Marquis Celestine took a quick look at Pervin’s face. His face showed no emotion, as if nothing had happened. Or maybe he’s just hiding his emotions. Because Pervin was a cold person who did not express his feelings well. Pervin opened his mouth as he continued to look at the papers.
“So?”
“…So? Aren’t you curious about her at all?”
“Lance, don’t you think it’s rude to mention another woman’s name over your wife?”
Pervin’s cold, sharp eyes met Marquis Celestine. Marquis Celestine touched her nose in embarrassment. He didn’t know much about her friend’s childhood. Having lost her mother shortly after her birth, and due to her father’s neglect, Pervin spent her childhood confined to her country estate with her nanny, Madame Tilly. The person who shares those times is Lady Stella Belle, who has a fief in a nearby area. Didn’t you say that you two were childhood friends? I’m sure I heard that from Lady Belle. But I don’t know why Pervin’s reaction was so cold.
“Uh… Right.”
“Okay then, Lance, if you’re done with your business, let’s go. I guess I have to see His Majesty the Emperor.”
“You are enjoying a chat with His Majesty in the backyard right now?”
Pervin snorted at him.
“I also want to enjoy talking to my wife. Whether it’s the push or the body.”
“What… what?”
He left behind an unknown statement and disappeared. Marquis Celestine, who was left behind, scratched his curly hair.
“It’s clear that the Duchess has gone through an upheaval that seems to have changed her person, but why is that guy, Pervin, like this? It looks just like when she was newlywed, that…”
* * *
“We need to grab attention this once!”
This place, filled with excited people’s voices, is Carlyle Mansion. Numerous people were moving around the large mansion as if a grand event was taking place.
“How long has it been since we merged? This time, we will definitely find a successor…”
“A baby who received the sacred blood of Verma and the blood of Carlisle. How amazing is this?”
“Hurry and bring the musk, Marianne. I have to bury it with my wife.”
I was currently in the process of polishing my entire body, surrounded by employees. Listening to that damn ‘successor’ until her ears hurt. It seemed like they were trying to wash me, dress myself, and polish my entire body to get her in the best shape for the wedding. She put on pale makeup, wore an ivory dress with gorgeous lace in various places, and sprayed light perfume all over her body. Eventually, even a noble yet sinister-looking musk appeared. That’s when Marianne’s face melts as if in ecstasy, as she appears holding the musk. The maids who helped with the dressing also looked mesmerized, as if they were intoxicated by the smell of musk.
“Oh my, it smells so good.”
“I want to hug my wife… Breathe! Why do I think like this!”
At this time, I also feel dizzy due to the musk smell. Mrs. Tilly hid her musk pouch deep in the hem of my dress. Without even realizing it, I was struck by her lightning-like movements. In her confusion, she rummaged through her dress, but could not find anything, as she had hidden it well under the fluttering hem of her layers.
“You don’t have to go this far, Mrs. Tilly.”
Mrs. Tilly smiled sinisterly and she assured me:
“Ma’am, this is an opportunity that has come for the first time in several years, so we must seize it tightly. Marianne, please bring some more rose oil.”
Marie Anne smiled pleasantly as she hung on my arm.
“What if you get drunk on musk!”
“Huh! Here you are.”
Marie Anne rubbed her eyes as if trying to come to her senses.
“The musk smell was so captivating that my eyes immediately rolled back. It feels like becoming a wolf.”
“Marianne! You dare make fun of her mouth just because your wife is watching over you!”
“No, it’s okay.”
I smiled and nodded at her. I tried to put my hand into the hem of the dress to find the musk and remove it, but I couldn’t find it because the hem of the dress’s petticoat was so abundant. Mrs. Tilly dabbed a little of her rose balm on the back of my neck, and she said,
“I’m sure you’ll be able to win the master’s heart this time, ma’am. I know very well how much pain you must have had while getting married from Verma to this unfamiliar place. Moreover, since the master did not like her and she did not have children, the elders of the Carlisle family would not have been very pleased with her. So, take this opportunity to make sure you do it. That way, you can spend the rest of your life comfortably here.”
