IHMEB - Chapter 27 < To Claudel's Room >

IHMEB - Chapter 27 < To Claudel's Room >

Having An Enemy's Baby

“...That’s strange.”

On her wedding day at the Castle Valmonde, Claudel was wearing sparkling jewels from her head to the hem of her bridal gown.

The early night gift he had given her, of course, he now knew that Claudel had not even seen it because Antjone had stolen it, but did she not notice it? 

When Kaian thought about it, he thought it was a taste so extravagant that it made sense.

“I’ve never seen anything was planned.”

However, the Claudel he saw at Rowan Castle did not always wear jewelry.

To his chagrin, as the butler said, he only saw it in the bedroom, but even outside of that, there were no jewels or gold on her earlobes, neck, or fingers.

Oh, there was one exception.

Claudel was still wearing the button bezel he had given her like a loop.

Sometimes he wanted to secretly remove it when he was seen, but he never got the chance, and Claudel always had it on.

'If there's something that suits you, try it.'

‘I’ll try it later. I was tired after looking at clothes for a while.'

She looked troubled by Kaian's words.

His astute premonition was close to reaching a certain conclusion.

That night.

When everyone was asleep, Kaian killed his presence and headed to Claudel's bedroom.

No one in this castle can stop him from entering Claudel's room.

Nevertheless, there was another reason why he took advantage of the darkness and entered the room as if immersed in a shadow.

Kaian's eyes landed on the still unmarked bed.

Claudel was sleeping comfortably between the large pillows and cushions.

He glanced at the shape with his eyes and quietly headed to the dressing room.

The man, who had brighter night vision than others, looked around the spacious room, relying on the moonlight shining through the window.

'This is absurd.'

Usually, noble women were greedy and eager to spend on jewels.

This was the case for everyone, regardless of age, and without going far, even Bianque, her half-cousin and the only Princess of the kingdom, was wearing earrings, necklaces, rings, bracelets, and even her ankles with precious metals.

In addition, it was common to have a variety of dresses for each season, according to purpose, color, and accessories according to the material of the dress.

However, Claudel’s dressing room was so empty. Anyone looking at it would have thought it was an empty room.

Kaian frowned in bewilderment and saw a familiar dress.

Looking closely, he saw that there were still a few clothes hanging in the smallest section of the spacious dressing room, which was less than an arm's length away.

Just three pieces, including the Valmonde-style neck-length dress he told her to throw away today.

And all he could see were two pairs of familiar pajamas hanging neatly.

One of them was even torn in the front of her chest because he was so excited that he ripped it, and it looked like it had been repaired with hand sewing.

Kaian's eyes turned to the cabinet where the jewels were stored.

Click.

When he opened it with a subtle metallic sound, the condition inside was even more absurd.

When the previous Duchess, Kaian's mother, used this room, the torsos placed in the cabinet, which enjoyed greater wealth and fame than the living, were completely empty, without any clothes on.

There was nothing.

Claudel has nothing.

Kaian quietly left the bedroom.

As if cold water had been poured on a feverish head, reason reached the conclusion he was looking for.

“You lied.”

Claudel certainly said so when he was furious to learn that she had contracted herpes.

‘How dare he deceive and send a flawed bride to the Lord of Rowan? Old Vermonter is getting senile.'

'I will destroy everything alive and breathing in the Valmonde estate...'

'No!'

‘Well, that’s what I am.'

'The Duke of Vermont... Father, he doesn't know anything.'

That she fooled him.

The Duke of Vermont knows nothing.

“How could he not know?”

There was only one reason why not a single bridal gift, including a dress, was sent to the wedding between the Duke families, which was carried out by royal order.

The Duke of Vermont knew that Claudel would die.

Kaian roughly stroked his hair.

He was irritated, but he couldn't tell if it was because of Claudel for lying to him, or because of the Duke of Vermont, who looked down on him.

***

Rowen Castle was bustling from early in the morning.

I, who had just finished eating, stuck my head out the window to see what was going on, but I couldn't figure out what was going on.

Then the butler found me.

"Lady. The Lord has ordered you to prepare to go out.”

"Yes? Going out?”

"Yes. You won’t be traveling very far, but it would be a good idea to wear a new dress.”

"Yes."

Hannah's eyes lit up as the butler disappeared.

“Quickly change into a new dress.”

“What should I wear?”

I needed to know the destination of my outing to prepare accordingly, but the butler had already gone.

"This one. Wear this.”

What Hannah chose was a dress that exposed both of my shoulders and had a V-shaped cut on my chest.

“Isn’t that for a party or a dance?”

“Where is that? It’s not the style that spreads that much.”

“I don’t even know where I’m going. The chiffon is thin, so what do I do if it gets caught somewhere and rips?”

“What should you do? You're begging my Lord to buy you a new dress.”

After much fuss, I put on a dress with puffed sleeves on both sides, a square neckline, and a ribbon tied under my breasts.

I thought this was fine and not too much, but when I tried it on, it seemed like the dress was quite thin and showed off my body.

