HSMDW 6

Chapter 6

It was already night.

In the pitch-black darkness, the only thing illuminating the surroundings was the light spilling from the Biplten estate.

Torches flickered at regular intervals in the distance, but through the thick darkness and blizzard, they appeared only as faint, feeble lights.

They were so dim that they could barely reveal the silhouettes of people.

Ilynn gazed beyond the walls of the estate in the distance.

Lizzy offered her a cup.

“It’ll help warm you up a little.”

“Oh, thank you.”

It was awfully small for a teacup.

Without thinking, Ilynn raised the cup to her lips.

And nearly pulled it away again.

“…Alcohol?”

This wasn’t tea. It was alcohol.

The moment it touched her tongue, even those few drops sent a sharp alcoholic aroma shooting straight through her head.

It was incredibly strong liquor.

“It’s the wine the young ladies usually drink.”

…Apparently, the young ladies of the winter regions had quite the tolerance for strong alcohol.

Considering they lived in weather this cold, it wasn’t difficult to understand.

Ilynn took only enough to wet her lips.

Even that small amount spread a heat through her body that could easily be called warmth.

Just then, one of the lights flickering in the distance suddenly went out.

At the abrupt change, Ilynn’s gaze fixed on the window.

“The messenger has arrived.”

Lizzy spoke.

A messenger?

Ilynn rubbed the back of her heated hand.

Despite the warmth from the alcohol, she felt a chill run down her spine.

“Apparently, he has come to apologize for the attack this time.”

Only then did Ilynn realize that the messenger Lizzy had mentioned wasn’t a messenger of death, but simply an envoy.

But the figure she could see in the distance didn’t look like the silhouette of a human being.

As it drew closer, its shape became clear.

Under the strict guard of the soldiers, the creature approached the outskirts of the estate, its red scales glinting in the light.

“!”

Startled, Ilynn set her cup down with an audible clink.

Someone walked out of the estate.

Even though there were comparatively more lights on the estate side, it was difficult to make out his features.

Still, even from a distance, his exceptionally tall stature was obvious compared to the person beside him.

While everyone else looked as though they were bundled up in several layers of clothing even from their silhouettes, he alone wore a light coat.

The moment he appeared, everyone on the estate side bowed deeply.

Even the monster seemed to avert its gaze from him.

“Who is that?”

She felt as though she already knew.

Just as Ilynn expected, Lizzy answered.

“His Grace, the Duke of Biplten.”

So she had been right.

No one dared meet his eyes.

If I had been standing there, I probably wouldn’t have been able to raise my head either.

The Duke of Biplten and the monster stood there like that for quite some time.

Unless that thing was simply standing there…

“Can you… communicate with monsters?”

There was only one possible conclusion.

Lizzy nodded.

“Of course. Ah, though they’re very different from the monsters that live in the sunlit regions.”

She sounded as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Ilynn felt as if someone had struck her on the back of the head.

There were monsters that could communicate?

The monster bowed its head even lower.

Even from a distance, Ilynn could tell.

It was an apology.

It seemed to be about the battle at the wall.

That was what Ilynn thought—

when the red scales suddenly flashed in the torchlight.

And something else flashed as well.

Ilynn’s eyes widened.

“!”

The Duke of Biplten slowly sheathed his sword.

The monster collapsed heavily in front of him.

Ilynn didn’t know much about the Biplten territory yet, but this was still a place where people lived.

Killing an envoy who had come bearing the will of an entire group meant they were willing to risk war.

“The inside of the estate is safe, so please don’t worry.”

Lizzy seemed to think Ilynn was shocked for a different reason.

Ilynn tilted her cup a little farther.

The hot liquid seemed to travel down her throat and pool around her heart.

Her heart pounded.

Neither the duke who had swung his sword nor the people beside him showed any interest in the corpse.

The maid beside her, Lizzy, was no different.

Ilynn was the only one who was shocked.

‘This place is different.’

There was none of the peaceful atmosphere of the capital.

It was completely different from that place, where the only sharp things were the words exchanged in high society, as though everyone had a blade between their teeth.

In the capital, there were countless people who would be horrified at the mere sight of a red scratch on someone’s body, let alone the thought of killing someone.

