IHMEB - Chapter 18 < Just >
Having An Enemy's Baby
“Why did you save me?”
An unfamiliar question flowed over the familiar scent of rosemary tea.
Why is he suddenly curious about that?
I raised my head slightly and looked at Kaian.
Beneath his black hair that hung over his forehead, bright red eyes looked at me as if telling me to speak quickly.
Why does that person always have an angry face?
Even now, the man who praised me as his 'benefactor' has a cold expression on his face, as if he has something to criticize.
“Just like that.”
"Just?"
"Yes."
I didn't put much meaning into it.
Even people who were originally healthy worry about their health not getting better.
Because I was about to reach the end of this life, I became indifferent to my treatment and physical condition.
“If anyone was in danger like that, I would have saved them.”
“...Anyone?”
I didn't particularly help him because he was a noble Duke.
Even if the person the crocodile tried to touch was Hannah, or the gatekeeper of an unknown castle, or anyone else, I would have thought that it would be better for me, who would soon die, to be bitten rather than to live a long life.
However, Kaian's face became colder after hearing my answer.
“You're a Duchess and you think like that. You should have avoided danger.”
I looked at the man who suddenly spoke like he was criticizing me, and closed my mouth.
'If I did that, you would have been bitten.'
Even if I said that it seemed like I wouldn't be able to get my money's worth.
“You're the most precious woman in this estate and yet you're not self-aware.”
Didn't he come because he was grateful?
I didn't know why he was getting angry.
“The tea doesn’t taste that good.”
Kaian jumped up and walked away, his cold breath radiating from his face.
I, who was relaxed, finally sighed.
It was as my breath passed through the back of my throat.
“Cough. Cough. Cough.”
I started coughing, so I grabbed a napkin from the tea table and quickly covered my mouth.
“Cough.”
As my coughing, which had not stopped for a long time, subsided, something rose up in my throat, as if I were going to vomit.
“Wook.”
In the end, I was finally able to calm down after spitting out a small lump of blood.
What is the last picture of my life?
I also had a vague picture of an ordinary deathbed.
I have a loving family by my side.
I imagine my gray-haired husband or my grown children sending me off, whispering that they love me and that they will never forget me.
No one is afraid of death.
I was so scared and lonely as I waited alone, preparing my heart that it would be okay.
As I lost my parents, I realized that such an ordinary death was not for everyone.
Still...
Still...
The only thing that comforted the sadness welling up in my heart was the pain I had become more accustomed to enduring.
***
Kaian did not visit Claudel for several days after that.
His attitude was different from that after Claudel rescued him and injured her leg, he visited her bedroom several times a day to ask how she was and had tea or dinner with her.
“You think it would have saved someone?”
He was a man who had been refined throughout his life into a shield to protect others and a sword to wield to protect others.
Since he had never been watched over by others, he wondered if he had attached too much significance to the fact that she had saved him.
However, he thought that Claudel had saved his life, and the warm memory that made his heart melt just by recalling it faded into insignificance.
“The only reason you saved me? That’s it?”
Kaian didn't know why he was so annoyed when there wasn't a set correct answer.
Knock. Knock.
"Come in."
The butler told him.
“My Lord. They say that the repair work on the jewelry you previously entrusted to them has been completed. The craftsman is here, what should I do?”
“Ask them to come in.”
As sales increased, a jeweler came in with a bright smile on his face and bowed his head.
“I have repaired the ring you entrusted me with.”
A blue jewelry box was placed on his desk. Kaian had only handed over a flimsy ring before, but now that he thought about it, he wondered if Antjone had the box the ring was in. It should contain a warranty from the person who originally made the ring.
Shaking off the thoughts that kept coming, Kaian picked up the ring from the box.
“Compared to the large jewelry, the Suchess fingers are very thin. So, I tried to lighten the ring as much as possible....”
The craftsman tried hard to explain, but Kaian barely understood what he meant, and anyway, the ring was as good as new.
The ring part was thinner than before, making it look more sophisticated. It almost didn't feel like it was the same thing.
Kaian's mood improved for a moment when he saw the new blue diamond ring.
When he came to visit from Antjone, he was reluctant to give Claudel an item that was defective and involved in such an unpleasant matter.
This felt like a completely different item, so he thought it would be okay to hand it to her.
As soon as the craftsman returned, he went back to being a dissatisfied man again.
Claudel was a very difficult woman.
What on earth was going through that little head of hers?
The problem is that once this distance was created, it was difficult to find it again.
Many other nobles also have arranged marriages, but do they all live in such difficult times? Living in the same house?
Kaian was suspicious, but he didn't have many friends.
This is because many male nobles of the same age who went to war died in battle.
To build connections, nobles invited each other to their homes and even went hunting.
When his father, the Duke of Temnes, was alive, Kaian also received many invitations between father and son in that way, but most of the families with whom he interacted in that way lost their heads or heirs. Now, it was a blur, with nothing to say about his connections.
So there was absolutely no place to ask how other people lived.
“Why are you doing this? My lord. Are you dissatisfied with your items?”
The butler, who was looking at Kaian glaring at Blue Diamond, asked
"No, I like it. It was fixed better than I expected.”
