IHMEB - Chapter 40 < A Bet That Is Better to Lose >
Having An Enemy's Baby
“I want to pick flowers myself.”
'I don't want to receive gifts anymore. No, I'd like you to stop. If this continues, there will be strange rumors in the territory.'
'What rumors?'
'A Vermont wicked woman has gotten married and is squandering the Temnes family fortune on extravagance.'
'Haha.'
Very occasionally, Kaian showed me his smiling face.
It's like a ray of sunlight shining briefly between dark clouds.
Just as a shooting star falling across the summer night sky briefly cuts through the darkness.
Sometimes, like thunder that extends like a tree branch next to a delicate leaf shaking with raindrops.
It was short, sudden, and sometimes intense, leaving an afterimage in my eyes.
'Why on earth are you smiling?'
The first time he laughed was when I was struggling and falling into the water.
I thought it was funny at the time to see me falling into the water.
I was frustrated because I couldn't figure out what made Kaian laugh.
I wondered to myself whether I could see that face more often if I knew when and why he was smiling.
“Phew.”
“You want to pick flowers? Would you like to go to the garden?”
When Hanna asked, I shook my head.
"No. I’m just saying this in vain.”
"Lady. Are you worried about anything?”
"Huh?"
“Why are you eating less these days? Should I call a doctor?”
It had been several days since I had lost my appetite, except for lunch with Kaian.
There was no way Hannah, like the ghost she was, didn't know that she was taking care of me.
"Why? Why? Do you hate me now? Why can’t you speak?”
“That can’t be possible.”
“If I’m still a close friend in your heart, what can’t I say? Lady, have you changed?”
At Hannah's words, I ended up raising a white flag.
Actually, there was a different reason why I felt anxious every time I saw Kaian.
"Hey, Hannah."
"Yes."
“Maybe Kaian...”
As I tried to speak, my heart pounded sensitively.
“My Lord? Why, my Lord?”
“If he sees Irena, will he fall in love with her?”
"Yes?"
Hannah's brown eyes widened.
“Irena is a beautiful and cultured young woman. She is dignified and confident.”
“What kind of nonsense are you talking about?”
“Hannah, you said that too. They say there is no man in the world who doesn’t like beautiful women.”
At my words, Hannah burst into laughter as if she had heard something she couldn't hear.
"Ah. Ha ha ha. Oh my. Oh my God."
"Why? Why are you smiling?”
There is one more person who cannot understand why she laughed.
“Could it be that you lost your appetite and had no energy because of such ridiculous worries? What nonsense are you worried about?"
The moment he showed his smiling face was more precious to me than the dress I received today.
'I don't want to receive gifts anymore. No, I'd like you to stop. If this continues, there will be strange rumors in the territory.'
'What rumors?'
'A Vermont wicked woman has gotten married and is squandering the Temnes family fortune on extravagance.'
'Haha.'
Very occasionally, Kaian showed me his smiling face.
It's like a ray of sunlight shining briefly between dark clouds.
Just as a shooting star falling across the summer night sky briefly cuts through the darkness.
Sometimes, like thunder that extends like a tree branch next to a delicate leaf shaking with raindrops.
It was short, sudden, and sometimes intense, leaving an afterimage in my eyes.
'Why on earth are you smiling?'
The first time he laughed was when I was struggling and falling into the water.
I thought it was funny at the time to see me falling into the water.
I was frustrated because I couldn't figure out what made Kaian laugh.
I wondered to myself whether I could see that face more often if I knew when and why he was smiling.
“Phew.”
“You want to pick flowers? Would you like to go to the garden?”
When Hanna asked, I shook my head.
"No. I’m just saying this in vain.”
"Lady. Are you worried about anything?”
"Huh?"
“Why are you eating less these days? Should I call a doctor?”
It had been several days since I had lost my appetite, except for lunch with Kaian.
There was no way Hannah, like the ghost she was, didn't know that she was taking care of me.
