The maids came to assist me with my bath, and as evening approached, I headed to the bridal chamber. Lady Egrette, who had arrived earlier and was waiting, bowed her head as she saw me.
“It’s not an apology for the earlier incident, but this room has been prepared with great care even before your arrival. I believe it’s fitting to commemorate your first night at the Inkheart family.”
Despite the cold Northern climate, the room was warm enough not to feel the outside weather, and it was decorated with vibrant fresh flowers from an unknown source.
Moreover, the curtains and tapestries were adorned in the two symbolic colors of the Fosche Duke’s family. The bedspread also prominently featured both the Fosche and Inkheart family crests.
‘Wow, they really went all out.’
I wonder where they found these flowers in winter, especially in the North where greenhouses are almost nonexistent. Were these drapes and bedspread hastily taken from my dowry?
As I stepped over the threshold, I could feel a vivid sense of the South.
“Lady Egrette.”
I smiled.
“I can’t sleep in this room.”
A bridal chamber as bright and beautiful as a scene from a fairy tale.
So, this was a well-crafted trap.
“Lady, is there something about the room that displeases you?”
Lady Egrette asked with concern.
“Since you only recently learned of my arrival, the preparation might have been somewhat inadequate. If you let me know, I’ll bring whatever is missing right away.”
“No, no. The preparation is perfect. If the theme of this room is ‘the South’, ‘the Fosche Duke’s family’.”
It’s too perfect in reminding me that I am a woman who came from the Fosche Duke’s family, which is the problem.
“It would be difficult to change the room’s decoration so suddenly. Let’s do this: I won’t sleep in this room tonight. How about I stay in the Duke’s room for now? It won’t have such decorations.”
“But Lady Anette, it’s unprecedented for the Duchess to leave her own room and stay in the Duke’s room right after marriage…”
“I left the Fosche family to marry into the Inkheart family. The Fosche family is no longer important to me. Everything comes second to the Inkheart family now.”
If Rose Temery wants to maintain her villainous position, she should seriously learn from her true master.
By preparing this room, the people in the castle have firmly ingrained the idea that the new Duchess is ‘from the South’, ‘a person of the Fosche family’.
If I stay here, the next morning’s gossip in the castle would be predictable.
“Did you hear? That woman from the South spent her first night with the Duke.”
Everyone dislikes outsiders, especially those who flaunt their foreignness.
This room arrangement was perfect for losing favor.
“The Duchess’s roots are in the Fosche family.”
“A newly married bride should be adorned with her husband’s family’s symbols.”
It’s not about following patriarchy, but signaling a willingness to integrate.
If they really cared about me, they would have decorated this room with symbols of the North and the Inkheart family.
“You must have been too rushed to think of that. I won’t blame you for your efforts.”
Rose Temery, hardly reaching my chest, is merely laughable.
The truly frightening person is one like this. Someone who can ostracize the new Duchess publicly without uttering a single curse.
“Please remove these.”
I turned coldly and left the room.
Crash.
Unable to contain her anger, Egrette threw a vase far away. The blossoming flowers were crushed on the floor.
“That woman from the South is not as easy as I thought.”
I had always been apprehensive about who Darius’s bride would be. So, when I heard it was the eldest daughter of the Fosche family from the South, with whom the North had poor relations, I was relieved.
I learned she was an unloved daughter in her own family.
A girl who seemed weak and easy to manipulate.
The maids helped me with the bath, and as evening fell, I made my way to the bridal chamber. Lady Egrette, who had been waiting there, lowered her head as she saw me.
“Although it’s not an apology for what happened earlier, this room has been meticulously prepared in advance of your arrival. I believe it will be sufficient to commemorate your first night in the Inkheart family.”
Despite the chilly Northern climate, the room was comfortably warm and decorated with vivid fresh flowers, their origin unknown.
The curtains and hangings were adorned in the colors of the Fosche Duke’s family, and the bedspread was embroidered with the crests of both Fosche and Inkheart.
‘Well, they certainly prepared extensively.’
I wondered where they got those flowers in this winter, especially in the North where greenhouses are scarce. Were these drapes and bedspread hastily taken from my dowry?
Crossing the threshold, I felt as if I had entered the vibrant South.
“Lady Egrette.”
I smiled.
“I cannot sleep in this room.”
A bridal chamber as splendid and lovely as a scene from a fairy tale.
So, this was a very thoughtfully prepared trap.
The Villainous Demon Lord Laid an Egg for Her (Female-Dominated)
Several months after transmigrating into a book, Yu Wu found herself facing the demon lord Li You, who could no longer conceal his dragon horns. With one hand on her aching waist and the other gripping a sharp sword, she stared at him.
The demon lord’s eyes were red with fury:
“This is all your doing! Today, I won’t rest until I kill you!”
Yu Wu rubbed her temples. Putting aside the taboo against bloodshed during pregnancy, wasn’t it this very man who willingly walked into her trap that day?!
Warnings:
- Male pregnancy.
- Height ratios are set to mirror typical male-female height proportions.
- Characters include a foot-loving demon lord and an eldest daughter from an immortal family’s concubine lineage.