I did my best to hide my embarrassment. Marie Anne, who was doing her hair, looked in the mirror and looked ecstatic. She added excitedly that she often met maids from surrounding noble families at the market.
“Other kids often say that their wife is pretty or that their girl is the prettiest, but I don’t think that’s ever the case. “Ma’am, instead of just staying at home like this, can’t you go to meetings held at other noble residences?”
I shrugged.
“I still have to go to the ball held at the imperial palace next week.”
Mrs. Tilly said, “Oops,” and hit her thigh.
“Oh, so I guess I should order a dress right away? Which clothing store should I contact…? Everyone is probably itching to do business with us, but we have to choose carefully. Since this is my first transaction, I need to be careful…”
I remembered the closet in my room. Although there were only strong colors such as black and red, there were still quite a few dresses.
“You have a lot of clothes in your closet, Mrs. Tilly. “Does she really need to buy more?”
Mrs. Tilly showed a nuance in my words as if that was absolutely not the case.
“The clothes you wore when you got married have long since gone out of style. It was already 4 years ago. You have to put everything back together. bud! At this point, it would be better to buy some accessories. Now you’re going to be doing extracurricular activities, but you can’t just wear that silver bracelet forever. and…”
At that time, I was wondering when to stop Mrs. Tilly’s endless chatter. A young butler who brought a message from the imperial palace knocked on the door.
“This is a message from the master.”
“Oh, I guess it’s a message from the master telling me to groom myself and wait!”
In this situation, I, the wife, stayed still, but the maids next to her became even more upset. I quickly opened the scorpion. And I breathed a sigh of relief.
“He is telling me to go to sleep first.”
“…yes?”
“That can’t be possible. The look in my master’s eyes today was such a passionate look that he definitely said he would hold you in his arms tonight.”
“There’s no way the master with such romantic eyes would go back on his promise! Please read it again, ma’am!”
In this situation where the maids were excited and could not believe the authenticity of the letter, I shrugged my shoulders and read the letter.
“It says this. ‘I have to work overtime at the emperor’s request, so don’t wait and go to sleep first’.”
The servants sighed as if they were used to it.
“Ah… It’s overtime again…”
“How on earth can His Majesty the Emperor treat our master like that…? Get me to work.”
“The shadows under your eyes look deeper…”
They looked at me, the product of what they had been holding on to for hours. I jumped up, let down my hair, and tried to put on a more comfortable dress rather than a fancy dress. But the maids surrounded me and actively tried to dissuade me.
“Can you please just wear this until you go to bed, ma’am? No, if you just dress like this until evening, I won’t have any time to spare!”
“You’re pretty even without decorations, but I can’t tell you how beautiful you are when you decorate yourself like this, ma’am. Please, if you can please our eyes a little more…”
“This hairstyle is the masterpiece of my life! Please stay like this just a little longer…”
The maids looked around me with sparkling eyes. It was a bit awkward that they treated me as if they were a piece of art they had created, and that they were full of affection for me. Well, winning their hearts is one way to escape from the image of a bad place. I nodded willingly.
“Let’s wear this until dinner, then.”
The maids put their hands together and looked ecstatic.
“Thank you!”
“It’s really lucky to be able to see a living statue right in front of you.”
“See you later in the evening, everyone. I’m going to spend some time in the garden and then come back.”
Mrs. Tilly quickly stepped forward.
“I will follow with you, ma’am.”
“I’m going to organize my thoughts by myself.”
Mrs. Tilly smiled sweetly at me with a look in her eyes that said, “Ah, I see.” It seemed like I was sad because the meal with her husband was cut off.
“Ah, then please come back. “When dinner is ready, we will ring a loud bell at the sponsorship door, so you can come back when you hear the bell.”
“All right.”
I opened the door and went out.
* * *
When the long-awaited union between the Duke and Duchess was canceled, the heartbroken maids retreated to the first floor in despair. Marie Anne grumbled her heart out to her aunt, Mrs. Tilly.
