16 - How to Survive as the Wife of a Monster Duke
How to Survive as the Monster Duke's Wife
Episode 16A soft laugh echoed.
"Are you curious?"
Well, if she couldn't see, how would she have spent that first night?
Illyin's face grew even more flushed.
Her body, which had lowered her gaze, was suddenly lifted upward.
"Huh?"
The flustered sound that escaped her was buried by laughter.
It was a sound heard from very close.
Right before her nose, as if about to kiss.
Illyin closed her eyes.
He seemed about to carry her, but the place where he set Illyin down was the table.
Perched lightly on the table, Illyin slightly opened the eyes she had closed.
Whether her eyes were open or closed, nothing touched below her feet was the same.
Whether he saw her flustered state or not, the Duke leaned his body over hers.
As her body, bearing his weight, was pushed backward, Illyin flailed her hands, unsure where to place them.
"Here."
A hot hand pressed her hand down onto the table.
\\
'Ah,'
Aden thought of Illyin, who had been breathing out short breaths.
She seemed very tense.
He wondered if he had been a bit mischievous, but since it was in the past, there was nothing to be done.
The summer fragrance that had permeated the entire room from the moment he entered had borne fruit.
When he wondered why, it turned out the drink she had consumed was liquor made from peaches.
He wanted to spend a long night, but his bride was too much like glass.
In the end, he had no choice but to stop his playful actions and lay her down on the bed.
'Your Highness.'
Calling him that bothered him.
Even though she was different from other women, using the same title irked him endlessly.
'You may call me by my name.'
The voice saying 'Aden,' whether it was due to his mood or not, sounded much sweeter.
'I have something to tell you.'
Before leaning over her again, the bride spoke in a honeyed voice.
He had heard there were women who tried to secure their own interests at the bedside.
Aden gave a light kiss to her nose.
It wasn't as bad as he thought, that too.
He wondered how the tyrant, drunk on feminine charms as seen in books, would become, and realized it must be like this.
'Are you perhaps going on a campaign?'
But it seemed that depended on the woman too.
What Illyin whispered to him at the bedside was completely different from what he had imagined.
'Be careful of avalanches.'
Pfft, a laugh burst out.
At the laughter devoid of tension, his adjutant Aegis turned to look at him.
"Your Highness?"
"Focus."
Aden quickly hardened his expression and placed his index finger to his lips.
Aegis was naturally resentful but simply stared ahead.
The horse he was riding snorted as if it understood its master's mood.
That horse, evolved to run across snowfields, looked very different from the horses of the Sunlands.
'Be careful of avalanches.'
Biften's nickname as the Winter Territory isn't for nothing.
Avalanches are one of the common occurrences here.
Moreover, it was unthinkable that the monsters of the Winter Territory would be settled in places prone to avalanches.
They had lived here for a long time, since before humans inhabited this place, clashing among themselves.
"It seems we'll see them soon."
Aegis said briefly.
The knights of Delos, holding their breath, were marching in formation behind the two.
Aden scanned the surroundings with his deep blue eyes.
The gentle slope with large snowflakes falling heavily was always the common landscape of Biften he had seen since childhood.
Except that soon the territory of the red-scaled Molly Tribe would appear.
'Be careful of avalanches.'
As the words kept coming to mind, Aden ended up laughing again.
He saw Aegis flinch, but other thoughts kept occurring to him more.
He wondered if the lack of tension before the advance was inappropriate, but the peach-colored fragrance that kept eating away at his mind wouldn't fade.
"All forces, prepare to charge."
Aden said in a low voice.
Aegis relayed his words exactly to those behind.
It took only a few seconds for his hand signals to extend to the rear.
There was no need for loud voices when charging.
It was just before they charged.
Aden heard a strange sound.
Rumble!
It sounded like something boiling over, or perhaps a massive object trembling violently.
"What is that sound?"
One of the Delos knights glanced around.
Aden felt the vibration shaking the ground beneath him before the sound.
He raised his hand to stop the knights behind.
Once again, Aegis's hand signals were relayed to the rear in a matter of seconds.
The horses that grew only in Biften had an exceptionally strong bond with their owners.
Most were picky creatures that wouldn't even allow others to ride them, but they complied well with sudden commands nonetheless.
The ranks remained undisturbed.
"This is,"
This area is where the Molly Tribe had established their home and lived for hundreds of years.
It's common for a large-scale storm to hit the Winter Territory in January, causing disasters that turn the ground upside down, but not now.
Surely not.
Aden scanned the surroundings with a disbelieving face.
And in the distance, so far that the cliffs looked like fingers, he witnessed a wide blue light spreading.
"Withdraw."
Aden spat out the words.
Aegis turned to look at him.
"Pardon?"
"Withdraw! Return to the castle!"
At the incomprehensible order, Aegis asked again.
"Withdraw?"
Instead of answering, Aden gestured urgently.
If what he was thinking was correct, they needed to get away from here quickly.
"Your Highness, if we withdraw, it will be difficult to attack this place again."
The lord never gives meaningless orders.
Knowing that, Aegis had no choice but to ask again.
Wouldn't the very reason for coming all this way across the snowfield be lost?
"If the Molly Tribe regains their ranks by April—"
"All forces, withdraw!"
