Chapter 12

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 12

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

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How to Survive as the Wife of the Monster Duke

Whether it was truly thanks to the Nened herb or not, Ilrin's fever subsided quite quickly.

That didn't mean the muscle aches had vanished, however.

Unable to use painkillers, enduring the pain remained entirely her burden.

The physician who had rushed over from the castle walls late emphasized that for sun folk, only herbs gathered under sunlight would do—no exceptions.

"How could herbs from sunless Biplten possibly work on a sun person!"

The man, who was the head physician of House Delroz, was ranting at the maids so loudly that his voice carried through the thick door to Ilrin.

"Shall I tell him to leave if he's being a bother?"

Ilrin shook her head at the Crimson Delroz maid.

The Crimson Delroz maid bowed deeply and retreated to the wall to stand by.

Crimson Delroz maids were far more courteous than those from Azure Noz.

Ilrin's gaze fell on the red ornament dangling from the maid's wrist.

Even after Den had left, she had been plagued by sleep.

In the meantime, the Azure Noz maids had somehow been completely cleared from the room, shoved out into the corridor, leaving only Crimson Delroz maids inside.

The maids getting scolded in the hall now were probably the Azure Noz ones.

Ilrin let out a short sigh.

Up to that point, the Crimson Delroz maids had stood frozen against the wall like statues, not twitching a muscle.

"Lady."

A knock sounded at that moment.

Unlike the Azure Noz maids on standby, the Crimson Delroz maids waiting nearby reacted immediately.

Ilrin grew curious about who it was that still called her "Lady" even after the marriage.

The door opened to reveal Milo of the Esid Merchant Group.

Ilrin's eyes widened round.

"Ah, Madam."

Milo, correcting his form of address belatedly, spoke from the doorway.

"I heard you were quite ill."

"Just a little."

She was fine now.

Ilrin gave him a soft smile.

Milo bowed briefly, then handed something to a maid.

"These are herbs from the sun lands. They're commonly used in the capital, so they shouldn't cause you any discomfort. Still, if you notice any itching or..."

For an explanation given at the door, it was awfully long-winded.

Ilrin listened as he projected his booming voice into the spacious room, then finally gestured for him to enter.

"...Come in and tell me."

This was Biplten, after all—nothing strange about it.

Perhaps because he worked in the sun lands, she appreciated his adherence to imperial etiquette.

Milo blinked at her words.

"Pardon?"

Ilrin blinked back.

Milo stammered.

"M-Me?"

"Yes."

At her response, Milo's face drained of color.

"You're telling me to enter the Duchess's chambers in front of Crimson Delroz maids?"

It's like sticking my neck out in front of the boss, his expression seemed to scream, utterly distressed.

"...Ah?"

In the awkward atmosphere, Ilrin suddenly thought of Den.

'...It's fine here.'

Fine, he'd said...?

Ijis had exceptionally sharp ears.

Thanks to his master rarely leaving the estate, Ijis was handling the backlog of work in the main building when his keen hearing picked up something he shouldn't have.

"Did the boss really spend the night?"

The chatter came from a Verdant Mille maid.

His master had many names, and rumors followed him like a shadow.

Ijis was the one who always delivered those rumors.

"That's what I heard."

"Is it because she's a sun person?"

"You think so too?"

The answers flew back and forth swiftly.

Even their hushed whispers easily reached Ijis's ears.

"Lady Elena was a sun person too."

The reply came from an Azure Noz maid.

Ijis narrowed his eyes.

It was proof that discipline in the estate had crumbled.

No matter how often his master was away, gossiping so brazenly was unacceptable.

Getting dismissed would be lucky for them—his master was furious with the Azure Noz folk.

Of course, relations with Azure Noz had soured long ago, but this time, his master's reaction was unusually intense, almost suspiciously so.

Ijis had seen removing the Azure Noz maids from the bride's side as a golden opportunity.

But Elder Ridan, who had come protesting, had practically fled the knight headquarters office.

What on earth had he heard?

From the moment the bride's carriage reached the Winter Lands, Azure Noz's actions warranted reprimand, yet his master had watched indulgently.

'Strike at the decisive moment.'

That was Aden de Biplten's creed.

But this handling was different.

In Ijis's view, he had played his card rather hastily.

And it stopped at merely ousting the Azure Noz maids.

Before, he would have stripped them to thin clothes and marched them into the snowfields.

Then watched them freeze from any window in the estate.

"I heard you were quite ill."

His master gave notice only when leaving the estate entirely; he moved freely between knight headquarters and the main building without word.

Finding him fell to Ijis.

"These are herbs from the sun lands. They're commonly used in the capital, so they shouldn't cause you any discomfort. Still, if you notice any itching or..."

Thanks to that, on his way to the main building, Ijis witnessed something he shouldn't have.

Seeing Milo standing before the bride's door ignited a burning anxiety in him.

"...Come in and tell me."

If it had been another bride, the rumor would have circled the estate five times over, leaking to other houses' territories and lingering forever.

The new bride inviting another man into her bridal chamber!

Of course, there was an even bigger issue.

'...It's fine here.'

Milo's reaction right now directly contradicted his master's words.

Of course it was fine for His Grace!

They were husband and wife, after all!

"Pardon?"

Ijis wanted to smack the back of Milo's head—for missing the oddity fresh from the sun lands—and drag him away.

