Chapter 59

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 59

Chapter Title: Hat Only

-----------------------------------------------------------------

“No way!”

They both shouted so loudly that Clodel dropped the stone she held in her hand.

“Ah...”

As she stared blankly at the stone rolling toward the door, Madam Marcel felt like she'd done something unforgivable and quickly picked it up, pressing it firmly back into Clodel's hand.

“Why?”

The faithful servant of House Temneth began speaking up for Kaiyan.

“That's ridiculous! The Lord must be expecting something from you.”

“He told me not to worry about it.”

“Of course that's a lie.”

Hanna crossed her arms and let the words tumble out in a rush.

“Don't you remember the wedding gifts? Sure, there was that misunderstanding with Antyone, that awful woman. But the Lord asked three times if you liked the gifts and why you weren't using them.”

“True. He did do that.”

“And he noticed right away when Irena wore the dress you gave her?”

“It was a dress I made, so of course it stood out.”

Madam Marcel cut in, and the excited Hanna quieted down.

“Most noblemen don't even care what their wives wear, let alone notice. But the Lord does. And you think that's only for you? Don't you want him to show interest in you too?”

“I doubt it.”

Clodel felt a little wronged.

Normally, if someone was interested, wouldn't they talk a lot?

But they still hardly talked at all.

Because they spent so much time with their lips pressed together.

I can't exactly tell Hanna that.

Clodel swallowed a sigh inside.

“You both saw it with me at the marketplace this morning. There's nothing suitable for him among the things we can buy on impulse right now.”

She began appealing to the stone's charms once more.

“Even Duke Vermonte was overjoyed when Irena gave him hand-knitted bed socks for his birthday.”

Irena wasn't particularly skilled with her hands, so she'd made the same ones the next year from leftover yarn from the previous, but he was thrilled every time.

“It's the thought that counts in a gift!”

Hanna waved her hand as if she couldn't bear to hear it.

“Fine, say the thought counts. Then that stone has heart but no sincerity.”

Sincerity.

I dove to the bottom of the lake to pick it myself.

Did picking it up mean it lacked sincerity?

Clodel felt dejected.

She wondered if she secretly hoped Kaiyan would beam with unreserved joy like her uncle did for Irena's gifts.

Clodel had always given Duke Vermonte proper presents—ones that used up all the money she'd saved over a year for her aunt and uncle's birthdays—but he only ever said things like “thank you” or “you went to the trouble.”

Lately, Kaiyan had been taking good care of her, even if his words came out bluntly at times. She felt he would be just as pleased as she hoped if she gave him something like this.

Madam Marcel draped an arm around Clodel's shoulders, as if she could see right through her without even looking.

“A gift like this could make special memories. All right. Save it for the birthday after next.”

“Really?”

“This is your first birthday together since the wedding. I have a good idea.”

Madam Marcel had asked her assistant to bring something earlier, and now a large box sat by the door.

“You do have a point, Madam. The Lord prefers things made just for him. Actually, all the capital's nobles do. So how about finishing the decoration on a hat I made?”

She opened the box lid to reveal a rather stylish, handsome dark navy hat.

“Wow. That's really nice.”

Hanna clapped first, giving it her seal of approval.

“Isn't it done already? It looks complete.”

When Clodel asked, Madam Marcel opened another box.

Inside were feathers dyed in all sorts of colors.

Ah. That man I saw at dawn was wearing a wide-brimmed hat like this.

A vague memory surfaced.

Clodel picked a few feathers and held them to one side like the hat she remembered. Madam Marcel cheered.

“You have great taste, Madam. Yes, pick out some full feathers for that effect.”

“Like this?”

“That's stylish too.”

They spent a good while playing with them like children's toys—trying this and that, bursting into laughter when Hanna jokingly stuck raccoon-tail-like ones on both sides.

“Mm. Looks good.”

“I'll fix it in place.”

Madam Marcel pulled a threaded needle from the needle case on her wrist and swiftly stitched the feathers from the inside out with quick hands.

Hanna and Clodel watched, and quite some time passed again.

“All done. Now that you've added your touch to something I made, it's one of a kind.”

“Indeed. I'm glad I listened to you and Hanna.”

Clodel had been down from failing to buy a gift, so the hat Madam Marcel helped with looked great, just as she'd said.

“After the birthday banquet, I'll arrange a proper thank-you.”

“No need.”

Madam Marcel beamed at the thought of her hat becoming the first gift, while Hanna looked proud for stopping the stone idea.

They placed the hat in an elegant round box and tied a big ribbon on it just as the sun dipped low.

