“You want to have my own child? In that case, you shouldn’t go in half-heartedly.”
“Who listened half-heartedly? It doesn’t really feel like an emergency exit.”
"Ah. That’s what I meant.”
Kaian took me with him and returned to thr kitchen. It was only after he had placed me on a warm seat by the fire that he opened his mouth again.
“This castle is surrounded by a moat. At night, the drawbridge is raised so you can’t get out.”
I nodded to indicate that I understood.
“If you go through there, you can go outside without having to lower the drawbridge. You can pass under the moat and exit through a hidden entrance a little distance away.”
"Yes."
I didn't know that an emergency escape in that sense would always be useful.
The drawbridge may be broken or you may have to rush out of the castle late at night.
“Rowen Castle has never fought a war.”
It was the first capital of the kingdom that maintained hegemony over the Ita continent for a long time. Rowen Castle, even after moving the capital from Rowen Castle to the current capital, the symbol of Oberon's kingdom has never been directly attacked.
“I hope I don’t have to use the emergency exit.”
“It’s like I gave you this castle’s weakness.”
Kaian turned his head and met my eyes.
“What can you give me?”
My eyes widened.
'I see. If we know this, we can attack Rowen Castle.'
The wide and deep moat was filled with water. The castle was an isolated fortress with access roads blocked so that no one could enter the castle except through the drawbridge. When the bridge was raised, traffic was completely blocked.
However, the story changes when you know that there is a secret passage.
Conversely, they could have sent powerful people there to try to kill the head of the family.
As soon as the thought reached that point, I became scared.
Just the thought of someone trying to take Kaian's life was terrifying. Claudel said, shrugging my goosebump-covered shoulders.
“What would you like me to give you?”
What does he hope for and say things like that?
I asked him back. There was little I could do for him. He had all the glory in the world.
When I asked what the man who had stolen my heart so long ago wanted me to give him, I realized once again that I had nothing.
"Trust."
He eventually gave me the correct answer.
“You must never betray me. Behave so that I can trust you.”
I tilted my head.
'I can't trust you, Claudel.'
‘I’m serious, I am.'
The day I showed my heart. Apparently, Kaian's response to my confession was that he said he couldn't trust me.
'How can I make you trust me?'
'Have a baby.'
He told me to have a child, and that I should try and not say, ‘I will believe you when you give birth to an heir.’ he might believe me.
'I haven't even given birth to the baby yet.'
Kaian was acting incoherently.
The person who did not trust me asked for her trust and revealed the secret of him to me, who had been pushing him away so much that I was the daughter of his enemy.
'Trust me? Kaian... me?'
A man who drew a line with his words always did the opposite in his actions.
What if Kaian could love me as much as I love him?
Could it be that we can't just say that because of the problems between Vermont and Temnes?
Perhaps...
'...Do you like me too?'
My heart is pounding.
His heart was pounding.
I looked up at Kaian, who was sitting next to me and said.
"I trust you. You made me... I will protect you.”
I wanted to say, ‘Me and the baby,’ but I ended up forgetting what I was saying.
Kaian slowly pulled me into his arms.
“I guess so.”
When he said yes, I felt something warm building up in my heart.
I still wanted to hear a clear answer to my confession.
I spoke out my thoughts without any hesitation and wanted a man to respond to me out loud.
There was no point in not saying it in words.
I should not have been quick to guess his inner thoughts if I had not heard them with my own ears.
So I confessed to him, and when I didn't get the answer I wanted, I was shocked and disappointed, as if the world had collapsed.
But now it seemed like I had heard the answer.
The man who didn't bother to put in the effort to take care of me even though he worked hard all day showed me a secret that was only passed down to the next generation.
When I realized that, using a miracle as a stepping stone, the name of my baby, who came to me, came a little closer to my hope.
All I had left was to wait.
If the baby is born safely, then I will be able to hear an answer from him.
At that moment, I realized that I still loved him very much.
He struggled to escape from the corner of his heart where the words 'I love you', which he was glad he didn't say, were buried.
'A little bit. Just be patient.'
I bit my lip slightly from the inside.
We sat side by side, leaning on each other, enjoying the adventure.