There was no time to explain.
No, it would be strange to explain even if there was time.
This ground tremor could be due to some other phenomenon.
Whatever other phenomenon, unimaginable to him who had spent his entire life in Biften, was entirely possible.
But Aden couldn't dismiss Illyin's story.
If this really was an avalanche, it would be too late if they didn't evade now.
He thought of the figure of his bride, speaking with clear eyes at night.
Even if she had lowered her gaze for fear of meeting his eyes, her violet eyes seen up close were clear.
The knights' horses uniformly turned back the way they had come.
"Full speed withdrawal!"
Aegis's loud voice struck the surroundings.
Simultaneously, the rumbling sound grew loud enough for all to hear.
Only then, realizing their lord's intent, the knights' horses surged forward.
Behind the Delos knights, a massive pile of snow began to slowly collapse.
\\
The Winter Duke returned to Biften Manor that afternoon.
The manor's servants were flustered by his return, which was much earlier than expected.
Only the maids of the Red Deloz had properly prepared clothes and water according to the time of his return.
They said it was thanks to the mistress who had told them early on to prepare clothes and water in case he returned early.
Upon hearing that, Aden immediately went up to the 7th floor.
His mind was full of questions.
In the end, all the Delos knights survived.
The ones who suffered fatal damage from the unexpected avalanche were ironically only the Molly Tribe.
Aden clearly remembered the blue light bursting forth from the cliff top.
He could only think that the Molly Tribe had caused the avalanche using magic.
Monsters using magic wasn't a one or two-day affair, so there was no reason to find it strange.
The problem was the story that the Molly Tribe, even after burying their own home under snow, had somewhere to go—namely, the possibility that they had joined forces with other monster tribes and factions.
It was a matter that needed urgent discussion, but there was a place he had to go before that.
"……"
Without even catching his breath, as if marching, he came up to the 7th floor.
In front of the room where Illyin was certain to be, he barely stopped.
A faint summer fragrance emanated from in front of Illyin's room.
It felt like the excitement was calming.
Aden, who had let out a deep breath, knocked on the door.
"Are you there?"
A very faint presence that could only be heard by straining one's ears.
In Biften, the only person who emitted such a presence would be Illyin.
"Come in."
Aden, who had been about to burst in immediately, was now exhaling even breaths.
The breath that had quieted instantly, as if he had taken medicine, instead scattered his thoughts.
He barely suppressed the thoughts going back and forth dizzyingly and pulled the cord in front of the room.
\*
Thud.
The sound of the light in the room going out.
Illyin blinked with a surprised face.
As expected, even blinking, there was no change in what lay ahead—such was the depth of the darkness.
The door clicked open.
Before the silhouette could be seen in the faint light of the corridor, Illyin lowered her gaze.
A shadow appeared.
By the time she saw the neatly settled hair, even the hand resting on the door, the door closed and everything was shrouded in darkness again.
"You returned early."
Illyin opened her mouth.
His return was visible from here too.
It was an avalanche of such scale that some in the manor had felt the faint vibration.
The Red Deloz knights, who had raced their horses as if chased by it, fortunately seemed unharmed.
She didn't know if there were any deserters, but most seemed safe.
The one at their lead quickly entered the manor, pushing through the busy lower servants who were bowing their heads.
Around that time, Illyin had dismissed the maids who were in her room.
"It seems you knew I would come."
Well, she must have been curious.
How did she know an avalanche would occur?
Illyin had been prepared for this ever since she warned about the avalanche.
But even so, she couldn't just watch the Duke get buried in snow.
Her unfamiliar husband had cherished her sufficiently.
The changed attitude of the lower servants was probably because of that too.
Anyway, precognitive dreams weren't a secret.
It was Earl Arlen, not her, who had treated it as cursed, mad talk and earnestly urged everyone to keep their mouths shut.
She had kept her mouth shut because no one had believed her.
The Duke of Biften would probably be the same.
Illyin thought of her unfamiliar husband.
Whether at night or not, at least during the day, and as the Duke of Biften whom everyone believed in and followed, he was a cautious man.
By now, he must have found out about me.
He might even know what kind of person I was in the Earl Arlen household.
Father had hidden it as if his life depended on it, but the Earl's household wasn't that thorough.
Originally, it was a family far removed from things like intelligence warfare or war.
He might have even found out that I foresaw Sid's death.
But he wouldn't have believed it.
Illyin looked toward the window.
Her voice trembled slightly.
"I saw it from the window."
Illyin was sitting by the bedside.
She thought his breathing was a bit rough.
Was he angry, or had he come up in such a hurry that he was out of breath?
Illyin trembled slightly.
There was no reason for it to be the former, but sounds heard in the dark made one imagine unnecessarily many things.
"……Then you must also know what I'm curious about."
A voice calmer than expected was heard from nearby.
Whether they were sitting side by side on the bed, she felt the side dip in.
As her center of gravity tilted sideways, Illyin flinched.
It was right beside her.
His body touched her slightly tilted shoulder.
"Mmm—"
She had intended to talk anyway.
She thought that the Duke of Biften, who had actually witnessed the foreseen avalanche and returned, wouldn't treat her words as completely absurd nonsense.
Reason told her so.
But Illyin found it hard to remain calm.
