Chapter 010
Sezna quickly excused herself, saying she had work to do.
Left alone, Merwen showed me and Paiden around the castle. She spoke softly.
“Sioden is away for a while. He has a foster home he supports, and there was a problem there, so he went to inspect it.”
She looked at Paiden, as if to tell him not to misunderstand, and added,
“Originally, he was supposed to come out to greet you in person, but you arrived earlier than expected because you advanced the schedule.”
I had heard that it usually snowed heavily around this time, but the weather had been nice for the past few days, which shortened the journey.
Throughout the trip, Paiden, who had been tiring everyone out, nodded along to Merwen’s words without any conditions. It was clear he was more focused on her appearance than her words.
Merwen turned to the corner of the hallway. She stopped in a corridor filled with framed portraits hanging on the walls.
“This is where the portraits of the previous heads of the family are displayed.”
She pointed to one of the frames.
“This is the former head of the family. He is Sioden’s father.”
The canvas depicted a man with black hair and blue eyes, just like Sioden.
The frame bore his name elegantly engraved.
Lerox Raslet.
As I looked down at the name, Merwen asked in a voice tinged with light mischief,
“What do you think? Does he resemble Sioden?”
“Yes.”
Aside from the fact that Sioden had a slightly more delicate impression, the two were remarkably alike.
Merwen laughed out loud, like someone who had just heard a funny joke. It was a refreshing laugh that suited her bright features.
As I gazed at her clear face, one question arose in my mind.
I turned to Merwen, who still wore a smile on her lips, and asked.
“Excuse me, if it’s not too much trouble, may I ask what your relationship is with the Duke of Raslet, Lady Ethel?”
Merwen casually mentioned Sioden’s name.
As if they had known each other for a long time.
From the beginning, we had met under aliases and had never called each other by our real names.
“Please just call me Merwen, not Lady.”
Merwen replied in a cheerful voice, her eyes narrowing as if she was recalling something.
“I’ve been friends with Sioden for a long time. Since we were very young…”
Before I could interpret what that meant, she turned to me.
“Can I call you Iella?”
I was taken aback, as it’s not common to receive such a suggestion from a stranger, but seeing her bright smile, I couldn’t refuse.
Moreover, unlike the servants who had been whispering with stiff expressions, she was the only kind person I had met at Raslet Castle so far.
“Yes.”
After hesitating, I nodded, and Merwen smiled widely again. Her round eyes crinkled deeply, and her dimples became noticeable in her smile.
At that moment, a maid approached Merwen and whispered something in her ear.
Merwen’s expression became slightly serious. After pushing the maid back, she turned to me and said,
“Iella, what should we do? It seems something urgent has come up, and I need to step out for a moment. Should I call Sezna back?”
“It’s alright. I’ll wait here.”
I didn’t have any urgent plans; Sezna was the woman who had looked at me with displeasure earlier, and I didn’t want to be with someone who had harbored hostility towards me from the first day.
“I’m sorry.”
Merwen apologized with a furrowed brow and then commanded the maid who was waiting beside her.
“Please guide the princess to the reception room so she can rest.”
The reception room I entered under the maid’s guidance was already warm, as if the fire had been lit beforehand.
A sofa covered in fur was placed against the wall. Sitting on the warm fur, I felt my stiff body relax due to the cold air and the tension of being in a new place.
Instead of Apple, who would normally be supervising the unpacking of my belongings, I was momentarily enjoying the warmth of the teacup handed to me by a Raslet servant when Paiden complained.
“It’s quite rude to leave a guest while showing them around the castle.”
“They said something urgent came up.”
“Is welcoming Rowen not more important than that urgent matter?”
From Raslet’s perspective, it might be so.
In the south and the nearby capital, Rowen was a recognized authority, and even Paiden, my father’s retainer, could walk with his head held high there, but the north was different.
Everyone who knew about the crime committed by my father against the previous Duke of Raslet was already aware of it.
It wasn’t brought to trial simply because there was no direct evidence.
“We don’t know what the matter is. Besides, I did refuse when they offered to call someone else.”
