One day, a half-wrecked ferryboat and three people washed up on the shore. The two women and one man were found unconscious on board, sporting dark hair and dark eyes that didn't fade even in the sunlight.
“Indeed, it’s amazing.”
Upon hearing this rumor, the Duke of Russell immediately ordered them to be captured and brought to the ducal palace. The three black-haired men were brought before the Duke of Russell, imprisoned in a wild beast-trapping frame.
“There’s no one in Escliffe with eyes like these and hair like this.”
Duke Russell circled the window frame, observing them from various angles. As the frame holding them suggested, he treated them more like a beast he'd never seen before than like a human being.
“The skin also looks a little smoother and thicker than that of Escliffe.”
The Duke of Russell stared blankly at the small woman's trembling shoulders as he spoke. Unlike the two others, who were clinging tightly to each other like lovers, she stood out because she kept an ambiguous distance between them. Despite their similar appearance, the two women looked identical.
“...”
The journey here must not have been smooth; her clothes were torn in places, exposing her slender shoulders with a few raw scratches. Perhaps sensing the gaze scanning her body, the woman crouched a little closer.
“First, give her some new clothes, and then bring that woman to my bedroom at night.”
“Yes, Your Excellency.”
It was interesting enough to stimulate his libido.
Late one night, the butler knocked on the Duke of Russell's bedroom door. But the butler wasn't alone. The foreign woman the Duke had pointed out was trembling behind the butler, her eyes filled with fear.
“I brought a woman.”
Cleanly washed and dressed in Escliff's clothes, the woman was quite a sight. Unlike her seemingly thin arms and legs, her breasts and hips were quite voluptuous. At the Duke of Russell's nod, the butler pushed her into the bedroom and closed the door.
“...”
The woman, her face flushed with confusion, glanced between the closed door and the Duke of Russell. As the burly man walked toward her, she trembled, unable to escape. Watching him, she almost resembled a kitten covered in black fur.
“What is your name?”
Over the woman's shoulder, Duke Russell, with his hand on the door, asked. Seemingly unable to understand his question, the woman crouched down, avoiding him, and merely observed him.
“...”
Confusion and fear were evident in her constantly shaking eyes. She was trembling so much that even the excitement he had finally sparked seemed to have subsided. With a look of disinterest on his face, the Duke of Russell withdrew his hand and turned away from the woman.
"Get out."
And then, waving his hand in the air, he told her to go out. He thought that even if she couldn't understand his words, she would recognize his gestures.
“Ray.”
The woman opened her mouth with a trembling voice. At the unexpected response, the Duke of Russell turned and stared at her.
“Name, Ray.”
The woman, who had somehow managed to understand Escliffe, answered that her name was Ray. It could have been a simple intuition, but judging by the fact that she used the word "name" in Escliffe, it seemed she'd picked up on the chatter of the servants around her.
“Ray.”
The Duke of Russell tilted his head slightly to the side, watching Ray. Ray's eyes, still trembling with fear and anxiety, were fixed on the Duke of Russell.
“It’s quite good.”
She seemed to have sensed that he ruled this land and this mansion. Whether she lived here or returned to the land she had left behind, she would need his power. Duke Russell smiled, praising Ray's insight.
“Your head is quite extraordinary.”
He liked it. Anything wise is much better than anything stupid.
The Duke of Russell quietly reached out to Ray. Ray, who had been hesitantly looking back and forth between his hands, finally took the Duke of Russell's. Without hesitation, the Duke of Russell took her hand and pulled her into his embrace. The body he held in his embrace felt soft, her skin as smooth as silk. Moreover, the scent of perfume emanating from her body was warm and inviting.
Thanks to that, his body moved. Without hesitation, the Duke of Russell lowered his face and kissed Ray. As if she sensed rejection, Ray grabbed the shoulder of his shirt and twisted it. But her half-hearted resistance was short-lived.
By the time the dawn began to spread across the sky, they were already asleep, entangled as one body.
Although he'd noticed it the first time they spent the night together, Ray was actually quite quick-witted. She was also eager to learn, and as soon as the Duke of Russell assigned her a tutor in Escliffe, she quickly mastered the language.
“Amelia.”
“Amelia?”
“Your new name.”
“Pretty!”
Amelia blinked at the Duke of Russell's words, then smiled brightly. The Duke placed a light kiss on Amelia's forehead and lips. Amelia laughed, like a girl who couldn't stand the ticklishness.
So Ray became Amelia.
And that happiness lasted until the Duke of Russell turned twenty-three, unmarried. He was only accompanied by a woman of unknown status named Amelia and her child. There was no problem with that.
"Marriage?"
However, the Duke of Russell had a responsibility to marry a noblewoman of suitable status and continue the family line. Having lost his parents at a young age, no one could restrict his freedom, but he couldn't afford to play with fire forever.
“Yes. I, too, need to marry a suitable woman and start a family.”