And the next day, as the sun rose, the kitchen where the lord and his wife had made special memories echoed with the screams of the chef who had lost something precious.
Madame Cronach had a busy day. It was a daily routine no different from usual.
Salon Arbo is the largest and most famous salon in the capital, so she is always busy with many visitors. But these days, she often sighs more and stares blankly at the distant southern sky.
"Ha. I’m sure she’ll be fine, right?”
It was one thing for her to know that Claudel was doing well and that she had become the Duchess of Temnes, but it was another thing to see it with her own eyes.
During Claudel's stay in the capital, she was distressed because she could not see her daughter, even though she was only a short distance away.
Since Claudel mainly shared her schedule with Kaian, there weren't many of the places a Duke worthy of royalty could go that Madame Cronach could naturally join.
Knowing that Kaian was planning to take Claudel on a Holder Ray round, she thought about following him to the hunting ground, but she barely held back for fear of arousing unnecessary suspicion.
Because Claudel left Hannah and Madame Marcel at the hunting ground, there was a gap, so she was able to stay with Claudel for a while.
She applied perfume to her arms and back and combed her fine hair.
She also picked out pretty clothes for Claudel.
She was truly happy, but on the other hand, she was heartbroken that she could not predict the next day when she would be able to see Claudel.
“I said something weak and fell asleep. I wish I had seen her at least once in my life, but I did see her.”
In this way, she suffered so much day after day until she survived even after receiving severe burns.
Still, as the days got colder and winter came, Madame Cronach was tormented by the scars on her burns that were pulled every day as if they were about to tear.
She doesn't have any money, so even if she buys a luxurious balm and applies it, it only lasts for a moment. It wasn't easy for her to live with dead flesh crushed against her living body.
So, what must it have been like when you got hurt?
"Ah. That’s what I meant.”
Kaian took me with him and returned to thr kitchen. It was only after he had placed me on a warm seat by the fire that he opened his mouth again.
“This castle is surrounded by a moat. At night, the drawbridge is raised so you can’t get out.”
I nodded to indicate that I understood.
“If you go through there, you can go outside without having to lower the drawbridge. You can pass under the moat and exit through a hidden entrance a little distance away.”
"Yes."
I didn't know that an emergency escape in that sense would always be useful.
The drawbridge may be broken or you may have to rush out of the castle late at night.
“Rowen Castle has never fought a war.”
It was the first capital of the kingdom that maintained hegemony over the Ita continent for a long time. Rowen Castle, even after moving the capital from Rowen Castle to the current capital, the symbol of Oberon's kingdom has never been directly attacked.
“I hope I don’t have to use the emergency exit.”
“It’s like I gave you this castle’s weakness.”
Kaian turned his head and met my eyes.
“What can you give me?”
My eyes widened.
'I see. If we know this, we can attack Rowen Castle.'
The wide and deep moat was filled with water. The castle was an isolated fortress with access roads blocked so that no one could enter the castle except through the drawbridge. When the bridge was raised, traffic was completely blocked.
However, the story changes when you know that there is a secret passage.
Conversely, they could have sent powerful people there to try to kill the head of the family.
As soon as the thought reached that point, I became scared.
Just the thought of someone trying to take Kaian's life was terrifying. Claudel said, shrugging my goosebump-covered shoulders.
“What would you like me to give you?”
What does he hope for and say things like that?
I asked him back. There was little I could do for him. He had all the glory in the world.
When I asked what the man who had stolen my heart so long ago wanted me to give him, I realized once again that I had nothing.
"Trust."
He eventually gave me the correct answer.
“You must never betray me. Behave so that I can trust you.”
I tilted my head.
'I can't trust you, Claudel.'
‘I’m serious, I am.'
The day I showed my heart. Apparently, Kaian's response to my confession was that he said he couldn't trust me.
'How can I make you trust me?'
'Have a baby.'
He told me to have a child, and that I should try and not say, ‘I will believe you when you give birth to an heir.’ he might believe me.
'I haven't even given birth to the baby yet.'
Kaian was acting incoherently.
The person who did not trust me asked for her trust and revealed the secret of him to me, who had been pushing him away so much that I was the daughter of his enemy.
'Trust me? Kaian... me?'