"Why? Why? Do you hate me now? Why can’t you speak?”
“That can’t be possible.”
“If I’m still a close friend in your heart, what can’t I say? Lady, have you changed?”
At Hannah's words, I ended up raising a white flag.
Actually, there was a different reason why I felt anxious every time I saw Kaian.
"Hey, Hannah."
"Yes."
“Maybe Kaian...”
As I tried to speak, my heart pounded sensitively.
“My Lord? Why, my Lord?”
“If he sees Irena, will he fall in love with her?”
"Yes?"
Hannah's brown eyes widened.
“Irena is a beautiful and cultured young woman. She is dignified and confident.”
“What kind of nonsense are you talking about?”
“Hannah, you said that too. They say there is no man in the world who doesn’t like beautiful women.”
At my words, Hannah burst into laughter as if she had heard something she couldn't hear.
"Ah. Ha ha ha. Oh my. Oh my God."
"Why? Why are you smiling?”
There is one more person who cannot understand why she laughed.
“Could it be that you lost your appetite and had no energy because of such ridiculous worries? What nonsense are you worried about?"
"I’m serious.”
“Ahahaha.”
Hannah's laughter grew louder as she saw the serious frown on my face.
"Whew, Miss. You don’t really understand my Lord’s feelings?”
"What? Do you know how?"
“Oh my, it’s my mind. He said he would take care of his wife. Anyway."
Hannah laughed heartily and looked at me with a bright face.
“The Lord is completely in love with you. He comes to his wife’s bedroom every night.”
“I asked for it.”
“This dress and these jewels. Men don’t give gifts like this to women they don’t like.”
"Hannah. You’ve never been in a relationship either.”
Despite what I pointed out to her, Hannah remained confident.
“Do you have to try it to know it? There is a melody that I grew up listening to from my sisters.”
“When I stayed at Castle Valmonde, not a single man was interested in me.”
Everyone was captivated by Irena's beauty.
When I and Irena stand side by side.
All the young men offered Irena the flowers and praised her beauty, as if I was invisible to their eyes.
Kaian always had a cold expression, as if he was a little angry.
He would relax his face little by little in front of me, and sometimes he would even smile.
When Irena arrives and gets out of the carriage, what if Kaian sees her and falls in love with her at first sight?
The last time he came to Valmonde Castle for a wedding, he arrived when the wedding started, had a ceremony with me, and left without even taking the time to say hello to the Vermont family, saying he was busy.
As a result, he couldn't see Irena properly.
Even on the wedding day, I listened carefully.
'Even if you decorate her like that, she won't shine.'
'If Irena had worn it, her eyes would have been dazzling.'
‘A gem is something that shines after being polished. What a gem Little Lady is. It's a rock.'
That's what people below the castle are whispering about.
If Hannah had heard that, her fist would have been blown away, but fortunately, Hannah wasn't able to hear it that day as she was busy attending my wedding.
“Is it really because of her beauty?”
Hannah crossed her arms and squared her shoulders.
“We’ll see what happens this time. What is he doing, my Lord?”
Originally, I had no secrets from Hannah.
I thought it would be the same for Hannah.
We shared the most painful memories of their lives.
On the same day, I suffered the same pain and suffered the aftereffects as well.
The pain in my heart was like an incurable disease, and it didn't get any better.
The sadness came back easily as if I had been hit by the slightest stimulus.
Although others did not understand it, I and Hannah understood each other, and so we were the only two people to share the story, the memories that the raging fire could not burn.
However, after contracting Herzolnand getting married, there were secrets that I could not reveal to Hannah for the first time.
'Hannah. I'm sorry for not being honest.'
I had a premonition from the beginning who would be the new Duchess after my death.
Irena All Vermont.
My beautiful adopted sister would take my place.
Originally, the King's order was to send Vermont's daughter to be the Duchess of Temnes.
He didn't specifically name Claudel.
The Duke of Vermont was enraged by the fact that Kaian was preparing for a territorial war, and attempted to use me, who would soon die, as a trap.
