“I’m going to tell you about the things in the safe.”
“Why are you suddenly...?”
Kaian didn’t answer my question and got up from the desk and walked over to the side.
“Come here.”
I couldn’t ask any more questions and went to stand as he called me.
“Run here with your hand.”
Kaian grabbed my hand and made me feel under the desktop. Then I felt a small square groove.
“If you push it like this, the device will come out.”
Kaian had me put my finger on the secret device hidden in the desk and pull it.
“Do it yourself.”
Suddenly, the words “by yourself” that he spoke left a trace in my mind like a spur.
“Come on.”
At his urging, I put strength into my fingers and pulled the device as I had learned.
Click.
I heard the sound of something turning and fitting together, and the desk turned crookedly in that spot.
Below that, I saw the safe where he had previously taken out a notebook containing the family’s secrets and showed them. My heart was pounding.
I don’t know why, but my chest felt tight and I felt short of breath.
When I had come to the office with him before, I had been held by Kaian and sat on the sofa because I didn’t have the energy to walk or stand, so I couldn’t look inside myself.
The inside of the safe was much deeper and wider than I had felt at first glance, so even if Kaian could just reach out and take it out, it seemed like I couldn’t reach it even if I lay down on the floor and stretched out my arms.
“This safe can only be opened with a secret device.”
“...Yes.”
When he looked at me as if he was listening, I barely managed to answer.
“Look here. This safe has a device installed in the wall surrounding it. If you try to open it by breaking the desk or not operating the device properly, a deadly poison will leak out and ruin the things inside.”
“We have to be careful.”
Kaian knelt on the floor, took out a few items from the safe, and handed them to me.
“Take it and put it on the desk.”
I did as he told me, and placed all the things he handed me on the desk one by one.
Even though it was nothing more than moving the things I received, my hands trembled with nervousness every time I moved the heavy bundle of documents and pockets.
“This is a list of assets that only the Temnes family knows.”
Kaian returned the desk to its original position and pulled a chair so that I could sit next to him.
“Originally, it was assets that were supposed to be taken without even the Duchess knowing. But now it’s being completely robbed like this.”
Kaian deliberately joked as if trying to change the heavy atmosphere, but I couldn’t laugh.
“Of course, even if Baron Colon is a vassal of a long-standing family, he’s the butler and doesn’t know. You should know.”
I suddenly felt scared.
‘So why are you suddenly telling me this?’
Kaian continued speaking nonchalantly, even though he probably didn’t know how I felt.
“The size of the assets that are apparent and the size of the hidden assets are different. This is the record. If it’s sold or disposed of, draw a line in red ink and stamp the seal of the household as a sign of confirmation.”
Kaian held the ring in his hand to the seal on a page as if showing off.
“If there are no corrections, it’s family property. And if you find the envelope with the number on it, you can find the document.”
The things he kept explaining so earnestly didn’t register in my head.
“What are you doing, Claudel? You want to be a good mother to your baby. You want to be the mistress of a splendid and powerful castle.”
I kept scolding myself for losing my mind and trying to concentrate on what Kaian was saying.
When I seemed to understand, Kaian opened the pouches containing large jewels and gold nuggets one by one.
“This one thing can last you ten years.”
“What are you doing, Claudel? You want to be a good mother to your baby. You want to be the mistress of a splendid and powerful castle.”
I kept scolding myself for losing my mind and trying to concentrate on what Kaian was saying.
When I seemed to understand, Kaian opened the pouches containing large jewels and gold nuggets one by one.
“This one thing can last you ten years.”
“Good quality.”
“You know a thing or two.”
“The Duke of Vermont had a lot of these.”
“The Duke of Vermont had a lot of these.”
Kaian smiled happily at my words.
“Yes. They were originally his. But when the prices in the north were in shambles during the drought, he gave grains to the capital’s broker and we received them in return.”
“Aha.”
It seemed familiar. As I watched, reminding myself that the stories he was telling me were not completely unrelated to me but something I already knew, I could see that the family fortune was largely divided into land and buildings, jewels and gold that could be immediately converted into money no matter which country I left for, and debt-related bonds.