A man who drew a line with his words always did the opposite in his actions.
What if Kaian could love me as much as I love him?
Could it be that we can't just say that because of the problems between Vermont and Temnes?
Perhaps...
'...Do you like me too?'
My heart is pounding.
His heart was pounding.
I looked up at Kaian, who was sitting next to me and said.
"I trust you. You made me... I will protect you.”
I wanted to say, ‘Me and the baby,’ but I ended up forgetting what I was saying.
Kaian slowly pulled me into his arms.
“I guess so.”
When he said yes, I felt something warm building up in my heart.
I still wanted to hear a clear answer to my confession.
I spoke out my thoughts without any hesitation and wanted a man to respond to me out loud.
There was no point in not saying it in words.
I should not have been quick to guess his inner thoughts if I had not heard them with my own ears.
So I confessed to him, and when I didn't get the answer I wanted, I was shocked and disappointed, as if the world had collapsed.
But now it seemed like I had heard the answer.
The man who didn't bother to put in the effort to take care of me even though he worked hard all day showed me a secret that was only passed down to the next generation.
When I realized that, using a miracle as a stepping stone, the name of my baby, who came to me, came a little closer to my hope.
All I had left was to wait.
If the baby is born safely, then I will be able to hear an answer from him.
At that moment, I realized that I still loved him very much.
He struggled to escape from the corner of his heart where the words 'I love you', which he was glad he didn't say, were buried.
'A little bit. Just be patient.'
I bit my lip slightly from the inside.
We sat side by side, leaning on each other, enjoying the adventure.
And the next day, as the sun rose, the kitchen where the lord and his wife had made special memories echoed with the screams of the chef who had lost something precious.
***
Madame Cronach had a busy day. It was a daily routine no different from usual.
Salon Arbo is the largest and most famous salon in the capital, so she is always busy with many visitors. But these days, she often sighs more and stares blankly at the distant southern sky.
"Ha. I’m sure she’ll be fine, right?”
It was one thing for her to know that Claudel was doing well and that she had become the Duchess of Temnes, but it was another thing to see it with her own eyes.
During Claudel's stay in the capital, she was distressed because she could not see her daughter, even though she was only a short distance away.
Since Claudel mainly shared her schedule with Kaian, there weren't many of the places a Duke worthy of royalty could go that Madame Cronach could naturally join.
Knowing that Kaian was planning to take Claudel on a Holder Ray round, she thought about following him to the hunting ground, but she barely held back for fear of arousing unnecessary suspicion.
Because Claudel left Hannah and Madame Marcel at the hunting ground, there was a gap, so she was able to stay with Claudel for a while.
She applied perfume to her arms and back and combed her fine hair.
She also picked out pretty clothes for Claudel.
She was truly happy, but on the other hand, she was heartbroken that she could not predict the next day when she would be able to see Claudel.
“I said something weak and fell asleep. I wish I had seen her at least once in my life, but I did see her.”
In this way, she suffered so much day after day until she survived even after receiving severe burns.
Still, as the days got colder and winter came, Madame Cronach was tormented by the scars on her burns that were pulled every day as if they were about to tear.
She doesn't have any money, so even if she buys a luxurious balm and applies it, it only lasts for a moment. It wasn't easy for her to live with dead flesh crushed against her living body.
So, what must it have been like when you got hurt?
Every day Madam Cronach bit her tongue and wanted to die, but she endured and endured with the thought of living to meet her husband and her daughter.
Still, she thought that after waiting desperately for ten years, she had finally seen Claudel, and that alone was like a human victory for her.
Knock knock.
Madame Cronach was barely brought out of her daughter's thoughts by a knock on her office door.
"What's happened?"
“Madame. A letter has arrived.”
"Letter?"
"Yes."
Madame Cronach's heart skipped a beat when she heard that it was a letter.
“Give it here and go and do the work.”
Madame Cronach locked her office door from the inside.
In the Kingdom of Oberon, those with some money used the telegraph.
No matter how far away it is, information can be conveyed within a day. How convenient.
However, the story is different if the area where the telegraph office is located controls the messages going out through the telegraph office.
There would be no problem if you were using it purely for communication purposes, but it would be awkward to convey words or information with other intentions.
