#23
03. The Eldest Son
Suddenly, I thought that things had been flowing quite strangely since ‘that day’. The room was dark. With no lighting, the only light source was the crescent moon beyond the window.
“…About elder sister Giovinetta.”
Winfrid casually opened his mouth while pulling himself out of the woman’s body. The woman, Griselda, scurried under the bed the moment his body separated. Her thin back, running stumbling towards the doorway, gleamed even in the darkness.
He didn’t even cover his naked body. Roughly rolling over, he leaned his shoulder against the headboard and continued.
“Hasn’t her behavior been strange lately?”
“…What… do you mean by strange…?”
Griselda, standing near the entrance holding her clothes, mumbled hesitantly.
“I mean, doesn’t she seem suspicious somewhere? How should I put it… I wonder if there might be a man involved.”
ads
It was a haphazard guess. There was no answer. Just the sound of clothes being tightly gripped, and the feeling of a held breath reaching where Winfrid lay. Griselda was quiet.
Winfrid picked up the pipe on the table. And he coldly stared at Griselda, whose legs were exposed pale white as if her upper body had been sliced by the moonlight.
“…That can’t be.”
The woman, frozen like a mouse before a snake, barely opened her mouth.
“The young lady is a virtuous person. She hasn’t even gone out freely once. Why would you say such a thing?”
“Hmm…”
He withdrew his gaze from her without any particular response. He put the pipe in his mouth. If it wasn’t a ‘one-sided emotion’, I thought our insensitive elder sister would surely have shown some sign.
“That…”
The taste was really…
“Insipid.”
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It was bland.
Worried that this vulgar fellow might harm the young lady he serves, Griselda’s gaze stealing glances at him awkwardly could be felt. Well, it’s a reasonable caution. I didn’t want to deny it.
The truth is, Winfrid was suspecting the ‘relationship’ of his elder siblings. No, he was at least certain that one of them, either his elder brother or sister, harbored an impure emotion. That is, since ‘that day’.
It was from the day his foolish sister refused the marriage proposal.
From the very day when his sister, who normally didn’t make a peep out of fear of their father despite being simpleminded, clung to the stern patriarch’s trouser leg saying ‘I don’t like that man’.
Winfrid heard the news in the bright morning library. At first, he didn’t pay much attention, just saying, “Oh, is that so? I thought as much,” as there were rumors that the situation wasn’t too unfavorable and the prospects weren’t too bad, but…
…Don’t like? …Don’t liiiike?
As time passed, anger gradually welled up.
He ended up throwing the book he was reading. Regardless of favorable or unfavorable, wouldn’t the wealth from just one of her marriages be enough to buy fifty knights and a hundred warhorses with plenty left over! To kick away such a good opportunity with her own feet?
Of course, it wouldn’t be rejected just because his sister refused, but he felt like screaming at those ears that only chose to hear good things, calling her a money-grubbing wench, a selfish bitch, telling her to stop this madness and think about making more effort. He barely restrained himself from rushing to the women’s quarters and turning everything upside down right then. He couldn’t understand his sister, and it wasn’t just anger that had been brewing for a year or two.
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Who on earth could cover up that nonsense? A full 8 years.
Though the mother who ordered her confinement had long since passed away, the daughter had been left bound by the will for that long already.
Does our foolish elder sister, who doesn’t even know how to doubt others’ words and still doesn’t properly understand how the world works, even know that she’s the only woman with such an unfortunate fate locked up like that in this whole continent?
Elder sister was a rotting piece of meat in the tower. If it weren’t a lie that her innocence in wholeheartedly believing the lies Griselda made up for the peace of mind of ‘our poor young lady’ wasn’t pitiful at all, he had no intention of telling her first.
Why should I?
In other words, Winfrid despised his elder sister’s weakness. There wasn’t a single day when he didn’t despise her. What could have been so terrible about what she went through that she couldn’t endure and had to be like this for a full 8 years? That was his feeling.
Moreover, since elder brother was also keeping his mouth shut about elder sister’s situation, even if he stepped up, he thought he would only be scolded for tainting the family tradition as a madman, with nothing else changing. So he never gave a hint.
