“I don’t think the Duke of Temnes and the Duchess of Vermont will be able to rest comfortably in the same room, so I decided to separate them..."
“There seems to be a mistake. One room is enough.”
Kaian cut off the attendant’s words.
Then he glared at the servant with his characteristic cold gaze that did not seem to fit the tip of a needle.
“You serve His Majesty the King in the royal castle, but you don’t even know the genealogy of the royal relatives? The Duchess of Vermont? Why did you call my wife the Duchess of Vermont?”
Kaian must have been given the wrong place to be born.
From all accounts, it seemed to him that the man with the cold flowing from his body would be better suited to Valmonde, the land of ice, than Rowen, the land of the sun.
“Well, that... Stop by mistake.”
“If she is the Duchess of Vermont. Yes. Isn’t she the Princess of Valmonde?”
The royal servants and maids, who were overwhelmed by his sarcastic remarks, all lowered their heads and only exchanged glances with each other.
“Remember clearly. My wife is Temnes. If my ears hear the sound of Vermont on the Duchess of Temnes one more time, I will bite my sword for every mistake you make, so know that.”
"Yes, Duke. I sincerely apologize.”
When the maid repeatedly confessed her sins, bowing down for so long that her forehead almost touched the ground, Kaian uncrossed his arms took Claudel's frozen hand, and placed it on his arm.
“Guide me. I am tired from the long journey and need to rest right away.”
"Yes. This way.”
The attendant hurriedly guided them and took the lead.
I walked diligently after Kaian at a slow pace.
Throb.
Usually, he kept pace with me.
'Ah. My legs.'
Kaian must have been very angry now, so he walked faster than the speed we used to walk with, so I tried to force myself to follow him, and my leg, where I had been bitten by a crocodile, hurt a little.
He glanced up and seemed very offended.
I thought that perhaps the servant who was trying to show me to a separate room had made him lose his temper.
In fact, he seemed to be in a bad mood ever since he met the King's messenger at the Temnes family's mansion where he was planning to stay in the capital and quickly set off back to the capital.
'Whew.'
I forced myself to walk in order not to go limp on her numb, numb legs.
Because it rained today, I couldn't get out of the carriage to rest, and I was very tired from running all the way.
As soon as I thought I could 'rest' because the carriage stopped at the mansion, I felt a bit discouraged when they told me to go back to the castle, and after arriving, I felt intimidated by the majesty of the unfamiliar castle I had never seen before.
If it weren't for Kaian, who stood there with his shoulders squared and proud as if it were his own home, I might have looked even worse.
My usual husband was of some help at times like this.
He really had a way of taking control of the atmosphere wherever he was.
Whether in Rowen Castle or the capital city.
The royal castle was built on the top of a hill, with high, sturdy walls, and when viewed in pictures, it does not appear to be that big, flanking the wide Shen River.
Perhaps because my legs were sore, the hallway seemed endless.
"Ugh."
That was when I let out a small moan of pain.
Kaian, who had been walking with his mouth shut and a scary expression on his face stopped.
“Why are you doing that?”
"Ah. It's nothing."
“Does your leg hurt?”
My shoulders shrank as I saw the royal servants and maids looking at us.
I didn't want to show my shortcomings in front of people I met for the first time.
While riding in a carriage, Kaian told me about Oberon's King, Valquiterre.
'When we were young, we grew up calling each other by our first names.'
'His Royal Highness the Crown Prince?'
‘My mother and Queen Silvia are sisters. Even after becoming Duchess and Queen, they still called each other by their first names whenever they were alone.'
'Really?'
It was exciting to hear the royal family's secret story for the first time.
'So I don't think there was any thought that I should respect Valquiterre because he was the Crown Prince. My mother called Her Majesty the Queen just as she conveniently called her sister Irena.'
'I see.'
'Valquiterre has a wayward side, but I think it's because of his personality. Because at such a young age, he was made responsible for so great a burden.'
Kaian's eyes were very soft and gentle when talking about Valquiterre.
'It's a position where you can't fool around and say it's difficult for anyone. There were times when the joking went too far, but I think that was how he relieved his mood.'
'How about you? You also became the head of the family at a young age. Wasn't it hard for you?'
Kaian responded meaningfully to my words.
'I did bad things sometimes. Unlike anyone else in the palace.'
Then he didn't go into detail, which made me even more curious.
‘Valquiterre is my brother. I don't feel that way about Bianque, though.'
Even though he was a half-cousin, he thought that the King of Oberon was such a special person to him.
'If I say here that I have trouble with my legs, rumors will spread.'
Rumors spreading among nobles were easily distorted and exaggerated.
In this way, if anyone mentioned anything about the crocodile hunting in the estate, it was likely to spread widely, saying that the Duchess of Temnes, who had married in Vermont, had a bad leg.
I was worried that the King would find out that I was the wife of the Duke of Temnes who was not worthy of my husband's reputation.
“Aren’t you asking if it’s uncomfortable to walk?”
"No. It's really okay. If you walk a little slower...”
However, before I could finish my sentence, Kaian lightly hugged me.
“Hurry and lead the way.”
"Yes. Yes, Duke.”
As the attendant walked quickly, Kaian followed with his wide strides.
'I do not know.'
What would His Majesty the King think of me if this matter reached his ears?
