3. He's practically dead
The mansion was in an uproar. It was excessively loud, to an extent incomparable to the usual. The sound of footsteps traversing the hallways was ceaseless. The opening and closing of doors, the dull thud of furniture being moved, and conversations overlapping from all directions.
All of it pierced through his massive door. Kaion's face contorted. A quiet and tranquil morning. It was one of the few things he actually preferred in this mansion. He also loathed the moment that order was broken.
Kaion took heavy, steady steps. He walked toward the noise outside. And when he opened the massive door.
"Aargh! Airos! Hold this for me!"
"I told you to change those curtains to this color!"
"Ugh! Get these things out of the way!"
There was not a shred of order to be found. Servants were coming and going. Although they ducked in surprise as they passed Kaion, their bustling footsteps did not stop. He walked toward the center of it all.... Sienna was truly spending a morning without a moment's rest. It was because the furniture ordered a few days ago had arrived. They were precious items that would revive this utterly gloomy mansion.
"This!! Move it over there!"
Wearing the knee-length dress she had barely managed to agree upon with Nia, she was giving orders to each of the servants individually.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Familiar footsteps drew closer. Sienna looked up. He was walking toward her. With a slightly flushed face she had never seen before, he was fixating his gaze on Sienna. Kion stood before her. His eyes slowly lowered.
"...I'm sure I warned you yesterday."
I wondered what he was angry about today.
"A warning?"
Pfft, she laughed mockingly
"Ah, do you mean 'don't get on my nerves'? Is that what you mean?"
"..."
"Honestly, I was a bit nervous, but well, it sounded a bit like a provocation."
Kion's expression hardened slightly.
"So that's why you created this situation."
She confidently crossed her arms. The lace of her thin skirt brushed against the hem of his dress.
"Oh my, what do you mean by 'incident'? You should be grateful. My sense of style is so good. Ah, was it perhaps a design you put some thought into?"
Kaion's gaze turned cold.
"If you don't like it, why don't you leave?"
A brief silence followed. The servants held their breath and froze. Soon, Sienna broke the silence.
"Me? Why should I? We have a house this big!"
Then, spreading her pitifully slender arms, she pointed around. He took a step closer to her.
"I guess you didn't hear the warning."
Sienna chuckled.
"I know how to give warnings, too. I'm a little sorry for acting this way suddenly, but I didn't end up like this by choice."
She took a step closer as well.
"Could you please move aside now? I'm busy, so don't bother me."
She finished speaking and spun around. Her red hair fluttered in the wind.
"Adjust that light position!! Who put up such a dreary one?!"
The mansion began to move again.
"Ha."
"...She's a total lunatic."
Kaion turned around after watching her retreating figure. A frantic voice followed.
"No, I said put that vase away!"
Bang.
The office door slammed shut, and the noise faded slightly. He took off his coat with practiced ease and walked to the desk.
Neatly arranged documents, an uncluttered desk, a space free of a speck of dust. It was an orderly room that offered a sense of stability. Kaion sat down in the chair and picked up his pen. Normally, he would have spent hours quietly handling his work at this time.
"I said change the color to a brighter one!"
The tip of his pen stopped at a faint voice heard from a distance. His brow furrowed.
...So noisy.
Since returning to the mansion, things had been unfolding differently. The sunset was spreading beyond the office window. The red light stained the glass panes and cast its light into the room.
"Your Highness the Grand Duke."
Kaion was in the middle of organizing the supplies for the Rubern Estate when a maid's voice came through the door. Warm tea lay on a silver tray as the maid cautiously opened the door.
Clatter.
A teacup was placed beside his stack of documents. Kaion did not take his eyes off the estate support supplies list. As the maid turned to leave, she parted her lips hesitantly.
"...Still. The Grand Duchess seems to have changed a lot."
The maid lowered her gaze and continued,
"Of course... everyone was taken aback by how suddenly she became so energetic... but it is good to see her looking so lively."
Thinking she shouldn't have brought it up, her voice grew softer.
"You used to be so quiet, Grand Duchess. Even though you were alive... you were like a shadow, I suppose..."
Scratch.
The pen nib stopped. The air in the room settled coldly. Soon, Kaion spoke.
