Chapter 32

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 32

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

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"You've arrived."

Milo of the Esid Merchant Group, who had been waiting, gave the group a brief greeting.

There was no deep bow of respect like the one he'd offered back in the Winter Lands.

Ilrin found that fact a bit odd for a moment, but she quickly understood.

Milo was the head of the Esid Merchant Group.

If he bowed deeply in loyalty to someone coming down from the north, it would be as good as announcing that the merchant group's base was up there.

It was best to assume there were eyes and ears everywhere in Boryeon.

Aden seemed to share the same thought, accepting the greeting without any sense of discomfort.

"The viscount's proxy is waiting."

Milo reported in a quiet voice.

Aden tilted his head slightly.

"Proxy?"

Ilrin turned to look at him without realizing it.

The rest of the group bowed their heads even deeper.

For a moment, the air around them grew chillingly cold.

Ilrin rubbed the back of her hand.

"I wonder if a proxy is fitting company for me."

They had clearly said they wanted to meet the viscount himself.

His calm words echoed through the surroundings.

Milo seemed to feel it too, bowing his head deeply.

You couldn't wield the Winter Duke's authority in Boryeon.

But he felt a chill creep down the nape of his neck.

It meant his liege had seized control of the area with mere words and presence.

"...I'll correct that."

He turned back toward the merchant group building.

Behind him, the group was led by the merchant group members into the building.

"Elder Ridan, Knight Has reporting."

A few days later, Ridan of Azure Noz had taken over one room on the fourth floor of the mansion.

This place was Azure Noz territory even within the Biplten mansion anyway.

It was fine for him to be a little more relaxed.

But instead of melting into the sofa, he stood by the window.

Outside was pitch-black dawn.

"Come in."

The door clicked open, and Has carefully stood beside him.

He was the coachman who had first brought Ilrin to the Winter Lands.

He still hadn't brushed the snow off his shoulders.

"Delroz's carriage has entered the Esid Merchant Group."

"It must have taken time for word to reach us, so they've probably been there a while."

"Yes."

After a brief silence, Ridan chuckled.

"Isn't this April unusually warm?"

Has was a knight tough against the cold, but even he couldn't endure April's chill bare-skinned.

Yet he had crossed April's winter and Boryeon on horseback this time too.

"Even without the Winter Duke on this land."

Yes, it was an unusually warm April.

Back when she lived in the viscount's house, the Esid Merchant Group and Viscount Arlen's residence were close enough that Ilrin could come and go easily.

Thanks to that, it didn't take long for people to travel between them.

The Esid Merchant Group's intention to meet Viscount Arlen himself was conveyed straight to the viscount's house.

"I heard House Arlen values honor highly..."

Not only did the viscount handle trades personally, but he came running the moment they called, like a tail-wagging puppy.

Wasn't that a disgrace to his noble face in many ways?

After contacting Viscount Arlen, Milo cautiously broached the topic.

"The viscount might look for other trading partners."

"That won't happen."

Ilrin, who had been listening quietly, spoke up.

Milo and Aden's gazes turned to her.

The three of them were seated in the merchant leader's room deep within the Esid Merchant Group building.

A place Ilrin had visited exactly once before.

Ilrin looked around the room again with fresh eyes.

Even when she'd first come here and asked Milo to deliver a letter, she hadn't imagined these people would become complete allies.

Monster Duke.

That's what Aden was known as in Boryeon.

Ilrin gave Aden a slightly longer look.

He accepted the sudden gaze with gentle ease.

A man endlessly kind to me.

Of course, she knew he was terrifying when he needed to be.

Looking at Biplten's power structure, perhaps his outward image needed to be fearsome.

No, it had to be.

"Do you... know anything else, by chance?"

Milo asked cautiously.

"If Milo investigated more deeply, you'd find out too..."

Or maybe you already know.

Ilrin slowly opened her mouth.

It was like airing her family's shame.

It couldn't not bother her.

But she wasn't trembling much.

'I'll show you just how bad I can be.'

'Ilrin, as long as you're not worse than that, it'll be fine, right?'

Ilrin recalled Aden's words and gave a small smile.

Her man knew exactly how to reassure her.

Ilrin began to speak.

"House Arlen is currently in financial straits. Until I left, the house had almost no sources of income."

She blushed without realizing it.

"They attend parties day after day and scatter money to their underlings, but in reality, they've squandered nearly everything they had."

Ilrin began recounting her family's story.

House Arlen was a family barely maintaining their noble lineage on income from a small territory.

The successive heads of House Arlen had always been far from honor-seekers.

But in this generation, an unusually honor-obsessed man became head, changing the atmosphere.

Vassals who couldn't adapt to a lord burning with ostentatious desires rather than tending his lands even turned their backs.