I became pitiful as I thought that my points might be deducted from Valquiterre, whom I had not yet seen.
“This is the room. Please rest comfortably.”
The servant took out his handkerchief, quickly wiped the sweat from his forehead, neatly stretched out his chest, and asked.
“Would you like to prepare a meal or tea?”
"Not required. Just run the bath water. I’m going to rest, so don’t disturb me.”
"Yes."
As the attendants withdrew and the door closed behind them, Kaian carefully laid me down on the bed.
“Kaian. “You said it was okay, right?”
“What’s okay?”
He wrinkled his eyebrows.
“It’s just that I had trouble keeping up with you because you were walking a little fast.”
“If your leg hurts, you should say something, right? Why are you putting up with that?”
“That’s because you don’t seem to be in a good mood.”
Kaian sat on the bed, pushed up my skirt, groped my thighs, and began to remove the thin silk socks on my legs.
“W-what are you doing?”
“Stay still.”
Soon my bare legs were revealed, and Kaian, who was looking closely at the scars where the crocodile had bitten me, gently rubbed them.
“It’s cold.”
Perhaps because of the cool, rainy weather, Kaian's hands were quite cold.
When I stopped breathing due to the sudden cold energy, he placed the back of his hand on my leg.
“I feel some heat where you were injured.”
“It doesn’t hurt. I’m already feeling better after resting like this.”
“Should you take a steam bath?”
Look at this. Even if people spoke, Kaian didn't listen because he always did what he wanted.
I sighed.
“It was like that for a moment. I didn't get sick at all during the trip. It’s the same during the Territory Festival.”
“Maybe you should have brought a doctor from Rowen Castle as well.”
“Kaian. Are you listening to me?”
“I’m listening. But you're talking nonsense. It doesn't hurt. It doesn’t hurt, so why are you moaning?”
“..."
I was speechless.
The day will never come when I beat him with words.
“The royal doctor is also a trustworthy person. If you feel any discomfort, please speak up quickly.”
"All right."
Kaian unbuttoned my top and took off my calf-high traveling boots.
He even took off the socks from my other leg, lowered and adjusted my half-turned skirt, and when he saw the white toes sticking out from under the hem of my skirt, I looked like a cute kitten and patted it with his fingertips.
“What are you doing?”
“It’s amazing how small it is.”
When I folded my knees and hid my feet under the skirt, he came crashing down and pressed his body against me.
“Kaian. Hmm.”
As soon as our lips touched, a strange sensation tingled and swept through my entire body.
It's been a long time since I've had such a deep kiss.
The kisses I shared with him throughout the trip resembled scenes that would become memories.
It was as beautiful as purple verbena flowers blooming under the bright sunlight and as sweet as the smell of a candy store wafting through the window of a carriage on a light breeze.
Even though he was wearing clothes, I could feel the firm attitude of the man who was pressing his whole body against me, promising to return.
"Ha."
I closed my eyes tightly as I hung with both arms around his neck.
Kaian was truly so unique that he couldn't be matched.
I was so distracted when his lips touched mine, but how did he manage to unbutton all of my clothes?
For convenience of travel, I was wearing a two-piece dress with the top and bottom divided, so when he took off my top, I was wearing a thin, soft white blouse underneath.
The new clothes that Madame Marcel had carefully made had thirty buttons that looked like tiny beads.
Kaian saw that and immediately made an impression.
“That’s annoying. Why on earth do women's clothes have so many buttons? I think I hired the wrong seamstress.”
“Don’t blame the button. You’ve been annoyed since you left the mansion earlier.”
As I defended Madame Marcel, he sighed.
“I was planning on spending time with you.”
I cupped my disgruntled husband's cheek in my hand.
“The two will be staying here as well.”
“I’d like to hope so.”
From what I heard from him, I wondered if he was also worried about the 'King's name' that he would abuse in the future.
“I guess you should finish what you were going to say earlier.”
“What are you talking about?”
Kaian said, running his hand through my disheveled hair.
“What you said in the carriage.”
The man's voice lowered as he bowed his head.
“Something dirty.”
I stretched out my hand to block his kiss.
He looked down at me with displeased face.
"I'm hungry."
"Ha...I’ll finish it quickly.”
"Lie."
“...”
Kaian asked irritably, roughly brushing his hair.
“Why didn’t you say anything when you told the servant earlier that you didn’t need to eat?”
“You kicked them out without even having a chance to say anything.”
"That... Because you said your leg hurts.”
“Lie again. You wanted to do something dirty, right?”
“...I’ll call the servant.”
I laughed quietly when I saw Kaian sighing and getting up from the bed with a look of disgust on his face.
***
The servant standing in front of Valquiterre reported in a panic.
The Duke and Duchess of the Temnes family, renowned in the history of the Kingdom of Oberon, came to stay in the royal castle.
They had made preparations in advance, admiring the King's insight to prepare rooms far away from each other so that they would not be uncomfortable, but the Duke took the Duchess to his own room.
Even though it was not that he did not follow the King's orders, but that the Duke did what he wanted, the words of excuse were thrown out.
“We have prepared as you ordered, but the Duke said it would not be inconvenient, so they're together.”
"I get it. Go out and have a look.”
"Yes, Your Majesty the King.”
As the servant left, Valquiterre muttered coldly.
“One room is enough.”
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