IHMEB - Chapter 3 < Claudel's Seat >
I Have Enemy's Baby
“Do you like the place where you can rest in peace?”
Claudel was startled by the sudden sound and turned around.
"Butler. Have the gravedigger drop the gold coins. The Duchess seems to really like the tombstone.”
"Yes. Yes. My lord.”
When the butler glanced at the guard standing behind him, a man who bowed his head rushed out.
“....”
Claudel couldn't say anything and kept her mouth shut. Kaian's cold and seemingly angry attitude made not only her but everyone else hold their breath without even making a squeak.
"Come here."
At the words of command, Claudel stepped back and stood next to him.
“It’s not the right, it’s the left. Don’t you even know these basics?”
Hearing his harsh words, she stood on her left side with him holding her arm.
A strong scent emanated from the man holding her. It was the manly scent that had entangled Claudel last night.
He was quite skilled.
Kaian was a strikingly handsome man and had a great spirit, so much so that rumors spread all the way to the far northern Valmonde that the girl who came and went to his bedroom changed every day.
It was her first time, so her body was different as he spoke harshly to her, as if he was not happy with her, as if she was going to lose her mind.
Claudel was very fortunate that her husband, who had taken her virginity, was not clumsy.
Otherwise, she might have been crushed by the strong man and broken one or two of her limbs.
When she opened her eyes in the morning, Kaian had already left the bedroom, so this was the first time she had seen him since the first night.
'There was no gift this early in the morning.'
If the bride was satisfied on the first night, baskets or boxes filled with flowers and gifts were piled up in the Lady's bedroom and hallway.
Although it was a useless tradition in Oberon's kingdom, it was so customary that when noble families gathered together, they would compete to brag about what they had received from their husbands after the first night's wedding.
Depending on what the object was, it could have some meaning or symbol. Expensive jewelry to show off wealth, trophies received from the King to display honor, and mementos passed down from the mother by the head of the family as a pledge of chastity to the woman who would become the wife were also given.
This morning, there was nothing in front of Claudel's room, so it was empty.
There were a lot of things she could know without having to say anything.
She was sure that she wouldn't see him in the bedroom from tonight onwards.
It was truly a miserable situation.
Meanwhile, as she looked at the stone with her name engraved on it, she felt grateful that Kaian was still planning on kicking her out.
Concealing his sorrow, Claudel calmly placed flowers and wine on the graves where the owners of the Temnes family were sleeping.
She had no idea that Kaian was stealing glances at her side profile.
***
After visiting the catacombs, a celebration continued like yesterday.
Where the day before, the famous Temnes blood relatives gathered and drank heavily, today the vassals who had sworn allegiance to the Temnes family were drinking.
Only those who turn into dogs and bark have changed from blood relatives to vassals.
The atmosphere of getting drunk while spouting out dissatisfied words about the marriage with Vermont was not much different from yesterday, so Kaian just sat at the highest table with an unimpressed face and slowly moistened his lips with alcohol.
'She's a strange woman.'
What he was thinking about was Claudel, whom he had seen in the cemetery a little while ago.
Kaian reached the basement with several armed guards. Because they were equipped with heavy armor, the sound of them arriving at the catacombs must have been quite loud, but Claudel was in a dazed state as if she had been distracted by something.
She caressed the cold tombstone with dull eyes.
She had a gentle face, as if her tombstone was very nice and she liked it, and it seemed as if she was dreaming of another world alone in the middle of her grave.
That expression touched Kaian's heart.
She had to make that face last night when she let his hands grope her body. She didn't just close her eyes and keep her mouth shut and wait for the hours of terrible training to pass. In his arms, which many virgins are anxious not to be held in.
Meanwhile, Kaian was quite satisfied with his unexpected bride, so after Claudel fell into a fainting sleep, he left the bedroom and belatedly prepared flowers and gifts.
This is because he remembered what she had said to the butler who was annoying her by talking about tradition, saying, 'Flowers for Vermont do not grow in Rowan.'
Claudel became his bride anyway, and she was his wife.
Besides, while he was so uncomfortable and disgusted that he was worried about whether or not he would be able to spend their first night, even when he was sober, he didn't feel that uncomfortable.
Because she's not Vermont anymore.
Because she's Temnes.
He didn't feel so bad when he glanced at the woman who had prepared a place to lie down next to Kaian's own grave, built when he became the head of the family, with her name engraved on it.
Except he married that damned Vermont.
However, when he saw the woman who did not receive the gift he sent, his sarcasm became offended.
It was common sense to wear an early night gift right away when getting dressed the next day.
If Claudel had accepted him as her husband, she should have put the flowers he sent her in her hair and put the ring he sent her as a gift on her finger.
The gift that Kaian gave to Claudel was a large blue diamond ring that his mother had received as an early night gift from the previous Duke of Temnes.
It was one of the treasures passed down from generation to generation in the Temnes family, but there was no way Claudel knew about it.
'It's so extravagant that it's not that noticeable.'
The image of Claudel with treasures wrapped all over her body on her wedding day flashed through his mind.
From tiaras to rings, necklaces, brooches and belts.
