“...Claudel.”
Irena’s shoulders hunched involuntarily as she felt as if she was about to be grabbed and dragged away.
Thump. Thump.
Her startled heart made a loud noise.
However, the hand that had suddenly reached out in a frighteningly quick manner lost its strength before it could reach her and slowly fell down.
“Princess Irena.”
Irena was startled when she came to her senses and saw Kaian.
Wasn’t the Duke of Temnes originally rumored to be very handsome even in the North where his distant enemy ruled?
However, his untidy hair was long and disheveled, and his clothes were also strange. He should have been wearing layers of clothes, but he was just sloppily draped over his arms, and he had a cloak and a tattered blanket around his shoulders as if he had just come from the lake.
If she hadn’t met him in person in Rowen or at the royal castle before, it would have been hard to believe that this man was the Duke of Temnes, because he was so baseless.
‘And he’s a little skinny?’
The face that had been so relaxed when they had met before had become haggard and thin.
Irena was as hurt as he looked more hurt than before.
She was the same, wearing pants and a long shirt that looked like those worn by menial laborers, tied with a belt, wearing a hood, and riding a horse, covered in dirt.
When it came to Claudel’s safety, her appearance was not a problem.
“What brought the Princess here?”
“I was worried because I heard that my sister had disappeared...”
“Did the Duke of Vermont send you?”
“Yes?”
“Did he say that Claudel’s life was not enough? I clearly sent enough.”
“W-what about life?”
Irena’s face flushed with shame.
“Could it be that your father was in the meantime?”
After Claudel married Rowen, the food shortage in the north improved.
However, the food that was brought in was not enough to completely alleviate the long-standing famine.
Those who were suffering from the fear of starving to death were finally able to eat.
While Claudel was in Rowen, she had somehow asked for food and had continued to send wagons loaded with food, but Irena, who was locked up in the capital mansion, had no way of knowing what had happened in the meantime.
'I thought he wouldn't have stopped giving food right away since he cared for Claudel.'
‘And he’s a little skinny?’
The face that had been so relaxed when they had met before had become haggard and thin.
Irena was as hurt as he looked more hurt than before.
She was the same, wearing pants and a long shirt that looked like those worn by menial laborers, tied with a belt, wearing a hood, and riding a horse, covered in dirt.
When it came to Claudel’s safety, her appearance was not a problem.
“What brought the Princess here?”
“I was worried because I heard that my sister had disappeared...”
“Did the Duke of Vermont send you?”
“Yes?”
“Did he say that Claudel’s life was not enough? I clearly sent enough.”
“W-what about life?”
Irena’s face flushed with shame.
“Could it be that your father was in the meantime?”
After Claudel married Rowen, the food shortage in the north improved.
However, the food that was brought in was not enough to completely alleviate the long-standing famine.
Those who were suffering from the fear of starving to death were finally able to eat.
While Claudel was in Rowen, she had somehow asked for food and had continued to send wagons loaded with food, but Irena, who was locked up in the capital mansion, had no way of knowing what had happened in the meantime.
'I thought he wouldn't have stopped giving food right away since he cared for Claudel.'
The Duke of Vermont had demanded a 'life price' and received it.
Irena felt her blood pressure rise for a moment, but she couldn't answer rashly.
'I wonder if my father is ashamed of that?'
Irena felt her blood pressure rise for a moment, but she couldn't answer rashly.
'I wonder if my father is ashamed of that?'
Was it not the case that he could not build a fief if he did not do that much in governing the barren land of Valmonde?
Irena was purely curious.
If she brought in a husband to succeed Vermont, she would be able to rule the fief proactively.
Irena unconsciously imagined herself acting like a brazen man, saying to Kaian, “You’re shameless for pushing my sister to death, but at least you’ll get the price of her life,” and she ended up getting goosebumps.
Temnes is the enemy of Vermont.
Why would they go to such a low level and receive food from Temnes instead of asking King Oberon for mediation?
There was a possibility that Claudel and Kaian would become close, but she never forgot that they had deep-rooted resentment.
“What on earth are you doing?”
Irena shuddered at the Duke of Vermont’s behavior.
While she was momentarily shocked and ashamed, Kaian disappeared into the castle without saying a word.
The butler guided her in the chilly atmosphere.
“Is the Duke going to search for Claudel himself?”
When she asked him in the awkward atmosphere, he answered meekly.
“Yes.”
“The drawbridge was down because the lord was away from the castle.”
“The drawbridge has been down ever since the accident.”
“...I see.”
“The night search party might bring news of Madam. I’ve never gone back up there.”
The butler’s face was filled with exhaustion as he spoke bitterly.
