"You. Did you say that you would abandon me once the marriage period was completed?”
Only then did he realize that the man lying on the floor was Burbrook.
Next to his face, which was bleeding profusely from a torn head, there was a dented silver tray and broken cups and plates that might have been on it.
The guards brought by the butler entered the bedroom in unison, lifted up the unconscious man, and slapped him in the face.
"Eww. Ugh.”
They roughly wrapped his head in a towel, gave him first aid, and hit him hard, and Burbrook groaned and came to his senses.
“What on earth is this?”
He was startled by Kaian's shouting voice as if he had been struck by lightning.
“Yes, my Lord.”
“You will have to say it the right way.”
Burbrook fell with his head to the ground at the feet of Kaian, who was radiating murderous energy to the point of making his skin tingle.
“S-sorry. I just wanted to see Madam for a moment.”
“Why are you approaching my wife without permission?”
“Well, didn’t you promise me?”
Burbrook appealed in an unfair tone.
“Yoy said he would send the Vermont woman to me after one year of marriage.”
A disgusting sound came out as if a lump of sewage had been thrown.
“What on earth does that mean?”
“You promised! Didn’t you clearly say that to me on the second day of the wedding celebration?”
“Nonsense!”
“I’m not making this up. Bilton, the granary keeper, and Sir Thomas, the stable keeper, who were nearby, also heard clearly. Call them and ask.”
"Shut up!"
Kaian got angry and screamed.
“Bring this man and throw him in prison.”
"Yes, My Lord.”
“My lord! I feel wronged!”
The man who was about to be dragged away shook off the guards and clung to Kaian's leg.
“This is all because of Antjone.”
"What?"
“The old lady encouraged me. That Madam knows it all and is calling me into the bedroom.”
Kaian's face distorted grimly.
“What kind of bullshit are you talking about?”
“She said Madam was looking for apples rather than railroad tracks because she had something else on her mind. Huh.”
The frightened, miserable man began to sob obscenely.
Kaian mumbled a low curse and gave an order to the guards.
"Keep this man in prison. Antjone, take her too and lock them together."
"Yes. I will obey your orders.”
As the guards dragged Burbrook back, the smell of blood mixed with the smell of grapes and apples that had been trampled and burst by the men's feet made the smell even more fishy.
“You too, go away.”
"But...”
Hannah looked at Kaian with her sad face and she didn't know what to do.
"Get out."
After a cold fight, Hannah eventually went out of the bedroom and closed the door, leaving Claudel crying pitifully.
"Oh, my. Huhuhu..."
Claudel cried very briefly.
When she was hugged by him and experienced the ultimate pleasure, the faint sounds and cries that she made were similar. The unfamiliar feeling of a familiar sound was even more shocking than seeing it for the first time.
Claudel once told him that since her parents died, she has not been able to cry.
Even though she wanted to cry, no tears came out.
However, from her beautiful eyes, teardrops as thick as jewels melted and fell down her cheeks, containing shimmering gold, every time she blinked her eyes.
'I guess it's because I cried all my life.'
The sight of the woman expressing her sorrow over losing her parents like that, her face pouring out tears, was painfully embedded in Kaian's heart.
He carefully tried to help her up.
“Claudel, wake up."
But Claudel shook off his hand. Kaian felt even worse because the woman sitting on the floor crying looked like part of a very messy room.
Moreover, it was even more so because her body, which he briefly touched, felt cold, not like a living person.
“Your body is cold.”
“Never mind. Ugh. Huhuhu.”
Kaian ended up hugging the woman who tried to shake him off and carrying her to the bed. However, Claudel, who had been put down on the bed, hugged her knees, curled up against him, and continued to cry, as if under compulsion.
“Calm down.”
“Ugh.”
He wanted to hug and comfort the trembling, crying woman, but the gestures that rejected him were so violent that Kaian didn't know what to do. Moreover, whenever he tried to say something or calm her down, Claudel cried harder, which was embarrassing.
“You’re going to kick me out after a year... Did you really do that?”
Claudel cried.
“You don’t plan on keeping a Vermont girl as your hostess?”
Was it so or wasn’t it?
As she tried to force herself to recall things she couldn't even remember, it felt like her mind was becoming increasingly paralyzed.
Meanwhile, the tears that had filled her eyes once again flowed down her throat.
“Huhu... Ugh.. There won’t be anywhere to go, so he can take me.”
"No."
Kaian felt his heartbreak.
"Lie."
However, Claudel, who was wiping away the wet tears with the back of her hand as if she could see through his thoughts, shook her head.
“So many people know. Ugh.”
Her accusation was directed at Kaian. Kaian suffered from remorse that he had made an irreparable mistake, but as he listened, he felt a little mortified.
"Yes. I did.”
“Oh, my.. Huhuhu...”
“What? You didn’t come to Rowan to become my wife anyway.”
Claudel looked at him with eyes filled with all kinds of emotions.
“You came to deceive me, deceive me, and die under the name of my wife.”
Meanwhile, Kaian turned a blind eye to Claudel's many lies, excuses, and things she tried to cover up without telling.
“I feel bad for saving someone who should have died a long time ago due to herzol.”
He tried so hard to save her life, but she didn't know how to thank him, and she became upset at his attitude of criticizing her for her mistakes.
It wasn't intentional.
He had just had his first night out and had no thoughts about Claudel, good or bad. Regarding the marriage, he was only dissatisfied with her anger towards Valquiterre and Vermont, who had forcibly given the King's orders.
And at that time, she was the one who stabbed him in the back and hid her illness. She was planning to die, but she felt mortified at the thought that he had caught her with a single word.
“Do you think it’s a topic for me to talk about like that?”
