Chapter 10

How to Survive as the Wife of the Monster Duke

The brightly lit room was swallowed by darkness in an instant.

The windows outside were already almost completely blacked out by several layers of curtains.

In the darkness where not a single ray of light remained, Illin froze.

She had already anticipated this, but now that the moment had actually arrived, she had no idea what to do.

Has the Duke come in?

She hadn’t heard a single sound.

“Are you very nervous?”

Illin flinched.

His voice was much closer than she had expected.

“Yes.”

She answered honestly.

It was a night when it would have been strange not to be nervous.

“If you don’t want this, you may leave now.”

She felt as though she had heard something similar when they had signed the vows earlier.

Illin remained silent at his words.

Come to think of it, hadn’t Den said the same thing?

That winter wasn’t a place where she could stay for long.

“……May I ask something?”

Illin spoke softly.

“Does Red Delrose dislike people from the warm regions?”

Otherwise, there was no reason for every member of Red Delrose she met to say things like that.

Except for the knight named Aegis, who had only come to deliver a message, hadn’t both the head of Delrose and his commander said the same thing?

The Duke of Bifalten remained silent for a moment.

A strange silence settled between them.

Illin blinked.

Is he flustered?

“Why do you think that?”

“Because it seems like everyone from Red Delrose says the same thing.”

Had he hesitated for a moment?

Since she couldn’t see his face, she could only guess.

But the silence this time was brief.

“There is no reason for Delrose to dislike you.”

The Duke added,

“If you wish, I will take care of it.”

Take care of it?

The matter-of-fact words sounded frightening coming from the Duke.

Even though this man spoke formally to her and did not treat her however he pleased, even though he seemed softer and kinder than she had expected, he was still a man who had no hesitation about wielding a sword and killing people.

“It’s all right.”

Illin rubbed the back of her hand, which had broken out in goosebumps.

“You are now the mistress of Bifalten.”

After remaining silent for a moment, the Duke spoke.

Without realizing it, Illin turned toward the direction of his voice.

Then she hurriedly lowered her gaze.

The darkness was so deep that, fortunately, she couldn’t see anything.

“Red Delrose will be under you.”

After all, it was only natural that she would become closer to her husband’s Red Delrose than to Blue Noz or the other two families.

Illin gave a small nod.

“Your duty is to be my bride, Illin.”

Hearing her name spoken by someone she barely knew gave it a strange resonance.

Illin turned her head slightly toward him.

“If you fulfill only your duties as my wife, the rest is up to you. Now that you are the Duchess, the people beneath you must naturally serve you without causing you discomfort. If they fail to do so—”

His voice drew closer.

“Dismiss them.”

The hand resting around her shoulder was so gentle that she wondered if she was imagining it.

It was a careful, delicate touch, as though he were handling a fragile glass ornament that might shatter at any moment.

“Otherwise, the dignity of the mistress of the house will be undermined.”

One hand remained around her shoulder while the other touched her collarbone.

Warmth rose up her neck.

“……Is there anything I shouldn’t do as the mistress of the house?”

Since this place was quite different from the Empire, it was only natural that she would ask.

Especially since he had brought up the matter of dignity.

“No.”

The hand that had been resting on her shoulder moved upward, reaching the hair pinned high on her head.

“If you wish, you may even take Delrose’s knights and use them as you please.”

At the very least, that meant he was allowing her to wield military force within Delrose.

Click.

The pin holding up her hair came loose.

Her silver hair unraveled from its twisted arrangement and spilled down around her neck.

At that moment, the soft bed touched her back.

The mattress beneath her was still cold.

She felt his hand running through her loosened hair, and a strange ticklish sensation ran through her.

“Do you regret it?”

Even in the darkness, she knew.

The bed shifted beneath the weight placed upon it.

He was asking her while enclosing her in his arms.

Illin quietly closed her eyes for a moment.

Rather than regret, she felt a stronger sense of trembling anticipation.

Spending her wedding night in a northern land with someone who was still a stranger felt almost like a dream.

If she opened her eyes, she felt as though she might wake up once again in her room at the Arlen Viscount’s estate.

The sunlight there had been dazzling, but damp.

She didn’t want to keep standing among sharp-edged people anymore.

She didn’t mind if there was no sunlight.

No summer, either.

This dream was better.

So she had no regrets.

“Yes.”

She felt his hand gently brush back her hair.

His breath drew close.

Contrary to his title as the Duke of Winter, it was hot.

Illin squeezed her eyes shut.

As he gently soothed her, the Duke whispered,

“Are you afraid?”

It would have been a lie to say she wasn’t afraid in many ways.

The vague images she had once imagined of a wedding night were now so blurred that she could barely remember them.

Unable to open her eyes, she reacted sensitively to every place his hands touched and every place his breath brushed against.

Will it hurt?

What if I lose consciousness at some point and open my eyes?

Would I stop breathing right there?

“Are you afraid that you’ll meet my eyes?”

Illin wanted to remain composed.

But she couldn’t stop her body from trembling.

“A little……”

Illin whispered in a faint voice.

Something soft touched the corner of her wet eyes.

“Then cover your eyes.”

---

It was a pitch-black night, so dark that Illin couldn’t even tell where the windows were.

Beneath Illin lay the sacred relic of Noz.

Perhaps the Duke of Bifalten thought that her trembling was caused by the cold, because when he gently lifted her into his arms, he placed the sacred relic of Noz beneath her back.

His arms were broad enough for her to fit completely within them with just one arm.

Once some of the trembling inside Illin had subsided, he slowly entered her.

She wouldn’t have been able to see anything even if she opened her eyes, yet the soft cloth covering them gave her a sense of relief while also creating a strange sensation.