Given the circumstances, this marriage proposal should have been a good opportunity for elder sister as well. A chance to escape the tower, a chance to secure future stability. Above all, a chance for her to do her part for the first time since she was born. So…
It was by no means an opportunity to be refused to the extent of doing things she had never done before.
In a situation where even a hundred bows of gratitude wouldn’t be enough, all she had to say to father’s face was ‘I don’t like it’? Instead of gladly going when told to go, how dare a girl who had been useless for so many years talk back in front of whom? What on earth is the reason?
ads
Could it be that she’s acting like this because the old husband is disgusting? Surely it’s not because of the old man’s temperament, which is said to sometimes resort to violence if things go wrong? The path of oppression that the old man’s four previous wives were said to have walked was none of Winfrid’s business.
This was the starting point of this current resentment. No matter how disgusting the old man’s wrinkles might be, they wouldn’t be visible at night anyway, and no matter how frightening the new husband’s violent tendencies might be, how could all that be such a big deal?
When just her marriage alone could plant the ducal banner right in the middle of enemy territory, she should just live meekly, thinking it’s her fate! Shouldn’t a monarch’s daughter grow up flawlessly beautiful and sacrifice herself for the family as is proper?
Therefore, in his opinion, his elder sister was someone who was holding out saying she couldn’t go, even as the family’s blood dried up and their insides burned to a crisp in a war without allies. For absolutely no reason! Or for a completely childish reason.
Certainly, it seems his elder sister quite liked living as if she didn’t exist, keeping her mouth firmly shut. When his thoughts reached this point, even the slightest feeling of pity completely vanished. Judging from Giovinetta’s behavior this time, it seemed his judgment of his sister had been correct.
Ah, I was stupid. It was all voluntary neglect after all. That’s why she didn’t budge. This incident too is the kind of refusal a woman who has lived selfishly for 8 years, a woman who only thinks of herself, would make. Our elder sister, who seeks only her own safety without fulfilling her duties. Indeed, an irresponsible wench.
What a detestable wench…
He flicked the dry stone a few times to light the cigarette. The harsh powder burned up quickly in the darkness. Red moss-like sparks in a black cave. Whew, the long exhaled smoke was like a viper.
I had read somewhere that the devil’s eyeballs, which can no longer be saved, look exactly like those of a snake. Seeing the white snake floating in the air reminded me of the sarcophagus in the basement and the devil’s wings. And even elder sister’s expression that I had seen in the inner palace.
Heated muttering forced its way through his lips.
ads
“…What on earth has elder sister done.”
“You’re saying incomprehensible things today…”
Griselda, who had somehow dressed herself by the door, murmured softly.
“Listen.”
Winfrid said, sitting up abruptly. His face, which had been cold and dead from thinking about his elder sister, was showing a bit of color. It was because Griselda’s unexpected response was welcome.
“I, well, went to the inner palace during the day, you see.”
“The inner palace?”
Griselda asked back with a startled look.
“Yes, the inner palace. Anyway, I met elder sister there, you know?”
“The inner palace, you say.”
ads
“You know about the devil of our maternal family, right? I went to investigate that a bit…”
“…Sir Winfrid.”
“Just then, elder sister came down. We went in together, and as I was about to touch the devil’s coffin…”
“Sir Winfrid.”
“Elder sister turned pale as a sheet and…”
“Sir Winfrid!”
Thwack!
Winfrid slammed the pipe on the table.
“Shut your mouth.”
Griselda hastily closed her mouth. Winfrid, who had suddenly put on a displeased expression, tilted his head askew and glared at Griselda standing by the door. The woman was looking down at her toes, her face bowed low. His voice that followed was tinged with subtle irritation.
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“If I went, I went… Don’t think about nagging impertinently. No, can you even hear my voice from that far away in the first place? And why did you pick up and put on your clothes again? Tsk… Just come closer. My neck hurts… Anyway… Elder sister’s atmosphere was… quite… What are you doing? Aren’t you coming here?”
Winfrid concluded his words while watching Griselda, who had been hesitating and dawdling for a while, reluctantly approach.
“…It was quite unusual. Yes, elder sister… It’s not like she’s some kind of mouse.”
“Perhaps… she was surprised… to meet someone she shouldn’t meet… in a place she shouldn’t be…”
Griselda mumbled an excuse on behalf of Giovinetta in a barely audible voice. Huh, is that something you should say? A mocking laugh came out involuntarily. Putting aside the content, her attitude of covering for his sister was primarily absurd. I know what you’ve done.
