Chapter 125
As spring passed and the wind became lukewarm, a welcome letter arrived.
It contained news that Caverion would be visiting the Bedeusian duchy this week.
Janie, who was tidying up the messy bed, said, “You seem pleased.”
“Of course, he’s my only family,” Raylenne replied, not hiding her rising smile.
Although Caverion had been sending letters once a week without fail, this was his first time coming here in person.
It’s not that they hadn’t met at all during this time. She had often visited the Ergen duchy to see Caverion.
On the other hand, he had been reluctant to come here. The main reason was probably his busy schedule, and secondly, because of the knights here.
A few months ago, Caverion had mentioned in a letter:
<I know the people of Bedeusian won’t look kindly on you. If I visit, it might be like adding fuel to the fire.>
It seemed Caverion was worried about her. He feared that his visit might intensify the disapproving looks towards her.
But now that she was getting along well with the people here to some extent, Caverion didn’t need to worry.
She could confidently tell Caverion that.
As a result, Caverion finally made time to come to the Bedeusian duchy.
At that moment, Janie approached and asked, “It’s been a while since I’ve seen Lord Caverion too. By the way, is there any good news?”
“Good news?”
“Such a wonderful person can’t remain single forever, can he?”
Ah… she was talking about marriage.
In fact, Raylenne was also waiting for such news, but Caverion didn’t seem to have any intention of marriage yet.
For now, he was too busy to even think about it. Knowing this, she had no intention of pressuring him.
From her experience, there was nothing more annoying than someone nagging about marriage when one wasn’t ready.
‘…Even though Caverion was the one who used to nag me about it.’
When she was separated from Aiden, he had nagged so much about how she should meet someone else.
Remembering those times, she wanted to do the same to him, but she didn’t want to become that kind of person.
“My brother doesn’t seem to be thinking about marriage yet.”
“It’s a shame, but what can we do?”
Janie nodded, then her eyes lit up as if she had thought of a new question.
“By the way, My Lady, have you heard about this?”
“About what…?”
“They’re holding a swordsmanship tournament within the Bedeusian duchy.”
“…They do that too?”
“Yes, I heard it’s a tradition held around this time every year.”
Raylenne wondered why she, the mistress of this castle, hadn’t heard anything about it.
She found it strange, but her interest in the exciting event of a swordsmanship tournament was greater.
“A swordsmanship tournament, that sounds fun.”
“Do you think Duke Bedeusian will participate too?”
“I’m not sure. I’ll have to ask him.”
She planned to talk to Aiden about the swordsmanship tournament this evening. Things like how the tournament is conducted, what the prizes for winning are, and so on.
Raylenne waited for Aiden to return with an excited heart.
When Aiden entered the room, Raylenne greeted him enthusiastically.
“Aiden!”
Seeing Raylenne more excited than usual, Aiden seemed quite surprised.
It was evident from his rare moment of hesitation.
However, Raylenne paid no mind to it and asked about the swordsmanship tournament she had heard about from Janie today.
Aiden nodded.
“We plan to hold it this weekend.”
What? The swordsmanship tournament is happening as soon as this weekend?
Raylenne exclaimed with wide eyes, “Why didn’t you tell me!”
Aiden, unbuttoning the top button of his collar, said, “I deliberately didn’t mention it.”
“Why?”
“I thought you might worry about it.”
“Of course I should worry about it!”
Raylenne grabbed Aiden’s clothes and brought her face close to his. Aiden averted his eyes.
One of Raylenne’s eyebrows arched upwards.
See?
“You’re lying, aren’t you? About not telling me because you thought I’d worry.”
“…”
“Is it because I’ve been getting too friendly with the knights lately?”
Aiden carefully removed Raylenne’s hand from his clothes.
“…It’s not because you’re getting friendly. It’s because when you’re involved, the knights get overly excited.”
Did the knights like me that much…?
Raylenne hadn’t particularly felt it, but she could see the sincerity in Aiden’s serious gaze.
“I was planning to tell you two days before the tournament.”
“You should have told me, of course!”
Although it was somewhat disappointing that everything was already prepared, her heart still pounded with excitement for this major event of the family.
‘A swordsmanship tournament…’
It’s something you only see in books or movies!
“Will you participate in the swordsmanship tournament too, Aiden?”
“Yes, I plan to participate.”
Raylenne was filled with anticipation.
