Episode 1.
It was last winter, not long before now, that I met the noble princess who I’d only heard about from the villagers.
I was an ordinary girl who lived with my grandmother in a small village far from the capital.
My grandmother inherited the blood of a fallen aristocratic family, but had neither money nor power. The noble family whose only remaining legacy was its name, had died out. I was a child born to commoner parents, and they either abandoned me or got sick and died.
All I had left was an elderly, sick old lady who constantly talked about the glory of her past. We farmed on a palm-sized land and lived as peasants who could barely afford to feed ourselves.
The lord of this little country town was quite a benevolent man. If you rent even a palm-sized land, you have to pay a certain amount of rent or harvest, and thankfully, the lord understood my and my grandmother’s pitiful situation and let us use the land for free.
Thanks to the lord, who said giving him just one potato from the fall harvest was enough, we were fortunately able to live here without being driven out and starving to death.
About five years after I started living with my grandmother, the elderly woman who hadn’t lost her vigor even after being abandoned by her child, fell sick too.
Usually, when a person got older and their body weakened, they would often start to lose their memories. But that wasn’t the case with my grandmother. She confined herself to her bed and didn’t even take a bite of the apple she loved so much. Her breaths were so heavy and rough it felt like she was going to die at any moment.
“Grandma……?”
I quickly tried to call a doctor to the village, but the doctor, who’d taken three days and three nights to reach the small rural village, only arrived after grandmother’s breaths had stopped.
The next day, a small funeral followed. Villagers who knew her buried her behind the house, and all they could do was pay tribute to the deceased and throw a few words of consolation to me, the bereaved family.
I was fifteen years old. All that remained was a meager amount of money we’d saved for seeds, despite the difficult living conditions, and an aging house. However, even in that situation, there was a hole in the wooden board that we called the door, allowing nocturnal visitors like mice and spiders to enter with the chilly night breeze.
From that day on, the village’s lord treatment changed. He proposed to wed me under the name of protecting me, who’d lost my grandmother and was left all alone. As I said earlier, I was 15, and the lord was a 40-something widower.
Unfortunately, both the lord and the villagers seemed to think that marriage was the best thing to do to save me.
I was a poor, ordinary girl who struggled to read letters properly. Living alone on a small plot of land plagued by frequent famines, I never knew when starvation would strike. With only a small amount of money, venturing into the city meant wandering the streets and entertainment districts, uncertain of what the future held.
And yet I still couldn’t bring myself to understand the virtue of the lord when he wanted to take me in as his wife, not as a foster daughter.
Despite the pressure of an unwanted and almost forced marriage, I remained silent, refusing to give an answer. However, rumors swiftly spread throughout the small village, suggesting that a compassionate lord had taken in a destitute woman who had tragically lost her family. As a result, some people eagerly speculated about the possible wedding date, causing a stir in the community.
All I could do was await the wedding date, the same way someone on the death row dreaded their execution date. Not that I didn’t think about running away, but I didn’t know how. Even if I ran to the city without informing anyone, there was nothing I knew to do but farming. What would I live on?
On that day, a man dressed up in very luxurious clothes came to our village. He wasn’t some man from the village who’d become successful in the city, nor was he some merchant trying to sell something in this destitute village.
“Hello, Mary.”
“Who are you?”
“I’ve come to meet you from the Duchy of Ariadne.”
He was an employee of Duke Ariadne’s, claiming to have come to pick me up.
At first, I had doubts. A famous Duke of the kingdom would send someone to this rural village to see me, who didn’t have many acquaintances even here? It seemed like a new trick to traffic people.
“I’m sorry, but I have nothing to do with the duke’s family.”
With a cautious gaze, I observed as the servant mentioned my deceased grandmother, revealing her to be a distant relative of the Duke of Ariadne. He presented a genealogy document that included the last name of my grandmother, who had long since passed away and been forgotten by everyone.
As if it wasn’t enough that grandmother’s ramblings, which I’d taken to be lies, were true; the employee even offered to take me, the penniless girl who had to marry a widower, away from this place. It was an offer I couldn’t refuse.
Even if it meant living as a servant performing the most menial and lowly tasks within the Duke’s household, whatever that may be, wasn’t it still the Ariadne Duke’s family, one of the largest noble families in the Kingdom of Aeit? Whatever the case, it would be a better choice than barely surviving in this small village.
“The Duke wishes to see Mary. From now on, you’ll be staying at the Duke’s residence instead of here. Would you like to come with me?”
I reached out without hesitation. All I had to pack from the tattered house was a small sum of money and a handkerchief with camellia flowers engraved on it, which my grandmother once cherished.
Disregarding the murmurs, anxieties, and reproaches of the villagers, I confidently stepped into the luxurious carriage. Its interior was incredibly comfortable and spacious, in stark contrast to the old, rough-hewn wagon that I had ridden in just a few times before.
As I crouched down to check if my clothes had made the carriage dirty, the employee climbed in and added that since it would take a long time to get to the duchy, it was okay for me to get some shut-eye.
