Chapter 13 (1/2)

Chapter 13 The Ducal Couple (1)

Translated by: iseuli

edited by: lili

Raindrops pattered onto the window. Her heart felt at peace as she enjoyed the tea scent that filled the drawing room. She was enjoying her afternoon tea time. Rather than her personal drawing room on the second floor, she preferred the one on the first floor.

She was sitting in the spacious and quiet room all alone as if time had stopped.

‘Has it been…a month now…?’

A month had passed since their wedding. Of that month, three weeks had been spent living alone in Duke Taran’s castle located in Roam. She had not heard any sort of news of him ever since he had taken off on his own at the capital.

“Madam. Is there anything you’d like to eat for dinner today?”

“Anything is fine.”

Every day he’d ask the same question and she’d answer in the same way. Lucia had never eaten a meal more sumptuous and luxurious than the food served here.

Jerome watched Lucia eat crackers with gentle eyes. At first, he’d been worried that a princess was going to become the duke’s lady of the house. He had worried over how he’d serve such a fussy and capricious noblewoman; the hysteria she’d throw after being neglected by her husband; his head had been aching as he’d imagined the days ahead.

However, he’d long thrown away those worries during their travels here to Roam. Even the knights had praised that it was a first time they had met a noblewoman so easy to escort.

The duchess never even did the things that the mere mistresses of the duke had been trying to do. She didn’t unnecessarily go out of her way to oppress all the employees staffed under her to set up a hierarchy. She didn’t bother with petty power struggles with Jerome either. She let the people around her do their job, while she lived her own life. Not once did she raise her voice at another.

She was gentle-mannered and tender-hearted. Jerome truly felt happy from the bottom of his heart.

Booong…

The sound of a heavy trumpet sounded. Lucia looked at Jerome with a startled heart. When she saw Jerome’s tense expression, it made her fear double. Jerome was usually very relaxed and calm, so seeing him like that caused her a lot of anxiety.

“His Grace has returned.”

Her heart started to race.

“Madam, there is no need for you to go out to greet his Grace.”

Lucia was about to get up from her seat, but she sat herself back down with an awkward movement.

“I’m not trying to convey any sort of message to you. I’m just taking precaution in case Madam gets scared.”

“Scared…?”

“I am unable to tell Madam in great detail, however the task His Grace had tackled was perilous. At times like these, His Grace becomes very sensitive. He always bathes before doing anything; it will be better for you to meet His Grace afterwards.”

Lucia nodded and saw the butler out. She didn’t know the exact reason he had to be away for so long or what kind of problems the north was facing. She was nosy with the small details of the castle, but she didn’t try to interfere into his business at all. She had only picked up bits of information when she occasionally happened to overhear some of the conversations between the knights guarding the castle.

“You can say they’re dead…”

“The Lord Duke… forgive…”

She had been too far away to hear all of their conversations, but she could put together that the duke’s task had to do with killing others.

‘Could it be related to the borderland barbarians?’

Any person from Xenon knew that the North was always at war with the borderland barbarians. Everyone agreed that the reason the northern citizens lived in peace was because Duke Taran was keeping all the dangers at bay.

If the small-scale battles with the borderland barbarians escalated… It could be considered a type of war as well.

She thought something like a war wouldn’t affect her life at all. The war had ended not too long ago, but Xenon had only participated in it and the citizens had not experienced the aftereffects of it at all. At this moment, she realized that the North had always been in a state of war.

‘Why did I come to this place?’

Lucia’s husband, Duke Hugo Taran, was known as the wartime’s black lion. He’d killed countless people and was infamous for it.

***

Hugo took care of all the problems in his own stubborn way within a month. As for the problems pertaining to the many lawless lands that had sprung due to the shortage of administration employees, Hugo didn’t fuss about the problem.

He had originally planned to tour the North anyway. But in order for that to happen, it would take at least half a year. Rather than taking such a long trip, he decided to return home. He hadn’t taken a break regardless of whether it was raining or storming. He made a grand entrance in Roam with his clothes smelling of rotten water and dust covering his whole body.

“I’m happy to see that you’re in great health, Your Grace.”

The employees of the castle stood in a line, while Jerome politely greeted the Lord Duke. From just his appearance, it felt like the duke would cut down anyone who came near him. His bloodthirsty aura had not disappeared yet, and it felt as if one could still hear the screams of those he had killed.

‘No matter how many times I see him like this, I can’t get used to it.’

Jerome felt a sense of incompatibility whenever he saw his Lord Duke like that. Jerome had always remained in the castle and taken care of the business of their estate; he had never seen Duke Taran in action as a knight.