But here, they ignored even a corpse.

By tomorrow, that corpse would probably be buried beneath the snow.

At that moment, Ilynn realized just how unfamiliar and cold a place she had come to.

---

Two days had passed since Ilynn arrived at the estate.

She had not seen the Duke of Biplten even once.

She had only seen him from a distance.

The man she would marry in five days.

Even the Red Delrose, the ducal family, had not sent anyone to her.

The other two families had tried to send someone to her somehow, even if they had to push through the maids of the Blue Nose, but not a single person from the Red Delrose had come anywhere near her.

The only people she occasionally saw were the Red Delrose knights guarding the estate.

They didn’t speak to Ilynn either.

‘There’s nothing good about staying here through the winter for too long.’

Was his name Den?

Delrose seemed to think the same way.

Then did the duke think so too?

Instead of coming to see her, the duke had gone out on campaign.

Ilynn only learned that after seeing a procession of knights the next day.

Even after he returned, she had no idea whether he stayed at the estate or went somewhere else again, because he never showed himself.

[The duke hardly ever stays at the estate.]

Apparently, what had been written in the letter recruiting a bride was true.

It wasn’t as though she could meet him and look him in the face anyway.

And she was certain that she would have to consummate the marriage.

Ilynn calmed her pounding heart.

A cold wind blew fiercely.

She grabbed the blue cloth fluttering above her head.

“It’s not so bad during the day.”

They said humans were creatures of adaptation.

Ilynn had begun to adapt, at least a little, even to the bone-chilling cold.

It was still cold, but not so unbearable that she couldn’t stay outside at all.

If she was going to live here, she had to get used to the cold eventually.

Ilynn had come outside the main building of the estate to look around.

The maids from the Blue Nose who attended her were standing at a distance, just as she had requested.

“The snow…”

How deep had it gotten?

Ilynn looked at the piles of snow the knights had pushed to either side to clear a path.

They were nearly as tall as a person.

And even at her feet, the snow continued to pile up.

It truly snowed without end.

After looking around, Ilynn gathered up her skirt and gently prodded the snowbank with the toe of her foot, which was wrapped in a bundle of cotton.

The soft snowbank gave way without resistance.

A generous amount of snow landed on the cotton-filled shoes the Blue Nose had given her.

“It’s soft.”

She had secretly expected it to be frozen as hard as a wall.

After looking around again, Ilynn pressed down more deeply into the snow.

That was when it happened.

A powerful gust of wind blew, nearly lifting the blue cloth from her head.

Startled, Ilynn grabbed the cloth.

Just because she had adapted to the cold a little didn’t mean she no longer needed it.

If the cloth flew away, she would freeze before she even made it back inside the estate.

As she hurriedly caught hold of it, she lost her balance and staggered.

“I don’t mean to interrupt your hobby, but there’s a staircase right in front of you.”

A man caught her by the arm.

Ilynn jumped in surprise.

Perhaps because it looked as though the cloth might slip, the man placed his other hand on her head.

“I told you to keep it properly secured.”

Through the blue cloth, and through her arm, warmth reached her.

She recognized his voice alone.

“Den?”

When had he arrived?

She had definitely made sure there was no one around.

Ilynn’s face grew hot.

She heard the sound of a short breath above her head.

Was that a scoff?

“If you get buried in the snow, you’ll go missing.”

Den didn’t deny that he was the one speaking.

As he continued holding her arm, Ilynn’s slender, pale wrist, which had been hidden beneath her thick clothes, was exposed.

The cold wind touched her bare skin, but instead, that spot felt strangely hot.

“…Please let go.”

Ilynn pulled her arm away and turned toward him.

She took a step backward to put some distance between them, but the foot carrying her weight stepped into something with a muffled crunch and sank.

“Ah!”

Den yanked her arm toward him.

His grip was strong.

Before Ilynn could become buried in the snowbank, she fell into his arms.

A red ornament jingled in front of her eyes.

Startled, Ilynn quickly pulled away from him.

“Thank you.”

I’m sorry.

Ilynn hurriedly brushed the snow from her clothes.

Den watched her before asking,

“Why are you keeping the Nose maids so far away while you’re doing this?”