“I wanted to go here again.”
I, who had discovered the sales documents of a small town where I had stayed during my trip to the capital, felt a vague sense of nostalgia.
“I’ll take you again. Didn’t you tell me that there was a lion statue in the house back then?”
“That was too interesting. Don’t laugh.”
As I tried to say it so casually, a part of my heart felt cold.
As if he were someone who would never return.
As if he were someone who would not be able to tell Julien the biggest secret of the family if I were not the one who connected them. Was he calling me separately like this and telling me one by one?
I tried not to reveal to Kaian that I was agitated.
Because he was the one who would be leaving for the battlefield.
Kaian told me several times that it wasn’t my fault.
Everything was between him and Valquiterre.
He even asked if I had seen the gold bar being scolded for being a bar, even though he would have been pointing a finger at someone who had coveted it or failed to protect something valuable when the gold bar was stolen from the house.
'If I had trusted Valquiterre and not followed him to the palace, you wouldn't have had to do such things in the capital.'
However, my heart was heavy and I kept thinking that if I hadn't misunderstood back then if I had stayed in Rowen, wouldn't Valquiterre have not come out like this?
I, who had discovered the sales documents of a small town where I had stayed during my trip to the capital, felt a vague sense of nostalgia.
“I’ll take you again. Didn’t you tell me that there was a lion statue in the house back then?”
“That was too interesting. Don’t laugh.”
As I tried to say it so casually, a part of my heart felt cold.
As if he were someone who would never return.
As if he were someone who would not be able to tell Julien the biggest secret of the family if I were not the one who connected them. Was he calling me separately like this and telling me one by one?
I tried not to reveal to Kaian that I was agitated.
Because he was the one who would be leaving for the battlefield.
Kaian told me several times that it wasn’t my fault.
Everything was between him and Valquiterre.
He even asked if I had seen the gold bar being scolded for being a bar, even though he would have been pointing a finger at someone who had coveted it or failed to protect something valuable when the gold bar was stolen from the house.
'If I had trusted Valquiterre and not followed him to the palace, you wouldn't have had to do such things in the capital.'
However, my heart was heavy and I kept thinking that if I hadn't misunderstood back then if I had stayed in Rowen, wouldn't Valquiterre have not come out like this?
I began to brood.
'Claudel. You saw what was written in that note. This isn't a simple matter.'
The words 'hypocrite' were written as if mocking Kaian was definitely Valquiterre's doing.
'Even without you, Valquiterre would have tried to subjugate Rowen to the kingdom.'
He was just making excuses, giving me a reason to make excuses.
Kaian consoled and soothed me.
'It's my job to endure this much.'
I had to ease Kaian's mind as he went off to the battlefield.
And after the men left, it was the women's job to guard the empty territory and castle.
'I have to do it well.'
I quickly understood and nodded, and I braced myself as I watched him smile as if he was impressed.
***
It was shortly after the rebellion of the serfs of Pagos that Kaian of Temnes, the lord of Rowen and a prestigious ducal family, was officially declared a traitor to the crown.
Since the sophisticated and convenient telegraph could not be used, the information that had been sent by hand and foot was crudely summarized and clumsy, but Kaian's red eyes were sharp as he scanned it.
"I never thought of that."
The serfs in the granary region southwest of the kingdom's territory, not even touching Rowen territory, were rising in mass and fighting alongside the royal army.
The man, a former archon of Pagos, agreed.
"That's right. It's largely because the serfs demanded the King's planned emancipation, but it was not accepted."
The man who had invited to Rowen Castle with a large salary to somehow make time for Claudel and was now the administrator of Rowen Castle was sullen.
“Where do those who know how to play with a pen know the fear of farming tools? Pagos is a place where there are hardly any people other than serfs.”
Only serfs who farmed and a few nobles who managed them remained in the golden granary.
Kaian gradually raised the status of the serfs of the Rowen estate to commoners and waited for the day when they would be liberated.