Her senses, heightened several times over, shook her mind again and again.

During that long stretch of time when she couldn’t tell whether it was night or dawn, Illin and the Duke remained very close.

“Easy……”

Whenever her hands tensed, the Duke gently soothed her.

His low, slightly sweet voice felt strangely familiar, as though she had heard it somewhere before.

For a moment, Illin thought of the knight commander with the cold gaze, then immediately erased the thought from her mind.

“Are you all right?”

Was he speaking softly, or was it because he was whispering so close to her?

What reached her ear was less his voice than the warmth of his breath.

Her cheeks and neck grew hot.

Illin gave a small nod.

When the Duke realized how difficult this was for her, being her first time, he continued to kiss her.

He soothed and comforted her endlessly so that she wouldn’t suffer.

More stimulating than the sensation of him entering her was the feeling of his touch elsewhere.

He did not rush Illin as she slowly followed his movements.

Their night was long, yet short.

---

When Illin opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was the bright light.

As expected, the Duke of Bifalten was not beside her.

Illin reached out and touched the space beside her where he should have been.

Did he leave early?

The spot was already cold.

“……”

She felt as though her wedding night had been stolen from her.

Illin recalled the events of the previous night and her face flushed red.

“Are you awake?”

Right then, the door opened and the maids of Blue Noz entered.

They carried indoor robes on wide silver trays and bowed deeply.

“We will help you change your clothes.”

“Oh, thank you.”

As Illin greeted them, she noticed the maids of Red Delrose waiting outside the door behind them.

Ah.

So now the maids of Red Delrose will be by my side, too.

It was only natural, considering she had married the head of Delrose.

Without realizing it, Illin craned her neck to look at them.

“Ah……!”

But then a sharp pain shot upward from her waist and pierced through her entire body.

She couldn’t help but cry out.

The startled maids of Blue Noz quickly caught her.

“Are you all right?”

It wasn’t just her waist.

Every part of her that had unconsciously tensed during the previous night was now crying out in silent agony.

The insides of her thighs and her entire waist felt painfully tight.

“A little……”

It’s uncomfortable……

Illin raised a hand toward the maids.

She had been about to say, I’m fine, but her face suddenly turned red.

Her body was covered in marks left by being loved.

Anyone could tell at a glance that she was a newlywed who had spent her wedding night the day before.

When the body that had been hidden beneath the blankets was revealed, even the maids of Noz looked slightly surprised.

Illin wanted to tell them that she would change her clothes herself.

But the aching pain in her waist overwhelmed her embarrassment.

“I’ll bring you some medicine. You’ll feel a little more comfortable after taking it.”

After helping her change completely, the maid of Blue Noz bowed deeply.

Once the maids left, Illin pulled down her long sleeves to hide the red marks.

“……Good heavens.”

She couldn’t bring herself to look in the mirror.

Instead, she fastened her clothes even more carefully.

“My lady, I’ve brought the medicine.”

The maids returned almost immediately.

It was as though everything had already been prepared.

“It’s made by boiling an herb called Nened.”

The cup they brought contained a thick, deep green liquid with a consistency that made it look difficult to swallow.

It looked like the last thing she wanted to drink.

“You must take it.”

The maids looked understanding, but they nevertheless brought the cup directly to her lips.

A bitter scent immediately filled her nose.

……Right.

They said bitter medicine was usually more effective.

Illin closed her eyes and drank from the cup.

---

Aegis, Den’s adjutant—and in truth, the Duke of Bifalten’s adjutant—rushed from the main residence to the knights’ quarters carrying urgent news.

Unfortunately, the main residence was crowded with people.

Since it was the day of the Bifalten lord’s wedding, groups of people had come to the estate to offer their congratulations, chattering among themselves.

That was customary for weddings in Bifalten, but the atmosphere this time was strangely lukewarm.

It couldn’t be helped.

The bride was sick and under strict orders not to be approached, while the groom—the Duke of Bifalten—was a man whom no one could even look directly in the eyes.

So the guests were left to make noise on the first floor of the estate, which was the only area they were permitted to enter.

Aegis hurried down from the seventh floor of the estate and skillfully pushed his way through the crowd toward the knights’ quarters.

If His Grace isn’t in the main residence, he must be in the knights’ quarters.

Having an elusive superior who possessed two identities meant Aegis was constantly running back and forth between the main residence and the knights’ quarters.

“Commander, urgent news!”

Since this was the outer section of the knights’ quarters, Aegis addressed Aden as the commander.

“Come in.”

As expected, he was here.

Aegis quickly opened the door.

“What is it?”

“It’s urgent news from the sixth floor of the main residence.”

Among the people currently on the sixth floor of the main residence, there was only one person worth worrying about.

His bride, who would soon be going up to the seventh floor.

“The Madam’s condition is apparently not good.”

The bride had been perfectly fine until last night.

“They say she has a fever, too.”

“What about the physician?”

There was no way the head of Red Delrose, a swordsman, would be without his own physician.

But Aegis’s expression was not good.

“He’s still treating the wounded at the fortress wall. There’s too much snow right now, so it’ll take some time to contact him.”

“Then who’s looking after her now?”

“Ten.”

Aegis added an explanation.

“He’s the physician’s apprentice.”

An apprentice?

Aden furrowed his brow.

Of all times, his physician had to be away.

And Aden himself was the one who had sent the physician to treat the wounded at the fortress wall.

There was no one else to blame.

“Let’s go see her first.”

He rose from his seat.

Aegis hesitated for a moment.

“Aegis?”

“Ah, yes.”

Aegis quickly stepped away from the door and followed him out of the room.