“Your Majesty, you are truly indifferent. It is not just a few days, but several years since you have been reunited, and you are keeping the master busy with your work.”
Mrs. Tilly answered, turning her bewildered eyes to the sky.
“You probably didn’t know, master, that this is the first time we’ve been together since the first night.”
“I guess so?”
“I guess he didn’t order me to work overtime even if he knew. Oh, whatever.”
Although his tone of voice clearly did not blame the emperor, his eyes were full of blame for the emperor. Why are you interfering with my master’s happy married life, like an Emperor! …Marianne was indignant at the look in her eyes.
“No, you must have known! A son who carries on the noble blood of Verma and Carlisle could become the heir to the throne! Currently, only daughters are being born to Her Majesty the Empress, and my master is also a distant relative of the royal family. Isn’t that why His Highness the Duke of Sibelom, the current successor, keeps his master in check? His Majesty the Duke of Sibelom is not yet married and has no children, so if your wife gives birth to a son from the Carlisle family, the heir to the royal family could be…”
“Oops! Don’t say things like that, my master is such a loyal subject to the royal family…”
Mrs. Tilly silenced her imprudent niece. The moment they were about to enter the kitchen. Her Alfred, who had received a message from her messenger from her imperial palace in her vestibule, saw her and came running. She tilted her head as if Mrs. Tilly was finding her strange.
“Didn’t you already receive the message from the imperial palace earlier, Alfred?”
“Also, the master sent a message to say so. Where on earth are you, Madam?”
“She went out for a short walk in the garden. Why are you in a hurry?”
“No, it’s not that urgent…”
Alfred scratched his head and relayed the message he had heard from the messenger.
“They say they plan ahead and arrive home on time. How on earth did this happen…”
* * *
I decided to have some free time alone. I left the mansion and wandered around the vast garden alone. When Pervin returned from working overtime at the imperial palace, she felt so at ease. Maybe it was because she was avoiding the merger, or maybe it was because her mind was at ease, but her whole body was full of vitality. Even though she is her contractual husband, it is burdensome to marry a man she does not yet know well. Of course, Pervin is seriously good-looking and she has a nice body, but this is just my dark opinion. If I think about it rationally, Pervin doesn’t like me anyway, and I don’t like him either. I was embarrassed and nervous all day, but objectively, it is highly likely that his suggestion of annexation was something he wanted the employees to hear. This is not really a call for annexation. Let’s not forget that my goal is to complete the contract marriage period and obtain a peaceful divorce. I wandered around the garden aimlessly. It looked like a lot of effort had been put into making it tasteful yet truly cozy. I admired the garden, passing through flowers that were clearly planted by a gardener. As soon as I reached the end of the garden, I felt like I had to go back to the mansion. As I was about to turn, I saw a small cabin deep in the distance.
“…What is that?”
I approached the cabin cautiously. The door was slightly open. He knocked on the door and spoke softly.
“Is there anyone there?”
Inside, there was only a small table, a small bed, and an unlit fireplace. There was no sign of anyone, so I cautiously went inside. Overall, it was a clean house with no dust on the inside, as if someone had lived in it only yesterday. There was a faded red carpet on the floor. There was a large tree branch on the wall, and a cozy blanket was placed on the bed. There was a handkerchief embroidered with white lily of the valley on a light blue background in the drawer next to the bed, so I carefully sniffed the handkerchief. For some reason, it smelled like grass.
“…Is it the gardener’s house?”
As I was rushing out, I heard a faint cry coming from somewhere.
“Hey!”
I turned my head. A kitten covered in black fur was crying in the corner.
“Oh my, what should I do with this…”
I quietly walked to the corner and knelt down. The black kitten made eye contact with me, its green eyes shining. The kitten kept coming towards me as if it wanted to touch me, but I quickly avoided it.
“No, if I touch you, your mother might abandon you. You smell like a human.”
