Chapter 6 Grounding
The tone was even more casual than the question of why they didn’t use maids to prepare the food.
This time, the answer came quickly.
“Who wouldn’t? You are the Red Peach of the Astrakhan Empire. You are Delphine Pembroke, the pride of House Pembroke.”
He spread his arms in a theatrical, exaggerated manner.
“The day the news of the Earl’s treason broke, everyone in the room lamented that her beauty was too precious to be lost to the dew of a prisoner for the sins of her father.”
He smiled as he finished.
So, you mean to tell me that you caught me in the middle and married me?
No, if that’s the case, why didn’t you take me yesterday…?
As far as Delphine knew, there were three reasons for a nobleman to marry.
An heir, a marriage of convenience, and lust.
She had not yet met any of these three.
Delphine dropped her grip on her comb and studied him in the mirror.
Fully dressed in uniform, he slowly sheathed his longsword at his waist.
It was the sword that had cut her father’s throat.
“Shall we stop for breakfast, My Lady?”
He spoke to her in a smooth tone as he finished reuniting.
Delphine, her eyes darting to the sword at his waist, replied a beat too late.
“…Yes.”
***
He didn’t eat much for a man of his size.
He looked like a man used to sleeping little, eating little, and working a lot.
“I’ll be back before dinner, My Lady.”
After a quick breakfast, he bowed gracefully to her and left the manor.
Delphine stood silently at the window of her quarters, watching him leave the castle entirely.
His massive frame shrank to a dot as he mounted his horse.
As she watched him, Delphine turned to Anna, who was arranging the bedding with the maids.
“Anna, what do you think?”
“Yes, My Lady. About what?”
“About Ioannes.”
“Oh, my. You’ve decided to call him by his first name already? Ho-ho-ho. You must be getting on well. Ugh. I’m glad, I was getting worried with all the rushing around-.”
“…Anna, what are you talking about?”
Anna put on a nonchalant face and chatted away as usual.
“What I mean is, after what happened before we got married, I was worried…”
“No, I mean that man, Ioan Pride, isn’t he strange?”
“What? The master?”
“The… master?”
“He’s married to you, Lady… So he’s the master now.”
Anna blinked innocently at her.
Something was off.
Wasn’t it she who had led her to the hall three days ago, saying, ‘It must be Ioan’?
Delphine turned to Betty, the other Pembroke maid, who was making up the bed with Anna, and asked again in a panic.
“Betty, Betty, what does you think?”
“Yes, Lady. What is it?”
“He look so much like ‘that’ Ioannes! And then out of nowhere, an imperial hero? Marrying me? Do you think that makes sense?”
“Yes. He appears out of nowhere, and saves a young lady from an unjust death because of her father.”
“Ho-ho. I mean, it’s like a fairy tale.”
“The maids are all in a frenzy, too. They say it’s like the knight and princess they read about the other day.”
Betty giggled gleefully with Anna.
…What is this?
Delphine felt goosebumps break out all over her body, and she could feel a cold sweat trickle down her spine.
She stuttered and asked.
“Do you remember anything at all about Ioannes?”
“What? What do you mean, My Lady…?”
“Well, we don’t know much about Lord Pride, because he’s out on the borders a lot.”
Lord Pride.
The man, the former commoner slave of Pembroke Manor.
He came back from nowhere and killed her father and everyone else in the house.
They saw it all that day, three days ago.
The words tumbled around in her mouth.
Somehow, saying it was like admitting to herself that she was out of her mind.
“Lady, are you all right?”
Anna and Betty looked at her questioningly.
“…Wilson. Where is Wilson?”
Delphine hurriedly summoned Wilson and the rest of the maids.
The answer was the same.
Not one of them remembered Ioan, the former commoner slave.
“Are you all right, My Lady? Your complexion is so bad, you must be tired, take a nap.”
Delphine staggered over to a chair and flopped down.
What the hell.
Had the shock of losing her father and the fall of her family in one night drive her insane?
Suddenly, her eyes caught the headline on the newspaper on the table.
[Serial Murder in District 2! – The work of the devil or not?
Recently, a series of crimes have been committed in the capital in a bizarre manner.
