Chapter 28

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 28

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

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“Milo, sir!”

At that moment, the door to the merchant leader's office rattled as if struck by an April gale.

“Come in.”

The door opened immediately.

The man who entered hailed from Crimson Delroz.

Only then did Milo realize that the message he'd been awaiting from House Biplten had finally arrived.

“A dispatch from the estate.”

“Yes.”

Milo straightened his clothes and listened.

He had waited for word from the mainland, but he already knew the answer.

His Grace did not look kindly on House Arlen.

He could tell that much just from the investigation reports.

Setting everything else aside, what bothered him was that—contrary to the rumors—Madam had not even a single dedicated maid.

It was tantamount to proof that her standing in House Arlen was the polar opposite of what the gossip claimed.

“From the estate...”

As for the viscountess, he could investigate her through other channels.

There was no need to pry for information while striking a deal.

Milo looked as though he'd already heard the reply.

The messenger steadied his breath and spoke.

“They say to accept House Arlen's deal.”

“What?”

His words were the exact opposite of what Milo had expected.

He reflexively started to repeat the question, then clamped his mouth shut.

But the messenger wasn't finished.

“However, His Grace wishes to meet the viscount in person.”

The sudden decision from the house head threw the Biplten estate into chaos.

To make matters worse, it was April, with blizzards raging—the three houses, excluding Crimson Delroz, couldn't even contact their elders.

As a result, the one who came to see Aden in the elders' stead was a knight from Luminous Ello.

“I have business with Crimson Delroz's Knight Commander.”

In the Delroz knights' quarters at the estate. Ijis, guarding the commander’s office door, hid his troubled expression and relayed the visit inside.

“Commander, someone from Ello requests an audience.”

“Who from Ello?”

Ello's elder was surely hunkered down in their northwestern territory right now, devising ways to fend off the cold.

“Ello's knight, Rozhi.”

“Ah.”

Rozhi—he was one of the rare knights Aden knew.

Not as duke, but as Crimson Delroz's knight commander.

They'd clashed repeatedly over the same issues, after all.

Ello's knight Rozhi was the type who treasured his own subordinates' lives above all else.

Put differently, he cared little for the lives of knights from other houses.

“Send him in.”

Crimson Delroz's knight commander Den was known as an exceedingly difficult man to deal with.

He often employed daring strategies on the battlefield, but the consensus was that he did so only after meticulous calculation.

And one more thing: he was the duke's proxy. A role unique to Crimson Delroz knights, who never laid eyes on their leader.

“Rozhi of Ello.”

Rozhi entered the commander's office and offered only a curt salute, as one might to a superior.

Not the full deference due to Ello's own knight commander, of course.

“What brings you here?”

Aden had no intention of listening to a long-winded tale.

The topic was obvious anyway.

“I hear Crimson Delroz's leader is heading to Biyeon.”

Of course.

Den leaned back in his chair.

“And?”

Rozhi faced the Crimson Delroz knight commander he'd seen on battlefields many times before.

The commander made no effort to hide his displeasure.

“...It's April now.”

Biplten's April.

The coldest season.

“The Yester Tribe's movements are suspicious. They recently joined forces with the Molri Tribe, as you know. Yester in April are dangerous. I suggest advising your leader against it.”

It was straight out of a textbook.

Den tilted his head.

“Are you saying it's dangerous for the leader to head out?”

“...Of course, I don't doubt the leader's abilities, but...”

In Biplten's April, the safest place wasn't the estate—it was right beside the Duke of Biplten himself.

If someone with temperature-manipulating powers was present, there was no reason to fear the Yester.

The Yester were sensitive to temperature; they rampaged freely in the cold but wilted the moment it warmed even slightly.

“Just say it straight.”

Aden smiled.

He braced his hands on the desk and leaned forward.

“Ello's lands are too close to the Yester.”

The commander's office fell silent for a moment.

“...I don't fully represent Ello's position, but...”

Rozhi was a cautious knight.

More precisely, a shrewd one.

“His Grace is not only Crimson Delroz's leader but also Biplten's protector. The elder has expressed regrets over Delroz's recent conduct.”

If Crimson Delroz's behavior had changed lately, there was only one thing.

Aden staying at the estate, reducing long-range expeditions.

That wasn't Delroz's usual role anyway.

It was just an aberration born of Aden's aversion to the estate and pressure from the three houses over the succession rite.

'We cannot accept a house head who can't even protect the people of winter!'

It was the refrain the three houses' elders had chanted incessantly before the rite.

Aden curled his lips into a smile.

With the rite over and reason to stay at the estate, there was no need to lead Delroz knights on expeditions anymore.

“Then I'll pass along a message from the leader as well.”

In truth, it was Aden's own view—but only Ilrin would laugh at that.

“The leader anticipated a visit from Ello or Noz the moment the trip was decided.”

