“You made me like this. Do you think you guys would be comfortable?”
Irena was a truly pretty and kind child.
She was the kind of daughter who made her feel the joy of becoming a father. She resembled her mother with her graceful and elegant appearance, and like him, she had lovely red hair and bright golden eyes like the sun.
'Father! Please take me with you to the capital.'
'Hehe. You're still too young. You'll have to grow up a bit before I can go with you.'
'Then buy me a flower. Yes? I'll buy you one that blooms big and lovely flowers.'
She was the kind of daughter who made her feel the joy of becoming a father. She resembled her mother with her graceful and elegant appearance, and like him, she had lovely red hair and bright golden eyes like the sun.
'Father! Please take me with you to the capital.'
'Hehe. You're still too young. You'll have to grow up a bit before I can go with you.'
'Then buy me a flower. Yes? I'll buy you one that blooms big and lovely flowers.'
She was always a young girl with a pretty smile on her face and kept pestering him.
His heart melted so much at her foolishness that only in Valmonde, a jewel-producing region, did they bring glass that was more expensive than diamonds and build a greenhouse for her.
However, Irena was ruined.
The Duke of Vermont was originally the type who had difficulty sleeping deeply.
He was sensitive by nature, and anxiety and worry fueled his temperament.
However, he drank and fell asleep because he was old and unfamiliar with field life for the first time in his life, and his body was very tired. He could not sleep on the musty bed in the barracks that were roughly put together without the help of alcohol. As sleeplessness continued, he became more irritable, and his whole body cried out for rest.
'If this continues, the disease they have will spread to me.'
He had to stay in the rear because of an infectious disease, and if his body was weak and his symptoms were correct, what could be more unfortunate than this?
So he drank a lot of alcohol to rest his body and fell asleep, but when he woke up, the world had turned upside down. When I yahe opened his eyes, he saw two pairs of golden eyes looking down at him, who was completely tied up.
'Hey, these guys. I can't untie this!'
Evan was like that, but Claudel looked incredibly unfamiliar.
She was wearing the armor that she had planned to wear to the battlefield but had not had the chance to touch it until now. It was leather armor with thin platinum plates only on the tendons, so it seemed to have been adjusted to fit her body.
However, it was obvious that her body, which should be small and slender, would not grow taller even if she wore the armor that was supposed to belong to the Duke of Vermont, who had a slender physique. Perhaps because she was crouching on the floor and looking up, Claudel looked like a monster.
If she had touched him with the sword in her hand, he would easily spurt blood from his neck and it seemed as if something would go wrong.
His consciousness, which was so sensitive and vulnerable to anxiety, easily drifted toward the worst delusion.
'You should be sorry to me.'
'What, what?'
'They say that even beasts put a parentless one in the middle.'
Since there was no one else to take care of him, he should survive as best he could.
However, the Duke of Vermont thought Claudel's words were unreasonable.
'T-what are you talking about! Didn’t I accept you as my own daughter?’
Claudel sneered at his words.
‘I didn’t need to be registered as your own daughter. You sent my parents far away like you were sweeping away impurities.’
Claudel lifted the sword handle with both hands, holding it as if it were too heavy to lift with one hand.
His heart melted so much at her foolishness that only in Valmonde, a jewel-producing region, did they bring glass that was more expensive than diamonds and build a greenhouse for her.
However, Irena was ruined.
The Duke of Vermont was originally the type who had difficulty sleeping deeply.
He was sensitive by nature, and anxiety and worry fueled his temperament.
However, he drank and fell asleep because he was old and unfamiliar with field life for the first time in his life, and his body was very tired. He could not sleep on the musty bed in the barracks that were roughly put together without the help of alcohol. As sleeplessness continued, he became more irritable, and his whole body cried out for rest.
'If this continues, the disease they have will spread to me.'
He had to stay in the rear because of an infectious disease, and if his body was weak and his symptoms were correct, what could be more unfortunate than this?
So he drank a lot of alcohol to rest his body and fell asleep, but when he woke up, the world had turned upside down. When I yahe opened his eyes, he saw two pairs of golden eyes looking down at him, who was completely tied up.
'Hey, these guys. I can't untie this!'
Evan was like that, but Claudel looked incredibly unfamiliar.
