Chapter 10

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 10

Chapter Title: How to Survive as the Wife of the Monster Duke

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The brightly lit room plunged into darkness in an instant.

The windows outside were shrouded in layer upon layer of curtains, making them look almost like blackout drapes.

In the pitch-black darkness without a single ray of light, Ilrin froze in place.

Even though she had foreseen it, now that it was actually happening, she had no idea what to do.

Has His Grace the Duke come in? There wasn't a sound...

"Are you very nervous?"

Ilrin flinched.

The voice was closer than she had expected.

"Yes."

She answered honestly.

It would be strange not to be tense on a night like this.

"If you don't want this, you may leave now."

She seemed to recall hearing something similar when she signed the oath earlier.

Ilrin fell silent at his words.

Come to think of it, hadn't Den said the same?

That winter was no place to stay for long.

"......By any chance,"

Ilrin spoke softly.

"Does Crimson Delroz hate sunlight people?"

Otherwise, why would every member of Crimson Delroz she met say such things?

Excluding Ijis, the knight who had briefly come to relay a message, both the head of Delroz and his knight commander had said the exact same thing.

The Duke of Biplten was silent for a moment.

A strange silence flowed between them.

Ilrin blinked.

Was he flustered?

"Why do you think that?"

"Because everyone from Crimson Delroz seems to say that."

Was it a brief hesitation? With his face invisible, it was just a guess.

But this silence was short.

"There's no reason for Delroz to dislike you."

The duke added after saying that.

"If you wish, I will take measures."

Measures? The word sounded chillingly ruthless coming from the duke's mouth, despite its matter-of-fact tone.

Even if this man spoke politely to her and didn't treat her arbitrarily, even if he seemed unexpectedly gentle and kind, he was still someone who swung a sword without hesitation to kill.

"It's fine."

Ilrin rubbed the back of her hand, where goosebumps had risen.

"You are now the lady of House Biplten."

The duke, who had been still for a moment, said.

Ilrin unconsciously turned toward the direction of his voice.

Then she startled and quickly lowered her gaze.

Thankfully, the deep darkness hid everything.

"Crimson Delroz will be beneath you."

Of course, it made sense to grow closer to her husband's Crimson Delroz than to Azure Noz or the other two houses.

Ilrin gave a short nod.

"Your duty is to become my bride, Ilrin."

Hearing her name from a stranger's lips carried a strange resonance.

Ilrin slightly turned her head toward him.

"As long as you fulfill your duties as my wife, the rest is up to you. Now that you are the duchess, those beneath you must serve you without discomfort. If they don't,"

The voice drew closer.

"Cast them out."

The hand wrapping around her shoulder was so gentle it felt like an illusion.

It was as careful and delicate as handling fine glasswork that might shatter at any moment.

"Otherwise, the lady's dignity will crumble."

One hand remained on her shoulder while the other touched the hollow of her collarbone.

Warmth crept up to her neck.

"......As the lady of the house, is there anything I shouldn't do?"

It was only natural to ask, since this place was so different from the empire.

Especially since he had brought up dignity.

"No."

The hand on her shoulder slid up to her elegantly pinned-up hair.

"If you wish, you may even take Delroz knights for your use."

It meant that in Delroz, even force was permitted.

Click. The pin holding her hair came loose, and her silver locks, which had been tightly coiled, unraveled and draped around her neck.

At that moment, the soft bed pressed against her back.

The bed behind her was still cool.

She felt hands tousling her loosened hair, sending a strange ticklish sensation through Ilrin.

"Do you have no regrets?"

Even in the darkness, she knew.

She could feel the bed shift under his weight.

He was asking while trapping her within his arms.

Ilrin closed her eyes quietly for a moment.

Regret was overshadowed by her trembling heart.

This moment in the Winter Lands, sharing her first night with a still-strange man, felt like a dream.

It seemed like she might open her eyes back in Viscount Arlen's stuffy room.

The sunlight there was dazzling but humid.

She was tired of standing among sharp-edged people.

No sunlight, no summer—it was fine.

This dream was better.

So, no regrets.

"Yes."

She felt a hand brush back her hair.

The breath drawing near was hot, unlike what one might expect from the Winter Duke.

Ilrin squeezed her eyes shut.

As he gently soothed her, the duke whispered.

"Are you afraid?"

It would be a lie to say she wasn't afraid in all sorts of ways.

The vague images of her first night that she had once imagined were now blurred in her memory.

Unable to open her eyes, she reacted sensitively to every touch of his hands, every brush of his breath.

Would it hurt?

Would she lose herself at some point and open her eyes?

Would she stop breathing then?

"Are you afraid to meet my eyes?"

Ilrin wanted to be composed.

But she couldn't stop her body from trembling.

"A little,"

Ilrin whispered in a shallow voice.

Something soft touched her damp eyelids.

"Then, cover your eyes."

The night was so pitch-black she couldn't even tell where the windows were.

Beneath Ilrin lay the sacred relic of Noz.

Thinking her trembling was from the cold, the Duke of Biplten gently lifted her and placed the Noz relic under her back.

