The woman reflected in the mirror carefully caressed her necklace, turning her head left and right to examine herself.

“This is my first time doing something like this.”

She muttered, then seemed to catch herself and awkwardly closed her mouth.

Watching Claudel glance at him nervously, Kaian started to raise one eyebrow but lowered it again.

The calculations of Valmond’s old fox were transparent.

It was just pretending to reconcile forcibly by royal decree.

Having no desire whatsoever to accept him as a son-in-law, he must have found it unbearable that all of Claudel’s dowry and gifts would belong to House Temnes after her death.

Though Kaian didn’t have a daughter yet, if he had to send his daughter to Valmond, he would have done the same thing.

He didn’t want her to feel sorry or nervous about it.

Though he had already overlooked it, he couldn’t openly show that he knew the fact.

If Bermonte had sent his daughter empty-handed, it would become a major issue that Temnes should officially protest.

That would worsen Claudel’s position within House Temnes.

He didn’t want such a delicate and innocent woman to have a hard time like that.

‘I really seem bewitched.’

What about this woman had changed him so much?

Kaian wondered himself.

‘Is it because I think of her as the life I saved?’

Had he developed some self-imposed attachment, thinking her special?

The thin, faint woman he saw on their wedding night was nowhere to be seen.

Like a raw gemstone or gold nugget incongruously wedged between round stones by a flowing stream, her whole body seemed to shine.

“It suits you well.”

When he pretended not to notice her slip of the tongue, Claudel’s face finally relaxed as if relieved.

A woman who seemed to have never told a lie.

A woman who invariably revealed everything inside her.

So her sensitive reactions to what he did when darkness covered their eyes must not be feigned either.

“Really? It really suits me well?”

Claudel rose happily from her chair and slowly turned, examining her reflection wearing the radiant necklace as she rotated her body.

“But why are you suddenly giving me a gift?”

Originally, this necklace had a complex meaning.

He had intended to make up for embarrassing her over the button decorations by filling her personal coffers, and also to correct what he belatedly learned – that she thought she hadn’t received a wedding night gift at all because of Antoyne.

So, give her this and let’s cover up and forget about those past incidents.

Now he didn’t want to give it to Claudel as some kind of expensive compensation.

“I don’t need to receive things like this. The jewels you bought me last time are already too much and excessive.”

Because she was special, he wanted to give her something specially made.

Not things that could be bought from a jeweler just by paying money.

But how could a man say such things?

“The Duchess of Temnes is in a position where doing anything carelessly leads to gossip. From now on, I’d like you to accept whatever I give you without complaint.”

“…Yes. I understand. I’ll do that.”

After ordering the custom-made necklace and waiting weeks to receive it, he couldn’t even take credit and had to pretend to be stern.

Kaian, who immediately regretted what he had just said, was slightly annoyed at Claudel for neatly answering that she understood.

“Is there no other gratitude?”

“Other gratitude…”

She blinked her large, clear doll-like eyes and stimulated him with that innocent face that seemed to know nothing.

“I want to see you wearing just the necklace.”

“You’re looking at it right now.”

“Just the necklace.”

The woman who belatedly understood his request blushed, not knowing what to do.

“In this bright light. What are you saying?”

“I mean for you to prepare yourself mentally.”

Though it was enjoyable to see her flustered and embarrassed, Kaian was actually being very considerate.

Seeing Claudel’s flushed cheeks, Kaian’s irritation dissipated.

He lowered his head to kiss the woman’s cheek, and her eyes that looked up at him startled were already moist.

“I’m looking forward to it.”

Kaian was able to leave her room in a good mood.

Tonight.

He was certain he would achieve what he intended.

That Claudel cannot refuse him.

Kaian had come to know this.

He had a terrible temperament of needing everything to go his way, and it was unexpected that the woman who became his wife by force met his standards.

The woman who couldn’t even die in Lowen land without his permission was following his words and doing as he said.

These days, his daily life was perfect.

It was a bonus that he was freed from the annoying proposals that bothered him, thanks to the widespread rumors that his marriage to Claudel was by royal decree.

And every night.

Sleeping while holding Claudel relieved his fatigue so much that he became more energetic day by day.

It felt like just yesterday that he went to catch a water buffalo with his eyes rolled back.

Every time he saw Claudel, he felt like this was why he saved her.

She was like a fairy.

Fairy.

For now, no other word came to Kaian’s mind that could more perfectly describe Claudel.

She originally had a slender build and much whiter skin typical of northerners.

With skin so thin and white that the boundaries of veins and muscles showed through, fluttering soft red hair, and eyes that shone transparently like jewels.

Sometimes when he saw her passing through the castle corridors from afar, she alone seemed to glow faintly white among the other southerners, as if her coloring was different.

With that tiny body, she would nibble what he could eat in one bite, dividing it into ten bites.

What he could walk in one step, she would lightly stand and walk in four steps.