The one silver lining, however slim, was that all maids from other houses had been cleared from around the sun bride's room.

"M-Me?"

"Yes."

Even the Crimson Delroz maids gaped wide-eyed at the exchange between Milo and the bride.

Ijis nearly dropped his silver tray but caught the maid who fumbled hers.

Ijis pressed a finger to his lips.

'Quiet.'

The maid nodded vigorously.

Ijis pointed at the surrounding maids, then pressed his finger to his lips again.

Keep your mouths shut properly.

Understood, came the trembling reply.

"You're telling me to enter the Duchess's chambers in front of Crimson Delroz maids?"

Ijis called out to the flustered Milo.

"Milo, the Knight Commander seeks you."

"Ah! Y-Yes."

Milo looked positively relieved at the timely interruption.

Ijis announced from outside the door without poking his head in.

"Madam, may I borrow Milo for a moment?"

"...Of course."

The bride sounded startled, her reply a touch delayed, but her voice remained composed.

Only after dragging Milo far enough from the door that he was out of sight did Ijis release his collar.

Milo's eyes were huge, his body rigid as a wooden log.

Ijis had never seen the quick-witted Milo, who handled external merchant affairs so adeptly, freeze like this.

He must have felt the boss's blade at his throat.

"W-What just happened to me?"

Milo asked in a quavering voice.

Ijis wordlessly headed toward his master.

"Worse than you could have imagined."

Why his master had lied didn't matter.

He had his reasons, and as his limbs, they just had to obey.

But Milo had just directly refuted that lie.

The bride was no fool.

Soon, the one facing interrogation wouldn't be Milo, or himself, or even His Grace—but His Grace when confronting the bride as Knight Commander.

Ijis could already imagine his master's reaction upon hearing.

The one freezing under that icy gaze might not be an Azure Noz maid, but Milo.

It was vital information for his master.

But delivering it put both him and Esid's Milo in mortal peril.

Ah, damn it.

Ijis rarely swore.

Aden was at the knight headquarters.

He was reviewing information that had come through the Esid Merchant Group.

He had little interest in matters beyond the Winter Lands to begin with.

But the bride kept piquing his curiosity about the sun lands.

In his hand was intelligence on the viscount's house.

Far more comprehensive than what Milo had brought before.

He had confirmed no ties to the imperial family.

The possibility of an assassin was blatantly nil.

Above all, Ilrin, seen up close, wasn't just untrained—she had such a frail frame that even basic cultivation seemed impossible, fragile enough to handle with care.

Thus, he had endured a remarkably patient night.

To her small body, he must have been like a towering wave.

To keep the night's Ilrin from moaning only in pain, he had rigorously restrained himself.

That, in turn, only fueled him more.

'Ah.'

With every breath she exhaled, the hot, alluring scent drawing him in grew ever more intense.

It had been a night fierce enough to make a fresh arrival from the sun lands sweat.

He thought he had held back, yet the exceedingly delicate bride had fallen ill anyway.

Of course, the Azure Noz maids' blunder with the wrong Nened had worsened it.

Aden narrowed his eyes.

[Viscount Arlen is of clear origin, hailing generationally from Arlen Territory, but Viscountess Arlen's background is unclear.]

Whenever he investigated, the viscountess's info was what tripped him up.

Trivial details, yet they nagged at him oddly.

From a house with nothing to reveal, why did this one person's details keep bubbling up? Moreover, for an insignificant viscount's house without influence, there were suspiciously many murky corners.

Even for intel gathered hastily by Esid Merchant Group, wasn't it too sparse?

As if someone had deliberately blocked it—impossible otherwise.

The simplest method: kill and silence.

[Existence of exclusive maid unclear.]

Esid's Milo was no incompetent.

Finding no leads or sources, he narrowed his search instead.

The clue Milo latched onto was Ilrin's appearance when he first saw her.

The viscount's knight had escorted her but hadn't entered the merchant quarters.

She might have ordered him to wait outside, but if rumors of the viscount's pampered jewel were true, the knight should have followed inside to avoid reprimand.

Sensing something off, Milo dug elsewhere.

What he snagged was a former viscount's house maid.

She had been sent by Ilrin to procure something from the capital and vented frustrations about her superior to merchants.

Called her a strange girl.

Of course, the price for loose lips was brutal.

By the time Milo tracked her, she was gone from the world.

A maid badmouthing her superior.

From there, Milo circled back to this intel.

The existence of Ilrin's exclusive maid was unclear.

"No exclusive maid for the viscount's sheltered jewel...?"

Pumping up good rumors is easy enough.

Aden narrowed his eyes.

He thought of the night's Ilrin.

Her slender waist swayed precariously with his every movement.

Wherever he gripped, she was so thin and fragile that even surging desire had to be forcibly suppressed.

She really seemed on the verge of death.

Not here to kill me.

'Are you afraid to meet my eyes?'

Yet with her eyes covered, the bride had seemed a bit more at ease.

Aden rubbed his forehead.

Truth be told, he just wanted to say he was Den.

It was night, after all—no one to eavesdrop.

But instinct moved faster than thought.

How could he muster the courage to tell the bride, who averted her gaze and shut her eyes whenever his face might show, to look at him?

And if she asked why the deception, he had no answer.

That was...

Uncharacteristically, excuses swirled in his mind as he fabricated them.

"Your Grace, it's Ijis."

Behind Ijis entering the room stood another figure.