***
His fingers caressed her cheeks.
It was dizzyingly seductive.
She gently grabbed his hand and removed it from her face.
“We have a lot of time.”
His candle-like eyes flickered slowly.
After a brief silence, he buried his face in her shoulder.
“Yes. From now on…”
His voice rumbled in her ear, like that of a satisfied beast.
She gently embraced his back, fearing he would hear her pounding heartbeat.
A cool summer breeze tickled the back of her neck.
***
She took Victor’s hand and re-entered the banquet hall.
The banquet was in chaos. The vassals had left, and the drunken knights were stumbling towards the inn.
As they stepped into the hallway, her maids quickly followed. They were still very nervous.
She was concerned, but the most urgent matter was taking care of the drunken and slow-moving Victor.
When she scolded him for grabbing her butt, he laughed happily.
The servants showed signs of surprise, even if they didn’t voice their feelings.
That was strange, too.
The maids in the Capital always said that Victor was a pleasant person, and when he acted kindly, they smiled.
But the servants here acted as if this was the first time they had seen Victor smile.
‘Why?’
Finally, they reached the bedroom.
The interior of the bedroom was almost exactly the same as their bedroom in the Capital.
Red curtains, tapestries with the crest of Morte, and walls covered with weapons. It was as if their room in the Capital had been copied and pasted here.
Perhaps it was purposely decorated that way so Victor could sleep.
She grabbed Victor’s wrist and led him to bed. He followed her quietly and laid down. But he didn’t let go of her hand.
Swish
He pulled on her hand, which caused her to lose her balance and fall on his chest. She opened her eyes wide and looked down at him.
“My Grand Duchess. My Marion.”
Victor’s gaze ravaged her; her eyes, her shoulders, her wrists.
He asked in a whisper.
“Will you leave me?”
It was more like a plea.
She looked at Victor without saying a word.
Today, he was a little weird.
Maybe it was because he was drunk.
Or did the scenery of his hometown, which he had not seen in a long time, evoke sentiment in him?
After hesitating, she kissed him on the cheek.
It was something she had never done before, but somehow it felt right.
Then she whispered quietly.
“No. I will always be by your side.”
Victor smiled softly and closed his eyes.
She got up, rubbing her burning cheeks with the backs of her hands.
Today was a weird day.
***
Fortunately, Victor fell asleep obediently.
He was tired and intoxicated, so she was worried he might get worse, but it seemed that sleeping in a familiar environment was all he needed.
She put Victor back to sleep without difficulty and immediately passed out beside him.
When she woke up the next day, Victor was not in bed.
‘Is he up already?’
Rubbing her sleepy eyes, she found a note on the side table.
-I have a meeting, so I’ll go out first. Have a good rest.
The handwriting was very elegant.
‘How can everything about him be so cool?’
She laughed and rang the maids. They appeared at an astonishing speed.
She washed her face with warm water from a golden basin and awkwardly ate breakfast alone.
She ate thinly sliced pork, warm wheat bread, and grilled mushrooms.
Naturally, the food was great.
She emptied her plate with admiration.
“The Grand Duke has asked that Madame stay in her room as much as possible today.”
One of the maids said cautiously.
Amarion blinked.
Was he worried? It had been a long journey. Of course, this was good news for her.
She would consider herself the luckiest woman in the world just to stay in this room and roll around on the bed.
But suddenly, she thought that if she did, she would look like an incredibly lazy hostess.
She asked after a moment’s hesitation.
“Is there anything I need to do? Anyone I need to meet?”
She was still far short from being a lady, but she knew that the hostess of such a large estate was usually extremely busy.
It was different from managing a mansion.
The lord’s wife had to take care of the castle, feed the poor, and meet with the merchants who came and went.
After all, she was the Grand Duchess.
It was a land where the military wasn’t funded by taxes*, so there was likely much more work to do than she was used to.
[*E/N: this means that taxes fund public relief efforts instead, such as feeding the poor. Like Amarion mentioned, feeding the poor is part of her job as a hostess.]
But the maids looked at her and shook their heads.
“His highness just asked that you rest in your room.”
