The whip was five strokes long. However, it was a whip that could tear the skin with just one stroke. The special whip, made from the skin of a small elephant found only in El Salvador, south of Travasta, was more like a tool for torture than a tool for punishing servants.
Liena looked at the King being whipped without a single groan and she shed tears. Her teeth chattered and ground. Else, that damned woman...! Finally, the whip hit her back. Her lips were crushed by the excruciating pain that made her bones vibrate.
"Ah!"
How could he take this without groaning? By the time the whip struck three times, Liena had lost consciousness. When she opened her eyes again, it was a pleasant morning. It was the green field road where she had parted ways with Sir Oscar thirteen years ago.
The wedding took place before summer arrived. Else wore a veil embroidered with deer, delphinium flowers, swallows, and cherries, the symbols of Roate. The dress was a magnolia-colored, elegant, and refined white. It was simple and plain for a noble wedding, but the bride was so beautiful and gorgeous that she was praised for it.
Else, who had her hair tied up neatly like a maiden, looked more mature than usual despite her young face, and she looked elegant and charming beyond her age. Although the jewel on the hairpin that held her hair in place wasn’t real, and she wore a fake ruby necklace that was given as an engagement gift instead of a wedding gift to the wedding, it didn’t really match her white dress, but it was still okay.
The wedding was originally scheduled to take place in August. It was the wedding of a nobleman, not a commoner, and the preparation period was only two weeks. Of course, the groom's family and in-laws were frugal, even stingy, but Else didn't care how shabby or ridiculous her wedding was.
Her father, the Viscount, would have been the same way. He didn't care how shabby the wedding was, as long as he could pass off what was nestled in her belly as her husband's child, not her servant. Else, wearing a tiara the groom's father had borrowed from somewhere, and holding her father's hand, stared out into the hazy summer sun. Ian had left twenty days ago.
Liena looked at the King being whipped without a single groan and she shed tears. Her teeth chattered and ground. Else, that damned woman...! Finally, the whip hit her back. Her lips were crushed by the excruciating pain that made her bones vibrate.
"Ah!"
How could he take this without groaning? By the time the whip struck three times, Liena had lost consciousness. When she opened her eyes again, it was a pleasant morning. It was the green field road where she had parted ways with Sir Oscar thirteen years ago.
***
The wedding took place before summer arrived. Else wore a veil embroidered with deer, delphinium flowers, swallows, and cherries, the symbols of Roate. The dress was a magnolia-colored, elegant, and refined white. It was simple and plain for a noble wedding, but the bride was so beautiful and gorgeous that she was praised for it.
Else, who had her hair tied up neatly like a maiden, looked more mature than usual despite her young face, and she looked elegant and charming beyond her age. Although the jewel on the hairpin that held her hair in place wasn’t real, and she wore a fake ruby necklace that was given as an engagement gift instead of a wedding gift to the wedding, it didn’t really match her white dress, but it was still okay.
The wedding was originally scheduled to take place in August. It was the wedding of a nobleman, not a commoner, and the preparation period was only two weeks. Of course, the groom's family and in-laws were frugal, even stingy, but Else didn't care how shabby or ridiculous her wedding was.
Her father, the Viscount, would have been the same way. He didn't care how shabby the wedding was, as long as he could pass off what was nestled in her belly as her husband's child, not her servant. Else, wearing a tiara the groom's father had borrowed from somewhere, and holding her father's hand, stared out into the hazy summer sun. Ian had left twenty days ago.
On the day he left, an army entered Lugdun. Two great lords of the east and three great lords of the south had stationed their armies in Lugdun for unknown reasons. The Marquis of Elvanoton, who was led by her father, Viscount Roate, as a standard-bearer, was also one of the vanguards leading the army. Het father, who had no interest in the affairs of the center, gave a formal greeting to the Marquis and opened the way, and the army left Lugdun in one day.
And then, Lugdun regained peace. Lugdun was so peaceful that it was almost painful. However, Else was not so peaceful. She doesn’t know when it started. Else was originally a picky eater. Because of her weak body, there were only a few things she could eat, and there were also some foods that she couldn’t even eat because of allergic reactions.
Besides, she had always been feeling down since Ian left. She tried to think that she had done what she had planned earlier than the scheduled date, but Elae couldn't get her energy up at all. It was when she sat down at the table, her body languid and tired. She wiped her wet eyes out of habit and grabbed her cutlery.
A fishy smell rose from the stew she hadn't even taken a bite of. Else had always been good at smelling fishy things. But she's never felt this bad before. Even though it didn't suit her taste, she swallowed it hard so that her stomach wouldn't get hurt. But her stomach started to churn. Else covered her mouth from the nausea, got up from her seat, and walked away from the table.