The culprit have left certain possible criminal traces, leading to suspicions that the murders are the work of a criminal group.
Investigators are focusing their efforts on people from District 3, and will further strengthen security at the barriers].
…Devil?
Delphine’s face went white and she laughed in vain.
She’d thought she’d been possessed by a fox, but now she felt like she’d been possessed by a devil.
***
“I’m getting ready to leave.”
Delphine’s waxy white face had been silent for a moment, but suddenly she spoke.
She wanted to get out of the house and see what was going on.
At the word, Anna and Betty immediately released the cleaning tools in their hands.
“Yes, My Lady.”
Growing up lonely in the mansion where her mother had died, she had always been friendly to her users.
But only within the confines of a master and servant relationship.
Born to a venerable Earl and raised in a somewhat harsh discipline, she was destined for the imperial court.
As such, Delphine was far more accustomed to doing than being told what to do, to having opinions than being swayed.
In the mansion or out.
“…What did you say?”
This situation, therefore, was not only completely unfamiliar to Delphine, but also disconcerting.
The escort who stood in front of her, his face as expressionless as a doll’s, repeated the answer he had just given.
“I’ve told you that you are not allowed to go out at this time.”
“Yes, you bastard!”
Anna, who had escorted her to the door, snapped.
“How dare you stand in anyone’s way!”
Delphine gracefully raised one hand to calm the agitated Anna.
Then she straightened her back and commanded sternly.
“Get out of the way. This is my mansion, and what right do you have to prevent me from leaving?”
The escort replied in an even tone.
“You may not leave without my master’s permission.”
Master.
The word caught in Delphine’s throat as she was about to reply.
Yes. She, Delphine Pembroke, used to be the owner of this mansion.
But it was no longer Pembroke House, it was Pride House, and she was no longer Delphine Pembroke.
Delphine muttered idly, her tone helpless.
“I see. I am now, Delphine Pride…”
Her father’s treason had caused the surname ‘Pembroke’ to be removed from the noble rolls.
So she was no better than a commoner now.
…except for the title of the man’s wife, Mrs Pride.
Tsk.
Suddenly, Delphine’s grip on the hem of her dress loosened.
The full extent of my miserable position finally dawned on her.
Daughter of a traitor.
A lowly fallen noble.
Only the location had changed from the dungeons of the Imperial Palace to the Pride Mansion.
She was still the same miserable slave.
“…I see. I dared to leave the prison without my ‘master’s’ permission.”
Delphine’s tone was prickly, and she turned on her heel and headed for the study.
“Ah, baby… No, My Lady.”
Anna, who had followed her in a huff, called after her in a tone of pity.
“I’m fine.”
Delphine replied calmly, trying to maintain her dignity.
But even her pride couldn’t stop her voice from trembling pitifully at the end.
“It’s all right, I’m fine, I’m fine…go see things.”
The shrewd maids quickly bowed and retreated.
Delphine flopped down on the sofa in her study, feeling rather lethargic.
She felt as if the dress she had changed into for the evening was weighing her down.
***
It was late afternoon, nearing dinner time, when Delphine received word of Ioann’s return.
She hesitated for a moment as the maid reported from the study.
“…He’s here, he’s here.”
But only for a moment.
“Is he in the drawing-room?”
“Yes, My Lady?”
“The man… nay, Lord Pride, is in the drawing-room.”
“Yes, yes. He is.”
She sprang to her feet with a swiftness that startled the maid, and went straight out to the quarters.
The door opened without a bang or knock, and the uniformed man standing there slowly turned his head.
“My Lady…”
He hadn’t even put down the scabbard at his waist yet.
He showed no sign of surprise at her sudden entrance.
It was Delphine who had caught him by surprise, despite his calm face.
‘Do I smell… blood?’
The smell stung her nostrils, and there was no way she could forget it.
It was the scent she’d smelled all through the blood-soaked mansion that day.
Pride stood in the doorway, his face as calm and gentle as if he wore a mask.
Then, in the tone of a loving husband, he asked.
“You were going to go out.”
The corners of Delphine’s eyes lifted as she smelled blood and hesitated for a moment in surprise.
He hadn’t even been home that long and he already knew about her?
