HSMDW 5

Chapter 5

“Biplten is ruled by your family.”

The words of the maid who introduced herself as Lizzie made little sense to Illin.

The Biplten territory belonged to the House of Biplten.

There should only be one lord of the territory, shouldn’t there?

The maid with the red hair ribbon who had disappeared the moment she showed Illin to her room never returned.

Instead, the maids who came flocking to attend to Illin all wore blue hair ribbons.

Could the colors have some significance?

Come to think of it, that man from earlier, Ridan, had introduced himself as a “Blue Noze.” Perhaps that had something to do with the blue decorations.

Ridan had also been wearing blue ornaments on his clothes.

‘Unless you want to freeze to death…’

Illin thought of the dark-blue-eyed man she had encountered on the castle wall.

The ornament on that man’s clothes had been red.

“Blue Noze, Red Delrose, Green Mille, and Radiant Ello. Among them, Sir Ridan and we belong to the Blue Noze.”

It didn’t seem to be the name of a knight order.

Illin glanced at the blue thread bracelet dangling from Lizzie’s wrist.

“The head of the Red Delrose is His Grace, Aden de Biplten, as the Empire would put it.”

Then that man probably wore red decorations on his clothes as well.

Illin thought of the man she had met on the castle wall again.

That man had also had red decorations on his clothes.

Then was that dark-blue-eyed man the duke’s subordinate?

“You’ll stay in Biplten for a while, Miss. If you find this place agreeable, you’ll marry him.”

“And if I don’t?”

“Unfortunately, you’ll have to return.”

Lizzie smiled.

Illin found the smile rather fake.

It was the face of someone trying hard to look kind.

“Is there anything you’d like to ask?”

“There are many things, but I’ll only ask one.”

Lizzie was massaging Illin’s body, which was exhausted from the cold.

Every time she applied some unfamiliar cream, warmth spread through Illin’s body, making it much easier to breathe.

True to its nickname as a winter region, the bitter cold of Biplten could be felt even inside the mansion, despite the fireplaces.

“Um… Why does His Grace specifically want to marry an Imperial noblewoman?”

Now that she was here, Illin understood.

This place was far more independent from the influence of the Athenble Imperial family than she had been led to believe.

For one thing, wasn’t the fact that four families governed the territory already a blatant violation of Imperial law?

If the Imperial family had made an exception and officially permitted such an arrangement, there was no way such an unusual form of territorial government wouldn’t have become known throughout the Empire.

It almost felt like a different country from the Empire.

So why, of all things, did he want to marry an Imperial noblewoman?

“That’s because His Grace cannot marry someone from the Red Delrose.”

Lizzie added as though it were obvious.

“Ah, and he isn’t interested in the women of the Blue Noze, Mille, or Ello, either.”

‘Isn’t interested’?

Wasn’t that a strange way to put it?

It was possible for a man not to be interested in women.

But if the word describing the women referred to their family affiliation, that was a completely different matter.

Illin caught a peculiar scent.

At the very least, the Red Delrose—that is, Aden de Biplten and his people—didn’t get along with the Blue Noze.

Perhaps they had similar relationships with the other two families as well.

Come to think of it, Ridan, who was a Blue Noze, had seemed rather harsh toward the maid wearing the red decoration.

“Then who is that Ridan…?”

“He’s one of the elders of our Blue Noze.”

Apparently, he was a more important figure than she had thought.

Illin slowly nodded.

Hearing the word ‘elder’ made things click.

The terminology might be different, but it seemed the Red Delrose were the true House of Biplten, while the other three families were closer to vassal families belonging to the elders.

Once she looked at it that way, she could roughly understand the structure.

What an unusual place.

Illin thought.

“Are you feeling a little warmer now?”

Lizzie asked with a gentle smile.

Illin nodded.

“Thank you.”

After the massage was over, Illin asked Lizzie to show her around the mansion.

Watching the way Lizzie treated her had allowed Illin to roughly determine her own position.

In any case, Duke Aden de Biplten seemed intent on marrying a woman from outside Biplten territory.

‘There probably aren’t any women in the Empire who want to marry the Duke of Biplten.’

If so, this was a rare opportunity for her.