After emptying her empty stomach repeatedly, she barely regained consciousness. The Viscount was in front of the bedroom. Else looked at him with a pale face and then lowered her gaze. She was pregnant... It was then that she had a gut feeling that she was pregnant.
Mother had not been able to have children for a long time since giving birth to her dead brother. It was a miracle and also a misfortune that Else was conceived. If Else resembled her mother, it would be the same. If she aborted the child she had conceived now, she didn't know when she would have another child.
What her father wanted was a successor who was his blood. If only Else could bear a child. If that child could be his successor, wouldn't it be anyone's child? Else felt her flat lower abdomen. Ian's face loomed before her eyes.
Every time the neat outline without a single worn corner disturbed her vision, Else felt like her knees would give way. It was a man who was living freely in his hometown with a woman other than Else. It was not a topic for which to cry in triumph. What kind of relationship was so great that it would make her cry?
Still, Else wanted to shake her shoulders and cry. She missed those strong shoulders. She missed the wide, warm embrace she had forced herself into. The hand that had been stroking her head seemed to caress her flat lower abdomen.
She couldn't kill the child. It wasn't because she was worried that she might not be able to have another child with her weak body. The child was a piece of Ian. The fragment he left behind was growing inside her stomach. Else knelt before her father again. She clasped her hands together and tilted her head back with pleading eyes.
'You know. I'm in a bad shape. What Father wants can only be achieved now.'
It was a half-threat. Even with those earnest eyes, the words spilling out of her lips were resolute and sharp. Her pounding heart beat fiercely. His face, free of anger, was clean and flat. Her father always had that kind of face. No matter what Else did, he had no emotions. Since he had no expectations, he was not disappointed, and since he was not disappointed, he was not angry. That was why she was afraid.
Her father's cold gaze fell on her trembling eyes. He looked down at his daughter for a while and then told her to get up and go out. Else turned her head with her lips quivering with a pale face, and her numb knees straightened.
She returned to her bedroom and closed her eyes with a dry face. Early evening. An unknown member of the doctor came into her bedroom to check on her. She was a rare female member of the doctor. Else was diagnosed with pregnancy that evening. The wedding took place a week later. The day after Else’s wedding, the new King passed through the Arc de Triomphe. However, in fact, the new King was an unfortunate King who had been usurped from the throne by his uncle 13 years ago, and he had only regained the throne. For four days, a bloody storm blew through the royal capital. After regaining the throne, the King executed those who had disrupted the internal affairs with their tyranny for the past 13 years and hung their bodies in the square. Among them were the decapitated bodies of the King and Queen.
The sight of the subjects of the capital throwing stones at the King and Queen's impaled necks and defiling the bodies of their associates was said to be repulsive even to the most agreeable of people. The relatives of Else's mother's side who came down to congratulate her on her marriage were astonished and trembled at the King's return.
Else stared at her cousin's pale face and thought of Siena, a place she had never been to. If Ian had reached the capital, he would have seen the King and Queen with their heads on poles. Would he have laughed as he threw rocks at the severed heads?
The relative looked sullen as he said that the children of the back alleys were playing with the severed heads of the King and Queen's entourage as if they were playing ball. She felt sick to her stomach when she heard that they stole all the good jewelry they had, sold it on the black market, and fed the bodies to their own dogs and pigs.
She hoped it was an exaggeration. There are always people who take advantage of the chaos in the world to become violent, but the story coming out of her relative's mouth was excessively violent. She thought of Ian, still caressing her flat lower abdomen.
She was afraid that Ian would be caught up in such chaos. According to her relatives, it was so chaotic that robbers were commonplace, regardless of age. Else paled for no reason and touched her relative's face. She had stopped by Lugdun to congratulate her on her marriage, and she was one of the people who had seen his face in person at the King's coronation.
The woman who had married into a well-to-do family while living in Siena was the owner of the beautiful and delicate dress that Else had envied a dozen years ago. She had inherited her maternal blood and had grown into a remarkable beauty. She had attended the King's coronation with her husband a few days ago and had come straight down to Lugdun.
“He was a very handsome man. My man was also tall and handsome, but he seemed ordinary in front of His Majesty.”
It was strange that a relative would say such a thing while being disgusted by the majesty and violence of the King. How handsome must he be to make your legs tremble? Else wasn't particularly curious, but the woman who spoke of how wonderful and enchanting the King looked from afar was not keeping her mouth shut.
“I envy the young lady who will become Queen. Really... The nobles of Siena say that there is a woman who has assisted His Majesty for over ten years and that she will become Queen. Well, it’s been quite some time since he returned, but since he hasn’t called his fiancée Henrietta, I guess His Majesty isn’t interested in her. Henrietta is quite a beauty, after all.”
The relative who feared the King but constantly praised his beauty licked her lips with a mischievous expression when talking about his fiancée. Else, who had been looking into the round sunlight, looked back at her.
Support Novellate!
Comments
Post a Comment