CH 7

- The Grand Duke's Castle, near the centre of the North area, Lyden -

There was a lot of noise going on in the innermost part of the third floor of the castle.

Originally, it was a place where the master of the Northern land, the Grand Duke, commanded various tasks and held meetings.

However, most of them were usually undertaken by one of his aides, Count Hellas.

Although he had a rather frail build to undertake all of the tasks to manage the vast northern area, he was one of the small number of people that the Grand Duke had faith in.

He was a vassal of the Duke of Leord, the Grand Duke's maternal family, and had sworn obedience to the Grand Duke from the moment he was born.

After Kiers conquered the continent, Count Hellas never left Kiers' side and settled in the North. He was a man who thought of serving Kiers as his fate; thus, he was determined to be faithful to him as long as he lived.

"Hmm."

Holding a letter that had just arrived, Count Hellas turned around with a strange look on his face.

His luscious grey hair neatly pulled back without a single strand falling give the fastidious impression off of him.

"Jerome says he will be arriving by the end of today."

"Chief, I still don't understand. How could His Highness marry like this!"

"Sir Leo."

Men simply can't get over things easily.

Leo was also a loyalist who followed Kiers to the battlefield and devoted his life and death.

Kiers saved his life more than he could count with his five fingers; therefore, he regarded Kiers more than his life.

Hence, he couldn't help but be dissatisfied with this marriage.

"Not a Duke's, not even a Marquis', but a Viscount's daughter, whom I have never heard of before! Didn't you say that he fled away to the countryside because his business failed?"

"So, what are you suggesting? Do you think the Duke's or Marquis' daughter would want to go all the way here?"

"...."

"No, right? Even if they do, do you think His Majesty will allow them to marry him?"

"T-That's.."

At Count Hellas' sharp answer, Sir Leo then let out a sigh as if he had realized something.

Indeed, if it is a marriage arranged by none other than Count Hellas, there must be a good reason behind it.

It was understandable yet felt unfair.

"This would not happen if His Highness had stayed in the Capital. If only Her Majesty the Empress had been alive, this wedding would not be happening."

"You should stop bringing this up."

"But, My Lord--!"

"We are not allowed to bring up about her by His Highness. We just have to follow his order."

It was a strict and clear warning. Sir Leo eventually bowed his head in defeat. As a humble knight, he wouldn't dare to interfere with the Grand Duke's affairs.

"What kind of person is she? You said that you knew the father back in the Capital?"

"Because he was so famous."

"Then, they must be a prestigious family, even though they are not high-rank aristocrats."

"No. It was rather because of what he did…."

As he hesitated, Count Hellas turned around with an incomprehensible smile on his face. He looked down while pressing down the bridge of his glasses.

"I never thought I would see him again here, but he hasn't changed. Some people don't change."

"Yes? Then.."

"Either way, it wouldn't be a bad thing for us if it were his daughter. It might be for the best."

Count Hellas' eyes reflected behind the silver-rimmed glasses were sparkling. Sir Leo, who was completely clueless, couldn't help but agree.

"Well, after the Emperor and the nobles in the Capital turned their back on His Highness, I guess we need to speed up this wedding. Otherwise, you couldn't sleep peacefully thinking about His Highness' welfare."

"There's a limit to procrastination. If not for this opportunity, His Majesty will send down the bride of his own volition. A daughter with no benefactor and no background would be a hundred times better than a spy."

Count Hellas folded Jerome's letter. His composed hand gestures reflected his meticulousness.

"By the way, the bride will be arriving soon; where is His Highness?"

"..."

"On the way here, I saw that the stable was empty, and he knows the bride is arriving today, but I don't know what he is thinking."

Come to think of it, while Count Hellas was confident of his judgement, the Grand Duke, the one who was going to get married, never shared his opinions.

He shut himself from other people and was unpredictable. And ironically, he couldn't be found on this day.

"Don't tell me he has gone somewhere again? He does hate being pestered."

"I am not sure. I don't understand what he is thinking."

It was the first time Count Hellas had an unusual look on his face. He tried to conceal it as much as he could, but he couldn't hide his discomfort.

"Wouldn't it rather be good for the bride if he is not present?"

Despite running for more than three full days, the speed of the carriage remained the same.

It would have been nice to see the view outside of the window. However, I was afraid the knights would notice Rose, so I closed the window and pulled down the black curtain.

Having been stuck in the carriage, even stretching has become limited. I didn't know if it's night or day, and it felt like I was trapped in a tunnel.

No matter how comfortable it was to sit on an expensive velvet couch, I didn't feel like sleeping on it because it was uncomfortable.

"Lady, if you are awake, could you spare some time to talk?"

"Yes? Ah, wait a minute!"

I put Rose back in the chest as soon as I heard Jerome's voice outside.

I'm sorry, Rose.

I didn't know how many times I had already hidden her this, but I felt guilty every time.

A soon-to-be-married bride who smuggled her little sister -- as if being skinned alive was not miserable much.

"Yes, you may speak."

"Soon, we will be arriving at Lyden."

"Really?"

Upon hearing the news, I opened the window. A sudden rush of fresh air filled my lungs.

Ah, finally!

I was nervous in the carriage, and I was sweating all the time.

If it wasn't because Sir Jerome was looking, I wanted to roll my neck and straighten out every joint, but I had to keep my dignity.

Just by looking at him, I could see that he was a close aide of the Grand Duke.

The moment I let my guard down, he might find fault in me. The first rule on how not to be taken as naive, let's not give him a chance to in the first place!

"Is Lyden at the centre of the North?"

"Did you know about that?"

"It's where I'm going to live in the future, after all."

Sir Jerome, who had kept his professional smile all the time, was surprised.

Gosh. He's not good at this.

I held back my smirk and tried to maintain the 'nice bride' smile as much as I could.

"Then, is the Grand Duke's castle located further from Lyden?"

"It will take another half day."

"Is that so.."

It would be better if I am pretending to be disappointed.

Unnecessarily admiring my acting skills, I looked around the noisy surrounding. I had read all of Melanie's books about the North, but I got a little excited to see it in person.

Everywhere I looked, the people that we passed by were rowdy, unlike the quiet countryside.

"Isn't it noisy here?"

"Oh, no. It is nice here."

"That's a relief. Then, could you wait here for a moment? I've got some horse maintenance to do at the guard post."

Sir Jerome asked for my permission with an apologetic look.

For me, who has lived cleaning up other people's mess all my life, such a small consideration touched my heart.