Episode 4
So the time her gaze rested on him was only a fraction of a second.
April turned her head stiffly again, facing straight ahead, and did not slow her pace.
As if in recognition, the Archbishop bowed silently to the silver-haired man as he approached.
But he didn’t stop walking, not feeling the need to explain to April who he was.
And just like that, April and the silver-haired man passed each other.
April didn’t look back, but the silver man stopped after a few steps and turned around.
His violet eyes flicked past the young priestess and peered curiously at her back, already walking as far ahead as I was.
When she heard no footsteps following her, the young priest stopped walking, turned around, and called out to the man.
“Master, what is it?”
“You know, that woman.”
The pleasant bass voice was full of interest.
“Is she, by any chance, the one you said had a soul wedding today?”
“Ah! Yes, that’s right. April Lebelne, who was married today, no, indeed. The Countess April Falcon.”
“Hmm.”
At the priest’s explanation, the man tilted his head to one side.
His violet eyes clung to April’s back, unwilling to move away, even as her footsteps faded into the distance and the doll was swallowed by darkness and no longer visible.
After a while, when she hadn’t moved, the young priest asked in a strange voice.
“What is the matter, my lord?”
“……just a little.”
The man called Matapju paused for a moment, then replied in an excited voice.
“It’s beautiful.”
***.
It wasn’t until they reached the front of the carriage that April realized it was nighttime.
This was not a normal wedding in so many ways, she thought.
“Well, it’s daytime, so what’s the difference?
No one would object to this unconventional marriage.
April made her disapproval clear on her face and climbed into Count Falcon’s carriage.
She was about to close the door when the Archbishop reached out and stopped her.
“What else?”
April asked, her voice rising at his rudeness.
“Nothing much, I just forgot to tell you that the paladins who served your wife earlier will be escorting me to Count Falcon.”
A nice word, escort, not watch to make sure they didn’t run off halfway.
April snorted and turned away from the archbishop.
“As you wish.”
Then she slammed the door of the shattered carriage.
A moment later, her carriage began to roll. The wheels rattled violently with each roll as if they had been chosen to travel only on gravel roads.
Feeling the discomfort, April thought to herself, This bumpy road is a foreshadowing of my life ahead.
“Oh, I don’t know, I just want an iced coffee.”
In a short time, her body and mind were exhausted. I was in desperate need of a caffeine jolt to keep my mind sharp.
Banging her head against the carriage wall, April eagerly savored the taste.
***]
The carriage finally stopped.
April let out a long breath, relieved to finally be free of the uncomfortable chair.
She drew back the curtains slightly with her fingers.
“I can’t see anything.
Then she made eye contact with one of the two paladins who had followed her to escort her, and she drew the curtains back with a sneer.
Soon a knock sounded and the door opened.
“Excuse me.”
The cold night air rushed into the carriage, and April’s entire body tensed. Her mouth went dry.
The realization that she would be on her own from now on hit me hard.
But April feigned calm, trying not to let her mood and condition show.
“My lady, we have arrived at your home.”
Paladins Ser Johnny and Ser Metzral held out their hands toward her. They motioned for her to take them and dismount.
But April only snorted in response and didn’t take their hands.
The short-lived resentment had already hardened, as she accepted their escort with a casual dignity.
There were no carriage steps, so April simply leaped out of the carriage.
Her legs gave way and her knees buckled. She barely managed to regain her footing and let out a grunt of pain.
“Ouch. Saxin.”
She hadn’t been in the carriage for long, but the cobbled streets still made her body ache.
Straightening up again, April muttered sarcastically.
“I don’t know what’s worse, the road or the coachman.”
Then she turned her head and surveyed the mansion in front of her.
It was dark, but unlike the gardens he’d seen from the carriage, the house part of the estate was still not too difficult to make out with the lights in the windows.
“Mmm.”
April trailed off with a subtle expression.
She tilted her head to one side and squinted again at the mansion in front of her.
It was big.
“Hmmm. Vague.”
April narrowed her eyes even further and made an impatient sound.
The paladins, who had been watching her every move, finally asked a question.
“Madam, what is wrong with you? Is there something wrong with the manor?”
“No. More like…… being more frugal than you think?”
“What? What do you mean?”
I thought that since he could afford to buy a new bride, money must be the only thing he had.
So I secretly assumed that the mansion would be luxurious as well…….
“It does look a bit vintage.
She glanced at the exterior again, suspiciously.
“Well, maybe it’s just my prejudice…….”
Well, we’ll see.
Maybe it’s not what it looks like on the outside, and the inside is just as colorful.
Then April remembered, a beat too late, that my husband, the Earl of Falcon, the owner of this manor, was dead.
“Is it a mournful refrain?
But still.
I must have heard the carriage rolling up, but it was troubling that no one came out to look.
Surely the count’s servants must know that a new bride is coming today.
Shouldn’t the butler and the maid come out, or, am I being ignored already?
April’s eyes quickly narrowed.
Just then, one of the paladins stepped to her side again and bowed slightly, holding out his palm for her to see.
“Madam, I will escort you to the front door of the manor.”
Undeterred, he offered her another escort.
But April only glanced at his hand once more and didn’t take it.
She flicked her hand away like she was swatting away a pesky fly and said impatiently.
“Never mind, you can go.”
“But, ma’am!”
But April made no response to the paladins’ call.
She climbed the stairs to the manor without a backward glance.
As she approached the porch, she saw a foolish-looking footman standing nervously at the door.
Normally, the footman would stand guard at the front door, as he did, and then descend to be the first to greet guests when a carriage arrives to visit the manor.
But he hadn’t moved from his post until April came upstairs.
And as soon as his eyes met hers, the footman’s ears perked up.
His ears perked up as soon as his eyes met April’s. “What are you doing?” he asked with a sigh.
“What are you doing?”
“……?”
April pointed to the closed door with an arrogant jerk of her chin.
“Open the door. Or should I ring the bell myself, like a guest?”
“Oh, no.”
To her relief, the footman moved quickly, his gaze never leaving April’s face.
“What’s the matter, did you get something on my face?”
“Oh, no, honey, oh, no, it’s Mr. ……, excuse me.”
Realizing his mistake, the footman hurriedly broke eye contact and apologized politely.
But April’s face hardened even more at his apology.
“See?
That’s what the footman called himself.
And the fact that he didn’t bother to ask her who she was at this late hour.
Taken together, the footman already knew who April was, which meant he’d been tipped off by someone higher up.
“And you still didn’t come out?
It wasn’t that she didn’t understand her ostracization, but the obviousness of the snapshot was too much to bear.
April jerked the door open once more, her heartbroken.
The footman, understanding her meaning, opened the door coldly and bowed slightly toward her.
“Please come in.”
April didn’t bother to thank him. She pushed past the footman with such urgency that the wind was blowing cold.
And in that moment, she couldn’t help but burst out laughing.
“……ha!”
Or maybe not.
The servants were standing in the entrance foyer. It was as if they had been waiting for her.
“So you didn’t come out on purpose.”
A dizzying mix of amusement and embarrassment flashed across the faces of the dozen or so servants as if they hadn’t thought twice about pointing it out aloud.