"Why are you bringing this up now?"
His voice was cold and subdued.
"Refrain from speaking of the Grand Duchess."
He finished speaking and glared coldly at the maid. She hurriedly bowed her head.
"I, I apologize."
The maid could not continue speaking and hurriedly left the room. Silence fell again. He put down his pen. The Grand Duke's eyelids slowly closed.
"...She looks full of life."
Suddenly, he recalled the day he first saw Sienna. The woman who had absolutely nothing to do with vitality. To him, marriage was not a necessity, but one of the tasks to be handled. What he wanted was someone who would live quietly in the position of Grand Duchess, without any futile emotions or expectations.
However, the capital, Arcadia, was filled with nothing but boisterous young ladies who were always frequenting high society. Of course, everyone wanted to become his Grand Duchess.
The news a servant had delivered on the day he was searching for a suitable match: Sienna Abel. A young lady from a fallen noble family. Her nature was quiet, and she did not interact with people, so few people knew about her. She was the woman who best fit his criteria.
The wedding ceremony proceeded quickly. To Kaion, the cheers and congratulatory speeches of the ceremony were nothing but meaningless noise.
That night. The Grand Duke's mansion. All the servants were lined up to greet the Grand Duchess. A woman wearing a turquoise veil walked up behind him. The servants bowed in unison.
"Guide her."
Kaion said as he took off his gloves and put them away. A maid quickly bowed.
"Yes, Your Highness."
He walked away without even looking back at his bride.
"Um..."
Kaion stopped. A small, faint voice. It was the moment the Grand Duchess spoke for the first time. He slowly turned around. Standing behind him was a small woman in a pure white dress. Her pale skin, accentuated by her red hair, was strangely devoid of color.
"What is it?"
The woman's shoulders twitched. After hesitating for a moment, she finally opened her lips.
"...Thank you."
Kaion's eyebrows twitched slightly. Thank you. Thank you. He ruminated on that word inwardly. He spoke.
"Then... I ask that you live as quietly as possible."
With a cold gaze that had never changed since that day. She quietly bowed her head. Kaion turned around without hesitation. Her gaze briefly rested at the edge of his cold eyes. Cracked lips and a body so slender it seemed as if it would crumble at any moment. Her empty eyes held no emotion whatsoever. Like someone with no lingering attachment to the world, devoid of sadness, resentment, or even resignation.
He thought quietly.
'She is no different from a dead person.'
Nothing changed after that. They did not sleep together. Kion showed no interest in Sienna, and Sienna never approached him first. She always stayed in her room. She neither asked the maid for anything nor went to do anything herself. She was so quiet that sometimes even the people of the mansion forgot her. No one disliked her for not even speaking a simple word, yet no one particularly wanted to get close to her. Kion was no different.
To begin with, he spent more time wandering the battlefield than staying at the mansion. It was common for him not to return for anywhere from two months to nearly half a year. Whenever he returned, the mansion was always the same, and Sienna remained unchanged. Three years passed like that. And when he returned to the mansion after a mere three months, there was another woman.
'Don't bother me.'
A low, audacious voice suddenly brushed past his ears. He hadn't expected her to throw his words back at him exactly.
"How arrogant."
But that was all. Sienna had changed a little, but nothing would change. She was still nothing more than an ornament filling the position of Grand Duchess. There was no reason to go out of his way to care just because things had gotten a bit noisier. It wasn't going to last long anyway.
Kion sorted out his thoughts indifferently. She might quiet down again in a few days.
Tap tap.
"Come in."
Soon, the door opened, and a man entered. It was a man with neatly combed grayish-brown hair. Behind his cold-looking silver-rimmed glasses, a seasoned, refined gaze was revealed.
"Kendall."
Kaion rose slightly and called his name.
"Did you call?"
He briefly bowed his head as he opened the door and stepped inside. The room remained silent, with only a few documents neatly laid out under the lamplight.
"We are departing in three days."
Kendall raised his head slightly.
"Already?"
The voice asking back briefly was tinged with bewilderment. Only then did Kaion raise his head and meet his gaze.
"The situation on the front lines is bad."
With that brief explanation, he lowered his eyes again.
"Tell Herian to prepare."
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