A fragrant scent wafted from her body.

He learned by chance that this scent wasn’t from soap.

He had used the bathroom attached to her bedroom a few times and saw that the soap there was the same as the one in his room.

Yet such a scent didn’t come from his body.

He wondered if it was because her existence was close to mysterious.

Or if the legendary Ice Witch of Valmond had cast some spell only on Claudel.

Is that why he was so captivated and bewitched?

As Kaian was returning to his office after a short visit, he suddenly stopped in his tracks at a sound he heard.

“Our lady, you know.”

Again, some bastards were daring to talk about his wife.

“Doesn’t she look like a fairy?”

“A fairy?”

“She seems a bit different from other women. Small.”

“Ah. Yes. I’ve had that thought too. When you look from afar, it’s like her color is slightly different. Like she’s glowing, you could say.”

Kaian suddenly felt annoyed.

“At first I thought it was bad luck just to see someone from Bermonte, but the more I look, she seems pretty.”

It irritated him that these worthless servant men were casually discussing thoughts that exactly matched his own impressions.

Returning to his office, Kaian called for the butler.

“My lord. You called for me?”

The butler bowed his head, awaiting his orders.

“In the hallway in front of Claudel’s room.”

“Yes.”

“From now on, I’d like only maids to work there.”

“Pardon?”

The butler had an expression of ‘What on earth are you talking about?’

“It seems unsightly.”

“Unsightly?”

“In any case, I mean don’t let male servants pass through that hallway smelling of sweat.”

“Is the lady uncomfortable?”

Kaian frowned and glared at the butler.

“When I give an order, just follow it. Since when did you have so much to say?”

“Yes, my lord. However, there are separate tasks that the male servants need to handle and manage. There are rough jobs we can’t assign to maids, so I will make sure to supervise well.”

“Such tasks can’t be helped, but have maids do all the cleaning and other things.”

“Yes. I understand.”

The butler left the office misunderstanding that Claudel had complained to Kaian about not wanting to see male servants in front of her room for ‘aesthetic reasons’.

‘She doesn’t seem like someone who would be so picky.’

He wondered with puzzlement.

Whether the butler did so or not, Kaian had not the slightest intention of letting worthless rascals ogle his wife, so he was satisfied with his own actions.

“That necklace suits you well.”

Thinking of the woman who would cling to him wearing it, he wanted to go back to the bedroom he had just visited.

That night, Kaian achieved what he intended.

Servants were no longer allowed on the second floor of Lowen Castle.

When rumors spread that Claudel had complained to the lord that male servants looked unsightly, the castle staff began to see the lord’s lady in a new light.

“But I heard they weren’t actually fired?”

“What are you talking about? Being chased out of the castle to work at the training grounds or stables could be worse than getting fired.”

Working inside the castle was comfortable, easy, and pleasant.

It was a job everyone was desperate to get, but until now there hadn’t really been a lady of the house, so things just went along as the butler managed.

As the butler had long served House Temnes as a loyal retainer, he had an upright and strict personality, never giving jobs based on personal requests or interests.

The only way to get better positions, easier work, or higher-paying jobs was to be recognized for diligence and ability.

When rumors spread that those who had worked their way up from the bottom for years were being moved because of one word from the lady of the house, they belatedly realized that Claudel was now someone who could control their lives.

The maids who advanced to work in front of the lady’s room in place of the removed male servants were all friendly towards Hannah and Claudel.

“Hannah! Look at this.”

“What is it?”

“I heard the lady likes flowers, so I picked these.”

One maid even brought fresh flowers every morning.

“Hannah! It’s not much, but could I offer this to the lady?”

“What is it?”

“Actually, I haven’t been able to mention it in Lowen Castle, but my cousin married into Valmond.”

Though Bermonte and Temnes spat at and cursed each other, forbidden love existed everywhere.

“When she heard that the lady came from Bermonte to marry into Lowen, she was worried as if it were her own affair and sent some tea from Valmond.”

Those who had been hesitant to show their goodwill were now one by one eager to talk to Hannah.

Especially, biased rumors were spreading through the new maids that the fairy-like beautiful lady would captivate anyone who saw her in person.

Many people who hadn’t properly seen her when she entered Lowen Castle soaking wet and in a sorry state skipped over the fact that she had been ill with hezol, and most were unsure if she “looks different when properly dressed up”.

Hannah entered Claudel’s room with an excited manner.

“My lady. Look at this. Someone gave me tea made from wild herbs from the shrubland. Would you like to try it now? You can smell the northern fragrance.”

However, the fairy-like lady at the center of the rumors was sitting by the window with a slightly gloomy face, gazing at distant mountains.

“What’s wrong? Are you not feeling well?”

“No.”

“But you don’t look well.”

Claudel smiled awkwardly then gave up and sighed deeply.

“He seems to only like my body.”