“That’s how people feel. Don’t you feel more when things are taken away right before your eyes?”
The butler added.
“Anyway, it’s good news for us that the royal army is busy fighting the serfs.”
Kaian felt sorry for the people of Pagos, but he also didn’t want Rowen's estate to be devastated by war.
“It’s funny to think about it this way, but it’s also because of Julien.”
After becoming a father, he wanted to give his children only the best.
What father would want to pass down an estate that was turned into a mess by war?
The route from Rowen to the capital passed through two other adjacent territories.
However, it was morally unacceptable to wage war on someone else’s land.
“Why don’t we advance to Pagos instead?”
Suggested Baron Colon.
“The serfs, angry before the autumn harvest, have set fire to the wheat fields that were enjoying a good harvest.”
“Where do those who know how to play with a pen know the fear of farming tools? Pagos is a place where there are hardly any people other than serfs.”
Only serfs who farmed and a few nobles who managed them remained in the golden granary.
Kaian gradually raised the status of the serfs of the Rowen estate to commoners and waited for the day when they would be liberated.
“That’s how people feel. Don’t you feel more when things are taken away right before your eyes?”
The butler added.
“Anyway, it’s good news for us that the royal army is busy fighting the serfs.”
Kaian felt sorry for the people of Pagos, but he also didn’t want Rowen's estate to be devastated by war.
“It’s funny to think about it this way, but it’s also because of Julien.”
After becoming a father, he wanted to give his children only the best.
What father would want to pass down an estate that was turned into a mess by war?
The route from Rowen to the capital passed through two other adjacent territories.
However, it was morally unacceptable to wage war on someone else’s land.
“Why don’t we advance to Pagos instead?”
Suggested Baron Colon.
“The serfs, angry before the autumn harvest, have set fire to the wheat fields that were enjoying a good harvest.”
They were determined to get angry and not let the King’s stomach get full.
“There are pros and cons. If the royal army comes down to Rowen, they can cut off their supply lines and the soldiers will get tired after a long march. If we go up to Pagos, we will have to bear the burden of the opposite.”
“That’s true.”
“Let’s think about it some more.”
In any case, it was a given that Valquiterre would be hit.
After a series of serious meetings, the sun had set.
When Kaian arrived at Claudel’s room, he ran into Hannah, who was just closing the door and leaving.
“Your Highness, Madam fell asleep a little while ago.”
“There are pros and cons. If the royal army comes down to Rowen, they can cut off their supply lines and the soldiers will get tired after a long march. If we go up to Pagos, we will have to bear the burden of the opposite.”
“That’s true.”
“Let’s think about it some more.”
In any case, it was a given that Valquiterre would be hit.
After a series of serious meetings, the sun had set.
When Kaian arrived at Claudel’s room, he ran into Hannah, who was just closing the door and leaving.
“Your Highness, Madam fell asleep a little while ago.”
“What about Julien?”
“He stays with her. What about dinner?”
If Claudel hadn’t fallen asleep, they would have had dinner together. When she and the baby fell asleep together, Kaian felt tired and wanted to rest.
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll rest early.”
“If you need anything, just call me.”
“Shouldn’t you be the one who needs to rest?”
Now Hannah’s belly was quite big, so Kaian would occasionally glance at her.
“I wonder if Claudel’s belly is that big?”
He had left her when she started to get bigger, so he had never seen her like that.
Anyway, he wasn’t interested in other people’s business, but he couldn’t just pass by the sight of his beloved subordinate’s wife getting bigger.
“Thank you for your concern, Your Highness.”
“Go away.”
The room was dark with only one oil lamp on, dimly lit.
When he saw Claudel sleeping on the bed with her arms down, as if wrapping the baby up against her chest, a complex feeling surged through him.
Kaian reached out and gently stroked Claudel's and the baby's red hair alternately.
However, his hands were shaking, so he soon stopped doing that.
"...I'm scared too."
Support Novellate!
Comments
Post a Comment