However, there were circumstances that were quite inconsistent.
Valmonde's territory was not in a position to go to war due to a long drought.
Indeed, if I were to die as the Duke of Vermont said, he would not be able to attack Temnes based on my death. In fact, I was not.
Isn’t it true that troops and war preparations that never existed suddenly gush out like spring water?
So I understood that the reason I had to go to Temnes was to gauge how cruel things would be to me.
If the Lord is such a terrible person, he will hire mercenaries from the continent of Sol to attack Temnes without any room for compromise.
However, if he doesn't treat me particularly harshly because I am Vermont until I die of Herzol, he can just send Irena to be the next Duchess.
Because that would be upholding the royal command.
He sent Vermonte's daughter to Temnes. The daughter he had sent before had died an unfortunate death, and he was unable to serve the King's will as a subject. So he sent another daughter to fulfill the King's orders.
Moreover, Irena's situation is very ambiguous right now.
Vermont's daughter is not making her debut on the Kingdom's social scene.
When she comes of age, she celebrates her coming of age with a grand ball called the Northern Debutante.
Although there was no separate northern debutante for me.
Because the Duke of Vermont had invited me, who was only eleven years old, to Irena's ball when she was fourteen.
At the ball that day, the Duke of Vermont entered the beautifully decorated Irena down the stairs, holding her hand.
The men who were looking up from below cheered as they were immersed in the beauty of the girl who was blossoming into a woman.
Afterward, the Duchess of Vermont followed them with me, but no one paid attention to the skinny little girl who was so young that she had not yet begun to grow into a woman.
Putting that aside, Irena had not even debuted in the Kingdom's social scene, and for now, she was the second daughter-in-law after she lost her untitled husband.
Nevertheless, no one in Valmonde had any disagreement with calling Irena 'Princess' as before, but finding a new husband for her would be different.
However, after I die, Kaian also becomes a broken man.
Irena, who lost her husband, and Kaian, who lost her wife, came from an equal dukedom.
In addition, it will be a good marriage in many ways since it will be a matter of carrying out King Oberon's royal orders.
The things I had mentally prepared myself for, the things I felt like I could have endured before my death in order to save the people of the territory over and over again.
It stopped happening.
Because I never expected to live, I had to think a lot about my future and my life.
However, the end of that thought was that if the person he was marrying had been Irena, Kaian would not have ignored me on his wedding day and not paid attention to me.
Irena must have been a truly beautiful bride.
Moreover, her father is the Duke of Vermont.
He may have been in vain, but he could not have been more pleased with the news from Irena that she was going to visit Rowen as soon as I had sent the news that Herzol was cured and that things were all right with my husband.
No, this was entirely my problem.
'Because I didn't know I would like Kaian.'
I had no one to blame.
Hannah, unaware of my speed, still had a smile on her face.
"Hmm. Then do you want to bet with me?”
“What bet?”
“I wonder if the Lord falls in love with Lady Irena or not. Madame thinks that if the Lord sees Lady Irena, he will fall for her. I’m not.”
"Yes."
This was a bet that the loser would be better off. I nodded my head.
"Good. So what should we bet?”
“I want my wish to be granted.”
"Yes."
Every day from that night onwards, I prayed that Hannah's wish would be granted.
A telegram arrived suddenly.
The telegram from Oberon's kingdom was delivered in the dark of night by sending strings of light through blinking lights.
At the communication post that connected major cities like a spider's web in all directions, messages from one person to another were busily traveling through the kingdom through light all night long.
Among them, the large golden mark on the outside of the telegram envelope was the mark of a telegram sent by royal order from the royal family.
In Rowen, where the autumn festival is approaching but there is no winter, it was a busy time with the sowing of the double crop of autumn barley.
Kaian, who returned to his office after riding a horse across large farmland and encouraging workers, picked up the letter from capital that was left on his desk before even sitting down.
Kaian unknowingly frowned as he opened the envelope.