The duke within Jerome’s mind was a perfect being without a speck of flaw. The duke had always been an upright person all along. The duke never got mad nor yelled. He would execute his tasks at the appointed time every day. Thus, whenever Jerome saw the duke like this, he couldn’t help but become nervous.

“I’ve prepared the bath water in advance.”

A hot bath, and a relaxing cup of tea. That was all that was needed for his Lord Duke to return to normal.

“Has anything happened while I was gone?”

Jerome, who was sensible, was able to understand his master’s true question. His Lord Duke had never asked such a vague question to him upon his return before.

“There is nothing of importance. Her Grace is also at peace and healthy. I’ve informed Madam that there was no need to come out and greet you personally on your return.”

“You’ve done well.”

He turned his back.

“Gather for a meeting in an hour. Everyone must be present. There are no excuses.”

As he disappeared off to bathe, Jerome answered to his back figure, then glanced to the drawing room Lucia was waiting in. The meeting wouldn’t end in just a few hours. It would have been better if he could share a few words of greeting with her before the meeting.

‘The enemy troops aren’t at our front doors, and it wouldn’t hurt to push the meeting back a bit.’

As soon as the ducal couple’s informal wedding had been complete, she had been dragged to their territory and almost imprisoned in the castle. To make it worse, he had not sent a single letter of his well-being for the whole month. Anyone would criticize that crude behavior and treatment. But still, he had asked about the Madam’s well-being when he arrived, and that counted for something. Jerome had served the duke for many years and he understood that this signified something very big.

‘It seems I haven’t assumed things incorrectly.’

“This is the Taran’s Lady of the House. Give all your respects to her.”

Jerome had conjectured the duke’s few words as a warning.

“If you don’t know your own place, everyone will die.”

Jerome had no intentions to ignore the duke’s warnings. Whenever he got the chance, he made sure to educate the employees on that fact. Thankfully, Jerome guessed the duke’s meaning correctly. Jerome didn’t do his job just because it was his duty, but he felt honest respect for the Taran’s lady of the house.

‘Would Fabian be in the capital about now…?’

Although it was just a small conflict within a territory, all those people were the Emperor’s people. Too many people had died. Fabian was entrusted with the duty to inform the Emperor of the conflict and to negotiate how everything would be smoothed over. Fabian had sent a short message to Jerome before he’d left for the capital.

– That person thinks too lightly of a human’s life.

The short sentence was enough to relay Fabian’s anguish. Jerome could perfectly understand his feelings and felt a little apologetic. Different from Jerome, Fabian followed the duke to every battle as the adjutant general and had seen his Lord Duke take countless lives. It couldn’t be helped that there was a big gap between how the two of them viewed their Lord Duke; one had seen the killings in person, and the other had not.

Fabian agreed with the many others who called his Lord Duke a ‘tyrant’. On the surface, they berated the ones who spoke such careless remarks, but on the inside, they believed the same thing. If he didn’t suppress and exploit others, he wouldn’t be called a tyrant. He did as he pleased, and nobody could object to his actions; he was the very definition of a tyrant.

Jerome had witnessed it during the duke’s marriage. The marriage had been abrupt and without celebration, but even so, nobody had spoken a world of discontent. Everyone had looked to Jerome to try and understand the duke’s true intentions behind the marriage.

Jerome truly had no idea either. Fabian seemed to know some things, but Jerome hadn’t tried to dig deeper into it. The two of them were brothers and they kept their private and public lives separate.

‘It would be nice if this marriage has a bit of meaning to him…’

If the Lord Duke’s temper could die down even just a bit, they would have no other wishes.

***

The quiet echo of clattering utensils could be heard in the dining room. Lucia placed a small piece of steak into her mouth and enjoyed the tender premium meat.

The first time she had tried the steak, she had been so deeply moved that she had felt sad whenever she’d had to swallow each bite. She had eaten that dish only a few times, but any of the emotions she had first felt when she enjoyed it were nowhere to be found. Inside her head, she agreed it was the best dish, but she could not feel the same inside her heart. Her sense of taste was quite fickle.

Lucia sat on a table long enough to generously seat 20 adults. The duke had returned, but Lucia was left to enjoy her meals alone. Other than Lucia, the only people present were the maids and servants on standby next to her.

He had returned this afternoon, and while the late evening had descended, she had not seen his face once. As soon as he had finished his bath, he had gathered his subordinates in his study to hold a meeting. The meeting didn’t show any signs of ending soon, either.