Then, the viscount grasped a huge fortune when he married Ilrin's mother.

The woman who appeared out of nowhere one day was stunningly beautiful.

Her origins were unclear, but her looks captivated Viscount Arlen so completely that it didn't matter.

The viscount's vassals, and even the woman's own family, opposed the marriage.

Strangely, the woman showed even more heart than the viscount.

In the end, unable to break their daughter's stubbornness, her family offered a massive dowry to overcome the vassals' opposition.

Enough for House Arlen to dream of revival.

"...That money only fueled Father's extravagance."

"If I may ask one thing?"

Milo interjected suddenly.

He shrank back more under Aden's gaze than Ilrin's.

"I'm sorry."

"No, ask away."

Ilrin patted Aden's arm reassuringly.

Aden let out a short sigh.

As if the anger left with that breath, his expression softened.

"That..."

Milo hesitated before asking Ilrin.

"May I ask about Madam's maternal family?"

It was a fact they'd investigated all along, but asking the person herself was far safer and quicker.

"..."

Ilrin's family history seemed a sensitive topic, so even Aden hadn't asked directly.

Aden fell silent again, staring at Milo.

Milo broke into a cold sweat under the piercing gaze.

Ilrin's maternal family—Viscountess Arlen's home.

Ilrin felt no particular resistance to Milo's question.

"It's fine."

Maternal family... She pondered briefly before speaking.

"I don't know much myself. My maternal grandmother lived in Arlen territory but moved far away when I was young. And,"

Her hesitation was fleeting.

"You may not believe it, but the women in my maternal family have had precognitive dreams for generations."

"Precognitive dreams?"

Ilrin briefly explained the ability.

No need to mention Mobil; the story of foreseeing her brother's death as a child sufficed.

Including the viscount's reaction to it.

The first time was hard, but the second was easy.

Still, Aden took her hand.

Ilrin smiled at him to say she was okay.

"I see..."

Milo felt like he'd completed a puzzle.

Now he understood why his liege was personally interested in this deal—he had no intention of leaving Viscount Arlen be.

His liege's calm was cold fury.

Milo knew how terrifying that was, having served him that long.

"The story veered a bit."

Ilrin gave a slight smile at Milo's serious face.

She looked at the two men and continued.

"I'm told the dowry from my grandmother was quite substantial. I don't know if Father intended to revive the house with it, but by the time I took an interest in finances, it was nearly all gone."

The viscount's territory had almost no revenue sources to begin with.

With spending ballooning without change there, the outcome was predictable.

"To Father, that—"

Ilrin found the word "Father" slipping out uncomfortably.

"Karot must have been a very welcome prospect. He'll want this deal to succeed no matter what."

The Esid Merchant Group had a stranglehold on northern food distribution routes.

For a long-term partnership, House Arlen couldn't afford to let them slip away.

"I see."

A deal they absolutely had to make happen.

Aden's lips curved into a smile as he listened to Ilrin.

Ilrin remained in the merchant building, veiled in black.

Aden was meeting Viscount Arlen under the long, convoluted title of 'Northern Distribution Manager Proxy.'

Ilrin was receiving a tour of the merchant group from Milo, who stayed by her side.

"Proxy?"

Through the thick black veil, her face was completely hidden.

All that showed were glimpses of slender white hands beneath her winter coat.

Her striking long silver hair was pinned up, adorned with flashy ornaments.

The veil and jewels drew the eye more than her hair.

No one would think this was Viscount Arlen's lady.

"Yes."

Even Milo, who had met her when she was Viscount Arlen's lady, thought the same.

Delroz's maids had dressed her like some noble lady of Boryeon, as if by prior agreement.

She looked neither like the Winter Duke's wife nor Viscount Arlen's daughter.

"Then who is the Northern Distribution Manager that Aden is proxying for?"

With even her cautious voice muffled under the black veil, she seemed like a mysterious third party.

Milo nearly missed her question because of it.

[Serve her so she's not uncomfortable.]

It was an order from his liege himself.

Milo broke into another cold sweat.

His answer came out just in time.

"It's you, Madam."

"Pardon?"

Ilrin stopped in her tracks.

Me?

"Yes."

Regaining his composure, Milo continued.

"For this deal, he said it's entirely up to Madam's decision."

"Ah..."

Probably because it involved House Arlen.

He'd told her to do as she pleased, to show how bad she could be, but ultimately respected her will.

Ilrin thought of the room downstairs where Aden was negotiating.

'If you want to watch, you can come see.'

Aden had said that while personally draping the black veil over her.

His reluctant touch had lifted the veil slightly to caress her lips.

He's more than capable, so he'll do fine.

"..."

She could go watch... where Den was.

What should she do?

Ilrin glanced back down the corridor again.