Chapter 5
Barath pondered.
Why, in the face of a woman he’d paid a fair price for, he didn’t reach out to touch her, even as her eyes watered.
He had never shied away from trampling on the bodies and minds of others.
Using people without emotion, just for the sake of it? It’s routine, it’s nothing special, it happens all the time.
It was the same with that woman.
He brought her here in the first place just to pregnant his child.
The only thing he was thinking about before the wedding was how she was being treated.
If he lets her out a little bit, how far should he allow her to go so she’s not a nuisance, if he notices her, He’ll lock her up. How long to wait to have children.
Even considering all of these things, he didn’t see her as a human being.
In fact, he was leaning towards locking her up.
She was uninspiring, to say the least, but she was also an eyesore at times.
He changed his mind. It wasn’t until the wedding that he would look away immediately after catching her eye.
Before then, he’d kept to himself, but when Selene started looking at him at the beginning of the night, things changed completely.
Once he laid eyes on her, he couldn’t look away.
Why on earth.
What the hell had he done to himself that night. Or had something changed in her?
Selene’s nose made a snorting sound.
Barath felt strange.
Yesterday was one thing, but today, how could she fall asleep next to him, especially so close?
He stared at her sleeping face.
At this rate, she doesn’t really seem to be afraid of him.
She doesn’t seem to hate him.
Maybe she sees him as a person.
Maybe she thinks of him as a husband…
‘That can’t be.’
If she was, she wouldn’t have dumped her first escort like that.
In truth, Selene hadn’t really dumped him, but that’s how Barath felt.
A few strands of hair fell into Selene’s face.
Barath raised his left hand to brush her hair back, but then clenched it into a fist.
She was beautiful, and his hands were hideous.
Ah. Is that why?
Is this why I can’t hold her?
Barath thought.
‘I think she is beautiful.’
That’s why he couldn’t bring himself to touch her hand, which had become something hideous, stained with blood.
Barath had never found anything beautiful, not if that ‘thing’ was a woman.
He had found it.
What was he to do then?
Take it.
I must pluck the flower to make sure it is mine.
And then I’d have to lock it up, wouldn’t I?
What’s beautiful to his eyes is not beautiful to others.
Selene opened her eyes, startled by the sound of her own drumroll.
Barath was still at her side, watching the fireplace.
Feeling warm from how long she had slept, she took off her coat and laid it on the floor.
She slid onto it and curled up into a ball.
Her eyes closed again.
It was cold outside and warm in the room.
The crackling of the fire was pleasant to listen to, and her coat was cozy.
The man next to her sits silently, seemingly asleep, guarding her side.
Is this a dream?
Selene’s mouth curved into an arc, and her voice came out languidly.
“It’s peaceful.”
Her languid voice drew Barath to look at her as if drawn.
Inwardly, he laughed at her.
Peaceful?
Not knowing what the man next to her was thinking, not knowing what was about to happen to her. Peace?
Peace is what you get when you have the power. You silly sugar bunny of a woman.
Selene’s voice rang out again.
When he offered to pay for the Grand Duke, Zart balked. What does the Duchy of Velias have to lose to buy a woman to sit in the rain?
He told him to choose from among the princesses.
The Grand Duke of the Duchy of Velias, the greatest knight and commander on the continent, with the Emperor of the Empire at his back.
Barath Velias.
There are many nations who would give their daughters in marriage to him, if only they could get in touch with him first.
But Barath dismissed Zart’s proposal.
‘No matter how precious a woman I bring, I can’t bring myself to treat her as precious.’
The time to explore, to get to know, to consider, to respect, is too much trouble. So this is the woman he brought.
A woman who, no matter how she was treated, would not cause conflict between nations. After all, no one would ever know what goes on inside Velias’ mind.
A princess from another country, or even a small noble from any other province, would not be happy to have her daughter-in-law disappear without a single letter from her.
He could list other annoyances on both hands. But Selen has none of that. No family, no nanny, no maids. Just a blood noble with nothing.
Barath hesitated for a moment, staring at the foolish woman sleeping soundly, unaware of his pace, muttering about peace.
He remembered her, shivering from the cold and exhaustion, and how pitiful she had looked.