His gaze was fixed on a nearby building.

It was almost as though he could see the maids hiding behind it.

“Do you want to go missing before the wedding?”

Of course not.

Ilynn shook her head.

“No. I just wanted to take a look around in front of the estate. And I need to get used to the cold, too.”

Once she had put some distance between herself and the man, Ilynn caught her breath.

She seemed to have tensed up without realizing it.

There was none of the sharpness in his deep blue eyes that she had seen yesterday.

“Get used to it…? Do you intend to stay here for a long time?”

Of course.

Ilynn nodded.

There was no way she could return to Arlen anyway.

“Yes.”

“Even if the head of the Delrose family has no interest in you?”

Because he addressed him without an honorific, it took Ilynn a moment to realize that he meant Aden de Biplten, the duke.

Did he know the duke personally?

As a member of the Red Delrose, perhaps that was possible.

Ilynn looked up into his eyes.

His blue eyes were so still that she couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

“Even so, as long as I can stay here safely.”

I don’t want a marriage without love!

That was something little girls who hadn’t even turned ten said when they dreamed of romance.

Ilynn was someone who had abandoned that dream before she had even turned ten.

“Even if you can never see his face for the rest of your life?”

Beneath the blue cloth, she calmly answered with lips that had taken on a rosy hue.

“Of course.”

I’m going to be his bride.

Ilynn spoke with eyes full of conviction.

Den’s lips parted.

“What will you do if the duke refuses the marriage?”

The cold wind grew even stronger.

The red Delrose ornament hanging from Den’s clothes fluttered in the same direction as the white snow.

Ilynn held onto the blue cloth.

The deep blue eyes visible beyond it were so calm that she couldn’t discern the intention behind his question.

“……”

Ilynn’s answer was slow, but Den merely looked at her as though time itself had stopped.

It seemed like a silent demand that he hear her answer.

In her dream, she had felt no resistance toward being called Ilynn de Biplten.

Whatever happened afterward, she knew for certain that she would marry him.

The duke would not refuse the marriage.

Ilynn already knew the answer, but she had no intention of revealing it.

He wasn’t the duke himself, and she didn’t even know who he truly was yet.

“I’ll think about it if I’m rejected.”

Ilynn smiled sweetly.

It was a question she couldn’t answer anyway.

She grabbed the blue cloth again as it fluttered in the wind.

The later it got in Biplten, the stronger the wind seemed to become.

It was probably time to go inside.

“Where did you get that?”

He was pointing at the blue cloth.

The slight narrowing of his eyes made it clear that he didn’t seem to like it very much.

Ilynn looked at his face, then glanced at the cloth.

Was she not supposed to wear it?

It did seem like an expensive piece of fabric.

All the maids here wore thick, padded clothing. Not a single one of them used a thin cloth like this.

If it were common fabric, they would surely have distributed something with such excellent insulating properties long ago.

“It was… in the carriage I came in. Does it belong to someone?”

Neither Lidan, the elder of the Nose, nor the maids had seemed to mind her using it.

The only person who appeared uncomfortable with it was Den of the Red Delrose.

Ah.

At that moment, Ilynn realized the answer.

She pulled the cloth away from her face and asked,

“Is it something belonging to the Blue Nose?”

A fierce gust of cold wind struck the side of her face that had been uncovered.

Through the snowstorm, Ilynn thought the man’s blue eyes seemed to shine even more brightly.

“…It is. But there’s no need to worry about it just because I’m from the Red Delrose.”

Den lowered her hand.

Come to think of it, he had been the one who first told her to keep the cloth secure.

Ilynn obediently lowered her hand.

Just then—

“Captain!”

A knight from the Red Delrose came running from the distance.

Ilynn looked at him, then turned back to Den.

The knight was calling out to Den.

Was he the commander of the knights?

Ilynn saw Den click his tongue.

“Then I’ll take my leave first.”

He turned and walked away quickly.

Ilynn was about to enter the estate when she stopped and looked down at her feet.

In the meantime, snow had piled thickly over the tops of her shoes.

They must have been talking for quite a while.

Even so, she didn’t feel particularly cold.

Tilting her head slightly, Ilynn walked into the estate.