IHMEB - Chapter 1 < Before Speaking, Start with Your Body >
Having An Enemy's Baby
"Marrying Vermont'! It's a shame for our Temnes!"
A voice full of the smell of alcohol rang loudly in the banquet hall where the wedding celebration was in full swing.
Then, here and there, people who had put down their drinks with a thud-thang sound as if they were full of energy got up from their seats and flocked to the head of the table.
"Does this make sense? We are Temnes!"
"Some of the scarecrow-like King Oberon's words made me laugh."
"Permanent residence! My lord, please tell me what to say!"
The man who was looking down at the shouting drunkards from the head table, Kaian, Lord of Rowen, drank a glass of wine instead of saying the words they wanted to hear.
His cold face showed no emotion and was as straight as a stone statue.
Beneath the well-groomed jet-black hair, red eyes glowed with a mysterious light and looked down at the clamoring Temnes blood relatives.
Despite his handsome appearance, he seemed to be a head taller than other men, and the intimidating look of his wide shoulders gave him the impression that it would have been difficult for people to keep his mouth shut in front of Kaian, the head of the Temnes family.
However, in the miserable banquet hall, where only empty liquor barrels were rolling around, ignoring the mountain of delicacies from land, sea, and air, there were several drunk dogs running towards their owners and barking at them.
"The blood of those dirty and cunning people is mixed in our family! I will never admit it!"
Taang.
When Kaian put down his drink, the previously noisy banquet hall suddenly became quiet.
"Shut up."
Even the men who had been using injections kept their mouths shut at every word he uttered.
"Are you trying to teach me again that Vermont is the enemy of Temnes?"
The cold air emanating from Kaian was threatening to freeze the air, which had been humid due to the rainy weather.
"Ha! After all, there's no way the Duke would properly treat poor Vermont as his wife!"
Someone who interpreted his words favorably raised their glass in the air and shouted to change the atmosphere, and soon those who had forgotten what had happened a moment ago began to bustle again, chopping down barrels of beer with Vermont as a snack.
"My lord."
At that time, the butler of the Lord's castle, Baron Colon, approached with a troubled face.
"It is said that due to heavy rain, the carriage the bride was riding in got stuck on the drawbridge and could not get over."
"Priest?"
Seeing Kaian sarcastically pondering those words, the butler lowered his head and pretended not to see.
"What should I do?"
Kaian got up and headed to the terrace.
Under the pouring rain, he could see five carriages lined up in a row struggling in the middle of the drawbridge, unable to move on.
Among them, two stood out and were from the north.
One carriage, slightly larger than the other carriages, was sitting at an angle and it looked as if its wheels were caught in a gap in the drawbridge.
Kaian sneered.
"You are a bride who is not welcome in Temnes. Know the topic and walk in with your own feet."
Some of the vassals who had been listening to his words went out to the terrace to see what was happening in front of the castle gate and chatted with excitement.
"What a shame, even the lord refuses to let Vermonte set foot in here."
"Ha ha ha"
Leaving the chattering crowd behind, Kaian shook off the raindrops that had fallen on his shoulder and turned around.
***
It was a terrible downpour.
The horse and people in the carriage, which had driven non-stop for 15 days from the north, were exhausted.
Unfortunately, the wheels of the carriage, worn out from the long journey in the middle of a rain-soaked drawbridge, got stuck, spun around, and ended up being damaged.
"Are these guys crazy! Do you think you will survive if you treat our Young Lady so carelessly?"
Moreover, the problem was that the ceiling of the carriage, which had been filled with water, could not function properly and large streams of water had been dripping inside for a long time.
Claudel, sitting inside, was a bride soaked in the rain.
She rented a gateway city in half a day's drive, changed her clothes, and climbed into a carriage with a garland on her head and a white veil.
But the rain had stopped the flowers from drooping unsightly, and the thin white veil, along with her red hair, had long since become wet and stuck to the nape of her neck.
Her eyes were amber-gold, with rain running down her round forehead.
Despite her appearance as if vivid colors were engraved on her body, the slender bride with pure white skin and a thin body looked strangely dangerous on a day when she should be blooming most beautifully.
Hannah, the maid who was upset by that sight, was raising her voice as if she was going to grab the guard who had been guarding the castle gate for two hours.
Soon after, the butler reappeared, telling her that he was going to tell the lord, and Hannah was pleased.
"Look. What does the Duke say?"
But his reply disappointed her.
"Hmm. Well, over there. The Lord told you to get off the carriage and walk in."
"I beg your pardon?"
As Hannah jumped, the butler avoided her eyes.
"Did I convey it correctly? How often does Temnes welcome a new hostess!"
"Well, I asked the right question."
"But he said that?"
The butler felt like sweat was streaming down his back, which had become wet from the rain.
'You are a bride who is not welcome in Temnes. Know the topic and walk in with your own feet.'
Even though the butler was unable to convey Kaian's exact words and purified the words in his own way, it was not enough to quell the fierce maid's anger.
"Hanna, stop."
"Miss."
"The clothes are cumbersome. I'm getting off, so can you hold my hand?"
"No, Miss. That's ridiculous."
Before Hannah could say anything, Claudel got out of the carriage in the pouring rain.
"Butler. Guide me."
Hearing Claudel's words, the butler quickly cleared the area and made his way.
Snap. Snap.
A thin, wet silk dress was wrapped around my legs and ankles. The ceremonial shoes decorated with pearl beads had lost their function of protecting the feet and were covered in rainwater.
