“I want to see you wearing a hat.”
Kaian was curious as he looked in the mirror while fixing his hair.
“Aren’t you watching it now?”
“Only the hat.”
Claudel looked straight at him and spoke provocatively.
“Just the hat.”
Kaian felt like he had been hit on the head with something again.
Every time his wife said or did something unexpected like this, he was surprised and found her very irritating.
Kaian grabbed the front of the baggy shirt he wears while resting with both hands and ripped it off on both sides in one go.
Tuk. Tuk-tuk.
The stitches and buttons were torn apart, exposing his chest muscles.
Claudel, who saw this, opened her eyes wide, the expression on which she had looked at him haughtily before saying 'just a hat' completely gone.
“Why do you look like that?”
“Oh, no, that’s it.”
Seeing her shrugging her shoulders in embarrassment, Kaian arrogantly lifted his chin and took off the tattered shirt that hung over his body.
“Aren’t you watching it now?”
“Only the hat.”
Claudel looked straight at him and spoke provocatively.
“Just the hat.”
Kaian felt like he had been hit on the head with something again.
Every time his wife said or did something unexpected like this, he was surprised and found her very irritating.
Kaian grabbed the front of the baggy shirt he wears while resting with both hands and ripped it off on both sides in one go.
Tuk. Tuk-tuk.
The stitches and buttons were torn apart, exposing his chest muscles.
Claudel, who saw this, opened her eyes wide, the expression on which she had looked at him haughtily before saying 'just a hat' completely gone.
“Why do you look like that?”
“Oh, no, that’s it.”
Seeing her shrugging her shoulders in embarrassment, Kaian arrogantly lifted his chin and took off the tattered shirt that hung over his body.
Claudel seemed to be looking over his shoulder with a blank look on her face as she took a step back, so Kaian glanced behind her and ended up laughing.
She was looking at his back muscles in the mirror.
As he pulled his arms out of his shirt, which remained loose beneath the shadow of his wide-brimmed hat, his back muscles, which were solid and shield-like, moved nicely, but she had not yet had much chance to see Kai'an's naked back.
“Claudel.”
When he called her name, the woman who had been looking at the mirror as if fascinated was startled when she saw him walking towards her.
“No, I’m just kidding. Of course. Haha."
Claudel, who took a step back every time he took a step closer, ran like a sparrow in flight and hid behind the pillar at the foot of the bed supporting the canopy.
'Did he run away?'
She was looking at his back muscles in the mirror.
As he pulled his arms out of his shirt, which remained loose beneath the shadow of his wide-brimmed hat, his back muscles, which were solid and shield-like, moved nicely, but she had not yet had much chance to see Kai'an's naked back.
“Claudel.”
When he called her name, the woman who had been looking at the mirror as if fascinated was startled when she saw him walking towards her.
“No, I’m just kidding. Of course. Haha."
Claudel, who took a step back every time he took a step closer, ran like a sparrow in flight and hid behind the pillar at the foot of the bed supporting the canopy.
'Did he run away?'
Anyway, what we do is the same.
Kaian swallowed his saliva as the hunting desire welled up in his heart.
“You’re joking too much.”
“I’m sorry.”
No, she has nothing to apologize for.
Kaian really liked his birthday celebration.
“They say if a joke goes too far, it’s serious.”
"No! I mean, every time you give a gift.”
Claudel held the pole with both hands, closed her eyes tightly, and rested her forehead against the back of his hands.
It was like a cat hiding with its head stuck in a bush, and Kaian almost laughed like a crazy person, but he held back.
“I’m embarrassed, but you make fun of me all the time.”
“I made fun of you? I’ve never done that.”
"Lie."
Kaian grabbed Claudel's shoulders across the pillar. The thick column was just enough to obscure the petite woman's face, so he couldn't see what expression she was making.
Even if he couldn't see her, Kaian seemed to know.
“I’m always serious, Claudel.”
Kaian spoke in a low, seductive voice.