The Blue Noze, who were being unusually kind to her, seemed to be planning to bring her into their sphere of influence if they couldn’t marry one of their own women to the duke.

As expected, there was no such thing as kindness without a price.

Her thoughts began racing.

She had spent more than twenty years at the Viscount Arlen estate. During that time, she had developed an instinctive ability to distinguish between people who were hostile toward her and those who approached her expecting something in return.

This was an unfamiliar land where lives could be lost in an instant and almost everything was unknown.

How many people would refuse to follow someone who showed them kindness here?

If it was true that the Blue Noze and the duke’s Red Delrose were on bad terms, then the Duke of Biplten would probably not want to strengthen the Blue Noze by marrying their ally.

It made sense if she imagined this as a royal or imperial court instead of Biplten territory.

To keep power concentrated, it was only natural for an emperor to keep the empress’s family in check.

“This area gets much colder, so you’ll want to make sure you bring an outer garment.”

Maid Lizzie pointed ahead as she spoke.

Illin looked in the direction she indicated.

The mansion had already been rather chilly, but the corridor ahead was covered in enormous panes of glass, so large that Illin could clearly see the cold wind blowing outside.

A raging snowstorm was visible through the windows.

“Are you still feeling very cold?”

Lizzie asked cautiously.

Illin looked down at her clothes.

They looked much lighter and thinner than the clothes she had brought from the capital.

But their insulation was on an entirely different level.

They gave her a cozy warmth, as if she were wrapped in a quilt heated with a hot-water bottle.

Her hands, which were exposed outside the clothes, were somewhat cold, but it was bearable.

When Illin shook her head, the blue ornament attached to her clothes swayed.

“I’m fine.”

“If there’s anything that makes you uncomfortable, please feel free to tell us.”

Lizzie bowed deeply.

Illin wasn’t entirely pleased with how polite she was being.

Wasn’t it a little too obvious?

Just as Lizzie began walking again, a man suddenly appeared at the far end of the corridor.

“Huh?”

A small sound escaped Illin before she could stop it.

It was the man she had seen outside the castle wall.

Dark black hair, and dark-blue eyes that gleamed like ice.

When he spotted Illin and Lizzie, he frowned.

He looked like a wolf that had just spotted its prey.

The corridor, which had been somewhat warm only moments before, froze into an icy atmosphere.

“…This isn’t a place for the Blue Noze to wander around.”

The man spoke slowly.

Lizzie bowed deeply, while Illin hesitated.

Her position here was that of a guest.

She needed to know who he was in order to deal with him properly, but he seemed to have no intention of introducing himself.

His cold gaze turned toward Illin.

Illin couldn’t open her mouth as his slow gaze traveled over the blue fabric on her head, down her clothes, and finally returned to her face.

She felt like prey.

She couldn’t even move her body as she stood before him.

It was worse than when she had faced the monster.

When she had faced the monster, all she had been able to think about was escaping.

This was different.

She wouldn’t even be able to run.

The man’s presence was powerful enough to hold her captive.

“…She’s the young lady who came from the Sun.”

Lizzie introduced Illin.

The Sun?

Illin thought about it for a moment before understanding.

Apparently, they called the lands outside their territory ‘the Sun.’

It was an appropriate term for the Empire, considering that in Biplten, buried beneath snowstorms, sunlight was almost nonexistent.

“A person from the Sun?”

Those dark-blue eyes turned toward Illin again.

His eyes were devoid of emotion.

But there was a hint of surprise in his tone.

Ah. Was he assuming she was from the Blue Noze because of her blue clothes?

“That’s right. I’m Illin de Arlen, from the Empire.”

Now that she had been introduced, it was his turn.

Illin looked at the man with that meaning in her eyes.

The body that had been bound by his presence gradually began to relax.

It was like an ice statue coming back to life.

A flicker of something different appeared in the man’s eyes.

“…I’m Den of the Red Delrose.”

His brief statement had shifted into polite speech.

Illin immediately caught the change.

Was it because he had realized she wasn’t affiliated with the Blue Noze?

She had no intention of criticizing him for speaking informally.

More importantly, she was the one who owed him something.

