Chapter 6

Translator and Editor: Effe and Yonnee

────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────Chapter 6

Hearing Lange’s jokingly added words, Hert wordlessly returned the ring to its original place. Then, he closed the box and threw it out the window. Lange was bewildered at the behavior of his superior who casually threw away things that could possibly cost more than ten horses.

“Why are you throwing it away! If you disassemble it and sell it well, you’ll definitely make money!”

“How much money can you sell it for anyway.”

“A*shole!”

While Lange hurriedly ran to the window and shouted at the soldier below to search for the box, Hert went to the desk and rummaged through it.

Finally, a small leather notebook caught his eye. Hert untied the string that bound it and looked inside. Then, he took a good look at the notebook and put it in his arms.

It was safe to say that the battle for the Jutert territory was fought just to obtain one of these notebooks due to Marquis Borwen’s order to search for it. So Hert, who at first thought all of this was crazy, now realized the Marquis’ hidden intentions and was amazed.

‘Crazy woman.’

Hert left the place, remembering the Marquis who laughed riotously with her mouth open.

“Haa. What about the ladies of the annex?”

In the meantime, Lange, who had managed to find the ring box by sending a soldier, asked this with a sigh of relief. Hert walked over to the door and grabbed the doorknob.

“After reporting, I will have to wait for their disposition. Unless there are special instructions, you will have to deal with it yourself.”

“Ah, then the lady you know…”

His grip over the doorknob momentarily became tight. Hert remembered the woman who was crying and trembling in the corner as soon as he touched her. Since the first day he stormed out in anger, Hert had not seen Tessa. He had only heard from his subordinates that she was ill.

He actually didn’t have time to think deeply about Tessa as he had been cleaning out the castle for a few days and communicating with Marquis Borwen.

How should he dispose of her.

The anger had subsided once again as he shook his head.

“Thanks for reminding me.”

Hert opened the door forcefully and instructed Lange.

“Put that woman in front of me as soon as she wakes up.”

* * *

Her vision is blurry like fog. Tessa stared blankly into the air for a moment. Someone belatedly noticed that Tessa had woken up and spoke to her.

“Oh my. Madam, are you awake?”

“Wa, water…”

Tessa searched for water first. Her throat was so dry that it hurt, and her head was heavy and dizzy. There was no strength in her body. Someone who looked like a woman got Tessa up and handed her water.

“Drink slowly, slowly…”

After she swallowed a sip of water with the help of another person, she seemed to feel a little more alive. Then Tessa looked around a little.

Tessa is now in another strange room—not her room, nor the room she last saw. Then, Marnie, the old kitchen maid who looked at her with pity, caught her eye as she was guarding her side. Why was she here? Before thinking about it, the wrinkled hands gently caressed Tessa’s forehead.

“First of all, don’t move too much. Your fever hasn’t gone down yet. The doctor also said you need to rest more.”

“…This place is……”

“Oh, it’s the annex. While the Madam collapsed, all the people of the family were moved here to the annex. Drink more water than that. Your voice is weak.”

As she heard Tessa’s voice crack, Marnie shook her head and held out a glass of water again. Tessa decided to drink some more of the water as she was told. She was awake now, but she was still nauseous and her head was spinning. It took her some more time to come to her senses.

While Tessa drank water little by little, Marnie tidied up the wet towels on her bedside table, chattering about the current situation that Tessa didn’t even ask about. Tessa shut her mouth and listened to the old maid.

“Oh, I haven’t been talking about the past few days. All the men were caught and called… Our women are locked up here in the annex. Don’t even talk about it. At first, everyone was so nervous because they didn’t know what was going to happen in the future. Fortunately, nothing has happened so far.”

“…….”

“It seems that the new lord is just as cruel as the rumors…”

When the man, who must have been Hert, was mentioned, Tessa reflexively lowered her gaze. Yes, from now on, Hert was the new lord of the Jutert estate. Then she…

“Ah, Madam? Goodness, you’re shaking so much!”

Marnie, who noticed Tessa trembling, raised her voice and took a shawl placed near her, and covered her shoulders. Once again, she put her hand on Tessa’s forehead to check her fever. Noticing that the fever didn’t go down and started to rise even higher, she went out to call the doctor.

“Please wait. I’ll call the doctor! Okay?”

Before Tessa could call out to her, Marnie rushed out of the room. Thanks to this, Tessa was left alone in the room, and Tessa laid back in bed.

She rolled her body. Although her body was gradually warming up, she was strangely cold. Even if no one said anything, she could definitely tell that something was wrong with her body.

Perhaps the tension she’d been enduring thus far seemed to have been released, and her body was reacting by aching so much like this. In fact, it would have been even stranger if she was fine. She couldn’t eat or sleep properly until she collapsed, so no matter how healthy she was, it was no question why she had gotten ill.

