IHMEB - Chapter 26 < Wrapped Around My Slender Body >
Having An Enemy's Baby
“What are you doing now?”
A man was standing in Claudel's room, putting his hand on her waist.
Of course, to teach dance to a noble lady of different status, Claudel tied a thick cloth around her waist and was holding it while dancing, but in Kaian's eyes, it only appeared that the top was wrapped around her slender body.
Disheveled red hair.
Sweaty forehead.
Cheeks that look flushed.
"Yes? Ha. Ha."
Claudel was panting, her cheeks tinged pink, her lips parted, her breath exhaling harshly and her inhaling repeatedly.
What's more, she had three buttons undone on her Northern dress that went up to her neck, all the way to her collarbone!
“This person...”
In front of the Lord he was meeting for the first time, the man looked down and bowed down from his head. He did not see Kaian, who was glaring at him as if he were going to kill him. It was fortunate for the rest of his life.
“Greetings, My Lord. It is Bankson who guides the group dance at the Soin Autumn Festival. It is an honor for our family to have the opportunity to express our loyalty directly to the great Lord...”
“I asked what you were doing?”
Unfortunately, the loyalty of Bankson, the village dancer, could not reach Kaian. The fact that the man was so nervous that he didn't feel it properly was the second fortunate thing for the rest of his life.
“I was learning to dance.”
“Like that?”
As Kaian's eyes fell on her unbuttoned neck, Claudel began to fasten her clothes.
“It’s a little hot, maybe because it’s been so long since I moved my body.”
“If you practice, you will get used to it, Lady."
Bankson, out of respect for Kaian, politely taught the dance to the Lady from Vermont who they spat and cursed, saying it would have been nice if everyone had lost their red hair a long time ago.
In Kaian's eyes, the man's attitude seemed like nothing more than a wolf cub tailing Claudel.
“Good job. I have to eat, so leave for today.”
"Yes, My lord.”
"Butler. Please give this man a generous portion of his wages for today’s work.”
Bankson was moved by the Lord's words and left, but he had no idea that the handsome salary included one day's severance pay.
One of the village dancers said over and over again, ‘Once upon a time, I even taught the Lord’s wife to dance.’ The short dance lesson that would make the family proud was over, and dishes for lunch were brought into the room.
"Ha."
Claudel was fanning her flushed cheeks with her hand.
But the sound of her breathing put Kaian in a bad mood and made him feel anxious and irritable.
“Take care of your appearance like a Duchess.”
"Sorry. It’s a little hot because I’m sweating.”
Actually, Claudel was wearing a northern-style dress that went up to her neck, and it was made of thin velvet, so even if it wasn't thick, it looked hot just by looking at it.
“Are those the only clothes you have?”
"Yes?"
“Isn’t it the Valmonde way?”
"Ah...”
Claudel wondered what was making Kaian uncomfortable, so she looked at him, shrugged her shoulders, and buttoned her sweaty neck.
“The clothes I brought... There aren’t many.”
“Only in the Valmonde way?”
“...”
Kaian decided that the reason he was so annoyed right now was because of the dress she was wearing.
There was no room to refute the butler's words. Just as he had said before, 'You only see your wife in the bedroom, right?', he had never seen Claudel at night or anywhere other than on the bed.
While he was treating her illness, he made lunch for a while and ate it with her in her room, but the patient, Claudel, was wearing something like a layer over her nightgown, so he had never seen her in proper clothes.
'Now that I think about it, I think she was wearing those clothes on the picnic day as well.'
It looked like Hannah had washed the dress on which she had vomited her blood.
But that day, he definitely didn't care much about what Claudel was wearing.
Today, he was irritated just by looking at the thin velvet dress that could only be worn in the northern summer, and the short, soft hair on it.
“Throw it all away.”
“All right away?”
“I’ll get you a Rowan-style dress. Buy a few urgent items and have the seamstress tailor other clothes you need.”
"Yes."
When Claudel answered obediently, Kaian's irritation subsided a bit.
“Duke, excuse me... Are you okay?"
"Uh?"
At her words, Kaian looked at his plate in front of him.
All the meat dishes were cut to fit the size of Claudel's mouth, so much so that it looked like he had minced the meat.
“..."
Kaian became embarrassed and shouted at the butler standing in the doorway.
“After lunch, get the seamstress right away!”
However, when he saw Claudel taking a piece of meat that looked like it was finely chopped with a fork and stuffing it into her mouth, he sighed and his racing stomach calmed down.
***
The seamstress in the castle was an old, thin man.
“How are you, Lady?"
Claudel casually stood in front of the mirror and tried the cloth recommended by the seamstress on her body.
“The trend these days is two-tone.”
“Two-tone?”
When Claudel asked, he quickly held up some clothes.
“Yeah. Well, look. If you put a dark fabric underneath and a lighter-colored lace on top like this, the atmosphere is completely different.”
"Yes."
“Well, on the other hand, you can also put dark lace on a light-colored fabric.”
“Wow. It's pretty."
While Claudel responded appropriately, the seamstress was sweating profusely and looking at her.
“Ma’am, if there is a color you like...”
"Gold."
Hannah, who was glaring at the seamstress with her arms crossed nearby, intervened.
“...Other than the decorative buttons on the edges, she doesn’t hide anything.”
This was the reason for this war of nerves when it wasn't enough to spend a friendly time trying out various things.