“You say that because you didn’t see it yourself. It wasn’t an ordinary reaction… Well, maybe she made some trivial wish to the devil of Ducomeng.”
At that moment, there was a sound of a head being raised so sharply that it stirred the air. Winfrid turned his gaze in that direction.
Was she walking, or was she crawling, eating through the darkness? Griselda, who until then couldn’t even come near Winfrid, was standing stock-still in the center.
Eyes wide open, showing all the whites. There were no words. Winfrid glanced at her pale face once before putting the cigarette back in his mouth.
“Our elder sister should be a bit stupid. She used to act all high and mighty, not even wanting to hear jokes about devils, but now she’s grasping at that as a lifeline. And then to make that face, it’s not even funny to me watching. How long has it been since times changed? It’s nothing more than a useless relic of superstition now anyway. How admirable, really.”
ads
Winfrid sneered lowly, recalling Giovinetta’s expression. The face of his elder sister, shaking her head as if she had heard something she shouldn’t have, was pathetic. Even if the folklore he had recited wasn’t all lies, a curse? Does that even make sense? But elder sister seemed to believe it.
He teased her with all his might, amused by that timidity that relied on such superstitions. The face that turned pale white, believing it all literally, was some new kind of fun… Whew, Winfrid exhaled the inhaled smoke like a sigh.
Screech.
The low sound of a chair being pulled resonated from the headboard. Griselda quietly sat down. As if about to blend into the shadows, her weak appearance as if she had been beaten all over her body was quite unpleasant.
Winfrid inwardly clicked his tongue. This woman… She’s not a stick, but even after more than 2 years of this relationship, she acts so insipidly. Even after licking and sucking with all sincerity, her trembling appearance whenever she sees him was now even becoming contemptible.
It’s irritating.
Winfrid asked, pretending to be nonchalant.
“Your husband was executed by burning for arson, right?”
“…Yes.”
“What was so good about going around doing that?”
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“Well… I don’t really…”
Griselda bowed her head deeply and trailed off. He didn’t try to demand an answer. It was just venting his hurt feelings. Moreover, he already more than understood that man’s feelings.
I know. A fire…
It excites people. It’s as stimulating as a woman’s thighs spreading before your eyes, sending chills down your spine. Winfrid only learned of that tremendous ecstasy for the first time on the night of ‘that day’.
Yes, that day.
Again, that day.
After Being Cheated On, She Picked Up a Treasure (Female-dominant)
One-line summary: The husband I married on a whim had been secretly in love with me for a long time.
On the day when Jun Shao finally obtained the imperial decree for her marriage, Lan Qu, the person she had admired for six years, defied the decree and ran away.
Her gentleness and devotion, her promise of a lifetime together, were all disregarded by him. Instead, he dreamed of entering the palace to serve the Emperor’s sister as a sixth-rank attendant.
News of this incident spread throughout the capital, and the alleys in front of and behind the Lan mansion were crowded with people who came to watch the commotion.
Jun Shao should have been embarrassed and angry.
But someone stepped in to protect her dignity.
The figure was in a miserable state, yet still possessed an undeniable elegance and handsomeness.
The young lord struggled to climb the wall of the Lan mansion and shouted to her, “If he won’t marry you, I will!”
So, Jun Shao took advantage of the situation and married the person.
She thought the young lord did it to save the Lan family from the crime of defying the imperial decree, but never imagined that from beginning to end, what he coveted was her.
*
After the wedding, Jun Shao felt like she was living in a dream.
Her Wife-master was as beautiful as a fairy in a painting, skilled in the six arts, well-versed in poetry and literature, capable of being gentle and attentive, and also grand and dignified. Most importantly, she was the only one in his heart and eyes.
Jun Shao didn’t know how Lan Shiwu, as a illegitimate son without a father and blessed with beauty, had managed to preserve his purity, recklessly escape, and use his last ounce of strength to ruin his own reputation, all because of his love for her, just to stand before her.
She could only see him gazing at her with eyes full of love, and when she bestowed a name upon him, his eyes shone like stars.
“You have come to me like a weary bird perching on a branch. I shall call you A Qi.”