Azure Noz was even more vigilant than anyone about Crimson Delroz's actions.

With their base right next to Yester nesting grounds, their sensitivity was understandable.

“He asked me to tell you: 'Since when did Delroz become another house's sword?'”

If they hated wielding the blade so much, why not just discard it?

“Will it be alright?”

Ilrin spread a map of Biplten across the desk.

The cake and tea she'd been enjoying were forgotten.

The quick-witted Etra brought two fresh cups of hot tea.

The slightly cooled ones passed through her hands to the other maids.

“Is this Biyeon liquor?”

“It's tea, I said. It's hot, isn't it?”

“Can I try some?”

The maids' hushed whispers faded into the distance.

The tea was one of many imports from Biyeon brought for Ilrin.

She'd told the maids they could drink it freely, but none dared touch Madam's things under Etra's sharp gaze.

Still, Etra didn't scold them for sipping what she'd set aside half-finished, so the maids soon gathered around, eyes sparkling as they admired it.

“It'll be fine.”

Aden, naturally, claimed one of the new cups.

He'd never been to Biyeon either, so this was his first time seeing the tea.

As one does with liquor in winter, he rolled it around his mouth a few times—then slightly furrowed his brow at the unexpected bitterness.

“Not to your taste?”

Ilrin smiled faintly at him.

Etra moved to pour a fresh cup, but Aden waved her away.

“First time trying it.”

A second sip was just as bitter.

Aden finally set the cup down.

A fork suddenly appeared before him, laden with cake.

Beyond it blinked Ilrin, of course.

“Try this too.”

Her smile seemed sweeter than the cake.

As his reaction lagged, Ilrin tilted her head slightly.

Then, as if remembering something crucial, she pointed to the fork before her.

“The one I was using is this...”

The one in her hand was new... Before she could finish, Aden reached out and snatched the fork from in front of her.

The new fork with cake in her hand now pointed toward her instead.

“If Ello lacked the power to repel Yester, they couldn't have settled there.”

He set down the fork and gazed at the map Ilrin was studying.

He pointed to a spot right beside Yester territory, stamped clearly with Ello's crest.

“Have you heard of Ello's light?”

Light? Ilrin tilted her head slightly.

She had—in her dreams.

About the wedding hall in Ello, aglow with light.

“A little.”

“It's not quite Biyeon's sunlight, but it's warm and sturdy enough to repel Yester.”

Aden glanced back at Ilrin sipping her tea.

He wondered how she drank that bitter stuff without a change in expression.

Pushing the thought aside, he continued.

“—Moreover, the temperature this April is higher than average. Even with fierce northwest winds, if their base is in the northwest and they can't even hold off minor incursions...”

Aden narrowed his eyes.

A sign of his displeasure with Ello.

With a house head wielding divine power, Crimson Delroz's might was only natural.

But the other three houses' blades weren't completely dulled.

Yet they always demanded Delroz support, loath to trim their own forces even a little.

While flaunting their flimsy relics.

“?”

Just as he opened his mouth again, a fork topped with cake thrust forward once more.

“With the relic-dependent succession rite over, there's no need to support Ello further, right?”

Ilrin summed it up neatly.

Aden unwittingly accepted the cake.

He wasn't one for sweets, but this cake suited him perfectly—it was delicious.

“...Yes.”

“Still, it's worrying in many ways. Ello aside, the estate too...”

Aden pressed his index finger to her lips as she voiced her concerns.

Her soft lips touched his skin.

“More importantly, have you made up your mind?”

At his words, Ilrin set down her cup.

Her serious expression suggested she needed cake.

“About whether I'll go to Biyeon or not?”

“Yes.”

Aden had instructed Milo to accept the deal—for now.

On the condition that he meet the viscount personally.

Not as Duke of Biplten, of course.

He'd left all matters regarding Viscount Arlen's estate to Ilrin.

She could reveal her presence in Biplten if she wished.

Though winter had severed ties with Biyeon upon his ascension, that was due to his inclinations, not political reasons.

Ilrin replied she wouldn't ignore Viscount Arlen's affairs, but meeting him in person was a choice she couldn't make lightly.

Her heart was conflicted.

She knew Viscount Arlen.

Upon learning she'd married the Duke of Biplten, he'd first think of his own gains.

How was the marriage? If they were close, could he extract something from the duke?

The mere thought sent chills down her spine.

Above all, she didn't want to become Biplten's weakness.

“Deep in thought?”

Even Aden's cake remedy failed to ease her expression.

He swept aside the cake and map, then kissed her cheek.

“Shall I help a little?”

“How?”

Aden fell silent for a moment.

He braced his hands on the desk and leaned toward her.

Once her heart raced for a different reason, he finally spoke.

“Ilrin.”

“Yes.”

“What would you like Viscount Arlen to be doing about ten years from now?”