“Don’t you want to see it?”
The slender shoulders held in his hands were shocking.
"No. I really don’t.”
“Look at me, Claudel.”
Kaian put his hand under her leaning head and squeezed her chin, and Claudel eventually turned to face him. She was embarrassed, her cheeks red.
It was as if she had forgotten that he was her husband, with whom she had been living in close contact for several months.
“I told you not to provoke me so clumsily.”
Kaian immediately asked the woman who was looking up at him with his cold tone, as if scolding her.
He could feel the woman's trembling through her lips.
He released her hand that had been holding on to the pillar and pulled her into his arms so that Claudel was completely in his arms.
“Don’t provoke me too much.”
Kaian looked down at Claudel as he laid her on the bed.
“I don’t have any hobbies like this, but if you want, I’ll do it for you.”
"I beg your pardon?"
He adjusted the hat he received from his wife as a gift for his first birthday.
Before Claudel could say anything, the shadow cast by the wide-brimmed hat fell upon her.
***
The night breeze in the capital city during fall was quite chilly.
Valquiterre wore a coat made of fox fur and looked down at the night scene from the hanging garden.
As it is a place that boasts the most prosperous district in the Kingdom of Oberon, places that formed a night sky were lined up like a spider web along the road.
Above, the Milky Way was shining brightly as if it were pouring across the darkness of the night sky.
The young King's eyes were lonely as he drank alone amidst the earth, sky, and light.
It was bitter, and in some ways, he seemed coldly angry.
Either way, it was far from a warm and gentle feeling.
“It’s your birthday.”
Valquiterre raised his glass filled with alcohol toward the south, towards Rowen.
“Happy birthday, Brother.”
Soon after the fall festival, it was the birthday of Lord Kaian of Rowen.
After another two weeks, the King's Birthday celebration continued for the birthday of King Oberon, Valquiterre.
A festival held for about a week from pre-ceremony events to celebrations on the day of one's birthday and a royal ball were the biggest events of the year in the Kingdom of Oberon, along with the founding festival.
“I thought you were going to grumble and say you wouldn’t come.”
Kaian was scheming and stubborn, so he hated when Valquiterre called him to come and say 'the King's command.'
His style was to contact people in advance at least a month or even a few weeks in advance, set aside time, and prefer to focus on processing things according to schedule.
So, he thought Kaian would be offended if he told him to come to the capital with barely two weeks left, but somehow he said, 'I will attend, Your Majesty the King.'
And although it was extremely dry, the positive reply came back saying that he would follow Valquiterre's orders as he called and as he was told.
“I feel strange. It’s very annoying.”
Unlike the telegram, the letter sent from Rowen to Valquiterre was a week or ten days late.
It was basic for Lords to plant people at the telegraph stations going out from their territory.
If the news coming from the telegraph office in the Temnes territory was suspicious, conveying the territory's movements to Valquiterre, and even more so if the recipient of it was the Royal Castle, it would be caught right away.
The person who planted it in Rowen sent a letter written in his own hand, so any news from the person who brought it directly on his horse tended to be late due to weather or other factors.
However, perhaps thinking this was urgent, an errand boy rode a horse to another telegraph office a day away and sent it to the royal castle: the fact that Kaian was holding a birthday banquet for the first time.
“Congratulations.”
He doesn't have to prepare and eat his own birthday table.
Kaian didn't seem to attach much significance to birthdays after the death of his ancestors, the Duke and Duchess of Temnes.
Why is this guy once again inviting people and hastily organizing a grand event?
“Is it because of her too?”
She's the woman he saw at the lake.
Valquiterre had almost concluded that he had mistaken her for 'Princess Irena'.
“Claudel Quinn. She was a Queen.”
His suspicions were confirmed when he heard that the new Duchess of Temnes, who appeared at the Rowen estate festival and danced with Kaian, was so beautiful that the square became quiet as if cold water had been poured on it.
Plus, they said, the woman who was bitten by an alligator didn't appear to have a limp on her leg.