Madame Cronach knew Kaian's methods better than anyone else.
Kaian planted informants at the Castle de Valmonde, numbered five in total.
Without knowing who each other was, they peeped at the same information, organized it, and sent it. They sent telegrams to people located on different routes and then rode horses to neighboring telegraph offices to send them, causing confusion.
In other words, even if an intermediate territory intercepts the contents of the message board, there is no way to know what the encrypted text is or where it came from.
Madame Cronach imitated his methods. She said that as long as Hannah doesn't use her name, she can be contacted safely.
[Erich Mannheim]
It was a letter from someone she hired.
'Hannah sent it.'
The only letters she would receive through him were Hannah's telegrams from Rowen.
She insisted that she never send her telegrams in Hannah's name. But she knew that borrowing an identity card wouldn't be easy.
Such a thing was usually used by dishonest people. There were times when people paid money to buy or borrow things from others, but it would have been difficult for Hannah to recognize such shady things.
So, when her neck was stretched as she waited for no news of her return, the letter she received was like a sweet rain in a drought.
Madam Cronach quickly opened the letter.
[Mama. I have good news. There were fruits in the flowerpot that Mama had grown. I'm worried about pests and diseases, but I'll keep an eye on it. I ate all the saury. Next time, I think I'll make a jar of saury. Stay healthy.]
She transcribed the message she received via telegram into a letter, so the content was short. However, several pre-determined passwords contained surprising news.
“It has fruit.”
But Madame Cronach's fingertips trembled without her knowing.
“Claudel is having a baby.”
Madame Cronach literally dropped to her knees on the floor.
As she fell to the ground with her hands on her forehead, a cry that had been suppressed for many years burst out.
Ugh... hu.. hu...”
Still, she thought that after waiting desperately for ten years, she had finally seen Claudel, and that alone was like a human victory for her.
Knock knock.
Madame Cronach was barely brought out of her daughter's thoughts by a knock on her office door.
"What's happened?"
“Madame. A letter has arrived.”
"Letter?"
"Yes."
Madame Cronach's heart skipped a beat when she heard that it was a letter.
“Give it here and go and do the work.”
Madame Cronach locked her office door from the inside.
In the Kingdom of Oberon, those with some money used the telegraph.
No matter how far away it is, information can be conveyed within a day. How convenient.
However, the story is different if the area where the telegraph office is located controls the messages going out through the telegraph office.
There would be no problem if you were using it purely for communication purposes, but it would be awkward to convey words or information with other intentions.
Madame Cronach knew Kaian's methods better than anyone else.
Kaian planted informants at the Castle de Valmonde, numbered five in total.
Without knowing who each other was, they peeped at the same information, organized it, and sent it. They sent telegrams to people located on different routes and then rode horses to neighboring telegraph offices to send them, causing confusion.
In other words, even if an intermediate territory intercepts the contents of the message board, there is no way to know what the encrypted text is or where it came from.
Madame Cronach imitated his methods. She said that as long as Hannah doesn't use her name, she can be contacted safely.
[Erich Mannheim]
It was a letter from someone she hired.
'Hannah sent it.'
The only letters she would receive through him were Hannah's telegrams from Rowen.
She insisted that she never send her telegrams in Hannah's name. But she knew that borrowing an identity card wouldn't be easy.
Such a thing was usually used by dishonest people. There were times when people paid money to buy or borrow things from others, but it would have been difficult for Hannah to recognize such shady things.
So, when her neck was stretched as she waited for no news of her return, the letter she received was like a sweet rain in a drought.
Madam Cronach quickly opened the letter.
[Mama. I have good news. There were fruits in the flowerpot that Mama had grown. I'm worried about pests and diseases, but I'll keep an eye on it. I ate all the saury. Next time, I think I'll make a jar of saury. Stay healthy.]
She transcribed the message she received via telegram into a letter, so the content was short. However, several pre-determined passwords contained surprising news.
“It has fruit.”
But Madame Cronach's fingertips trembled without her knowing.
“Claudel is having a baby.”
Madame Cronach literally dropped to her knees on the floor.
As she fell to the ground with her hands on her forehead, a cry that had been suppressed for many years burst out.
Ugh... hu.. hu...”
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