The kitten seemed to have given up and sat down on the floor, looking at me. I also sat down on the floor and stared at the cat. I decided to look after the kittens until the mother cat came. I began to doze off in the warm air surrounding the cabin. My back hurt when I tried to sit, so I carefully lay down on the carpet. Before I knew it, dinner time had passed and it was almost 8 PM, but I couldn’t wake up and fell asleep on the floor. I didn’t even know that Pervin, who had come home from work at the imperial palace, was desperately looking for me.
* * *
Pervin asserted his right to a ‘healthy family life’ to the Emperor, who was chatting affectionately with the Empress, and she smoothly withdrew her overtime duties. He eventually refused the Emperor’s order to take dinner to the imperial palace.
“Irwen is waiting. We must go quickly.”
He twirled his heart-shaped cufflinks and sternly informed the emperor. The emperor was anxious to return home to her, so she looked at Pervin, who was in an extremely anxious state, with amusement.
“Do you really want to go home? What’s going on?”
“Irwen hasn’t even had dinner and she will be waiting for me. She needs to go quickly.”
“You are having dinner with the Duchess? In the past, weren’t you the one who stayed in the imperial palace for any reason because you didn’t want to go home? really… A lot has changed.”
“Then let’s go.”
“I was going to tell you that the chef baked delicious bread today. I’ll wrap it for you, so you can take it with you when you get home.”
Pervin took the loaf of bread that the emperor had given her and hurriedly rode her horse. I arrived home in a hurry, but the house, which should have been peaceful while preparing dinner, was now in chaos.
“Ma’am, where are you!”
“Maybe it’s good, I can’t believe I lost my wife in this spacious mansion!”
Pervin dismounted from his horse and caught Madame Tilly, who was running toward him with a brooding look on her face. She seemed to be the only one with reason in the midst of her chaos, and she was leading many people.
“What happened?”
“Sir, your wife went out to the garden for a short walk to take a walk, but it was dinner time and no matter how much I rang or shouted, she did not come back.”
“You must have released someone and searched for them, right?”
“Yes, I looked for it, but they said it was nowhere to be found inside the mansion.”
Pervin’s white face became even paler. Where did Irwen go? Since she was always confined to her room, she may not be familiar with her location around here. Assuming she ran away, the odds of finding her anywhere near her were… No, why do we assume she has already run away? Per Vin shook her head with thoughts she didn’t want to imagine. Mrs. Tilly looked worried as she reported Irwen’s attitude that she had observed earlier.
“Now that you think about it, I tried to go with you on a walk in your garden, but you asked me out, saying you had something to think about alone.”
“…He has things to think about alone?”
“Yes, even though we dressed her up nicely, she seemed to be in deep trouble. I think this is the first time I’ve seen such deep worry written on her face…”
She said she was alone with her thoughts. She seemed worried. She went for a walk alone? … As expected, was the appearance so far just acting? Pervin said with her sigh.
“I’ll look for her, so you can go and finish preparing dinner.”
“But…”
“Don’t worry, I will look for it. She doesn’t know this area very well anyway, so she wouldn’t have gone far.”
“Then I will leave it to you, master.”
Mrs. Tilly bowed her head and retreated to the mansion with the other employees. Pervin began to slowly scan the garden, examining the ground carefully. He said he went out dressed up, so he must have been wearing shoes. That’s right, you can see the shoe prints over there. Pervin, using a technique commonly used when tracking enemies on the battlefield, hurriedly walked.
“…How on earth…”
The place where Irwen’s steps stopped was a small hut. It was a type of villa he often used to relax. Of course, it was too small and frugal to be called a villa. I guess I forgot to lock the door after using it a few days ago. Pervin opened the slightly opened door and went inside. Irwen was fast asleep on the floor heated by the sun. Pervin knelt down on her knees and tried to wake her up. His hand towards her stopped for a moment. Her face in the sunset was so beautiful that he even forgot to breathe for a moment. A rosy blush appeared on her white face, and her waist-length black hair flowed like silk. In the silence where time seemed to have stopped, Pervin touched his lips.
