14 - How to Survive as the Wife of a Monster Duke
How to Survive as the Monster Duke's Wife
Episode 14: Aden de Bifelten was originally someone who didn't need to improvise.
He might have needed to in sudden situations on the battlefield, but after inheriting the Lord's Authority, he used his Authority more often than improvising.
But this situation was not something that could be solved with Authority.
'Why is he being like that?'
Thanks to her sharp-eared master, Milo only mouthed the words to Aegis.
Their master really seemed to have a lot on his mind.
"Wouldn't it be better if you just didn't show up in front of the bride as the Duke?"
Milo suggested a simple solution.
There was no way a fragile new bride from the Sunlands would notice if a swordsman of Aden's caliber intentionally hid his presence.
Aden didn't answer.
When Milo tried to say something more, Aegis nudged him.
Aegis was watching the Duke.
He was considering one possibility that was hard to believe.
Why would he bother to go?
Aegis thought about the master's appearance before the bride.
He hadn't seen it directly, but he could hear it well enough from the hallway.
After dismissing everyone around him as the Duke, he specifically met her as the commander of the knights in front of the bride.
There was only one difference between the two roles.
The Lord wanted to talk to the bride face to face.
Even making up excuses that it was okay in Biften when the bride, who found it strange, asked if she could come in.
That was really unlike the Lord.
Aegis thought that he had realized the truth a little earlier than his Lord, who was usually quick to judge the situation.
'Because the bride is a Sunfolk...'
'He still can't get out from under the Sunfolk's skirt.'
That's what the servants of the mansion, who had their livers outside their bellies, were saying.
Of course, Aegis didn't believe that, and even if it were true, he thought it didn't matter if it was the Lord's choice.
Aden de Biften, the master he had watched since he was a child, hated this Winter Territory.
He always wanted to get rid of the harsh cold that devoured his mother.
He also hated the other families who only looked after their own interests, but in the end, he picked up his sword and protected the North.
That was enough.
It didn't matter whether the Lord loved the bride because she was a Sunfolk or for some other reason.
In the room, the Duke was not the master of winter who brought blood, but just a young man.
A young man in love.
"Um... or,"
Milo added when Aden's reaction wasn't very enthusiastic.
Cold sweat ran down the back of his head.
"How about just telling her?"
There was definitely a reaction this time.
Aden raised his eyes and looked up at Milo.
"Tell her?"
"Yes. After all, Madam won't be leaving the mansion."
He was sure that there were only Deloz maids around Illyin.
She didn't seem to be close to people from other families either.
'Is that a Blue Nose item?'
She was even about to take off the cloth she had on her head as soon as she realized it was a Blue Nose item in that cold outside.
Aden slowly tapped the desk with his index finger.
"But then His Highness would have been deceiving Madam from the beginning."
Aegis carefully offered another opinion.
Milo blinked.
He did deceive her, didn't he? Why?
Then, when Aegis stared at him silently, his eyes widened belatedly.
He couldn't say anything in front of Aden and just mouthed the words.
Really? Really? Am I right?
Of course, Aegis had no intention of answering.
When he thought about it, wasn't Milo the one who created all this trouble?
On the day his Lord had already caused an accident, or rather, a visit in the name of checking on her health, Aegis had given orders to the Red Deloz knights.
They probably wouldn't have to go, but if they went to deliver a message to the bride, they could go into the room.
Aegis couldn't bring himself to tell the knights, who were buzzing at the strange order, what their master was thinking.
Instead, he just added one word.
Be sure to ask the bride for her opinion before entering.
It was a strange order even to him, but it was all he could say.
It was only Milo who was out on assignment and didn't hear the order.
If he noticed something strange, he should have stepped back, but what was he supposed to do if he refuted the Lord's words head-on without noticing?
Even if it wasn't Milo's fault that he was out, Milo was the one who did it.
"Rather, sell Milo."
Aegis opened his mouth.
Aden crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair.
It was a sign to tell him.
Milo, who was standing next to him, looked at Aegis with eyes that looked like they would pop out.
Sell me? What? Where? Why?
Aegis ignored the silent questions pouring out from the side and gave his opinion.
\\
Aden had a question that he always had these days.
Why am I doing this?
That question returned as a more profound question after walking around the same hallway about four times by chance.
Why am I doing this?
It wasn't like he had nothing to do.
Outside, the movements of the Crimson Molly Tribe were unusual.
Of course, it wasn't an urgent matter right now because he had broken up the group, but if he wiped them out this time, he could make them unable to recover.
But he was putting it off because it wasn't urgent.
And what he was doing was loitering around waiting for the bride to come.
He was even doing such childish things because he wanted to run into her 'by chance'.
He couldn't understand himself.
He was about to turn around.
"Huh?"
The bride appeared in front of him as if it were a lie.
Aden was also embarrassed, but she seemed embarrassed too.
"Greetings."
When he approached, the bride raised her hand to stop him.