‘She’s already asleep, so I’ll let it slide for tonight, but don’t expect to see her tomorrow.’
He stared at Selene’s curled eyelashes and argued with himself.
[Day 3]
Someone opened the door, and Selene opened her eyes as the cold air hit her cheeks.
Anna walked into the room, setting a tray of what appeared to be breakfast on the window table and adding some wood to the fireplace.
As she watched the flames crackle in the new wood, Anna stood up and leaned over.
The maternal Anna’s deep bow made Selene uncomfortable, and she held out her hand in embarrassment.
“You don’t have to greet me like that.”
Anna looked at the Grand Duchess her lord had bought her and chose her words carefully.
“Is that how you will treat everyone who greets you?”
Anna said and waited for a reaction.
The Grand Duchess looked embarrassed at first, then flushed red and bowed her head. A commoner, she was told. Anna admitted that there was a certain amount of that that could not be helped.
After a moment, the Grand Duchess slowly raised her head. The blush was not all gone, but her expression was different from a moment ago.
“I don’t know if you realize, but my upbringing as a commoner has left me with a darker sense of etiquette, and I’m still not quite sure how to react in certain situations.”
It was obvious that she didn’t know what she was talking about. Still, it wasn’t too bad for Anna to hear.
Her tone of voice and inflection were well organized and appropriate for communicating with another person.
Anna bowed once more, deeply, and left the room.
Left alone again, Selene sat by the window and enjoyed a simple meal.
After not having such a good appetite yesterday, she was hungry today.
The meal was short, and as she sat there staring out the window, she felt depressed again.
When she thought back, she realized that no one had told her to leave the room.
She just thought that since they did in the original, she should do the same.
Selene thought she needed to get some fresh air and sunshine.
If Anna brought her lunch, she should take it outside and eat it.
***
She put on her coat and left her cloak by the door just in time for lunch, and Anna knocked.
“It’s Anna.”
Selene picked up the cloak she had just put away.
“Come in.”
Anna, also carrying a tray, entered, her eyes wide as she saw Selene preparing to leave.
“Where are you going?”
Selene replied as she pulled on her cloak, buttoning the front and tying the ribbon.
“Yes. I’m going outside. I feel like I’m trapped inside and I’m getting depressed.”
Anna tried to think for a moment about what to do, but Selene was quicker at getting dressed than she thought.
Now there was a good excuse to buy time.
“How would you like to eat?”
“Oh.”
Selene looked at the tray as if remembering, then looked a little disappointed.
“It’ll be hard to carry it out.”
Hearing that, Anna realized that the Grand Duchess probably wanted a picnic. If she asked for the finger food to be brought back, of course, she would, but she didn’t bother to let her know.
Instead, she could move them to a place where they could get some fresh air.
Anna suggested quietly.
“There’s a table at the front of the corridor, and if we dine there, it might be more like a picnic.”
Selene nodded.
It would be outdoors and she could eat with a view of the courtyard.
When she agreed, Anna excused herself and went downstairs first, saying she would make arrangements for them to dine there.
The table was set up on the terrace between the cloister and the courtyard, and Anna had covered it with a tablecloth and put some pretty stones in a small glass jar.
Apparently, flowers were precious, so she used them to decorate.
As she approached, Anna pulled out a chair for her, and when Selene was seated, she served her again.
***
Anna stood by the table and watched the Grand Duchess clumsy handiwork.
She wasn’t sure how much she wanted to teach her. If she was truly to be a woman for her lord’s purposes, a woman for his heir, living only in this inner sanctum, then there was no need to teach her anything.
But after yesterday and today, it seems that this is not the case.
Anna knows the difference between human blood and animal blood. The Lord knows it. Yet he spilled animal blood on the bedclothes, perhaps for the sake of the maids in the outer court.
It’s so that he won’t be accused of not performing the vigil. Her lord would not do such a delicate thing unless he was insane.
The fact that she hadn’t done so in the first place gave Anna much to think about. More than anything else, she noted the fact that the Grand Duchess had even the slightest influence on her lord’s behaviour.
It was as if a seed of hope had been planted in her heart. Could this seed sprout?
Will the Grand Duchess be able to stop his rampage…?
The winds of change were stirring in her mind, and Selene was at the center of it.
