OFGBL 22

Chapter 22

Realizing only belatedly the weight of what he had said, Seirn drew in a startled breath.

‘Right. She is a woman who faithfully fulfills the contract and keeps her boundaries. I must simply find this life comfortable as well. That’s all.’

“…I said something unnecessary. I was only joking, so don’t take it to heart.”

He hurriedly tried to take back his words, but he could not take back the subtle change that had settled over the atmosphere.

That night, the air in the bedroom felt unusually ticklish.

Regardless of the confusion in their hearts, preparations for the ancestral ceremony proceeded smoothly.

And then, on the morning of the ceremony—

“Oh my, Your Grace. You were here.”

Among the vassals who had come to attend the ceremony, there was an unwelcome guest.

Vivian.

Mixed in among the noblewomen from the other vassal families, Vivian approached Erenia with a triumphant expression.

“I had been feeling unwell because of the cold winds of the Grand Duchy, so I went away to recuperate. But after giving it some thought, I realized only later that I should have helped Your Grace.”

Pretending that she had come to be of great assistance, Vivian began telling Erenia things she had never even asked about.

“Until last year, I always helped Countess Hailey with the preparations. Oh, and when His Grace was young, during this banquet he would always…”

Stories about Seirn’s childhood that Erenia could never have known.

“I miss those days. Young Lady Valten was so adorable back then. Well, she still is, of course.”

“That’s right. It was so cute when she used to say that she would marry His Grace.”

“Oh my, how embarrassing.”

As the noblewomen standing protectively around Vivian each added their own comments, Erenia finally understood why Vivian had come with such a triumphant expression.

“Oh, right, Your Grace. Do you know what His Grace considers most important during this ceremony?”

At last, the question came.

Erenia had studied the procedures of the ancestral ceremony perfectly.

But she did not know Seirn’s innermost thoughts.

When Erenia failed to answer immediately, a clear smile spread across Vivian’s lips.

It was the expression of someone certain of her victory.

“Oh my! You didn’t know?”

Vivian covered her mouth in feigned surprise, and Erenia’s mouth felt strangely dry.

There was no reason to react to such an obvious provocation.

And yet, Erenia did not understand why she was reacting this way.

“Even so, it’s your husband’s business…”

The words were true.

Erenia knew very little about Seirn.

She had only recently learned that he had no intention of producing an heir or entering into an ordinary marriage, and she could only guess how much he had suffered after losing his mother as a child.

Of course she knew less than Vivian, who had been born and raised here.

But for some reason, the tip of Erenia’s tongue tasted bitter.

“Well, I suppose that’s understandable since you came from a distant foreign country—”

Then—

“That.”

A low, resonant voice cut Vivian off.

Seirn had appeared before they even noticed.

“If my wife doesn’t know something, I can simply tell her myself.”

Seirn approached with a piercing gaze and continued in a cold voice.

“It is not something Young Lady Valten needs to concern herself with.”

“…Your Grace.”

“I tolerated your pointless interference last time because my wife stopped me. But don’t test my patience twice. Unlike my wife, I am not particularly merciful.”

“……”

“Then, my wife. Shall we go?”

Unlike the way he treated Vivian, Seirn gently wrapped an arm around Erenia.

The moment his warmth touched her, the bitter sensation that had been swirling inside Erenia melted away like snow.

It was strange.

And as Erenia headed toward the sanctuary where the ancestral ceremony would be held, escorted by Seirn, Vivian watched them and bit down hard on her lip.

Then, just as Erenia’s maid happened to meet Vivian’s eyes—

A cold smile appeared at the corners of Vivian’s lips.

The sanctuary inside the Grand Duke’s Castle was filled with people from across the territory who had gathered to witness the ceremony of the new Grand Duchess.

In their eyes was a mixture of curiosity toward the Grand Duchess who was reputed to be highly capable and the wariness they had yet to completely cast aside.

Before those gazes, Erenia performed the ceremony perfectly alongside Seirn, reciting the ceremonial prayers and offering wine according to the prescribed procedures.

And finally—

The most important part arrived.

It was time for the new Grand Duchess to light the fire before her ancestors.

Erenia carefully brought a flame to the wick of the lamp.

Whoosh.

A small flame climbed brightly along the wick.

But at the very moment everyone’s attention was focused on that flame—

Hiss.

The flame weakly died out.

It was as though an invisible hand had pressed it out.

Only a thin wisp of smoke rose from the blackened tip of the wick.