“Isn’t this a bit like this?”

“You also have to adapt to Rowen’s style. lady. Everyone dresses so well.”

"Yes? Is it really okay?”

"Sure. It's alright, Ma'am"

I felt pressured when Hannah called me Madam and ended up nodding my head.

After a while, the castle servant came to pick me up and followed me, and there was a large and sturdy-looking carriage standing in front of the castle.

"Wow."

I was impressed.

Compared to this, the carriage I rode in from the north seemed so flimsy that it was obvious that water was leaking from the ceiling.

As I was looking at the carriage that looked very luxurious and sturdy, I heard a familiar cold voice from behind me.

“What are you doing when you’re not riding?”

"Ah...”

Kaian held out his hand to me.

As I stood there staring blankly, he pulled my hand, which was holding the hem of my dress, as if he was frustrated.

“Hurry up because I'm busy.”

"Yes."

As soon as I and Kaian got into the carriage, the door closed and we took off.

The seats in the carriage were quite spacious, and the cushions were soft, so I felt comfortable sitting on them. I could not feel the characteristic rattle of the carriage at all, and the wind blowing in from the open window blew past me.

Today was my first day outside after coming to Rowen Castle and staying in the castle for over two months.

Is that why? I felt excited.

That's because when I headed to this castle, I was already on the verge of death, and it was like a miracle that I was healed so cleanly without any incident.

I, reminded, called Kaian.

“Duke.”

"Why?"

“There’s something I want to try. Is it okay to do this?”

“Yes.”

When Kaian, who was sitting across from me, gave permission, I lay down sideways on the seat of the carriage I was sitting in, despite my dignity.

“Wow. I can lie down.”

Outside the window at the bedside, lush trees shining light green against the blue sky passed quickly by.

I quickly got up again and sat up straight in a calm posture.

As expected, Kaian was looking at me with an expression of bewilderment. He generally didn't change his expression and always seemed angry, but now I was able to read the emotions in Kaian's eyes a little.

“It’s my first time riding a carriage this big. I was wondering if I could lie down.”

I pursed my lips as I watched him wrinkle his eyebrows vertically.

“Shouldn’t you be more curious about where you’re going rather than that?”

“Where are we going?”

“You’ll know when you go.”

There's no need to answer.

I quietly admired the scenery outside the window.

Rowen was a very beautiful place.

The scenery was different from the surroundings of Valmonde Castle, which had at most waist-high shrubs.

'If it hadn't rained when I came, I would have seen something like this.'

Sadly, my journey to Rowen had been rainy for the previous three days, so I had to keep the windows closed the entire time. Even if I opened the window, all I could see was a gloomy gray sky.

As the butler said, the carriage soon entered the road carved out of stone. My eyes sparkled as I saw beautiful buildings on both left and right.

Eventually, the carriage stopped and Kaian got off first and held out his hand to me.

"Get off."

"Alright...”

I, who almost exclaimed “Wow,” closed my mouth.

It was because I didn't think he would like it if I showed an unsophisticated appearance here.

People recognized him as the Lord and bowed down in all directions.

'Wow.'

I was genuinely impressed by the appearance, which felt different from when I saw it in the Lord's castle.

I could completely feel that he was the ruler of this land.

"Come on."

I took the hand he held out and entered the store.

It was a jewelry store.

The jeweler who had previously made my rings and bracelets greeted us with a bright face.

“My Lord, My Lady, I was waiting. Please sit this way.”

As I sat side by side with Kaian on the long sofa, I became conscious of him.

He had sat across from me at a table or something, but he had never sat next to me like this.

'After spending the night together, sitting next to each other, well...'

It was when I tried to banish my thoughts from my head.

“Recommend me some jewelry that would suit my wife.”

I just blinked, unable to understand what Kaian said.

“If there’s something you like, you can choose it yourself.”

“Jewels?”

"Yes."

He frowned.

“I know it’s because if a Valmonde-style tacky object catches my eye, I’ll immediately throw it into the moat under the drawbridge.”

"Ah...”

In fact, I didn't have any jewels.

This is because the Duke of Vermont did not give things that would have been expected to be given as gifts to the bride.

It's not that he couldn't give it because he didn't have it, it's that he didn't give it on purpose.

This is because after I die, my property belongs to the Duke of Temnes.

Because of that, my uncle and my aunt quarreled for several days.

The Duchess claimed that she would be punished and that it would be a disgrace to send the daughter empty-handed from Vermont, which is full of gold and jewels. There was an uproar that it couldn't be done.

In the end, they loaded the gift into my carriage, stopped the carriage outside the Castle de Valmonde, out of sight of the Duchess, and got off everyone before setting off again for Rowen.

'...Have you noticed that I don't have any jewels?'

He said yesterday that if I have anything, go for it, but I was acting awkward.

“Is there anything you like?”

"No, no. Everything is pretty.”

When I answered hastily, Kaian nodded his head.

“Give me everything.”

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