“Then I'll step out and prepare tomorrow's dress. You need to rise early.”

“Thank you.”

“No trouble at all.”

As Madam Marcel left, Hanna turned to her.

“Shall I bring dinner right now?”

“Yes. I feel like I could eat a lot.”

“I'll hurry. Madam.”

With one worry lifted, Hanna dashed out energetically, her own spirits refreshed.

Alone at last, Clodel pulled the heart-shaped stone from her pocket again.

“It was so pretty underwater.”

Like field flowers that look beautiful blooming but wilt soon after picking.

Soaked full of water, it had sparkled like a vivid red gem, but now it was a bit cloudy, dull grayish-brown.

Still, its shape was remarkably symmetrical, smoothly curving left and right.

Clodel went to her desk and began writing a letter to her future Kaiyan.

[Kaiyan. This is a letter to future you. I was going to give you this stone for your first birthday, but Madam Marcel and Hanna said no. She thinks it's okay for the birthday after next. Why not next year?
Anyway, I lost the fight like a whipped dog. I'll give you something else this year. See? Isn't it amazing? I read in a book that the human heart really looks like this.
That's why I wanted to give it to you. Get it?]

Clodel pondered.

“Will he understand this means I like him so much I wanted to give him this shape?”

But that was a rich person's worry. If Madam Marcel and Hanna shouted no again for the birthday after next, this stone would never reach Kaiyan.

[Happy birthday. From Clodel.]

Running out of space, she ended the letter there.

Clodel plucked a few strands of her lush red hair and began braiding them into a thin plait.

Once braided long, she tied it once at the top and once at the bottom, securing the thin braid so it wouldn't unravel.

She snipped the top with scissors.

Maidens traditionally braided a thin lock of hair to tie on a man's wrist before he left on a long journey—a superstition for lovers parting.

To remind him not to forget her, not to stray.

Clodel had never dated before marrying Kaiyan, so she wanted to try every custom she'd heard or read about.

When Madam Marcel brought gift boxes earlier, she'd quietly pocketed a palm-sized one. It fit perfectly with the letter and stone inside, topped by her braided hair coiled like a bracelet.

“You're not going far. But the birthday after next feels distant.”

Clodel smiled to herself and tucked it into her desk drawer.

Wishing that day would come soon.

Kaiyan was so busy he barely knew how the day passed.

He couldn't even have lunch with Clodel.

In wartime, he'd make do with bread stuffed with fillings. Even back in the territory, when swamped, he'd have the butler prepare something simple to eat at his desk while working.

That was just months ago.

Now he made a point of going to the lady of the house's room every time, to see her face.

Not to see her face, but to make sure she ate.

And that was just an excuse—to hold the fragrant, pretty woman close and kiss her.

Whichever it was, Kaiyan valued it all.

He'd once shamelessly asked the butler for advice, but lately their marriage ran smoothly.

I used to think I had no idea what to do.

Sometimes he recalled Clodel's lifeless look when she first arrived at the castle.

Back then, he'd thought she ignored him or was indifferent to his words.

But realizing she'd only been waiting to die, devoid of life's spark, made something twinge deep in his chest.

She was never listless or meek.

Eccentric and lively, her charms bloomed the more he saw.

Passionate at times, too.

He knocked on the bedroom door late at night, and Clodel opened it.

“You're late.”

“Too much work. Couldn't be helped with the banquet thrown together so suddenly.”

Kaiyan pulled Clodel into his arms and sought her lips first.

Preparations had annoyed him with needless tasks earlier, but embracing his wife in her nightgown melted the fatigue away.

“Happy birthday, Kaiyan.”

“What?”

“It's past midnight.”

“Already?”

“I'm glad I get to celebrate your birthday.”

Clodel sat him on the bed to match heights, then lightly kissed his forehead, both cheeks, nose tip, and lips in turn.

Kaiyan thought he'd been born right.

“My gift?”

“Now?”

“Celebrating without a gift?”

He thought he heard Clodel mutter “Knew it,” but his attention locked on the large box she brought.

“Open it.”

Inside was a hat.

Madam Marcel's handiwork?

It was a perfect gentleman's hat in the capital's latest style.

“Not good?”

“No. I love it. Where'd you find something like this?”

“Madam Marcel helped. But I picked the decorations. Took forever to make them look good.”

“You did it yourself?”

Clodel nodded.

Kaiyan grabbed the hat from the box, swept back his hair roughly, and plopped it on.

“I want to see you in the hat.”

“Aren't you looking now?”

“Just the hat.”