“Thank you for earlier.”

It was a greeting she hadn’t been able to give because he had disappeared.

Den, who had been about to walk away, stopped.

His blue gaze returned to Illin.

“…There’s nothing good that can come from staying in winter for too long.”

His words were cold.

He passed by her.

Only then did maid Lizzie let out a deep breath, as though she could finally breathe again.

Illin tilted her head slightly as she heard the maid’s sigh.

There’s nothing good that can come from staying in winter for too long.

Did he mean there was nothing good about staying in Biplten for too long?

It was a chilly remark, almost like telling her to leave.

But it didn’t sound entirely cold.

At least, he seemed much better than the Blue Noze, who appeared interested only in using her.

‘Den of the Red Delrose.’

Illin committed his name to memory before following Lizzie again.

The mansion was enormous.

There were no fewer than five large halls on the first floor, while the main building rising above them had a total of seven floors.

The seventh floor was also Duke Aden de Biplten’s private domain.

That was why Illin was only shown as far as the sixth floor.

Maid Lizzie, a member of the Blue Noze, ended the tour of the seventh floor with a brief explanation.

“Only the Red Delrose are permitted to enter that area. Of course, you’ll be able to enter once you’re married.”

In other words, because she was still a guest, she wasn’t even allowed to tour it.

‘If that’s the case, they should have built a separate mansion.’

Illin tilted her head slightly.

There were several other areas besides the seventh floor that only the Red Delrose could enter.

There were also a few spaces reserved exclusively for members of each family, but those were mostly rooms belonging to the family elders.

In contrast, there were an unusually large number of areas designated specifically for the Red Delrose.

It probably meant that the Red Delrose, who held the ducal title, had greater power.

The place where she had encountered Den of the Red Delrose earlier was one of those areas.

Technically, it was a corridor, so members of the other families weren’t strictly forbidden from entering.

But it was apparently an area that was understood to be off-limits.

There were simply too many rooms belonging to the Red Delrose.

“Thank you for showing me around.”

Illin gave Lizzie a brief word of appreciation for her efforts.

Lizzie bowed deeply.

Walking through an entire seven-story building was practically hard labor.

After wandering around while taking breaks here and there, it was already nighttime.

“It’s very different from the Empire, isn’t it?”

Lizzie set a small cup down in front of her.

Illin nodded.

It was certainly different.

Even if she put aside all the complicated matters for now, there was one thing she understood clearly.

Regardless of the other two families, the Blue Noze and the Red Delrose were almost completely opposed to each other.

If she wanted to live peacefully here, her marriage to the duke would be important, but she would also have to walk a careful line between the two families.

“I’d like to meet people from the other families tomorrow.”

Illin spoke casually, pretending she knew nothing.

Until she had gathered enough information to make her position clear, it was better to pretend to be oblivious.

She was surrounded by maids from the Blue Noze.

The fact that she hadn’t spoken to anyone from the other families all day, apart from Den of the Red Delrose, was not a coincidence.

The Blue Noze were deliberately blocking access to them.

But if things continued like this, there was a danger that everyone would see her as a member of the Blue Noze.

The one who ruled this place was Duke Aden de Biplten, a member of the Red Delrose.

Would a man who had openly declared that he would never marry a woman from another family take kindly to a bride allied with the Blue Noze?

Absolutely not.

“That…”

Lizzie struggled to speak.

Illin watched her reaction with a faint smile.

“Is that a problem?”

“I’m afraid it might be because I belong to the Blue Noze. I’ll have to ask one of the elders first…”

Ah.

Permission from the higher-ups was required.

Illin hid her deepening smile.

Instead, she put on a disappointed expression.

“There seem to be people from the other families in the mansion, too. I’d like to meet them at least once. I’m curious what kind of people they are. You don’t have to bring anyone particularly important.”

“…If that’s all, I can try to arrange it.”

Lizzie smiled pleasantly.

Looking at her, Illin reached a conclusion.

There was no chance she would actually be introduced to anyone.

She needed to find another way.

Perhaps it would be better to simply walk around on her own.

“I’ll look forward to it.”

But concealing her thoughts, Illin continued smiling as she turned her gaze toward the window.