“Then what am I?”
Amelia asked. The Duke of Russell's face showed no understanding of Amelia's anger.
“You're my lover.”
“...”
“Marriage and love are different, Amelia.”
"You've learned that much, haven't you?"
“Indeed, it’s amazing.”
Upon hearing this rumor, the Duke of Russell immediately ordered them to be captured and brought to the ducal palace. The three black-haired men were brought before the Duke of Russell, imprisoned in a wild beast-trapping frame.
“There’s no one in Escliffe with eyes like these and hair like this.”
Duke Russell circled the window frame, observing them from various angles. As the frame holding them suggested, he treated them more like a beast he'd never seen before than like a human being.
“The skin also looks a little smoother and thicker than that of Escliffe.”
The Duke of Russell stared blankly at the small woman's trembling shoulders as he spoke. Unlike the two others, who were clinging tightly to each other like lovers, she stood out because she kept an ambiguous distance between them. Despite their similar appearance, the two women looked identical.
“...”
The journey here must not have been smooth; her clothes were torn in places, exposing her slender shoulders with a few raw scratches. Perhaps sensing the gaze scanning her body, the woman crouched a little closer.
“First, give her some new clothes, and then bring that woman to my bedroom at night.”
“Yes, Your Excellency.”
It was interesting enough to stimulate his libido.
***
Late one night, the butler knocked on the Duke of Russell's bedroom door. But the butler wasn't alone. The foreign woman the Duke had pointed out was trembling behind the butler, her eyes filled with fear.
“I brought a woman.”
Cleanly washed and dressed in Escliff's clothes, the woman was quite a sight. Unlike her seemingly thin arms and legs, her breasts and hips were quite voluptuous. At the Duke of Russell's nod, the butler pushed her into the bedroom and closed the door.
“...”
The woman, her face flushed with confusion, glanced between the closed door and the Duke of Russell. As the burly man walked toward her, she trembled, unable to escape. Watching him, she almost resembled a kitten covered in black fur.
“What is your name?”
Over the woman's shoulder, Duke Russell, with his hand on the door, asked. Seemingly unable to understand his question, the woman crouched down, avoiding him, and merely observed him.
“...”
Confusion and fear were evident in her constantly shaking eyes. She was trembling so much that even the excitement he had finally sparked seemed to have subsided. With a look of disinterest on his face, the Duke of Russell withdrew his hand and turned away from the woman.
"Get out."
And then, waving his hand in the air, he told her to go out. He thought that even if she couldn't understand his words, she would recognize his gestures.
“Ray.”
The woman opened her mouth with a trembling voice. At the unexpected response, the Duke of Russell turned and stared at her.
“Name, Ray.”
The woman, who had somehow managed to understand Escliffe, answered that her name was Ray. It could have been a simple intuition, but judging by the fact that she used the word "name" in Escliffe, it seemed she'd picked up on the chatter of the servants around her.
“Ray.”
The Duke of Russell tilted his head slightly to the side, watching Ray. Ray's eyes, still trembling with fear and anxiety, were fixed on the Duke of Russell.
“It’s quite good.”
She seemed to have sensed that he ruled this land and this mansion. Whether she lived here or returned to the land she had left behind, she would need his power. Duke Russell smiled, praising Ray's insight.
“Your head is quite extraordinary.”
He liked it. Anything wise is much better than anything stupid.
The Duke of Russell quietly reached out to Ray. Ray, who had been hesitantly looking back and forth between his hands, finally took the Duke of Russell's. Without hesitation, the Duke of Russell took her hand and pulled her into his embrace. The body he held in his embrace felt soft, her skin as smooth as silk. Moreover, the scent of perfume emanating from her body was warm and inviting.
Thanks to that, his body moved. Without hesitation, the Duke of Russell lowered his face and kissed Ray. As if she sensed rejection, Ray grabbed the shoulder of his shirt and twisted it. But her half-hearted resistance was short-lived.
By the time the dawn began to spread across the sky, they were already asleep, entangled as one body.
***
Although he'd noticed it the first time they spent the night together, Ray was actually quite quick-witted. She was also eager to learn, and as soon as the Duke of Russell assigned her a tutor in Escliffe, she quickly mastered the language.
“Amelia.”
“Amelia?”
“Your new name.”
“Pretty!”
Amelia blinked at the Duke of Russell's words, then smiled brightly. The Duke placed a light kiss on Amelia's forehead and lips. Amelia laughed, like a girl who couldn't stand the ticklishness.
So Ray became Amelia.
And that happiness lasted until the Duke of Russell turned twenty-three, unmarried. He was only accompanied by a woman of unknown status named Amelia and her child. There was no problem with that.
"Marriage?"
However, the Duke of Russell had a responsibility to marry a noblewoman of suitable status and continue the family line. Having lost his parents at a young age, no one could restrict his freedom, but he couldn't afford to play with fire forever.