“I’m preparing the room you used before, but please wait a moment.”
“I need to see the Duke. Where is he?”
“Come this way.”
The place they were guided to was Claudel’s room.
Kaian was sitting blankly in the dark room. When the butler quickly lit the oil lamp, he noticed that he had half-emptied the bottle of alcohol without even using a glass.
“Bring me a glass too.”
“Understood.”
The butler’s face, surprised by Irena’s words, quickly disappeared and returned with a glass.
“Tell me what happened to Claudel.”
Kaian’s face twisted in pain as if he had been stabbed in the back.
“It’s not like you pushed her on purpose like the rumors say.”
Irena wiped away the tears welling up in her eyes with the back of her hand.
“If you did it on purpose, you wouldn’t be looking like you're going to die.”
“No. I pushed her.”
Irena jumped up from her seat at the drunken voice’s abrupt words.
“T-That...”
“You believe me? That I’m that kind of person.”
Kaian laughed softly as if he found Irena’s actions quite amusing.
“Claudel wanted to live.”
She sat back down at the sudden words.
“When she first came to Rowen, she didn’t have much time left. She vomited blood in front of me.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Don’t you know she had Herzol?”
“Herzol?”
Irena clenched her fists. Her hands, clenched so tightly that she could not hold them any tighter, trembled.
“That’s ridiculous. Herzol has been cured for over three hundred years.”
“But the Duke of Vermont sent me a sick woman. He sent her away empty-handed, without giving Claudel a single decent set of clothes or a single gold ring.”
Kaian snorted in disbelief.
“Because he knew she would die. He couldn’t stand the thought of her fortune becoming his after she died.”
He drank the entire bottle of wine.
“And now he's asking me to pay for her life. It’s ridiculous, but I promised Claudel.”
“What promise?”
At that, Kaian’s face became filled with sadness as if a layer of his mask had been removed.
“Please don’t let the children of Valmonde starve.”
The man’s eyes widened as if he were about to shed tears in grief.
“Please don’t cut off food for the children even if I die.”
Kaian suddenly looked at her with resentful eyes.
“Did the Princess really not know anything?”
“No, I didn’t know.”
“The Duke of Vermont is truly amazing.”
Irena was at a loss as the shock kept coming back to her. Her father was so cruel to Claudel. She had never guessed it while they were together.
‘We weren’t doing well.’
Claudel’s face, which had been smiling beautifully with a clean face, faded away in her memory like a dry rose petal.
‘We weren’t happy.’
What were you thinking as you hid your feelings?
Irena finally couldn’t hold back and shed tears.
“It’s strange. She was originally a woman who was going to die.”
Kaian said calmly with a blank expression.
“She came to the place where she was going to die and said she liked her gravestone.”
However, her red eyes showed a desperate emotion boiling over.
“I can’t even breathe when I think that she might have been wrong.”
Kaian gasped for breath, as if a fish dragged out of the land was panting with its gills open.
“Claudel is not dead.”
He looked like someone who wanted to die.
Feeling sorry for the man who had no regrets about the world and was only carrying pain, Irena took out a handkerchief and handed it to him.
“Can I comfort you?”
Kaian’s back rose and fell as he accepted the handkerchief she handed him, and soon a sad sob followed.
I slowly got up from the bed.
With my belly growing, it was quite difficult to lie down and get up.
“Oh my. It’s hard.”
My swollen belly was much bigger than I had imagined. Even if my posture was slightly bad, whether I was sitting or lying down, my back would hurt right away. When I lay down at night, my legs would also swell up.
“And yet, the baby is still a long way off.”
Based on the doctor at Rowwn Castle’s estimate of the possible pregnancy period and the time when my morning sickness disappeared, the baby would still have to wait another month to be born.
“What should you do if Mommy sleeps irregularly?”
I habitually spoke to the baby.
Although I had been concerned about the baby’s well-being and had been taking care of him in many ways, my condition was not good these days.
When dawn came, I would wake up from my sleep with my eyes wide open, and after staying up most of the night with my eyes wide open, I was so tired during the day that I didn’t know what to do.
Just now, I had just eaten lunch and was going to rest for a bit, but I had just woken up from a deep nap.
“If this keeps up, I won’t be able to sleep tonight.”
I tugged at the rope because my throat was dry. However, no one came running even after waiting for a while.
“What’s going on?”
I sighed and pushed the door open. When I opened it and looked outside, none of the servants and maids who had boasted that they could hold out until they had won my favor were there.
I hesitated and slowly walked down the hallway.
Then I saw a group of people chatting away and the hallway widened in front of the library and the hanging garden.
