“It was quite a meaningful item for me. Did you not like the gift?”

Kaian’s question was abrupt and unexpected.

“Or was it me you didn’t like?”

Claudel doubted her own ears for a moment.

Still looking at the departing wagons kicking up dust with his eyes, he asked as if talking to himself.

“Even if you were raised as a commoner before being adopted, you should have learned at least that much.”

He slowly turned his body while keeping his hands behind his back and looked down at her.

“It’s courtesy to wear and show off a wedding night gift as soon as you receive it.”

This was the first time they stood face to face since the wedding ceremony.

If Claudel had to describe her impression of the wedding, she felt like a human laundry.

She lost her will and personality as she was dragged along, dunked in bathwater, and scrubbed by the hands of maids.

After coming out of the water, she was dragged to other maids to be dried, her hair styled to shine, and for the first time in her life, powder was applied to her face and rouge to her lips.

After that, she had to wear the unfamiliar scratchy bridal dress and put on all kinds of accessories, which were heirloom jewels passed down through generations in the family.

Most of them were decorated with large, chunky gems about the size of a finger joint, hanging heavily, and the parts where the gems were set were all fixed to thick leather belts made of equally large pieces of gold, platinum, and the like.

Since the belts had to be thick enough to support such heavy chunks of precious metals, when she had these attached all over her body, she felt like a criminal about to be executed.

In that state, after being dragged around by several hands, when she finally stood face to face with Kaian, who was to be her husband, as soon as her eyes met his cold red eyes full of unpleasant emotions, she bowed her head deeply.

That was the last image of Kaian she saw on her wedding day.

Only that expression left a strong impression, and she could hardly remember what clothes he wore or how the venue was decorated.

Unlike on the wedding day, the contempt for Vermonte had disappeared from Kaian’s eyes.

The expression he had worn was probably not dissatisfaction with Claudel. After all, he couldn’t be dissatisfied with something he didn’t even know.

It’s just that anyone living in Valmonde would immediately make the same expression at the mere mention of Temnes. So she thought that was why he had glared at her so coldly.

So Claudel found herself unknowingly observing the man whose face was turning red in the setting sun.

Her husband, whom she was properly facing for the first time.

Kaian was so much taller than her that when she tried to look up at him from close by, she had to tilt her chin up and lean her neck back to see his face.

Even though he wasn’t wearing any armor today, having dressed up for a banquet with his retainers, his broad shoulders and thick arms filled with muscles hidden under his clothes looked as sturdy as if he were wearing armor.

‘This person…’

Suddenly, as her thoughts drifted to examining his body, they turned to the wedding night they had spent the night before.

The difference in build between Kaian and Claudel was like that between a rabbit and a lion, as if they were completely different species.

As she recalled how this intimidatingly large man had curled up his body as if folding himself in half to fit with hers, Claudel’s cheeks flushed and her mind went blank.

Kaian’s eyebrows twitched as he looked at her.

“Can’t you hear me?”

“…Pardon?”

“I asked if you didn’t like the gift.”

“Ah. That, well…”

Startled by the realization that she had been lost in thought right in front of him, Claudel hastily made an excuse.

“I liked it…”

“Is that so? Then why didn’t you wear it to the cemetery?”

“Well, that’s… I didn’t think it suited me well.”

Her mind seemed to have gone blank.

Flustered, she blurted out whatever came to mind.

“Hmm. I see. So it wasn’t that you were protesting because you were displeased?”

“Absolutely not. It was too beautiful and wonderful.”

“I see.”

Fortunately, that answer seemed satisfactory, as Kaian simply nodded slightly without further comment and went into the castle first.

Thump, thump.

Her heart made a strange sound as it beat heavily.

Perhaps because blood hadn’t been flowing to her shoulders and back, which had been tensed up, she felt a tingling sensation and her body went limp.

‘Oh no. This isn’t right.’

Claudel didn’t know what to do.

To think that she had recalled their wedding night with her husband outside the castle before the sun had even set, and then given such an nonsensical answer.

‘How can I keep messing up like this?’

The disease eating away at her body must have finally started affecting her mind.

Filled with self-loathing, Claudel staggered back to her room.

That evening, Hannah was having another argument with the maids.

“You lot. Have you really gone completely mad? Doesn’t the head maid manage you underlings at all?”

Seeing Hannah raising her voice in anger, the maids of Rowen Castle looked at her as if a dog was barking, even going so far as to pick their ears in indifference.

“It’s long past mealtime! Why haven’t you brought dinner to the Duchess yet?”

“Oh, we can’t.”

One of the maids shot back, mocking Hannah’s words.

“Even a piece of bread is too good for a Vermonte.”

“Even if your mistress starves to death, our lord won’t bat an eye, you know? He’ll soon marry a beautiful lady from Temnes.”

“What did you say?”

A passing servant added his two cents.

“Has she even eaten a bite when we’ve prepared a proper meal? It all comes out of the room untouched.”

A well-dressed man sneered smoothly.

“If she’d like, I could bring her a kernel of corn, a bean, a crust of bread, or two spoonfuls of soup.”

“You little…”

As Hannah was about to resort to fists when words failed, Claudel came out of her room and tugged on Hannah’s sleeve.

“Hannah. That’s enough.”

“My lady.”

“I’m not in the mood for dinner. All of you, stop standing around here and go rest.”

As soon as Claudel finished speaking, those who had been confronting Hannah in front of the door and those who had been watching disappeared completely.

“You need to eat dinner.”

“Really, I’m not hungry.”

Claudel went to sit in the chair by the window.