She was wearing the armor that she had planned to wear to the battlefield but had not had the chance to touch it until now. It was leather armor with thin platinum plates only on the tendons, so it seemed to have been adjusted to fit her body.
However, it was obvious that her body, which should be small and slender, would not grow taller even if she wore the armor that was supposed to belong to the Duke of Vermont, who had a slender physique. Perhaps because she was crouching on the floor and looking up, Claudel looked like a monster.
If she had touched him with the sword in her hand, he would easily spurt blood from his neck and it seemed as if something would go wrong.
His consciousness, which was so sensitive and vulnerable to anxiety, easily drifted toward the worst delusion.
'You should be sorry to me.'
'What, what?'
'They say that even beasts put a parentless one in the middle.'
Since there was no one else to take care of him, he should survive as best he could.
However, the Duke of Vermont thought Claudel's words were unreasonable.
'T-what are you talking about! Didn’t I accept you as my own daughter?’
Claudel sneered at his words.
‘I didn’t need to be registered as your own daughter. You sent my parents far away like you were sweeping away impurities.’
Claudel lifted the sword handle with both hands, holding it as if it were too heavy to lift with one hand.
‘If you were to put a price on my misfortune, it would be hard to put a price on it. I’d like to borrow what I want.’
‘You little woman!’
As the Duke of Vermont struggled and shouted so fiercely that spittle flew out of his mouth, Evan lowered his body and looked at him closely.
‘Eh, Evan. Untie this.’
‘Did you just call my daughter that woman?’
‘T-That...’
Evan’s eyes and movements were like those of a raw animal.
He had the attitude of a beast that poked at the neck of its prey without thinking whether to bite it or not with its forelegs and nose.
‘You should be careful what you say, Brother.’
Evan took a suspicious vial out of his bosom and force-fed it to the Duke of Vermont.
He fainted and opened his eyes in a dark carriage without windows, and was briefly confined to the capital mansion.
'Irena. How could you do this to me!'
At first, he cried a little when he saw Irena.
Daughter. This is what happened to your father.
Look at me.
It was not good to show favor to those beasts who couldn't tell the difference between up and down.
How dare you betray me, the leader of Vermont, and humiliate me like this!
Until then, the Duke of Vermont thought Irena was on his side.
'Father.'
'Oh. Yes.'
'I am your daughter.'
Another pair of golden eyes accused him.
'I won't ask why you did this.'
The eyes that were always filled with affection had grown cold.
'The reason doesn't matter. I grew up seeing you as my father's daughter, and that's how I became like this.'
'What are you talking about, Irena?'
'I have become a monster.'
She said bluntly.
'I don't want to be sold. I don't want to be forced to give birth to a child of an unwanted man to continue the lineage.'
'That is the fate imposed on the women of the family.'
'Who decided that?'
Irena's eyes sparkled like glass beads.
'Did the women of the family agree? When? Is there a record?'
'You. Saying something like that.'
The Duke of Vermont forgot his own situation at that moment and was genuinely more worried about his daughter's condition.
'Did you get hurt or sick? What happened?'
'Do you know how many times I've been on blind dates?'
The unexpected words came back.
'Fourteen times this social season alone.'
Fourteen times? Was it that many? No, it wasn’t that many. It was useless because he hadn’t found a suitable groom for Irena. Then, whether it was ten or thirty times, what was the difference?
‘It’s also the number of times I was shamelessly insulted for looking for a new husband after shoving my husband into the coffin after only a month.’
‘...’
‘The duty of a woman of the family. I’m going to change it once.’
There were a few times when Duke Vermont looked up at his daughter. When he lifted her small body up into the sky, her short, thin red hair fluttered and she laughed.
When he lifted her up with his own hands, Irena looked down at him for a moment, and he looked up at her.
That was it, how could he have ever looked up at his daughter?
However, at that moment, Irena looked as big as Claudel in the barracks on the battlefield.
The Duke of Vermont was truly speechless with fear.
Both children whom he had married as he had commanded must have been seriously ruined.
For hundreds of years, didn’t girls get married as their fathers and patriarchs told them to?
There was a reason for that.
Since it was right and reasonable, didn’t everyone follow the order without complaint?
Why do they have traditions?