When he called Kaian to the King's Birthday, he made all sorts of excuses and never came.
The five years were not relevant since he was on the battlefield, but after returning from the battlefield, Kaian said twice that he was busy with business at the estate and could not attend.
Then, when Valquiterre went to a hunting ground in Rowen territory, such as Promhunt, and summoned him, he would only come to show his face.
“That woman...”
Thinking of her, Valquiterre felt helpless.
However, he felt even more anxious as to whether something had changed when Kaian took the woman from Vermont as his wife.
What should he say about this feeling?
He felt very dirty, without end or bottom.
It was as if the treasure that should have been in Valquiterre's hands was lost in the wrong place and wasted away.
“Kaian. You must not change.”
Especially if it's because of that woman.
It was difficult for him to become a perfect leader at such a young age.
At least in that respect, he thought that Kaian carried the same weight as Valquiterre himself.
Difficulties that no one could understand were coupled with loneliness.
Valquiterre hoped that Kaian would remain in a dark place as much as his own.
But if Kaian had changed, he should have known that more than anyone else.
He had to see it with his own eyes, not just write it down on scraps of paper that flew in here and there.
Kaian Pluck Temnes.
A noble Duke born and raised by the majestic Rowen estate.
“They say if you don’t do something you shouldn’t do, it’s time to die.”
Valquiterre chuckled and took a sip of his glass.
The happy birthday note he sipped in memory of his brother was worth writing along with today.
Kaian’s birthday celebration ended smoothly.
The vassals and blood relatives who attended did not particularly criticize me for being a Vermont.
When I entered the banquet hall with Kaian, I was nervous because everyone just kept quiet and stared at me while they were talking like at a festival.
Kaian must have sensed this and held my hand reassuringly, allowing me to straighten my shoulders and act resolutely.
But later, after everyone had had some of the drink and the mood rose, one by one, they gave Kaian a birthday gift, bowed their head to the girl sitting next to him, and introduced themself.
Since I am a woman who married into an enemy family, they don't want to bow down to me.
“I feel strange. It’s very annoying.”
Unlike the telegram, the letter sent from Rowen to Valquiterre was a week or ten days late.
It was basic for Lords to plant people at the telegraph stations going out from their territory.
If the news coming from the telegraph office in the Temnes territory was suspicious, conveying the territory's movements to Valquiterre, and even more so if the recipient of it was the Royal Castle, it would be caught right away.
The person who planted it in Rowen sent a letter written in his own hand, so any news from the person who brought it directly on his horse tended to be late due to weather or other factors.
However, perhaps thinking this was urgent, an errand boy rode a horse to another telegraph office a day away and sent it to the royal castle: the fact that Kaian was holding a birthday banquet for the first time.
“Congratulations.”
He doesn't have to prepare and eat his own birthday table.
Kaian didn't seem to attach much significance to birthdays after the death of his ancestors, the Duke and Duchess of Temnes.
Why is this guy once again inviting people and hastily organizing a grand event?
“Is it because of her too?”
She's the woman he saw at the lake.
Valquiterre had almost concluded that he had mistaken her for 'Princess Irena'.
“Claudel Quinn. She was a Queen.”
His suspicions were confirmed when he heard that the new Duchess of Temnes, who appeared at the Rowen estate festival and danced with Kaian, was so beautiful that the square became quiet as if cold water had been poured on it.
Plus, they said, the woman who was bitten by an alligator didn't appear to have a limp on her leg.
When he called Kaian to the King's Birthday, he made all sorts of excuses and never came.
The five years were not relevant since he was on the battlefield, but after returning from the battlefield, Kaian said twice that he was busy with business at the estate and could not attend.
Then, when Valquiterre went to a hunting ground in Rowen territory, such as Promhunt, and summoned him, he would only come to show his face.
“That woman...”
Thinking of her, Valquiterre felt helpless.
However, he felt even more anxious as to whether something had changed when Kaian took the woman from Vermont as his wife.