“But why are you doing this? Do you have any other concerns?”
Yes. An experienced butler might be of some help.
Moreover, the butler was a longtime loyalist of Temnes and even held the title of Baron.
Kaian didn't want to seem like he cared about Claudel, so he feigned composure and tried to ask lightly.
“I asked Claudel why she saved me.”
“I see. What does your wife say?”
"Just."
The butler blinked.
“I don’t mean I just asked, I mean she answered 'just like that.'”
"Ah."
Only then did the butler, who understood the context, nod his head.
“Does this make sense? She may never be able to walk again. Saving someone and getting hurt instead is just for that reason.”
“Your wife has a gentle personality.”
“She says she would still have saved someone even if it was not me.”
“How fortunate you are to have such a person as your wife. If the people of the territory are in trouble, she will definitely be merciful.”
"But.... That’s it again.”
The biggest problem with arranged marriages was that it was difficult to know their actual personalities.
“I don’t know anything else, but I’m sure she’ll treat the residents well.”
Wouldn't it be nice if Rowan's young people spit on her, calling her Vermont.
“Whoa.”
When he sighed incongruously, the butler asked again.
“How can you do that again?”
“I just don’t know. Is it really this hard to get close to her wife?”
Kaian had never been interested in the butler's marital situation, but now he was curious.
“Isn’t it a sudden marriage? Usually, even if it is an arranged marriage, there is an engagement period, and the two date for about a year and then have a ceremony.”
"Yes."
“Isn’t it because I don’t date?”
"Date?"
When Kaian asked as if he really didn't know, the butler cleared his throat.
"Greatness. So, until now, you’ve only been seeing your wife in her bedroom.”
"I did."
Because he felt pressured to send Vermonte off on their duties, which he didn't want to see. If Kaian does not cooperate in responding to the King's order to marry, it would also be disloyal to the King's order.
He never really thought about seeing Claudel anywhere else.
Her bedroom.
And his bedroom. Although it was only once.
“You will need time to get to know each other. You don’t know much, do you?”
Kaian, who was thinking deeply that he had no idea what Claudel was thinking, nodded his head in agreement.
“What do you usually do while dating?”
“We do various activities and go on dates.”
“Isn’t that something only people who cling to women servilely do?”
The butler kept his mouth shut.
Kaian got annoyed when women hung on him. Perhaps it was a match made in heaven that he met a hostess with an indifferent attitude. On the contrary, it seems like Kaian is more worried.
“You will get to know each other better if you spend time together.”
The butler decided to secretly give advice on his Master's marital relationship for the sake of the succession of the Temnes family.
“How about going for a picnic?”
"Picnic?"
"Yes. Since she has a hard time walking, wouldn’t it be difficult to take a walk? She must be frustrated because she stayed inside the castle the whole time.”
Kaian also felt the same way, so he tried to show Claudel his bedroom.
“Get that ready. I guess I can give her the ring there too.”
“When are you going?”
"Now."
Seeing that Kaian was going to change his clothes without delay, the butler sent an errand boy to Madam's room and headed to the kitchen.
***
Thanks to the advice of a talented butler, Kaian was walking down the flower path holding Claudel an hour later.
The back garden of Rowan Castle was adjacent to a small lake and was the private property of the Lord of the castle.
No one can enter the place, and the gardener manages to keep it from becoming overgrown, so it has a vivid wild feel because it is not artificial.
As the butler carefully laid her down under the shade of the tree that had been prepared for me, Claudel, whose complexion had been pale and bad today, seemed to have improved a little.
'I thought it was because I asked you to go out with me.'
He almost felt offended again, but the sight of her sitting in a field of white flowers was quite something to see, so he plopped down next to Claudel.
"How is it? Do you like it?”
"Yes. It's really good."
Kaian kept trying to take advantage of the opportunity.
When will he give her the ring?
Is there anything he can say that will make the mood better?
But he still didn't know what to say to a girl whom he didn't know what she liked.
“Tell me anything you want.”
Claudel looked at him quietly.
“Because you're a benefactor. As a way to repay the favor.”
Oops. Since she is his benefactor, he should have said that he would give her this ring in return.
If Antjone hadn't stolen this in the hallway that day, he wouldn't have had to worry about this.
“If I really ask you, will you listen?”
"Uh."
“Anything I say?”
"Yes."
Claudel smiled faintly.
However, Kaian, seeing that level of laughter for the first time, seemed to take his breath away without realizing it.
“I’ll think about it.”
Why is even that word so relatable?
As he looked at his wife sitting there with that expression on her face, he felt confused again.
He got up from his seat, picked the white flowers scattered on the ground, and made a small bouquet.
"Here."
It was something he did with great determination for a woman who was still unable to walk due to discomfort in her legs.
"Thank you."
However, Claudel's face distorted when she smelled the flower.
"Why...?”
It was when he started to look at her in surprise.
“Cough. Cough.”
Red blood spread between Claudel's fingers as she covered her mouth with her hand.
“Claudel!”
Unable to breathe properly, she collapsed, blood spattering all over the white petals she was holding in her arms.
Comments
Post a Comment