Once her words broke out, she could not control them.
“The Duke of Vermont didn’t know you were mortally ill? Knowing he turned a blind eye to the fact that you married off empty-handed, without even a single pearl or proper clothes.”
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became.
“You acted as a spy in my house and pretended not to notice that a telegram was being sent to the Duke of Vermont using the same code.”
“A spy... It’s not like that.”
Meanwhile, the tears that had filled her eyes once again flowed down her throat.
“Huhu... Ugh.. There won’t be anywhere to go, so he can take me.”
"No."
Kaian felt his heartbreak.
"Lie."
However, Claudel, who was wiping away the wet tears with the back of her hand as if she could see through his thoughts, shook her head.
“So many people know. Ugh.”
Her accusation was directed at Kaian. Kaian suffered from remorse that he had made an irreparable mistake, but as he listened, he felt a little mortified.
"Yes. I did.”
“Oh, my.. Huhuhu...”
“What? You didn’t come to Rowan to become my wife anyway.”
Claudel looked at him with eyes filled with all kinds of emotions.
“You came to deceive me, deceive me, and die under the name of my wife.”
Meanwhile, Kaian turned a blind eye to Claudel's many lies, excuses, and things she tried to cover up without telling.
“I feel bad for saving someone who should have died a long time ago due to herzol.”
He tried so hard to save her life, but she didn't know how to thank him, and she became upset at his attitude of criticizing her for her mistakes.
It wasn't intentional.
He had just had his first night out and had no thoughts about Claudel, good or bad. Regarding the marriage, he was only dissatisfied with her anger towards Valquiterre and Vermont, who had forcibly given the King's orders.
And at that time, she was the one who stabbed him in the back and hid her illness. She was planning to die, but she felt mortified at the thought that he had caught her with a single word.
“Do you think it’s a topic for me to talk about like that?”
Once her words broke out, she could not control them.
“The Duke of Vermont didn’t know you were mortally ill? Knowing he turned a blind eye to the fact that you married off empty-handed, without even a single pearl or proper clothes.”
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became.
“You acted as a spy in my house and pretended not to notice that a telegram was being sent to the Duke of Vermont using the same code.”
“A spy... It’s not like that.”
“No?”
Kaian was dumbfounded, which made him laugh.
“What did I hear in the royal castle? You were told you would put a knife to my throat any time he gave you the order.”
“...Kaian.”
“After hearing those words, did you expect me to match your acting and tell you that I like you?”
“...”
Claudel looked at him with her mouth open, as if speechless.
'I guess I have nothing to say.'
He didn't want to drive her like this.
The reason she had pretended not to notice until now was because Claudel felt indebted to him and did not want her to be intimidated.
It was just nice to see her becoming more and more comfortable around him.
She looked at him awkwardly and intimidated, but the woman who was watching him smiled, and then she hugged his body first, leaning her head on his shoulder and humming her tune, which was cute.
Kaian thought it would be okay if he wasn't fooled by Claudel's clumsy deception.
Kazan, considering his close relationship with Claudel so far, was self-evaluating that it was an ideal marital relationship between two enemy families that he could maintain because he was strong.
After saying it condescendingly and openly like this, it only took a moment for the tower he had worked so hard to collapse.
"Then...”
Claudel hesitated and barely opened her mouth.
“If I have a child, you will... You also said you could trust me... Was it a lie?”
Once the sloppy trust began to crumble, it reached the bottom out of control.
“In the first place, what else is there to do other than trust in Vermont?”
"Ah....”
The woman with her hurt eyes suddenly stopped crying.
'If I hadn't pushed her away when I tried to soothe her, she wouldn't have said this.'
He was resentful of the woman who had turned all the work he had put his heart into into nothing.
“Don’t say anything presumptuous from now on.”
Kaian left the bedroom, leaving the woman who could not respond.
"Butler!"
When he called harshly, the butler looked at him with a stern expression.
“The bedroom has become messy due to an unfortunate incident, so Claudel... Please guide him to the guest room.”
"Yes?"
“Let’s replace the carpet with a new one.”
“I will, My Lord.”
Kaian headed to his bedroom. He was afraid that if he forced Claudel into his bedroom, she would cry and lose her breath.
"Ha. Shit."
Kaian sighed in pain as he rubbed his heated forehead.
***
“I need to finish tidying up your room quickly.”
From early in the morning, Hannah was in trouble.
“There are no vacant rooms due to the prom, so you have to sleep in a room like this.”
Because the castle was so full of guests, everyone had a hard time just cleaning the empty guest rooms at night.
"I'm okay, Hannah."
Claudel had a pale white face. Hannah patted her, thinking about Burbrook.
“Burbrook, that crazy man. Ugh. He should have been killed on the spot.”
Hannah was bored. The warrior who defeated Burbrook was none other than her.
Hannah knocked him down on the rather heavy silver tray she had brought with her intending to feed Claudel, making him unconscious.
But she went as far as to say that if Hannah had had a fork or knife on the tray she would have taken Burbrook's head with it. She said that she didn't take the tools separately because she wanted Claudel to eat fruit and juice.
“I’m going to go for a walk.”
“Why don’t you rest more?”
“It’s cold and I want to get some sun.”
At her words, Hannah wrapped a shawl around her body to keep her warm without saying anything.
As she reached the shore of the lake in the back garden, Valquiterre, who had been lying like a picture in a sunny spot, woke up.
"The owner has returned, so I’ll have to move out of the way.”
Claudel gave her a wink and Hannah took five steps back. She saw Hannah standing a little away, and Claudel sat down close to him. holding the hem of her skirt.
She lowered her voice and spoke softly.
“Bark. Please help me.”
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