‘More than that, Hert…’

Touching the knotted end of the shawl that covered her body, Tessa recalled Hert, who rushed out the door in a rage. The fact that she had offended him by refusing him until just before she collapsed bothered her heart. She also had no idea how he would turn out in the future.

‘What should I do now…’

The reunion with Hert, which was so different from how they were in the past, confused Tessa. In fact, Tessa didn’t even know why he kept her alive instead of killing her outright.

Furthermore, there was a maid who was taking care of her. There was even a doctor who treated her every step of the way. These were favors and privileges that her old husband had never given her while he was still alive. In any case, for the consideration given to a traitor, it was undoubtedly an exuberant treatment.

‘What does Hert want from me…?’

At that moment, Tessa remembered the man’s big hand fumbling wildly on her lower back. The words he poured out at her in anger.

It could be that Hert wanted her body.

‘There’s nothing to be surprised about. Hert, too, is a man…’

The days of innocent youth had long since disappeared. Hert was no longer the boy Tessa knew. He was now a man who was a full-fledged knight. It was natural for him to lust for a woman like that. Wasn’t he even at the most active age now?

The other wives said, even if it’s an idiot with a crooked back and a stutter, as long as it’s a woman who could simply warm up the bed and satisfy a man’s cravings for the night, that man would embrace her without hesitation. Although he was now dead, Tessa’s old husband was constantly teasing her lower area with his shrunken manhood.

Even from Hert’s point of view, Tessa was also a traitor, so he would take whatever he wanted and seek revenge. As it is said, he hadn’t taken her body yet, so that could be the reason why he spared her life. Because even he wouldn’t want to hold a woman whose goal was to die soon.

She felt relieved. Hert wanted something other than death from her.

Even if it was just her body, Tessa didn’t care.

‘Anyway, now I… I have nothing to lose.’

Tessa hoped Hert would take her to the fullest and then kill her after. Perhaps she would be able to close her eyes comfortably then, knowing that she had paid the price for her sins.

So Tessa thought that if she met Hert again, she would not reject him. No, she’d rather suggest it to him first. She saw it as her last chance for atonement.

The moment her eyelids slowly began closing again, it became noisy outside. Before long, the door swung open and a soldier shoved Marnie aside as he strode into the room. Tessa, whose sleep had escaped her, looked at the two of them in surprise.

“What is this…”

“Madam, you must come with me now.”

The soldier glanced at Tessa and opened his mouth with a stern tone. Marnie, who had been thrown in front of him, struggled to get up again and protested to the soldier.

“No, she hasn’t fully recovered yet! Where are you going to take a sick person? What kind of man treats the Madam so rudely!”

“I just do what I am told to do. If you keep doing this, I will have no choice but to use force and drag her away.”

As the soldier pretended to threaten Tessa as he approached the bed, Marnie hurriedly picked up a fireplace poker. It looked like she was going to push the soldier away by swinging it at him. So Tessa stopped her before things got bigger.

“No, Marnie! I, I… it’s okay!”

“But, Madam! This shameless bastard…!”

“A reason… there must be a reason… So it’s okay.”

Still feeling heavy and feverish, Tessa struggled to smile and stepped out of bed. It was obvious who had called her. There was only one person who could call the ex-lord’s wife in this way.

The new lord, Hert.

So Tessa had to go.

But when she stepped onto the floor, Tessa couldn’t control her balance and almost fell over. If Marnie hadn’t caught her in a hurry, she would have fallen on her nose face down. Such misconduct would have been so shameful.

“Look, the Madam is still so badly ill that it’s hard for her to even just stand alone! Aren’t you really being too much?”

Marnie shouted at the soldier as she saw Tessa staggering. The soldier looked troubled when he saw that Tessa’s physical condition was worse than what was expected. How could he have known that the Madam was in such a state when he was just doing as he was commanded?

“Marnie, it’s okay. I can go. No, I must go…”

Tessa stood upright as her legs trembled.

“Goodness, Madam! How are you going to get there? You’ll be in trouble if you go. Besides, you aren’t even properly dressed!”

She wore the shawl Marnie had draped over her, but Tessa was still in her nightgown. At those words, the soldier glanced at Tessa but was caught by Marnie. The soldier coughed heavily and averted his gaze.

“Then I will give you time to change clothes. But not for long.”

“No, I will go like this. I’m wearing a shawl, so it’s fine.”

Tessa answered, taking a step forward. Her attire didn’t matter. Hert most likely didn’t care what she was wearing. The thing that mattered to him was the traitor Tessa, not the clothes the traitor was wearing.

“Pardon? Madam, even so…!”

“Thank you for your help, Marnie.”

As Tessa stepped out, Marnie bit her lips for a moment. She could not understand Tessa. Eventually, Marnie released Tessa’s arm. Tessa was able to stand upright without falling now.

“Now, please guide me to him.”

Tessa approached the soldier and said this with resolve.

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