“Shouldn’t the Duke of Raslet have come to greet you in the first place? After all, you are betrothed by imperial decree…”
“That’s because we arrived early. He had a separate schedule set aside, but we couldn’t coordinate with him.”
Merwen had made it clear from the beginning of the tour.
They had adjusted their schedule to fit the shortened time, but we had arrived earlier, which meant we missed Sioden, who had stepped out for a moment.
It was absurd that he had stared at Merwen so intently, yet hadn’t listened to what she was saying.
Paiden fell silent, seemingly without anything more to say. It was then that I heard a knock on the door from outside.
It was probably Merwen returning. I gestured to the servant who was attending to me to open the door.
As I set down my teacup to finish touring the castle, Paiden asked,
“Why are you going through with this marriage, Miss?”
I could understand why he would ask such a thing.
He meant for me to remember that I was still under my father’s control, whether in Rowen or Raslet.
I suppressed the urge to twist my lips and answered him.
“Because my father needs it.”
“I see.”
It was a statement that didn’t fit the context. It should have been something like, “You know very well; don’t forget that fact.”
I raised one eyebrow and looked at Paiden. His gaze was directed slightly above my head, as if he were looking at something behind me.
When I turned around, I found cold blue eyes looking down at me. It was Sioden.
With a face as cold as white snow, he spoke.
“According to Merwen, you were supposed to be touring the castle.”
“……”
“Do you need more guidance?”
Having just returned from outside, a chill of snow and wind emanated from him. But what truly felt cold was not the chill that entered with him.
It was the piercing blue gaze looking down at me.
The emotions contained within it felt like sharp shards of ice, causing me to freeze instinctively.
I barely managed to move my lips to respond to him.
“No, I’m fine.”
Sioden watched me for a moment as I spoke in a voice that was almost a whisper, then he sneered.
“It seems you’ve adapted well to Raslet. I can see you’re already starting to have complaints.”
It seemed he misunderstood what Paiden had said. I opened my mouth to express that my thoughts were different.
However, Sioden turned away faster.
“Rest. You must be tired from your long journey.”
As he walked toward the door, he commanded the waiting servant beside him in an indifferent tone.
“Show the lady to her room.”
After that, there was the preparation for the wedding.
Paiden was busy giving various instructions while laying out the items brought from the south as part of the dowry.
All the items brought from the south were quite luxurious.
Of course, it wasn’t that my father truly cherished me and prepared these things; rather, it was an investment to support his own plans.
The commotion caused by Paiden was so loud that I could hear the complaints of those who originally lived in Raslet Castle.
The eyes of the servants watching us were never kind from the start, and now it seemed that those earlier looks would feel gentle in comparison.
Even Apple, who was usually indifferent, noticed that the situation was worsening.
“Should we quiet down Hale?”
One morning, as Apple brushed my hair, she whispered.
Hale was Paiden’s servant, so she meant we should silence Paiden.
Despite Apple’s dull and blunt personality, she had a talent for persuasion.
She didn’t explain the process of handling things to me precisely.
However, it was better for Apple not to get involved with Paiden. If she caught Paiden’s attention, it would ultimately lead to my father hearing about it, and my father had a tendency to take Apple hostage and threaten her.
“It’s okay, I’ll talk to him.”
Apple gave a troubled expression but silently continued to brush my hair.
That afternoon, I went to find Paiden, who was still making a racket decorating the castle.
He had taken over one of the spaces assigned to us by Raslet, which was the study.
Originally, it was meant for me, but during the wedding preparations, Paiden was using it.
“It seems too noisy; wouldn’t it be better to be considerate of the people who originally lived in the castle and tone it down a bit?”
“This way, it will definitely stick in their minds.”
As I watched Paiden, who was answering without even looking back while examining the luxury items sprawled throughout the room, something welled up inside me.
“If it sticks in a bad way, it will be of no use…”
“The lord commanded that it be done noisily.”
Paiden answered without listening to the end.
Whenever I opposed his opinion even slightly, he would threaten me by mentioning my father at every turn.
Heat rose to my face. Normally, I would let it go considering that my words might reach my father, but today I felt that I couldn’t do that.
The moment I stood up to say something right in front of him, I heard a knock on the door.
“Miss, the lord has come to see you.”