The forest path, narrow enough for the carriage to barely pass, led us through the small and rundown village until the sky turned dark, resembling the deep blue of the daytime. The journey was quite lengthy, involving a stop at a nearby village for a meal in the middle, followed by seeking accommodation at a small inn once the sun had set.
The reason for the long journey was that the duke’s mansion resided in the heart of the capital, while our village lay in a distant outer region, far removed from his presence.
The servant explained everything about the Duke’s family to me, who was ignorant of it. The position the Duke held in the kingdom of Aeit, and how spacious and gorgeous their mansion was.
And if there was something he did not miss in his explanation, it was the benevolent Duke Ariadne and his lovely daughter Camellia.
“Lady Camellia is eagerly waiting to meet you, Mary.”
“…I’m just asking out of curiosity, but why did you come to me now, all of a sudden?”
They never sent a letter to my grandmother when she was still alive. How did they find out about her death? What were they calling me to the duchy for?
Naturally, the employee, who was only at a low-level position, knew nothing. He just replied that the Duke surely had his reasons, and there was no need to worry.
I can’t recall the exact number of days we spent traveling in the carriage. As I finally settled into the comfortable seat, feeling like it had become an extension of myself, I caught sight of the Duke’s residence. Its grandeur and vastness were so remarkable that even as I drew closer, it didn’t feel like I had truly arrived at the mansion and what lay beyond it.
It took a long time to reach the gates, so I think I must’ve spent at least 20 minutes gazing upon the mansion’s gardens and exterior. Finally, as we approached the colossal main gate, signaling our arrival, the carriage came to a halt, ending its ceaseless motion.
To my surprise, the carriage door opened on its own, revealing my trembling figure inside. Confused and unsure of what to do, I hesitantly disembarked, not fully comprehending the intentions of the servant who extended his hand as if to guide me. As I glanced at the servant’s face, which was awkwardly hidden behind his hand, I found myself shyly scratching my cheek in return
In front of the main gate stood escorts guarding the mansion. The knights who looked down at me with an emotionless face quickly turned to the employee who introduced me to them.
“This is Mary, a distant relative of the Duke. I’ve been ordered to bring her to the lord, open the door.”
Once again, the guards’ gaze shifted towards me, their eyes carefully scrutinizing every inch of my presence, like they were looking at a stray cat sneaking into the family’s home. With a cringe-worthy bow, they silently opened the tightly closed door.
The Duke’s mansion’s beauty was beyond words; with its vibrant colors and breathtaking beauty. Despite the cold winter, the transparent and expansive greenhouse housed flowers in full bloom, reminiscent of spring. Even in the midst of the chilly season, a statue of a smiling baby angel adorned the slightly frozen fountain. In the field, where flowers would bloom anew with the arrival of spring, stood a majestic willow tree. Beneath its branches, a wooden swing, crafted with tightly woven strings, swayed gently.
While looking around the place with my mouth agape, I was forced to come to my senses only after hearing the employee’s voice calling my name. But alas, it was too late. I bumped my head against someone’s chest and rubbed my head, letting out a brief exclamation.
“I’m so sorry…”
I apologized and raised my head. However, what was in front of me wasn’t the face of the employee who I’d gotten used to seeing the past few days, but that of an unfamiliar man.
“Oh, goodness. Are you alright, lady?”
A surprised but friendly tone. When I raised my head, I was encapsulated by a pink hue that seemed to embody a fresh, blossoming spring day. The pink hair, which covered his ears slightly, fluttered subtly in the wind, and eyes resembling the blue of the day’s sky looked at me as he smiled affectionately.
I stood still, unable to say anything, even though it was evident from his appearance and behavior that he was a high-ranking aristocrat.
“Lady?”
His eyebrows, descending in a curious manner, were also tinged with the same shade of pink, further intensifying the sensation of being enveloped in a spring-like ambiance.
Perhaps noticing my insufficient reaction, my barely audible voice as I tried to move my lips, or my dazed expression, he regarded me with a hint of confusion.
“Ah.. yes, I’m alright…”
“Marquis Adelon!”
The employee, who had found me belatedly, hurriedly approached. He promptly bowed his head to the man and apologized on my behalf.
“I’m so sorry. Mary isn’t familiar with the mansion’s structure since it’s her first time here! Please understand.”
“It’s all right. I didn’t walk while looking ahead either.”
He looked at me again, waving his hand lightly at the employee.
Then he held out his white-gloved hand to me, smiling till the corner of his eyes bent.
“It’s Ronan Symphony Adelon. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lady Mary.”
It would be an obvious disrespect to just stare at his extended head. I quickly regained my senses and laid my hand over his.
After holding hands gently, ensuring no harm, we shook them a few times. In that moment, I experienced a comforting and tender touch, almost as if it could float away into the air.
Ronan, with his lips parted, looked up at me and gave a small smile. It was a tender smile that seemed to touch my heart, making it flutter with delight. Was it just a simple coincidence that I felt so uplifted by his warm smile?
Even after he walked away, I stood in the same spot for several seconds, inhaling the lingering scent of lilacs that had passed by.
Love she didn’t fall for the lord’s bs.
Thanks for the translation, the story is very intriguing.