It seemed the people inside had no thoughts of having dinner, because the maids kept working hard, bringing in tea and sandwiches into the study. She was originally going to wait and enjoy dinner together with him, but the butler had suggested it would be better to eat first, and she’d had no choice but to have a late dinner all by herself.

‘He’s a very busy man…’

She didn’t expect a lovey-dovey married life with him, however since they’d be living in the same house, she thought they could live peacefully while sharing a few words every now and then. It seemed even that was just a delusion of hers.

They lived in the same house, but their living spaces were completely separate. There would be no accidental meeting without one person intentionally seeking the other out.

‘It would have been nice if his family were still alive.’

Whether it was his mother or his brother, she could have worked to become friendlier with them while living out the rest of her days. She felt sad for the tragic death of his family. At the same time, she wished to meet his son, who was living alone in a boarding school.

Thankfully, she wasn’t one to easily fall in depression. She had a fairly independent personality. She accomplished her tasks and settled her own problems most of the time. But this dull lifestyle was becoming quite tedious.

All her life, she had kept herself busy. However, this place was too luxurious, to the point that there was nothing for her to do.

She had barely finished half her steak, but she didn’t have much of an appetite. It was such a waste, but eating more would only cause her to feel nauseous and sick.

‘Should I just finish the whole plate and suffer later?’

She contemplated for a bit, then put down her knife.

“Does it not suit your taste?”

“That’s not it. Please relay to the chef that the dish was great as usual. Today… I just feel a bit full. I think I ate too many crackers this afternoon.”

Lucia usually finished all her afternoon snacks and dinner as well. However, she had not eaten much of the crackers today at all. Even so, Jerome didn’t bother going out of his way to remind Lucia of that fact.

“Is it still raining?”

“Yes, it seems it will be pouring all night long.”

“I see.”

If it wasn’t raining, she could have taken a walk around the lackluster garden. It felt like the day was crawling by today.

“I’ll be heading up now.”

“Shall I bring some tea for you?”

“Please do. Ah, actually never mind. I’ll be in the study. I’ll have my tea at a later time.”

“Yes, madam.”

The one place Lucia loved in Roam was Hugo’s study. It had high black domed ceiling. The wall facing south had a giant window that let the sunshine light up the room until sundown. The other walls were covered with books all the way up to the ceiling. The walls had three levels of railing systems with the width of about a single person. One could travel across all the different levels of bookshelves through a set of stairs.

On the left, one could find another room, except it had no door. Inside, there was a sofa and a bed. Toward the right, there was another room which was tightly locked. According to Jerome, the room was filled with various Taran family heirlooms and only the duke was allowed to enter it. Even Jerome himself had never entered the room before.

It was the luxury study of everyone’s dreams.

The estate in the capital had a similarly designed study, and they always bought two copies of each book. One copy would stay in Roam, while the other would be carried off to the capital. Had she known there was a study in the capital estate, she would’ve visited the place. She had spent all her days in bed and had no idea a study existed at all.

“The book I was reading yesterday… Ah, found it.”

Lucia could not work up the courage to bring the books outside the room, so she always politely read inside. She was worried she would stain the pages of the books, so she didn’t even dare drink tea.

She hadn’t received permission to enter the study. The butler had said it would be alright, so she frequented the place, but she worried a bit in case Hugo would think otherwise.

She engrossed herself in reading while enjoying the smell of old paper. She was almost done with the book. 30 minutes later she turned the last page. Lucia stared at the word ‘end’ for a while, then slowly closed the book.

‘It was pretty good. The middle felt a little slow, but it had a tranquil feeling. I should read more of this author’s works.’

Lucia returned the book to its original place and scanned the bookshelf once again. The bookshelf was neatly organized, so it was easy to find the author’s other works. Among the many titles, a particular one caught her interest. There was one single problem – the book was very high up. Stretching her hand up, she could barely reach it. It seemed that if she tiptoed, she could get to the book.

‘Just a little bit more. A little bit…’

Lucia struggled with all her strength. It was so close yet so far. While she was putting all her effort into getting the book, a shadow appeared from behind her. A long arm smoothly wrapped around her waist and she could feel someone’s strong chest against her back. She could smell the scent of a particular person, and suddenly she felt dizzy. The other arm of the person easily reached for the book Lucia was struggling to get all along.

“This one?”

Lucia was startled by the low voice that rang above her head. His low but smooth voice was breathtaking. Lucia reflexively escaped from his embrace as fast as she could. She could identify the person from scent and voice so fast that it surprised her.