“…It’s mine.”
A possessive remark that came out without him even realizing it. Pervin hastily covered his mouth with his hand. Irwen is still asleep and breathing evenly. Pervin thought as he hugged his knees. Why me… Have you become this bold? When she wakes up, there is no need to express these feelings. She didn’t have the courage to say these things in front of her yet. No, I couldn’t admit it yet. I couldn’t bear to admit that her own decision to be cold toward the woman who had hurled her vitriol at me so easily was shaken so easily. How many minutes have passed? As the sky began to lose its light and a humid wind began to blow, Pervin decided to wake Irwen. The weather forecast said it might rain tonight. We had to get to the mansion before we got stuck in this cabin alone due to the strong rain. At that moment, his eyes twinkled as if hesitating. No, does he really need to wake up? It’s a great opportunity to spend a secret night alone in a cabin.
* * *
Someone touched my body. A cautious gesture that makes you wonder if it will break if you touch it. But to me it was just a tickling gesture, so I wriggled and turned around. Then someone shook me even more strongly.
“Hmm…”
I barely opened my eyes, letting out a sleepy groan. But what you see in front of you is Pervin with a stern face. Wearing the same uniform he wore to work at the imperial palace, he sat down next to me and looked at me. I woke up in a hurry and panicked.
“Pervin, why are you here…”
“This is my personal space. It’s a place where I often rest. Anyway, that’s not important.”
Pervin grabbed my hand and pulled me up.
“Let’s go back to the mansion.”
I withdrew my hand without realizing it as he looked at me.
“No, I do not want to.”
I don’t know why this sound came out. However, this one thing was clear. I was clearly feeling a great deal of pressure about sleeping with Pervin. Much, much more than necessary. I know he has no intention of doing anything to me, but I really don’t know why he’s doing this. So I wanted to make sure he really wanted to sleep with me. Pervin opened his eyes sharply at my stiff reaction.
“Why do you hate it?”
“I need to go to bed with you.”
“You don’t like that? Irwen, isn’t it natural for good couples to sleep in the same bed?”
For a man who is going out together for the first time after the first night, why is he so shameless? His calm face contrasted with my nervous reaction. Without realizing it, my voice rose slightly.
“Be clear here, Pervin. You don’t want my child anyway. We’re going to get divorced in a year anyway, so is there any need for us to sleep together?”
“It’s not that I wanted it first, because you said you would do your duty.”
“But you don’t want children from me, Pervin.”
Pervin’s eyes sparkled. His green eyes darkened dangerously as he looked at me, but I didn’t even notice him because I wanted to make sure things were clear here.
“Anyway, let’s make this clear and move on. Even if we share the same room, we won’t share the same bed. Moreover, the mere fact that we are merging makes the servants fuss as if a child has already been born. I understand that you hate me, and even more so, I know that you have no expectations for our child…”
“…I’ve never done that.”
“What did you say?”
Pervin looked straight at my face and then turned his head. A muffled whisper flowed from his face, which was flushed all the way to his ears.
“It’s not that I don’t want to.”
I was frustrated that I couldn’t hear him, so I walked closer to him.
“I can not hear that. “Say it a little louder.”
Rather than answering my question, Per Wien pursed his lips. But his face became increasingly red. Even as he glanced at me, he clenched his fists as if he was trying hard not to come closer. I could see the veins on the back of his hand popping out as if they were about to burst. For some reason, it looked like he was holding in something. But why do you keep looking at me? I stepped back without realizing it. Per Vin bit his lip, as if he was in pain or resentment. A low moan came from his lips, bright red like a ripe apple.
“You… What on earth did you do to your body?”
“What is that… oh!”
Pervin put his hands on my back and buried his face in my shoulder.
“The scent of your body drives me crazy.”
—————————————————————
Translator Note:
Hello there! This is RJR. I hope you liked it <3
If you like my work please support me with Ko-fi or Patreon. Next post will be released on November, 28.
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