Sitting in the candlelit spot, she let out a long sigh.

“My lady. What’s wrong? Are you not feeling well? Is your cold getting worse?”

Hannah had brought her tea that was said to be good for colds.

She wanted to call a doctor and give her medicine, but the servants in the castle had lied and prevented her from calling one.

“No. It’s not that.”

However, Claudel’s face was clouded with worry.

“What’s wrong then? Please tell me. The people in this castle all seem to have something wrong with their heads. There are so many crazy ones who can’t even recognize the person they should be serving. I’m the only one who can be of help to you, right?”

“…Actually.”

Hannah perked up her ears as she finally got Claudel to open up.

“It’s about the wedding night gift. It seems he gave me something.”

“What?”

“Earlier, he asked me if I didn’t like the gift.”

“No. How can you like or dislike something that wasn’t given?”

“He asked if I didn’t show it because I didn’t like it.”

She couldn’t bring herself to tell Hannah that he had even asked, “Or was it me you didn’t like?”

“He said it was a meaningful item to him, so he gave it to me.”

“You should have said you didn’t receive anything.”

“Right. But…”

Claudel’s expression darkened.

“Without thinking, I answered that I had received it well. I said I couldn’t wear it because it didn’t seem to suit me. I even said it was pretty and nice.”

As she confided in Hannah and reflected on it, she couldn’t believe how foolish she had been.

“What did the Duke say?”

“He just said, ‘I see,’ and that was it.”

Claudel clasped her hands together, perplexed.

“What should I do, Hannah?”

“How about telling the truth now? That when you woke up in the morning, there was nothing. I came when you were waking up, and there was nothing then either.”

“That’s right. There really was nothing. But if I say I panicked and said that even though I hadn’t received anything, won’t he think I’m an idiot? He’ll find me pathetic.”

Even if a flower basket had been placed and then removed, a petal might have fallen, but the corridor was spotlessly clean without even a speck of dust.

Hannah was silent for a moment after hearing Claudel’s words. When she opened her mouth, seemingly having organized her thoughts, her expression was serious.

“Could it be a trap?”

“A trap?”

“You said he mentioned it was a meaningful item to him. Could it be that he’s trying to find fault by accusing you of losing something precious?”

“Ah.”

The color drained from Claudel’s face.

“But those who came to help me dress in the morning would have seen that there was nothing.”

“We don’t have any allies in this castle, do you think they would honestly say so if such a thing happened? Even now, they’re desperate to torment you.”

Hannah stroked Claudel’s bright red hair with a sorrowful expression.

“Our lady. You’re so fair and beautiful, but those people charge at you like a bull drunk at a village festival whenever they see red.”

She sighed.

“I wish I had red hair. If I could be tormented instead of you, it would be better.”

“Hannah.”

Hannah was Claudel’s friend from the village where she lived as a child.

The village, deep in the mountains on the outskirts of the Valmonde territory, was relatively far south.

Flogne Village.

The hometown where Claudel and Hannah were born and raised was a very beautiful place.

Even in Valmonde, where half of the territory and the lord’s castle were on frozen land, it was relatively warm and had a sense of spring and autumn seasons.

The food from the mountains changed with the seasons, abundantly filling the dining tables, and when the time came, flowers bloomed everywhere, taking turns. It lived up to its name as the village of blooming flowers.

Claudel and Hannah, who were the same age, stuck together like real sisters.

That day, a merchant group had come to the small castle at the foot of the mountain, and a big market was being held.

Claudel’s father, Evan, took his daughter and her friend Hannah on a rare outing.

While her father was selling the precious medicinal herbs he had collected to the merchant group, Claudel was laughing and watching a small performing bear brought by a medicine peddler, sucking on a large candy her father had bought her at the market.

That moment was the last peace that remained in Claudel and Hannah’s lives.

While they were out of the village, a firestorm swept through Flogne Village.

Water was scarce and precious, so they had been raised with strict caution and warnings not to start fires from a young age.

There was no way to know who or how a fire had started in such a village.

Only three survived from the village that had turned to ashes: her father, Claudel, and Hannah.

And soon after, her father passed away, leaving only Claudel and Hannah.

When Hannah, with her ordinary appearance of brown hair and brown eyes, said she would rather be tormented instead, she meant it sincerely.

“I won’t forgive anyone who makes things difficult for you, my lady.”

“Thank you.”

To Hannah, Claudel was the only thing she had brought out of that village.

The one and only thing Hannah, who had survived after burying her parents, young brother, neighbors, and memories in the ashes, could take care of.

When Claudel gained noble status at Valmonde Castle, Hannah voluntarily became her lady’s maid.

She even became an adopted daughter of the Pebble family, who were vassals of the Duke’s family, in order to become the maid of her friend, but Hannah was satisfied that she could stay closest to Claudel than anyone else.

“I’ll try to find out about the missing gift.”

“Will you do that for me?”

“Of course.”

Hannah comforted Claudel.

“Don’t worry too much, my lady. Except for the Duke, I’m the strongest among the maids in this castle.”

“Hehe.”

Her words were reassuring.

That night, Claudel couldn’t fall asleep easily.

She hadn’t noticed yesterday because she was so overwhelmed, but the bedroom was spaciously empty.

At Valmonde Castle, she had slept in the same bed with Hannah every day, so Claudel wasn’t used to sleeping alone.

Moreover, worries about the missing gift troubled her mind.

So when Kaian suddenly opened the bedroom door, Claudel, who had been pacing around the room, almost collided with the door he opened.

Seeing her standing in front of the door, Kaian asked.

“Were you waiting for me?”