There couldn’t have been any valid reason for it to be shaped into such a framework.
He exploded with anger.
The more he thought about where this went wrong, the more he realized that Claudel was the problem.
The child who had eaten her parents and brought misfortune.
“Claudel. This didn’t happen until she entered the family.”
The Duke of Vermont thought of many of his choices as having a good reason, and the opposite as being wrong.
After moving to the Castle de Valmonde, he used his remaining subordinates to scheme.
“I won’t let you do as you wish.”
The moment his glory shone brightly, he was going to throw her into a very deep and dark place.
In the room where the sunset was cast, the Duke of Vermont was dyed red like a living fireball.
I spent half my life at the Castle de Valmonde. I had been orphaned at the age of ten and had been left to Duke Vermont care.
I thought that I had no self at the time.
Seeing and hearing were important for children to grow up.
Growing up was a process in which the soul and consciousness of a child grew bigger and stronger as time passed, like a small snowball rolling on a snowfield, absorbing everything from all sides.
When I saw the fire in the village of Plogne, I felt as if a part of my soul had been lost.
I could not react normally to any external stimuli as before.
Then, when my father’s funeral was held, I cried and screamed as if I had a fit.
After that, I became helpless like an old doll with no cotton. I had no good memories or recollections of the Castle de Valmonde.
I had simply grown up on my own.
Still, I was grateful that they had raised me without being cold or hungry, and that they had educated me.
The broken and damaged soul of the child was somehow patched up and made to look like a human being.
It was truly hard work to guide my husband like a guest in such a situation.
I put down the spoon that was stirring the soup feebly and asked him,
“Kaian. Would you like to go to the greenhouse?”
“The greenhouse?”
I nodded and suggested.
“My sister gave me special permission.”
The greenhouse, the only place in the northern cold where flowers bloom, was where nature’s mysteries were born.
Since all the outbuildings were built as if they were one big block, there was nothing particularly worth showing Kaian.
So I got permission to show him a precious sight.
“There are flowers everywhere in Rowen, so why bother going to a greenhouse?”
‘You little woman!’
As the Duke of Vermont struggled and shouted so fiercely that spittle flew out of his mouth, Evan lowered his body and looked at him closely.
‘Eh, Evan. Untie this.’
‘Did you just call my daughter that woman?’
‘T-That...’
Evan’s eyes and movements were like those of a raw animal.
He had the attitude of a beast that poked at the neck of its prey without thinking whether to bite it or not with its forelegs and nose.
‘You should be careful what you say, Brother.’
Evan took a suspicious vial out of his bosom and force-fed it to the Duke of Vermont.
He fainted and opened his eyes in a dark carriage without windows, and was briefly confined to the capital mansion.
'Irena. How could you do this to me!'
At first, he cried a little when he saw Irena.
Daughter. This is what happened to your father.
Look at me.
It was not good to show favor to those beasts who couldn't tell the difference between up and down.
How dare you betray me, the leader of Vermont, and humiliate me like this!
Until then, the Duke of Vermont thought Irena was on his side.
'Father.'
'Oh. Yes.'
'I am your daughter.'
Another pair of golden eyes accused him.
'I won't ask why you did this.'
The eyes that were always filled with affection had grown cold.
'The reason doesn't matter. I grew up seeing you as my father's daughter, and that's how I became like this.'
'What are you talking about, Irena?'
'I have become a monster.'
She said bluntly.
'I don't want to be sold. I don't want to be forced to give birth to a child of an unwanted man to continue the lineage.'
'That is the fate imposed on the women of the family.'
'Who decided that?'
Irena's eyes sparkled like glass beads.
'Did the women of the family agree? When? Is there a record?'
'You. Saying something like that.'
The Duke of Vermont forgot his own situation at that moment and was genuinely more worried about his daughter's condition.
'Did you get hurt or sick? What happened?'
'Do you know how many times I've been on blind dates?'
The unexpected words came back.
'Fourteen times this social season alone.'
Fourteen times? Was it that many? No, it wasn’t that many. It was useless because he hadn’t found a suitable groom for Irena. Then, whether it was ten or thirty times, what was the difference?
‘It’s also the number of times I was shamelessly insulted for looking for a new husband after shoving my husband into the coffin after only a month.’