This is because the telegram he received the other day was the royal order to marry Vermont.
'There was so much bullshit written down at length.'
Now, he may say that the marriage was a good one, but it was enough to leave Kaian with a telegraphic trauma.
Normally, telegrams were priced per number of characters, so it was customary to send them briefly, but Valquiterre said everything he wanted to say in gold-plated letters, both when he was Crown Prince and now as King.
However, today, the text written in the telegram was uncharacteristically short and concise.
Suddenly, Kaian's brow furrowed.
“...Are you sane?”
“Ahahaha.”
Hannah's laughter grew louder as she saw the serious frown on my face.
"Whew, Miss. You don’t really understand my Lord’s feelings?”
"What? Do you know how?"
“Oh my, it’s my mind. He said he would take care of his wife. Anyway."
Hannah laughed heartily and looked at me with a bright face.
“The Lord is completely in love with you. He comes to his wife’s bedroom every night.”
“I asked for it.”
“This dress and these jewels. Men don’t give gifts like this to women they don’t like.”
"Hannah. You’ve never been in a relationship either.”
Despite what I pointed out to her, Hannah remained confident.
“Do you have to try it to know it? There is a melody that I grew up listening to from my sisters.”
“When I stayed at Castle Valmonde, not a single man was interested in me.”
Everyone was captivated by Irena's beauty.
When I and Irena stand side by side.
All the young men offered Irena the flowers and praised her beauty, as if I was invisible to their eyes.
Kaian always had a cold expression, as if he was a little angry.
He would relax his face little by little in front of me, and sometimes he would even smile.
When Irena arrives and gets out of the carriage, what if Kaian sees her and falls in love with her at first sight?
The last time he came to Valmonde Castle for a wedding, he arrived when the wedding started, had a ceremony with me, and left without even taking the time to say hello to the Vermont family, saying he was busy.
As a result, he couldn't see Irena properly.
Even on the wedding day, I listened carefully.
'Even if you decorate her like that, she won't shine.'
'If Irena had worn it, her eyes would have been dazzling.'
‘A gem is something that shines after being polished. What a gem Little Lady is. It's a rock.'
That's what people below the castle are whispering about.
If Hannah had heard that, her fist would have been blown away, but fortunately, Hannah wasn't able to hear it that day as she was busy attending my wedding.
“Is it really because of her beauty?”
Hannah crossed her arms and squared her shoulders.
“We’ll see what happens this time. What is he doing, my Lord?”
Originally, I had no secrets from Hannah.
I thought it would be the same for Hannah.
We shared the most painful memories of their lives.
On the same day, I suffered the same pain and suffered the aftereffects as well.
The pain in my heart was like an incurable disease, and it didn't get any better.
The sadness came back easily as if I had been hit by the slightest stimulus.
Although others did not understand it, I and Hannah understood each other, and so we were the only two people to share the story, the memories that the raging fire could not burn.
However, after contracting Herzolnand getting married, there were secrets that I could not reveal to Hannah for the first time.
'Hannah. I'm sorry for not being honest.'
I had a premonition from the beginning who would be the new Duchess after my death.
Irena All Vermont.
My beautiful adopted sister would take my place.
Originally, the King's order was to send Vermont's daughter to be the Duchess of Temnes.
He didn't specifically name Claudel.
The Duke of Vermont was enraged by the fact that Kaian was preparing for a territorial war, and attempted to use me, who would soon die, as a trap.
However, there were circumstances that were quite inconsistent.
Valmonde's territory was not in a position to go to war due to a long drought.
Indeed, if I were to die as the Duke of Vermont said, he would not be able to attack Temnes based on my death. In fact, I was not.
Isn’t it true that troops and war preparations that never existed suddenly gush out like spring water?
So I understood that the reason I had to go to Temnes was to gauge how cruel things would be to me.
If the Lord is such a terrible person, he will hire mercenaries from the continent of Sol to attack Temnes without any room for compromise.