This is because the resident seamstress in the castle, who came to tailor the clothes, had rumored that Claudel had stolen the decoration from the Lord's clothes over the button bezel that Kaian had given her earlier.
However, there was no way the old seamstress, who had worked in the castle for decades and had a lot of experience, would just fall for the provocations of Hannah, who seemed like a novice.
"What! Why are you bringing this up now? You want to fight?”
“Shout out for doing a good job! You were just getting older and were making frivolous rumors to the maids in the castle.”
The seamstress, who had stayed in the castle and made clothes since the days of the previous Duke and his wife, had a strong aversion to Vermont as his loyalty to Temnes was strong.
When he thought that the madam's servant, who was quite young, was arguing with him, he became indignant and raised his voice.
“Did I say something I shouldn’t have said?”
However, if he actually thought that she was the maid who had to serve Claudel, then yelling at her like that in front of Claudel should never have happened.
“What’s going on?”
At that time, Kaian entered the room.
“My Lord, that is....”
It was when the seamstress was about to sue the head of Temnes as if he felt unfair.
“My Lord! That seamstress is the one who started the rumor that Madam stole the decorations on your clothes!”
Hannah's loud voice was a step faster.
"What?"
“It just worked out well. Please relieve your wife of her injustice quickly, yes?"
“Oh, no, what...”
It was a time when the seamstress, who had lost her player, was struggling.
“She didn’t steal it.”
“... Yes?"
The seamstress's eyes widened.
he was among the onlookers when the commotion broke out in front of Claudel's door.
he clearly heard what Kaian said!
'There's no way I would give something like that as a gift.'
At the same time, wasn't everyone upset because he even scolded them to stop making a fuss?
“I gave it to her. Did you understand?”
“Oh, no, you mean that.”
“I gave it to her because it was strange that something that fell from my clothes fit perfectly on her slender fingers.”
The glaring look in Kaian's eyes contained a threat that the seamstress would not be at peace if he complained.
The seamstress, who recognized this, gave up his resentment and quickly bowed his head.
“Well, as I’ve gotten older, my eyes and ears have become blurred, so I apologized. Lady. I apologize to you for being such a person.”
"Yes. You are already that age. It is time for him to step aside and take his hands off the affairs of the castle.”
“My Lord!”
"Butler. He has worked hard so far, so please take good care of him so that he does not lack anything in his old age.”
“My Lord! Just listen to me for a moment!”
The seamstress looked back a few times as if he felt aggrieved but was dragged out of Claudel's room by the strong butler's arms.
In another awkward and cold atmosphere, Kaian picked up a dress.
These were things he had a seamstress buy that was roughly the size that would fit Claudel.
“Try it on.”
“Now?”
“Then how long are you going to wear that Valmonde-style dress?”
When Kaian spoke angrily, Claudel went to the bedroom's dressing room and closed the curtains to change clothes with Hannah.
“Ugh. I feel refreshed inside.”
"Hannah."
“As expected, My Lord. Young Lord is the best.”
Why is she like this when Kaian can hear everything?
I was embarrassed, but I was quite surprised as I didn't expect Kaian to come forward and tell the seamstress that he had given it to me.
From the moment he said he would call a seamstress, he had been on my mind.
'Did he care?'
Am I his wife?
“You’re done, Lady."
Hannah touched my appearance here and there.
“Come out when you’re all changed.”
"Yes, My lord. Lady, Quickly. Hurry up.”
Hannah seemed more excited than me.
"Hmm. Not bad.”
“It’s pretty, right? My Lord?”
“It’s better than when she wore tacky Valmonde clothes.”
It seemed like the man was incapable of speaking properly.
Even in the middle of summer, the castle at Valmonde was chilly. So, even summer dresses were made of velvet with a thin layer of fur.
Since Rowen is warm all year round and especially hot in the summer, dresses made of thin white fabric with a corset to highlight the feminine body or lace dresses that expose the collarbone and shoulders were common.
Until now, I had never thought about changing my clothes, as my illness kept me cold even in the middle of the day in Rowen.
However, as I recovered and tried to move, I kept sweating and was embarrassed, so I was grateful that Kaian decided to make clothes for me.
Even if I had to have my clothes made by the seamstress, who did me great disgrace.
But since Kaian had even kicked out the seamstress right before my eyes, I felt like my heart had eased.
“Take a turn.”
Kaian asked as I slowly turned around.
“My throat feels easy.”
It's not that it's not, but the dress is thin and light, and the neckline is very high, so the neck looks bare, unlike the Valmonde-style dresses that button up along the long neck all the way down to the chin.
There was a reason why the necklace designs in the southern region of Oberon were diverse and colorful.
This is because the neckline was hollow, so there was a lot of room to show off the jewelry brightly.
“If there’s something that suits you, try it.”
I hesitated at Kaian’s words.
“I’ll try it later. I was tired after looking at clothes for a while.”
“I thought the work of a seamstress was short. I’ll hire another seamstress, so pick what you need here and discuss everything else with the new seamstress.”
"Thank you."
Kaian said to Hannah.
“You have your share, so make sure you pack a few.”
"Really? Thank you, thank you, My Lord.”
An excited Hannah gave me a smile.
After seeing that, Kaian's face immediately turned cold as he came back out.
“...That’s strange.”
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