‘...’
‘The duty of a woman of the family. I’m going to change it once.’
There were a few times when Duke Vermont looked up at his daughter. When he lifted her small body up into the sky, her short, thin red hair fluttered and she laughed.
When he lifted her up with his own hands, Irena looked down at him for a moment, and he looked up at her.
That was it, how could he have ever looked up at his daughter?
However, at that moment, Irena looked as big as Claudel in the barracks on the battlefield.
The Duke of Vermont was truly speechless with fear.
Both children whom he had married as he had commanded must have been seriously ruined.
For hundreds of years, didn’t girls get married as their fathers and patriarchs told them to?
There was a reason for that.
Since it was right and reasonable, didn’t everyone follow the order without complaint?
Why do they have traditions?
There couldn’t have been any valid reason for it to be shaped into such a framework.
He exploded with anger.
The more he thought about where this went wrong, the more he realized that Claudel was the problem.
The child who had eaten her parents and brought misfortune.
“Claudel. This didn’t happen until she entered the family.”
The Duke of Vermont thought of many of his choices as having a good reason, and the opposite as being wrong.
After moving to the Castle de Valmonde, he used his remaining subordinates to scheme.
“I won’t let you do as you wish.”
The moment his glory shone brightly, he was going to throw her into a very deep and dark place.
In the room where the sunset was cast, the Duke of Vermont was dyed red like a living fireball.
***
I spent half my life at the Castle de Valmonde. I had been orphaned at the age of ten and had been left to Duke Vermont care.
I thought that I had no self at the time.
Seeing and hearing were important for children to grow up.
Growing up was a process in which the soul and consciousness of a child grew bigger and stronger as time passed, like a small snowball rolling on a snowfield, absorbing everything from all sides.
When I saw the fire in the village of Plogne, I felt as if a part of my soul had been lost.
I could not react normally to any external stimuli as before.
Then, when my father’s funeral was held, I cried and screamed as if I had a fit.
After that, I became helpless like an old doll with no cotton. I had no good memories or recollections of the Castle de Valmonde.
I had simply grown up on my own.
Still, I was grateful that they had raised me without being cold or hungry, and that they had educated me.
The broken and damaged soul of the child was somehow patched up and made to look like a human being.
It was truly hard work to guide my husband like a guest in such a situation.
I put down the spoon that was stirring the soup feebly and asked him,
“Kaian. Would you like to go to the greenhouse?”
“The greenhouse?”
I nodded and suggested.
“My sister gave me special permission.”
The greenhouse, the only place in the northern cold where flowers bloom, was where nature’s mysteries were born.
Since all the outbuildings were built as if they were one big block, there was nothing particularly worth showing Kaian.
So I got permission to show him a precious sight.
“There are flowers everywhere in Rowen, so why bother going to a greenhouse?”
“Well, there’s snow outside the greenhouse. It’s amazing to see flowers blooming inside.”
“I’d rather go outside and ride a horse.”
“It’s unusually cold this year, and it’s still snowing. It’s dangerous to go outside.”
Kaian snickered at my words.
“What are you talking about? We came through the snow.”
“That’s true.”
The plates on the table looked like they had put in a lot of effort to make the food look grand, but it couldn’t compare to the plentiful food he had eaten in Rowen.
“Do you like the food? If you find it hard to eat, I’ll bring you something else.”
“It’s okay.”
“Because Valmonde’s food is a bit strange.”
Kaian continued to be concerned, grabbing my chin and rubbing my lips with his thumb.
“I’m used to it because I eat it every day, so it’s okay.”
“I’d rather go outside and ride a horse.”
“It’s unusually cold this year, and it’s still snowing. It’s dangerous to go outside.”
Kaian snickered at my words.
“What are you talking about? We came through the snow.”
“That’s true.”
The plates on the table looked like they had put in a lot of effort to make the food look grand, but it couldn’t compare to the plentiful food he had eaten in Rowen.
“Do you like the food? If you find it hard to eat, I’ll bring you something else.”
“It’s okay.”
“Because Valmonde’s food is a bit strange.”
Kaian continued to be concerned, grabbing my chin and rubbing my lips with his thumb.
“I’m used to it because I eat it every day, so it’s okay.”
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