Although she hadn’t seen it many times, Aiden wielding a sword was truly impressive. Enough to fall for him several times over.
He was incredibly strong even without a sword due to being an awakened one, but he didn’t neglect his sword practice either.
With sparkling eyes at the thought of watching Aiden swing his sword, Raylenne asked,
“But… if you or the knight commander participate, won’t the outcome of the tournament be too obvious?”
Even before his awakening, Aiden was skilled enough to be the commander-in-chief of the army.
The current knight commander, being in charge, would undoubtedly be skilled in swordsmanship as well.
“In the tournament, the knight commander, senior knights, and I can only use our left hands.”
Ah… so they’re giving themselves a disadvantage in advance.
Then from a spectator’s point of view, the result might not be so obvious. Of course, she was certain Aiden would win.
As Raylenne was thinking about various aspects of the swordsmanship tournament, she suddenly realized she had forgotten something.
‘…Caverion.’
Come to think of it, Caverion would be here on the day of the swordsmanship tournament.
He said he would arrive the day before and stay for three days.
“Aiden, you know my brother is coming here the day before the swordsmanship tournament, right?”
“I’m aware. As he’s an important guest, I’ve strictly instructed the employees to avoid any mistakes. It would be nice if he could watch the swordsmanship tournament with us on the day.”
Raylenne was somewhat surprised by Aiden’s calm demeanor.
Aiden and Caverion were as different as water and oil. Although Caverion had eventually acknowledged Aiden and given permission for their marriage, they were people with completely opposite innate temperaments.
So she couldn’t help but feel tense about the situation of them meeting after a long time.
“You don’t need to worry.”
As if reading her thoughts, Aiden stroked Raylenne’s cheek.
“There won’t be any incidents that put you in a difficult position like before.”
By incidents that put her in a difficult position… he probably meant the tense situations where they would spark just by making eye contact.
Raylenne momentarily doubted if things would really go as smoothly as Aiden said, but seeing the warmth in his eyes, she let go of her concerns.
If he was saying this much, there was no need to worry in advance.
Thinking this, she looked forward to the day of Caverion’s arrival.
* * *
As the carriage bearing the Ergen duchy’s seal approached beyond the main gate, Raylenne raised her hand and waved it quickly.
Finally, the carriage stopped in front of the gate, and the door opened. As Caverion, whom she had missed, appeared, Raylenne ran and hugged him.
“Brother!”
Caverion also embraced Raylenne affectionately.
“Raylenne, have you been well?”
“Yes, I’ve been doing fine.”
Raylenne looked at her handsome brother as she released the hug.
“You seem to have become even more handsome, brother.”
“I’ve been growing haggard day by day missing you, so I’m not sure what you mean.”
Raylenne smiled brightly at Caverion’s joke, her eyes curving into crescents.
Caverion slowly turned his gaze. His eyes stopped where Aiden stood.
“Have you been well?”
“I’ve been well, thanks to your concern.”
“Your smooth talking has improved.”
Fortunately, the atmosphere wasn’t bad. She had watched their greeting with some trepidation.
“Let’s go inside. I’ve prepared a meal.”
Raylenne linked her arm with Caverion’s.
“I put in extra effort because you were coming, brother! Let’s go in quickly.”
With Raylenne’s cheerful chattering voice, the three of them walked towards the inner part of the duchy.
The dining room they arrived at was filled with delicious aromas. The meal, prepared with much more care than usual, was enough to make even Raylenne’s eyes sparkle.
All three sat down and the meal began in earnest. Raylenne spoke first.
“You must have had a tiring journey, brother. You’ve been busy lately, haven’t you?”
“I can’t say no, even as a lie. Being responsible for a territory has been more challenging than I thought.”
Raylenne nodded.
Aiden wasn’t much different from Caverion in this regard. Even though he was doing an excellent job, he was constantly busy.
So instead of properly enjoying their newlywed life, her days were often spent waiting for Aiden to return from work.
“Please rest well while you’re here.”
“Seeing your face makes me think I made the right decision to make time to come here.”
Caverion took a sip of water and smiled at Raylenne.
“And I heard an interesting story while passing through the Bedeusian duchy.”
“An interesting story?”
Caverion put down his water glass and looked at Raylenne and Aiden.
“Yes, I heard there’s a swordsmanship tournament being held at the duchy this weekend.”