However, if he doesn't treat me particularly harshly because I am Vermont until I die of Herzol, he can just send Irena to be the next Duchess.
Because that would be upholding the royal command.
He sent Vermonte's daughter to Temnes. The daughter he had sent before had died an unfortunate death, and he was unable to serve the King's will as a subject. So he sent another daughter to fulfill the King's orders.
Moreover, Irena's situation is very ambiguous right now.
Vermont's daughter is not making her debut on the Kingdom's social scene.
When she comes of age, she celebrates her coming of age with a grand ball called the Northern Debutante.
Although there was no separate northern debutante for me.
Because the Duke of Vermont had invited me, who was only eleven years old, to Irena's ball when she was fourteen.
At the ball that day, the Duke of Vermont entered the beautifully decorated Irena down the stairs, holding her hand.
The men who were looking up from below cheered as they were immersed in the beauty of the girl who was blossoming into a woman.
Afterward, the Duchess of Vermont followed them with me, but no one paid attention to the skinny little girl who was so young that she had not yet begun to grow into a woman.
Putting that aside, Irena had not even debuted in the Kingdom's social scene, and for now, she was the second daughter-in-law after she lost her untitled husband.
Nevertheless, no one in Valmonde had any disagreement with calling Irena 'Princess' as before, but finding a new husband for her would be different.
However, after I die, Kaian also becomes a broken man.
Irena, who lost her husband, and Kaian, who lost her wife, came from an equal dukedom.
In addition, it will be a good marriage in many ways since it will be a matter of carrying out King Oberon's royal orders.
The things I had mentally prepared myself for, the things I felt like I could have endured before my death in order to save the people of the territory over and over again.
It stopped happening.
Because I never expected to live, I had to think a lot about my future and my life.
However, the end of that thought was that if the person he was marrying had been Irena, Kaian would not have ignored me on his wedding day and not paid attention to me.
Irena must have been a truly beautiful bride.
Moreover, her father is the Duke of Vermont.
He may have been in vain, but he could not have been more pleased with the news from Irena that she was going to visit Rowen as soon as I had sent the news that Herzol was cured and that things were all right with my husband.
No, this was entirely my problem.
'Because I didn't know I would like Kaian.'
I had no one to blame.
Hannah, unaware of my speed, still had a smile on her face.
"Hmm. Then do you want to bet with me?”
“What bet?”
“I wonder if the Lord falls in love with Lady Irena or not. Madame thinks that if the Lord sees Lady Irena, he will fall for her. I’m not.”
"Yes."
This was a bet that the loser would be better off. I nodded my head.
"Good. So what should we bet?”
“I want my wish to be granted.”
"Yes."
Every day from that night onwards, I prayed that Hannah's wish would be granted.
***
A telegram arrived suddenly.
The telegram from Oberon's kingdom was delivered in the dark of night by sending strings of light through blinking lights.
At the communication post that connected major cities like a spider's web in all directions, messages from one person to another were busily traveling through the kingdom through light all night long.
Among them, the large golden mark on the outside of the telegram envelope was the mark of a telegram sent by royal order from the royal family.
In Rowen, where the autumn festival is approaching but there is no winter, it was a busy time with the sowing of the double crop of autumn barley.
Kaian, who returned to his office after riding a horse across large farmland and encouraging workers, picked up the letter from capital that was left on his desk before even sitting down.
Kaian unknowingly frowned as he opened the envelope.
This is because the telegram he received the other day was the royal order to marry Vermont.
'There was so much bullshit written down at length.'
Now, he may say that the marriage was a good one, but it was enough to leave Kaian with a telegraphic trauma.
Normally, telegrams were priced per number of characters, so it was customary to send them briefly, but Valquiterre said everything he wanted to say in gold-plated letters, both when he was Crown Prince and now as King.
However, today, the text written in the telegram was uncharacteristically short and concise.
Suddenly, Kaian's brow furrowed.
“...Are you sane?”
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