His embrace was wide enough to envelop her even with one arm.

With her trembling somewhat subsided, he slowly entered her.

Even if she opened her eyes, she wouldn't see anything, but the soft cloth covering them brought reassurance—and a strange sensation.

Her senses, heightened several times over, shook her mind repeatedly.

For a time she couldn't tell if it was night or dawn, Ilrin and he were very close.

"Easy......"

Whenever tension gripped her hands, the duke soothed her gently.

His low, sweet voice felt familiar, like one she had heard somewhere before.

Ilrin briefly thought of the knight commander with his piercing gaze, then erased it from her mind.

"Are you all right?"

Was he speaking softly, or was it because he whispered so close?

The sound reaching her ear carried more of his breath than his voice.

Her cheeks and neck burned hot.

Ilrin nodded faintly.

Sensing it was her first time and she was struggling, the duke kissed her endlessly.

He coaxed and comforted her without end so she wouldn't suffer.

More stimulating than the sensation of him entering was the way he lingered elsewhere.

He didn't rush Ilrin as she slowly adjusted.

Their night was long, yet short.

When Ilrin opened her eyes, bright lights greeted her.

Naturally, the Duke of Biplten was not beside her.

Ilrin touched the spot beside her where he might have been.

Had he left early? It was cool to the touch.

"......"

This felt like their first night had been stolen away.

Ilrin recalled the previous night and flushed red.

"Have you awakened, Madam?"

Just then, maids from Azure Noz entered through the door.

They carried a large silver tray with an indoor robe and bowed deeply.

"We will help you change."

"Ah, thank you."

As she greeted them, Ilrin noticed the Crimson Delroz maids waiting outside the door behind them.

Ah, so now Crimson Delroz maids will be by my side too.

Of course, it was natural since she had married the head of Delroz.

Ilrin unconsciously craned her neck to look at them.

"Ah......!"

Then a sharp pain shot from her waist up through her head, making her cry out involuntarily.

The startled Azure Noz maids caught her.

"Are you all right?"

It wasn't just her waist.

Every part of her that had tensed unconsciously last night was silently screaming.

Her inner thighs to her entire waist throbbed with soreness.

"A little,"

uncomfortable...... Ilrin raised her hand to the maids.

Her face flushed as she tried to say she was fine.

Her body was covered in marks of affection.

Anyone could see she was a newlywed who had consummated her marriage last night.

Even the Noz maids looked slightly surprised as her blanket-covered body was revealed.

Ilrin wanted to say she'd change alone.

But the aching pain in her waist overrode her embarrassment.

"We'll fetch medicine. It should ease the discomfort."

The Azure Noz maid bowed deeply after helping her change.

As the maids left, Ilrin pulled down her long sleeves to hide the red marks.

"......My goodness."

She didn't have the courage to look in the mirror.

Instead, she buttoned her clothes more carefully.

"Madam, we've brought the medicine."

The maids returned quickly.

As if they had prepared it in advance.

"It's a decoction of nened herb."

The cup they brought held a thick, vivid green liquid that looked burdensome to swallow.

It was utterly unappetizing.

"You must drink it."

The maids looked understanding but firmly held the cup to her lips.

A bitter aroma wafted up strongly.

......Well, bitter medicines are said to work best.

Ilrin closed her eyes and downed the cup.

Ijis, adjutant to Knight Commander Den of Crimson Delroz—or in truth, to the Duke of Biplten himself—rushed from the main residence to the knight barracks with urgent news.

The main residence was annoyingly crowded that day.

With the head of House Biplten's wedding, groups of people had come to offer congratulations and were chattering away.

It was Biplten custom for weddings, but this one felt lukewarm.

The bride was ill and off-limits, and the groom—the Duke of Biplten—was someone no one could meet eye-to-eye with, so the guests were limited to making noise on the first floor.

Ijis, who had hurried down from the seventh floor of the mansion, skillfully wove through the crowd toward the knight barracks.

If not at the mansion, then at the barracks.

Having a superior who was elusive and held dual identities meant Ijis was constantly dashing between the main residence and the barracks.

"Knight Commander, urgent message!"

Outside the knight barracks, he used the title for Aden.

"Come in."

He's here after all.

Ijis quickly opened the door.

"What is it?"

"Urgent from the sixth floor of the main residence."

Among those on the sixth floor now, only one would catch his attention.

His bride, soon to ascend to the seventh floor.

"Madam's condition is unusual."

The bride had been fine until last night.

"She has a fever too."

"The physician?"

The head of sword-wielding Crimson Delroz surely had a personal physician.

But Ijis's expression wasn't good.

"Still tending to the wounded at the walls. With the heavy snow, contacting him will take time."

"Who's with her now?"

"Ten."

Ijis added an explanation.

"The physician's disciple."

Disciple? Aden frowned.

Of all times, the physician was away.

He himself had sent the physician to the walls for the wounded.

No one to blame.

"I'll go see her first."

He stood up.

Ijis hesitated for a moment.

"Ijis?"

"Ah, yes."

Ijis hurriedly stepped aside from the door and followed him out of the room.