‘Is that really okay?’
Shouldn’t she meet with the vassals or head servants to discuss matters?
Conflicted, she just nodded.
‘Well, Victor is fine, so I guess he just wants me to rest.’
They could meet later if necessary.
She finished thinking and examined her maids. Their attitude was similar to yesterday.
They watched her every movement like a flock of frightened sheep.
It was really, really awkward.
If it had been like this on the first day she arrived at the Capital, she would have cried.
But now she knew how to get along with people.
She didn’t get close with ladies, but she got along quite well with her maids.
‘If I work hard, I might be able to make friends.’
She looked at the maid who spoke to her earlier. It was the same maid who begged and apologized yesterday.
“What is your name?”
The maid bowed her head and answered.
“It’s Mary, Madame.”
“Mary. Please serve me well.”
Mary froze and bowed her head even deeper.
“I will do my best, Madame.”
She smiled awkwardly and nodded her head.
‘Did I make her more uncomfortable?’
She asked the nervous maids to bring her a book to read from the library, in addition to giving them some other small tasks.
Mary and her other maids returned with great speed, again.
That was the title of the novel Mary brought.
‘Dordophin, what country are you from?’
It was a name that seemed unlikely to exist in either the Empire or Amari. Was he from the Southern or Eastern Kingdom?
She laid down on her stomach and examined the cover.
Funny illustrations were drawn on the front.
She spent a leisurely afternoon reading, engrossed in the novel.
***
Victor returned to their bedroom just when Dordophin was fighting an ugly lake frog.
“What are you reading?”
He laughed happily when she showed him the book.
“… It’s a fun book. I liked when Dordophin proposed to Grand Duchess Flamberge under her tower.”
“Victor!”
She hurriedly stopped him.
“I haven’t read that part yet!”
She glared at him as hard as she could. Victor raised an eyebrow.
“Sorry, I thought you read that far.”
“I thought he was going to fall in love with Princess Rapier.”
“I think I will spoil it if I say any more.”
He smiled and sat down on the bed.
He smelled of parchment and ink.
He had likely been in the conference room all day.
Suddenly, she felt embarrassed that she was still lying in bed. But Victor seemed satisfied.
“Did you rest in your room all day?”
“Yes.”
“Good. You must have suffered during our trip.”
He smiled and kissed her cheek.
She had no choice but to blush.
She hoped that the servants here would be as generous as they were in the Capital.
But instead of smiling at her and Victor, the maids bowed their heads, afraid to make eye contact.
‘Are they okay?’
Whether or not he knew her concerns, Victor calmly grabbed her hand.
“Tomorrow, take a look around the castle. It will take a few days, but it will be fun. There is much more to see here than in the Capital mansion.”
“Yes I will.”
“And… I want you to stay inside the castle for a while.”
He suddenly became serious.
She tilted her head.
“Why?”
“It’s been a while since I’ve been here, so I’m not sure if it’s safe, and I can’t go out with you because I’m busy. It’s frustrating, but please…”
Victor said sadly.
She blinked.
To be honest, she wasn’t even frustrated.
Born in a frozen land, she slept on a stone floor more often than a bed.
She considered a comfortable bed to be straw, laid over her armor.
It was worth living in those conditions for months, even years, if she could be buried in a soft blanket for just a moment.
As she nodded, Victor smiled and continued.
“And may I station knights in front of your door? There are a lot of people going in and out of the castle, so I’m worried.”
‘Huh?’
She didn’t quite understand him.
No matter what happened, it would be difficult for them to protect her with their skills…
But if that’s what made Victor feel at ease…
“Sure.”
As soon as she agreed, his smile grew even wider.
He always had a silly attitude around her, like a child about to eat their favorite candy.
Victor whispered in a seductive voice.
“Rest in the castle for as long as you want, Marion. Eat to your heart’s content and do whatever you want. You don’t have to go outside.”
“You’re going to trap me like Duchess Flamberge!”
At her joke, Victor smiled brightly, his eyes sparkling.
“There is nothing I wish for more than that.”
Without really knowing what he meant, she smiled.
***