They were all expensive treasures as if they had been stolen from the royal treasure trove of any country.
In the eyes of a woman who enjoys such things, the simple ring with a rare gem called a blue diamond may not have looked good, but the man's pride had been hurt.
“I wish a year had passed.”
One of the vassals complained.
“Once the marriage period is completed, we must drive Vermont out of our Rowan land as soon as possible.”
"You're right. There are now 364 days left.”
When Kaian remained silent, they chatted excitedly, as if they had accepted as a foregone conclusion that Claudel would be kicked out of the castle in a year.
“Your Excellency the Duke. I am reducing the number of marriages.”
Among them, a middle-aged, thin man with dark gray hair and a beard approached him, rubbing his own hands. It was Burbrook Kanden who was in charge of managing the estate's fruit trees.
“Is this something to celebrate?”
"Sure. It's not something to celebrate. After all, why didn't the Duke of Vermont marry his favorite daughter? Even the Duke of Vermont would turn a blind eye to kicking out his adoptive daughter.”
Burbrook studied him.
“Is there anyone who doesn’t know that Claudel is the bane of the family? If you had married Princess Irena, who is rumored to be loved by the Duke of Vermont, he would have treated you as harshly as yesterday and the Duke would have sent his life to Rowen Castle.”
“You know quite a bit about Vermont, don’t you?”
Burbrook got excited when Kaian responded.
Until he entered the bridal room last night, he didn't even know the name of the woman he married.
All he had to say was that he had married a Vermont woman out of the blue for the sake of damned King Oberon, and he had no intention of taking this in good faith or seriously.
Claudel was the adopted daughter of the Duke of Vermont.
The Duke of Vermont had a younger brother, but the Duke, worried about the succession struggle, kicked him out to the outskirts of the estate and lived like a commoner.
The daughter the younger brother had with a commoner was Claudel.
However, in reality, marriage between a noble and a commoner was not recognized by the laws of Oberon, so Claudel grew up without a social status until she was over ten years old.
Then, when her mother died in an accident, her father returned to the castle of Vermont with young Claudel, asked her older brother for her daughter, and died leaving a will saying that he was going to be with his beloved wife.
Fortunately, Claudel was a child with red hair and golden eyes that Vermont said only appeared in an immediate family.
Rumors abounded that the Duke would have paid a huge price to the Duchess to have Claudel enshrined in the House of Vermont.
Kaian planned to annihilate Vermont through this territory war.
The plan was to make sure that the name Vermont would never appear again in the future of Oberon, and that was Temnes' long-cherished wish.
However, King Oberon was skilled in politics and did not want Vermont to be exterminated.
However, on the other hand, as Burbrook said, it was a shrewd and intelligent King who chose the current Vermont family head's adopted daughter, not the biological daughter, as a sacrifice for an arranged marriage. To Kaian, it was no different from saying that he would turn a blind eye to the number of divorces and broken engagements.
Beside Kaian, lost in his thoughts, Burbrook seemed to have something to wish for and could not help but fall.
“That’s why, Your Excellency. If you abandon Vermont after the wedding period, please send her to me.”
"What?"
“When I was young, I had a relationship with a Vermont woman. Haa. I tried so hard to meet them again, but a red-haired northern woman married in the land of Rowan, who was my enemy. She still remains a widower.”
A cruel smile appeared around Burbrook's wrinkled eyes.
“Isn’t it like being an outcast even in Vermont? If the Duke throws her away, there will be nowhere to go, so please let me collect her.”
“Like that...”
Kaian indifferently raised his glass.
"Thank you."
The drunken retainer bowed his head in front of him, pushing Verbrook, who was filled with emotion.
“This marriage is an insult! If you give me permission, I will immediately drive my horse to the north and kill those scum of Vermont....”
The butler peered into the mess that had unfolded in front of Kaian and told him.
"Your Excellency. The Duke of Vermont has just arrived at the castle.”
"Right now?"
He sneered as if he understood.
“When he collects the bride’s ransom, he comes running like a debtor.”
Now that the first night was over, it was time to hand over the promised grain to the starving Vermont.
Kaian, who emptied his glass, stood up.
***
The Duchess of Temnes’ room was antique and bright.
Rose sculptures carved from bright pink jade decorated the white stone pillars and were framed with gold, making them especially dazzling during the bright day.
Claudel sitting there looked even paler and thinner.
“Damn Temnes bastards. You have fallen into a swamp of luxury.”
In reality, her uncle, the Duke of Vermont, was a man with red hair and golden eyes like Claudel.
The reason why she, his niece, was registered in Vermont was because Claudel had the full symbolic color that was expressed only in the direct lineage.
If she hadn't had red hair and golden eyes, she would never have married Rowan.
This peacemaking was focused on sending Vermont's daughter away.
The Duke of Vermont, who had been scolding Temnes for a while while looking at her room without even looking at Claudel, finally sat down on the sofa opposite her and raised his teacup.
“How is your health?”
When Claudel did not answer, he urged her to ask.
“Aren’t you asking me if I’m ready to die?”
Comments
Post a Comment