"Wait, could you stay there for a moment?"
Her wary appearance was like a small animal.
Aden stopped far away even at the gesture that wasn't threatening at all.
"I heard a different story from what I heard before."
Going straight to the point reminded him of that letter.
I will be your bride.
Aden unknowingly let out a faint smile.
"Yes."
Illyin tilted her head slightly.
"I don't know much about Biften yet."
"Yes."
Aden listened to the quiet story well.
"But it seems strange for another man to come into the bridal chamber."
Aden let out a short breath at her words.
He thought of Aegis's words.
'If you want to meet her without revealing your identity, there is no other way.'
"Who says that?"
Illyin answered honestly.
"Milo of the Red Deloz."
"Ah, that's."
Aden thought for a moment that his head was buried in the snow.
Sometimes in that wide snowfield, there were dangerous places where, if you stepped on them wrong, you would touch the high-stacked snow layer and be buried at once.
If you touched the snow piled high over the cracked ground, the snow would pour into the cracked ground, and the person on top would be swept in at once.
He somehow felt like he was on top of it.
He felt like he would regret it if he said it, so he said it.
"He must have confused it with the etiquette of the Sunlands. He may have been embarrassed to see Madam."
Why wouldn't someone who was relaxed in the trading company be embarrassed? Illyin tilted her head at his words.
Then she suddenly remembered her appearance at that time.
It was the clothes she wore in the bridal chamber.
It was Biften's clothes, so it was thick, but it was just a gown.
On top of that, there were traces of the night that even the maids were embarrassed about... Oh my god.
Illyin covered her eyes.
Etra was right next to her, rearranging her clothes again.
Come to think of it, Den, that person also hesitated in front of me that day, unlike usual.
"...I understand."
"If you're uncomfortable, I'll strictly prohibit the knights from entering according to the etiquette of the Sunlands."
"No."
Illyin sighed briefly and answered.
Her face was still flushed, but her voice was calm.
"It's okay because this is Biften."
It meant that she would follow the customs here.
As Illyin passed him and disappeared, Aden rubbed his forehead.
His heart was pounding more than when he went to attack the Monsters' camp.
He felt like he was being swept away and buried in the snow.
It seemed like he had built it up wrong from the beginning.
'Your Highness!'
Should he have just revealed that he was the Duke of Biften on the first day he met the bride?
To the person who was startled and lowered her gaze as soon as she heard someone calling him?
Aden let out a short breath.
"Etra, I have one favor to ask."
"You don't have to lower your words."
"I'm comfortable with this."
"I was presumptuous."
The conversation between the two faded away.
"It's okay. Then, could you bring someone who can teach me the etiquette of Biften?"
Aden's mind stopped.
He thought seriously.
He had to meet whoever it was first.
There was a need to specially teach the 'new' etiquette of Biften.
\\
Could she be this tired from walking around a little?
Illyin opened her tired eyes.
The bed was soft.
But what she saw was not the ceiling, but the gray, cloudy sky.
Huge snowflakes were falling so heavily that it was hard to open her eyes.
Illyin got up.
"Caw!"
Surprised, she stepped back.
She was in the middle of the Monsters.
Her heart dropped.
She hurriedly moved her feet, but no footprints were left on the snow that she mistook for a bed.
Huh?
"They're coming this way!"
The Monsters with red scales that she had seen before were hiding between the snowdrifts.
Some of them were wearing white makeup to hide their red scales in the snow.
And they all had one thing in common: they couldn't see Illyin.
"Wait for them to get closer!"
Between those who were talking in a phlegm-like, hoarse voice, she saw a swaying Mobile.
Illyin let out the breath she had swallowed.
It was a dream.
A Precognitive dream.
She passed through the Monsters and looked around.
The place where the Monsters with red scales were hiding was on a very high cliff.
She wondered if they were going to attack, but there were too few of them to see it that way.
Below the cliff, she could see something similar to a village.
It was too far away to see well, but it didn't look like a human village.
Instead of castles or mansions, there were structures she had never seen before, so she just thought it was something similar to a village.
In the distance, she could see knights marching towards it.
Behind them, there was a gentle downhill slope.
Illyin saw the person at the head of them.
His neat hair was roughly scattered in the snowstorm.
But even from a distance, she could see his blue eyes looking ahead.
Den?
"Knock it over!"
What?
At that moment, the Monsters next to her reached out.
A blue light burst out from the side.
Illyin was so surprised by the phenomenon she was seeing for the first time that she almost fell off the cliff.
She barely sat down and saw that the Monsters facing each other had a stick in their hands.
The blue light was bursting out from the end of the stick, which was decorated with unfamiliar patterns.
Magic?
Rumble!
The ground shook.
Surprised, Illyin looked down the cliff.
And she witnessed an unbelievable sight.
The ground was moving.
No, the snowdrifts were rising.
The snowdrifts, which had risen as if they had their own will, were about to cover the knights,
Illyin woke up from her dream.