What should he say about this feeling?
He felt very dirty, without end or bottom.
It was as if the treasure that should have been in Valquiterre's hands was lost in the wrong place and wasted away.
“Kaian. You must not change.”
Especially if it's because of that woman.
It was difficult for him to become a perfect leader at such a young age.
At least in that respect, he thought that Kaian carried the same weight as Valquiterre himself.
Difficulties that no one could understand were coupled with loneliness.
Valquiterre hoped that Kaian would remain in a dark place as much as his own.
But if Kaian had changed, he should have known that more than anyone else.
He had to see it with his own eyes, not just write it down on scraps of paper that flew in here and there.
Kaian Pluck Temnes.
A noble Duke born and raised by the majestic Rowen estate.
“They say if you don’t do something you shouldn’t do, it’s time to die.”
Valquiterre chuckled and took a sip of his glass.
The happy birthday note he sipped in memory of his brother was worth writing along with today.
***
Kaian’s birthday celebration ended smoothly.
The vassals and blood relatives who attended did not particularly criticize me for being a Vermont.
When I entered the banquet hall with Kaian, I was nervous because everyone just kept quiet and stared at me while they were talking like at a festival.
Kaian must have sensed this and held my hand reassuringly, allowing me to straighten my shoulders and act resolutely.
But later, after everyone had had some of the drink and the mood rose, one by one, they gave Kaian a birthday gift, bowed their head to the girl sitting next to him, and introduced themself.
Since I am a woman who married into an enemy family, they don't want to bow down to me.
No one had ever expressed their anger towards me like that.
I was worried when Kaian organized the event on such a short notice, but since I couldn't attend my wedding celebration as he said, I was glad that I was there before it was too late.
At that time, I also came in the rain and had to spend the night, and the atmosphere that was harassing me and Hannah in the castle made me feel sick and I couldn't move, but in fact, I didn't want to go anymore because I was worried that I would die regardless of whether I saw a face like Temnes or not. There was also something.
As I lived, I felt like I should have gone anyway, but it was fortunate that I was able to shake that off with this birthday celebration banquet.
Hannah closed the lid of the large trunk, pulled the rope, and straightened her back.
“Whew. It’s done.”
Hannah wiped her sweaty forehead.
A servant came in and carried the heavy trunk that Hannah had just packed out of the room.
“I packed separately what you would change into midway and what you would wear at the palace.”
"Thank you."
“And Madame Marcel took care of the dress you would wear to the ball. I loaded the jewels into Madame’s carriage earlier.”
Hannah's competence shone through.
From the moment she was born, she packed my luggage meticulously, as if she were born to be the maid of the Lord and Madam.
It was not her fault when she came to Rowen, as she had not yet realized that the Duke of Vermont had sent me away empty-handed, but this time she felt that if she had packed my luggage incorrectly and I was brought to shame in the capital, it would all be her fault.
Knock knock.
There was a knock on her open door, so I turned my head and saw Kaian standing there.
A sophisticated suit embroidered with gold thread and a stylish silk tie puffed out from below the neck.
Even when he was staying at the castle, he was always a handsome man, but when he dressed up, he became truly stunning.
“Shall we go?"
When Kaian held out his arms, I quickly crossed my arms.
"Wait!"
Hannah ran out into the hallway in frustration.
"Gloves! You should also bring a parasol!”
“Take care of it yourself.”
"Yes. My lord.”
Today was the day of departure for the capital.
As the carriage began to move, I felt strange.
Until last night, I was so excited at the thought of going on a trip that I couldn't fall asleep even if Kaian patted me for a while, but when I saw Rowen Castle shrinking in the distance out the window, I felt lonely.
Kaian asked as I placed my hand on my chest and sighed.
“Are you feeling unwell?”
"No. I just feel a little...”
"The chest...?”
Kaian paused while examining me.
“Are you trying to tempt me now? It hasn’t even been five minutes since the carriage left.”
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