sun hadn’t even set yet, and here she was outside the castle, reminiscing about her bedding with her husband and blurting out the most ridiculous response.

How can I keep screwing everything up like this?

The disease gnawing away at her body must have finally reached her head.

Plunged into self-loathing, Clodel staggered back to her room.

That evening, Hanna was once again at odds with the maids.

“You lot must be completely out of your minds. Doesn’t the head maid manage her underlings?”

The maids of Rowen Castle stared at the heated Hanna with expressions like they were wondering whose dog was barking, even going so far as to pick at their ears and pretend not to hear.

“It’s been ages since mealtime! Why haven’t you served the Duchess her dinner yet?”

“Can’t.”

One of the maids shot back snidely, echoing Hanna’s words exactly.

“Not even a crumb of bread’s worth wasting on Vermonte trash.”

“Even if your master starves to death, our lord won’t bat an eye. He’ll be marrying a fine Temneth beauty soon enough.”

“What did you say?”

A passing servant chimed in.

“Even if you serve a proper spread, does she even take a single bite? She comes right back out without a trace of having eaten.”

A neatly dressed man sneered with oily smoothness.

“If a single kernel of corn, half a bean, a corner of bread, and two spoonfuls of soup will do, I’ll take it up myself.”

“You...”

Hanna was clenching her fist to let her knuckles do the talking when—

“Hanna. Enough.”

Clodel, emerging from the room, tugged at Hanna’s skirt.

“Miss.”

“I’m not hungry for dinner. You all stop loitering here and go rest.”

No sooner had Clodel spoken than the maids who had been facing off with Hanna at the door and the onlookers all vanished in an instant.

“You have to eat dinner.”

“I really don’t have an appetite.”

Clodel went over and sat in the chair by the window.

She sat in the spot where the candle was lit and let out a long sigh.

“Miss. What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell? Is your cold getting worse?”

Hanna fetched her some tea said to be good for colds and made her drink it.

She had wanted to call a doctor and get medicine, but the castle servants kept lying to block her from summoning one.

“No. It’s not that.”

Yet worry clouded Clodel’s face.

“Then what is it? Tell me quick. Everyone in this castle seems to have something wrong with their heads. With so many lunatics who can’t even recognize who deserves service... I’m the only one who can be there for you, right?”

“...Well...”

Hanna perked up her ears as she finally pried Clodel’s mouth open.

“About the wedding night gift. It seems he gave me something.”

“Huh?”

“Earlier, he asked if I didn’t like the gift.”

“Well, there’s no like or dislike if there’s nothing given.”

“He said I didn’t wear it because I didn’t like it.”

She couldn’t bring herself to tell Hanna that he had even said, “Or was I not good enough?”

“He said it was a meaningful item to him that he’d given me.”

“You should’ve just told him there was nothing.”

“Right. But...”

Clodel’s expression dimmed.

“I ended up saying I’d received it just fine. That it didn’t suit me so I couldn’t wear it. That it was pretty and stylish, and all that.”

Chewing it over as she confessed to Hanna, she realized just how idiotic it sounded.

“What did the Duke say?”

“Just ‘I see,’ and that was it.”

Clodel clasped her hands together, at a loss.

“What should I do? Hanna.”

“How about being honest now? That when you woke up, there was nothing. I came when you got up, and there was still nothing.”

“Yeah. There really was nothing. If I say I panicked and said that... won’t he think I’m an idiot? He’ll pity me.”

If it had been a flower basket or something, at least a petal might have fallen, but the corridor had been spotless, not a speck of dust.

Hanna fell silent for a moment after hearing Clodel out. When she finally spoke, her expression was grave, as if she’d sorted her thoughts.

“What if it’s a trap?”

“A trap?”

“He said it was a meaningful item to him, right? What if he’s trying to pin the blame on you for losing something valuable and find fault?”

“Ah.”

The blood drained from Clodel’s face.

“But the attendants who came to help me dress in the morning would have seen there was nothing.”

“We have no allies in this castle. If something like that happened, do you think those people would tell the truth? They’re already dying to torment you.”

Hanna sadly ran her hand through Clodel’s vivid red hair.

“Our miss is so delicate and beautiful, yet they charge at the sight of red like bulls drunk on festival booze.”

She sighed.

“I wish I had red hair. It’d be better if they tormented me instead.”

“Hanna.”

Hanna had been Clodel’s friend from the village where she grew up.

The village lay on the outskirts of Valmond territory, deep in the mountains—a relatively far-south spot.

Florny Village.

The hometown where Clodel and Hanna were born and raised was a truly beautiful place.

Even in Valmond, where half the territory and the lord’s castle lay under eternal frost, this area was comparatively warm, with distinct springs and autumns.

The mountain bounty varied by season to fill their tables abundantly, and flowers bloomed everywhere in rotation as the seasons turned—true to its name as the flower village.

Clodel and Hanna, the same age, had been inseparable, like blood sisters.

That day, a merchant caravan had come to the small castle at the base of the mountain, setting up a grand market.

Clodel’s father, Evan, had taken his daughter and her friend Hanna out for a rare excursion.

While her father sold the rare herbs he’d gathered over time to the merchants, Clodel sucked on the huge candy he’d bought her at the market and giggled with Hanna as they watched a little performing bear brought by a medicine peddler.

That moment was the last of peace in Clodel and Hanna’s lives.

While they were outside the village, flames had swept through Florny.

Water was scarce and precious there, so they had been drilled from childhood to be cautious with fire.

No one knew who had started it or how.

From the village reduced to ashes, only her father, Clodel, and Hanna had survived.

And soon her father passed away, leaving just Clodel and Hanna.

For plain-looking Hanna, with her brown hair and brown eyes, to say she wished to be tormented in Clodel’s stead was her sincere wish.

“I won’t forgive anyone who makes trouble for you, Miss.”

“Thank you.”

To Hanna, Clodel was the only thing she had salvaged from that village.

With her parents, baby brother, neighbors, and memories all buried in the ashes, Clodel was the sole one she could protect.

Once Clodel gained noble status in Valmond Castle, Hanna had made herself her body servant.

She had even been adopted into House Pebble, vassals of the ducal house, just to become her friend’s maid—but Hanna was content, able to stay closer to Clodel than anyone.

“I’ll look into the missing gift.”

“Would you?”

“Of course.”

Hanna comforted Clodel.

“Don’t worry too much, Miss. In this castle, aside from the Duke, I’m the toughest maid around.”

“Hehe.”

Her words were a comfort.

That night, Clodel couldn’t fall asleep easily.

She hadn’t noticed yesterday amid the chaos, but the bedroom was vast, almost echoingly empty.

Back in Valmond Castle, she had shared a bed with Hanna every night, so Clodel wasn’t used to sleeping alone.

On top of that, her anxiety over the missing gift kept her mind in turmoil.

So when Kaiyan suddenly opened the bedroom door, Clodel—pacing the room—nearly walked right into it.

Seeing her standing there at the door, Kaiyan asked,

“Were you waiting for me?”