The unprecedented turn of events froze the atmosphere inside the sanctuary as though cold water had been thrown over everyone.

“…Could it be that the ancestors…”

“They rejected her…”

A cautious voice echoed from somewhere, breaking the silence.

Those few words were enough to stir the people of the territory, and murmurs began spreading through the crowd.

‘This is…’

Meanwhile, standing before the extinguished altar, Erenia noticed something strange about the lamp.

The color of the scented oil Seirn had shown her was completely different from the oil now placed upon the altar.

The oil was supposed to be a clear amber color with a subtle pine scent.

But its color was cloudy, and its smell was fishy.

Yet she had personally confirmed that there had been nothing wrong with it right up until immediately before the ceremony.

‘Whoever did this went to great lengths to tamper with it.’

But it was uncertain whether simply shouting that it had been tampered with would be enough to completely turn public opinion around.

The people of the territory were already looking at her as though the ancestors of Devlin had rejected the princess of an enemy nation.

If they dismissed her explanation as nothing more than a desperate excuse, she would be in trouble.

But she could not simply ignore it either.

If she became branded as an ominous woman here as well, she would never obtain what she wanted.

What if Seirn cast her aside?

With anxiety weighing on her heart, Erenia calculated countless possibilities even in that fleeting moment, desperately searching for a way out of the situation.

Then—

“It’s all right. Stay calm. Smile.”

Seirn stepped forward and whispered so quietly that only Erenia could hear him.

Then he took Erenia’s hand and turned toward the people of the territory.

“Who dares to speak so carelessly of the ancestors’ will?”

At once, the murmuring voices fell silent.

“The winter of the North is fierce enough to extinguish every flame.”

His voice contained not the slightest trace of haste or panic.

It was so clear that it reached even the farthest corners of the sanctuary.

“Yet Devlin is a family that survived even in such a merciless land by lighting its fires again and again. Whenever our flames went out, we lit them once more. That is how we have survived and protected this land.”

Then Seirn moved behind Erenia and took both of her hands as though embracing her from behind.

Their hands were joined around the lamp.

Erenia felt a powerful flow of magic at Seirn’s fingertips surrounding her.

But it was not the searing heat that ran wild every night.

This was a powerful force of magic, precisely honed and perfectly controlled.

Regardless of the curse that ran rampant during the depths of night, during the day, that power was mostly Seirn’s alone.

It was the very reason the entire continent feared Devlin.

And it was the weapon that had allowed Devlin to maintain its formidable reputation.

Whoosh.

The magic resonating between Seirn and Erenia instantly created a flame atop the wick.

To anyone unaware of the intervention of magic, it would appear as though the flame had naturally come back to life.

“If the fire went out during our new lady’s first ceremony, it does not mean that she was rejected.”

Erenia could feel the flow of Seirn’s magic through the fingertips wrapped around her.

“It means that this woman is someone who will relight a fire that has gone out, no matter the circumstances, and protect this Grand Duchy.”

The flame that bloomed above their joined hands burned more fiercely than ever.

“This is the will of Devlin.”

There was a warning in Seirn’s voice.

A warning not to dare distort the meaning of what had happened.

A profound silence descended among the people who stared in awe at the flame that had appeared without anyone adding another spark.

Then, someone at the very front knelt down.

One after another, the others followed.

Everyone lowered themselves to their knees in respect.

And Erenia stared blankly at the wave of reverence spreading through the crowd.

The trap that had nearly branded her as an ominous woman had instead elevated her into someone worthy of their reverence.

More precisely—

Seirn had reached out and pulled her back up when she was about to fall.

Never in her entire life had Erenia ever been protected like this by another person.

And yet, here, in a place where everyone could have turned their backs on her, that man had even created a new interpretation of the ancestors’ will to protect her.

‘Why are you…?’

She had not begged for salvation first.

Nor had she clung to him.

And yet—

Even in the frigid winter air of the North, Seirn’s embrace was warm.

Their joined hands were hot, and the warmth traveling through them spread throughout Erenia’s entire body.

Held within his warmth, Erenia’s heart began beating rapidly.

She was so overwhelmed that she did not even realize she could release her hand now.

And so—

While Erenia was being consumed by this unfamiliar warmth—

Seirn looked down at the lamp with a cold gaze.

The lamp whose flame had already gone out once.

He had noticed the same evidence of tampering that Erenia had detected.

And he remembered.

‘How dare you.’

The very first people to utter negative words toward Erenia when the flame went out—

Were servants of House Valten.