“Hey, can I get something to drink...”
I was about to wake up and call them in a thin voice when I heard...
"...that they were having a funeral for Lady Claudel in Rowen. “
"What? Is that true?”
“The whole capital is going crazy about that right now.”
“Tell me more about it,”
One of the maids said, slyly.
“I know someone who was introducing me to the Princess of Vermont.”
“But?”
“The Duchess of Temnes went missing and the Princess made a fuss that she had to go to Rowen.”
“Why? If she goes, will she have to join a search party or something?”
“No, that’s not it. Just listen.”
The subtle tone of her speech had the power to draw people in.
“The Temnes family said that they should hold a funeral and welcome a new Duchess.”
“Oh my. Is this when she went there? Princess Irena?”
“Yes.”
My mind went blank.
‘What did I just hear?’
Only then did those who had been chattering loudly find me and cry out in surprise.
“Oh my. Lady Claudel.”
Gulp.
Something thumped, and a strange sensation was felt from below my stomach, and in an instant, warm liquid flowed down my legs.
“Doctor! Call a doctor.”
“Lady Claudel!”
I was dragged and rolled around in a daze.
Many people clung to me and screamed, and my stomach hurt as if it was being squeezed.
‘Not yet. Not yet.’
They said that the baby was still a month away.
After suffering in excruciating pain for a long time, I lost consciousness.
When I opened my eyes again, the chaos from earlier had disappeared and the bedroom was quiet.
“Why are you quiet?”
In the ominous silence, I looked around and tried to get up, but I couldn’t.
“Just lie down.”
“...Bark?”
I asked him, my lips dry and dry.
“What about the baby?”
Then Valquiterre looked at me with pitiful eyes.
“Claudel. The baby is dead.”
Irena was purely curious.
If she brought in a husband to succeed Vermont, she would be able to rule the fief proactively.
Irena unconsciously imagined herself acting like a brazen man, saying to Kaian, “You’re shameless for pushing my sister to death, but at least you’ll get the price of her life,” and she ended up getting goosebumps.
Temnes is the enemy of Vermont.
Why would they go to such a low level and receive food from Temnes instead of asking King Oberon for mediation?
There was a possibility that Claudel and Kaian would become close, but she never forgot that they had deep-rooted resentment.
“What on earth are you doing?”
Irena shuddered at the Duke of Vermont’s behavior.
While she was momentarily shocked and ashamed, Kaian disappeared into the castle without saying a word.
The butler guided her in the chilly atmosphere.
“Is the Duke going to search for Claudel himself?”
When she asked him in the awkward atmosphere, he answered meekly.
“Yes.”
“The drawbridge was down because the lord was away from the castle.”
“The drawbridge has been down ever since the accident.”
“...I see.”
“The night search party might bring news of Madam. I’ve never gone back up there.”
The butler’s face was filled with exhaustion as he spoke bitterly.
“I’m preparing the room you used before, but please wait a moment.”
“I need to see the Duke. Where is he?”
“Come this way.”
The place they were guided to was Claudel’s room.
Kaian was sitting blankly in the dark room. When the butler quickly lit the oil lamp, he noticed that he had half-emptied the bottle of alcohol without even using a glass.
“Bring me a glass too.”
“Understood.”
The butler’s face, surprised by Irena’s words, quickly disappeared and returned with a glass.
“Tell me what happened to Claudel.”
Kaian’s face twisted in pain as if he had been stabbed in the back.
“It’s not like you pushed her on purpose like the rumors say.”
Irena wiped away the tears welling up in her eyes with the back of her hand.
“If you did it on purpose, you wouldn’t be looking like you're going to die.”
“No. I pushed her.”
Irena jumped up from her seat at the drunken voice’s abrupt words.
“T-That...”
“You believe me? That I’m that kind of person.”
Kaian laughed softly as if he found Irena’s actions quite amusing.
“Claudel wanted to live.”
She sat back down at the sudden words.
“When she first came to Rowen, she didn’t have much time left. She vomited blood in front of me.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Don’t you know she had Herzol?”
“Herzol?”
Irena clenched her fists. Her hands, clenched so tightly that she could not hold them any tighter, trembled.
“That’s ridiculous. Herzol has been cured for over three hundred years.”
“But the Duke of Vermont sent me a sick woman. He sent her away empty-handed, without giving Claudel a single decent set of clothes or a single gold ring.”
Kaian snorted in disbelief.
“Because he knew she would die. He couldn’t stand the thought of her fortune becoming his after she died.”
He drank the entire bottle of wine.
“And now he's asking me to pay for her life. It’s ridiculous, but I promised Claudel.”