Some people say you walk down a flowery path wearing pretty shoes.
Kaian, who would become her husband, had a wedding at Valmonde Castle, the estate of her parents' Vermont family, fifteen days ago, and he returned to Rowan alone, saying he had urgent business to attend to.
Although it was normal for him to escort his bride along, Claudel thought that Kaian was revealing his true feelings by not accepting her as his bride. She spent the last three days of the fortnight from Valmonde to Rowan in a carriage with rain falling on her, and the rain drenching her felt strange.
However, as the hem of her clothes, which was entangled around her feet, became wet and heavy, she struggled to wrap it up in her hands, and as she approached the castle of Lord Rowan step by step, her feet sank in the muddy mire.
She was afraid it felt like she was being robbed.
His cold treatment of her continued even after she was ushered into thr castle.
"Please give the Duchess a hot bath. She's been outside for a long time and it's cold, so I light a fire in the stove."
However, all the servants and maids in the castle looked the other way, as if they could not hear Hannah.
"Isn't Valmonde an ice castle?"
"The girl from the east said she was cold because she got caught in the rain."
As the underlings flirted and taunted her in audible words, Hanna began to run rampant all her way.
"Are these neither top nor bottom?"
"Up and down? Where does the stone come from and talk nonsense?"
"A stone that rolled in?"
"On the topic of country bumpkins. Do you really know where this is? To the subject who came from a ruined territory."
"Hey! Have you said everything?"
It was when Hannah, as if in a fit of convulsions, tried to grab the maid's hair in the Lord's castle.
"Hannah. Please prepare a change of clothes."
Claudel's voice quietly reached those who were arguing in the hallway with the bedroom door open.
"You. Consider yourself lucky. We'll see later."
With Hannah's arms crossed, she came back into her room, yelling at the maids who still seemed unwilling to fill the bath.
Meanwhile, Claudel found a towel with her own hand and wiped the moisture off her wet clothes.
However, the bride's headdress and veil were vague and soaked.
"Ha. What should I do with this?"
When Hannah saw the womb, she sighed as if she was dejected.
"The Duke needs to see the bride."
"Seeing it ruined like this will only make him feel bad. I think it would be better to just take it off."
Finally, Hannah took off her headdress and, sighing, lifted her white veil.
"He says no man hates beautiful women. You looked really beautiful earlier."
"it's okay, Hannah. I'm okay."
Claudel shook her head at the harsh words of her loyal maid.
In the end, the workers at the Lord's castle turned away, so Hannah bravely chased them to the castle's kitchen and scolded them, and hot, steaming water filled the bathtub.
After finally washing up, the warm warmth returned to her body, probably because she lost her body heat for a long time.
Claudel came out and looked at herself in the bathroom mirror.
A thin body with no trace of flesh on lifeless white skin.
There was tangled red hair and yellow eyes.
Hannah's words were nothing more than flattery because she thought she was pitiful.
Isn't her womanly charm usually including vitality and voluptuousness?
Her complexion was so pale that even her lips were a light pink color without any hint of red.
In short, she looked like a patient.
Kaian, whom she saw briefly at the wedding, did not give her a second glance.
Even if she took out all kinds of valuables from the family storehouse and decorated them as she wanted, Claudel, who was like dried chaff, would never catch his eye.
The man had risen to the pinnacle of kingdom power.
He achieved the greatest prosperity among all the Dukes of Temnes and had everything he could not obtain. He was so proud that he was subject to the King's checks.
So he was forced to marry her.
The events that she experienced in her short time at Rowan Castle today felt like a foreshadowing of what would happen during her stay here.
Her overwhelming emotions weighed heavily on her heart.
Claudel was so overwhelmed that she couldn't even sigh properly.
***
Kaian had drunk quite a bit.
It was early night today.
A meaningful night in which two families became one.
However, as soon as he thought of the bride with red hair, he felt disgusted.
Of all the Dukes of Temnes, who became more powerful during his generation, the person who hated Vermont the most was, without a doubt, Kaian.
'If you meet Vermonters, don't leave a single person alive.'
That was the most important virtue in the education of the succession of the Duke of Temnes for generations.
This means that even if you let the enemy live, you should not let Vermont live.
Kaian had been fighting at the forefront of the battlefield for a long time, so he had not yet taken Vermont's head.
But seeing Vermont, his father-in-law, and his wife, for the first time in his life, made him very excited.
He didn't think he would be able to celebrate the first night of the night in his right mind, so he drank too much, which was uncharacteristic of him.
"You don't have to give up your clothes!"
A woman's angry voice rang from the bedroom.
"You really aren't even human."
The maid, who was crying out of frustration, entered the room and stopped when she saw him.
The bride, caught in the rain, was wearing thin underwear.
The heavy rain had hit the wagon so hard that the clothes they had brought in got wet, so they asked for a change of clothes.
However, there must have been no clothes in this castle to give to Vermont.
Kaian raised the corners of his mouth obliquely.
"There's no need to find and wear something you're going to take off anyway."
Kaian scolded the maid who opened her mouth as if in response to his words.
"Scram."
Then the maid, who didn't know what to do, rushed out of the room and closed the door.
The woman who would become his bride was illuminated by the flickering candlelight. The woman sitting on the bed slowly got up.
She was small and thin.
Kaian, who was very dissatisfied with this marriage, only got married and returned straight to the estate, so he never spoke a word to her.
What should he say suddenly?
To his wife, who mixed her body before even mixing her words.
Then she opened her mouth first.
"Shall I take it off?"
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