“Yes. I, too, need to marry a suitable woman and start a family.”
“Then what am I?”
Amelia asked. The Duke of Russell's face showed no understanding of Amelia's anger.
“You're my lover.”
“...”
“Marriage and love are different, Amelia.”
"You've learned that much, haven't you?"
Asked the Duke of Russell. Amelia, lost in a sweet dream with him, felt herself plummeting into the abyss in an instant.
“Why is that different? How is it different?”
"Marriage is a union of two families. It's a duty and a responsibility, unlike dating, where you just mix your bodies and whisper sweet nothings as you please."
She pleaded and begged the Duke of Russell, but nothing changed. He married as planned. Amelia watched her child sleeping in the cradle, tears streaming down her face as the Duke exchanged sacred vows at the wedding hall and spent the first night with his bride.
Until the Emperor began talking about taking their lands to keep the Russells in check.
What the Emperor coveted were the mines located within the domain of the Russell. Originally, the Russells' domains, bordering the coast, served little more than as a barrier to foreign navies. The mines located within their domains were not even considered worthy of respect.
But the moment the mine was discovered to be a gold mine, the tables turned. The Escliff royal family ordered the mine to be taken over by the royal family. This was accompanied by the absurd claim that the will of the gods had been conveyed to them in a dream.
“It sounds like God’s will...”
The Duke of Russell gritted his teeth in indignation. He'd only been married a month, yet he was so absent-minded that he'd never even entered his wife's bedroom except on the first night.
“You don’t even know what God’s will is.”
The Duke of Russell muttered, a cigar in his mouth. The butler lowered his eyes, unable to even offer a word of reproof. It was time to be mindful.
“...”
Suddenly, the Duke of Russell stopped. In the quiet study, a clump of ash fell from his cigar. The butler, watching, quickly placed an ashtray beneath it.
“Neither he nor I know God’s will.”
“...”
“Isn’t it important which one seems more plausible?”
The Duke of Russell muttered. The butler, not understanding his words, cautiously observed the Duke's expression and nodded. Then the Duke of Russell abruptly rose from his seat and left the study. He didn't even say where he was going.
He heard later from the knight who was guarding him that the place he was headed to was Amelia's bedroom, where he lived every day.
"Amelia. This land is a place for me, you, and our children to live. The Emperor wants to take it away. So you must help me."
“How can I, a foreigner, help you?”
"You say you received God's will. God led you to this land, and you wish to receive His will and watch over this land as His representative."
And the story that the woman, who seemed smart but was also naive, nodded in delight at the fact that he needed her was also told to the butler belatedly.
It was a secret backstory that most people didn't even know about.
“Why is that different? How is it different?”
"Marriage is a union of two families. It's a duty and a responsibility, unlike dating, where you just mix your bodies and whisper sweet nothings as you please."
She pleaded and begged the Duke of Russell, but nothing changed. He married as planned. Amelia watched her child sleeping in the cradle, tears streaming down her face as the Duke exchanged sacred vows at the wedding hall and spent the first night with his bride.
Until the Emperor began talking about taking their lands to keep the Russells in check.
***
What the Emperor coveted were the mines located within the domain of the Russell. Originally, the Russells' domains, bordering the coast, served little more than as a barrier to foreign navies. The mines located within their domains were not even considered worthy of respect.
But the moment the mine was discovered to be a gold mine, the tables turned. The Escliff royal family ordered the mine to be taken over by the royal family. This was accompanied by the absurd claim that the will of the gods had been conveyed to them in a dream.
“It sounds like God’s will...”
The Duke of Russell gritted his teeth in indignation. He'd only been married a month, yet he was so absent-minded that he'd never even entered his wife's bedroom except on the first night.
“You don’t even know what God’s will is.”
The Duke of Russell muttered, a cigar in his mouth. The butler lowered his eyes, unable to even offer a word of reproof. It was time to be mindful.
“...”
Suddenly, the Duke of Russell stopped. In the quiet study, a clump of ash fell from his cigar. The butler, watching, quickly placed an ashtray beneath it.
“Neither he nor I know God’s will.”
“...”
“Isn’t it important which one seems more plausible?”
The Duke of Russell muttered. The butler, not understanding his words, cautiously observed the Duke's expression and nodded. Then the Duke of Russell abruptly rose from his seat and left the study. He didn't even say where he was going.
He heard later from the knight who was guarding him that the place he was headed to was Amelia's bedroom, where he lived every day.
"Amelia. This land is a place for me, you, and our children to live. The Emperor wants to take it away. So you must help me."
“How can I, a foreigner, help you?”
"You say you received God's will. God led you to this land, and you wish to receive His will and watch over this land as His representative."
And the story that the woman, who seemed smart but was also naive, nodded in delight at the fact that he needed her was also told to the butler belatedly.
It was a secret backstory that most people didn't even know about.
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