“What promise?”
At that, Kaian’s face became filled with sadness as if a layer of his mask had been removed.
“Please don’t let the children of Valmonde starve.”
The man’s eyes widened as if he were about to shed tears in grief.
“Please don’t cut off food for the children even if I die.”
Kaian suddenly looked at her with resentful eyes.
“Did the Princess really not know anything?”
“No, I didn’t know.”
“The Duke of Vermont is truly amazing.”
Irena was at a loss as the shock kept coming back to her. Her father was so cruel to Claudel. She had never guessed it while they were together.
‘We weren’t doing well.’
Claudel’s face, which had been smiling beautifully with a clean face, faded away in her memory like a dry rose petal.
‘We weren’t happy.’
What were you thinking as you hid your feelings?
Irena finally couldn’t hold back and shed tears.
“It’s strange. She was originally a woman who was going to die.”
Kaian said calmly with a blank expression.
“She came to the place where she was going to die and said she liked her gravestone.”
However, her red eyes showed a desperate emotion boiling over.
“I can’t even breathe when I think that she might have been wrong.”
Kaian gasped for breath, as if a fish dragged out of the land was panting with its gills open.
“Claudel is not dead.”
He looked like someone who wanted to die.
Feeling sorry for the man who had no regrets about the world and was only carrying pain, Irena took out a handkerchief and handed it to him.
“Can I comfort you?”
Kaian’s back rose and fell as he accepted the handkerchief she handed him, and soon a sad sob followed.
***
I slowly got up from the bed.
With my belly growing, it was quite difficult to lie down and get up.
“Oh my. It’s hard.”
My swollen belly was much bigger than I had imagined. Even if my posture was slightly bad, whether I was sitting or lying down, my back would hurt right away. When I lay down at night, my legs would also swell up.
“And yet, the baby is still a long way off.”
Based on the doctor at Rowwn Castle’s estimate of the possible pregnancy period and the time when my morning sickness disappeared, the baby would still have to wait another month to be born.
“What should you do if Mommy sleeps irregularly?”
I habitually spoke to the baby.
Although I had been concerned about the baby’s well-being and had been taking care of him in many ways, my condition was not good these days.
When dawn came, I would wake up from my sleep with my eyes wide open, and after staying up most of the night with my eyes wide open, I was so tired during the day that I didn’t know what to do.
Just now, I had just eaten lunch and was going to rest for a bit, but I had just woken up from a deep nap.
“If this keeps up, I won’t be able to sleep tonight.”
I tugged at the rope because my throat was dry. However, no one came running even after waiting for a while.
“What’s going on?”
I sighed and pushed the door open. When I opened it and looked outside, none of the servants and maids who had boasted that they could hold out until they had won my favor were there.
I hesitated and slowly walked down the hallway.
Then I saw a group of people chatting away and the hallway widened in front of the library and the hanging garden.
“Hey, can I get something to drink...”
I was about to wake up and call them in a thin voice when I heard...
"...that they were having a funeral for Lady Claudel in Rowen. “
"What? Is that true?”
“The whole capital is going crazy about that right now.”
“Tell me more about it,”
One of the maids said, slyly.
“I know someone who was introducing me to the Princess of Vermont.”
“But?”
“The Duchess of Temnes went missing and the Princess made a fuss that she had to go to Rowen.”
“Why? If she goes, will she have to join a search party or something?”
“No, that’s not it. Just listen.”
The subtle tone of her speech had the power to draw people in.
“The Temnes family said that they should hold a funeral and welcome a new Duchess.”
“Oh my. Is this when she went there? Princess Irena?”
“Yes.”
My mind went blank.
‘What did I just hear?’
Only then did those who had been chattering loudly find me and cry out in surprise.
“Oh my. Lady Claudel.”
Gulp.
Something thumped, and a strange sensation was felt from below my stomach, and in an instant, warm liquid flowed down my legs.
“Doctor! Call a doctor.”
“Lady Claudel!”
I was dragged and rolled around in a daze.
Many people clung to me and screamed, and my stomach hurt as if it was being squeezed.
‘Not yet. Not yet.’
They said that the baby was still a month away.
After suffering in excruciating pain for a long time, I lost consciousness.
When I opened my eyes again, the chaos from earlier had disappeared and the bedroom was quiet.
“Why are you quiet?”
In the ominous silence, I looked around and tried to get up, but I couldn’t.
“Just lie down.”
“...Bark?”
I asked him, my lips dry and dry.
“What about the baby?”
Then Valquiterre looked at me with pitiful eyes.
“Claudel. The baby is dead.”
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