29 - How to Survive as the Wife of a Monster Duke
How to Survive as the Monster Duke's Wife
Episode 29 Aden gleaned a great deal from the stories Illyin gradually shared each night.
Illyin didn't particularly try to hide how she had lived in the Earl Arlen's mansion.
Still, Illyin's position was somewhat ambiguous.
Aden, who had always chosen between drawing his sword to cut or not to cut, found it a little difficult to understand.
Illyin seemed to dislike her father, but she didn't seem to want to stab him to death even if she were given a sword.
Even if she were to face Earl Arlen again now, even if he were to spew out even more harsh words than before, she would probably block her ears rather than try to shut his mouth.
It wasn't because she loved the Baron.
She held a strange fear of the Baron.
"Ten years from now?"
At the strange question, Illyin fell into thought.
The sudden thought was that she would probably just be living.
"Yes. If it's complicated, I'll help you a little more."
Aden rose from his chair, went behind Illyin, and embraced her.
He whispered softly in Illyin's ear.
"If Earl Arlen were to gain much higher honor and status than now in ten years, and live a life of luxury, what would you think?"
The first emotion that came to mind was discomfort.
Illyin pressed her lips into a firm line.
Aden smiled.
"Do you have any remaining affection for him as family?"
'Have you ever dreamed my dream?'
She had abandoned that when she left the mansion.
Illyin shook her head.
"Then it's okay to become as bad as you want."
Aden, looking at her, said in a soft voice.
It's not even bad.
He kissed her head and said.
"Do what Illyin wants. Do whatever you want to do to your heart's content. No matter what you do, once you've seen my face, you won't be able to leave the Winter Territory."
The whispering voice was so sweet.
Illyin knew what his words meant.
He spoke as if threatening Illyin, but in fact, it meant the opposite.
No matter what you do, I won't let you go.
So, feel free to do what you want to do.
"If it's difficult, it's not too late to decide in the Sunlands."
Illyin lowered her gaze slightly.
It would be a lie to say that she had never harbored bad thoughts about her father, who was not like a father, and the underlings who made the years spent in the mansion like hell.
She didn't want them to do well.
The reason she had stayed still in the mansion was because there was nowhere else to go.
But it was different now.
She hoped that they would be in a very bad situation in ten years.
Illyin was surprised at herself for suddenly thinking such a thing.
Aden held her tightly clenched fist and said.
"Illyin is not a bad person."
They are the bad ones.
"But if you're still uneasy, that's fine."
Aden hugged her tightly.
"If you go to the Sunlands with me, I'll show you how bad a person I am."
Illyin just needs to be less bad than that. Right?
Most people in the Winter Territory had never left the Winter Territory.
Because the Milton Tribe had settled in the southeast long ago, human settlements in the Winter Territory had been pushed quite far inward.
Even a thousand years ago, before the Milton Tribe was at the height of its power, Bifalten Castle was a little closer to the Sunlands.
Now, however, it was an abandoned castle site.
Since then, the people of the Winter Territory had gradually distanced themselves from the Sunlands.
Although it varied depending on the Duke's disposition at the time, the basic thought of the people was close to 'the Sunlands and the Winter Territory are separate.'
To them, the fact that the Winter Duke was one of the empire's citizens was a useless, forgettable fact.
No matter how much the Emperor of the Sunlands flew and crawled, he couldn't come to the Winter Territory.
The Winter Territory has its own laws.
Of course, the manpower and supplies needed to go to the Sunlands were no joke, so unless one had a certain status, one couldn't even go to the Sunlands.
Not many brave people were willing to go out through the blizzard.
Moreover, the Winter Territory's ability to be self-sufficient was better than people in the Sunlands thought, so there was no particular reason to be interested.
Thanks to that, the Sunlands was an unknown space to the people of the Winter Territory.
The maids of Delos were the same.
They never thought that they would go to the Sunlands in their lifetime.
So they were thrown into confusion by the sudden order.
[Select someone to assist the Lady in the Sunlands.]
Until the previous Duke's generation, there were a few maids who had experience going to the Sunlands.
The previous Duke of Bifalten had exchanges with the Sunlands.
But Aden was not.
In his generation, almost no one had experience going to the Sunlands.
"How about Sid? She's about the same age as the Lady..."
"She hasn't served the Lady for very long yet."
Thanks to this, a heated debate broke out among the maids over the weighty responsibility of serving the Lady, who was from the Sunfolk.
As was typical of Delos, which did not force orders as much as possible, the maids were given a fair choice.
To go to the Sunlands, or not to go.
Of course, Etra, who oversaw and managed everything around Illyin, had no choice.
She had to start studying the Sunlands out of season.
"Isn't this too thick?"
And the day before departure, maids who knew even a little about the Sunlands gathered on one side and began to pack Illyin's luggage.
Illyin thought that she could just bring a few clothes as she had when she came to the Winter Territory, but from the maids' point of view, that was nonsense.
First of all, there were more than one or two kinds of cosmetics to use for skin care.
Even if the Lady said that she didn't need skin care, they had to pack the items first.
In the first place, if the person they were serving used 1 item, it was the duty of the underlings to pack 10.
"How about this outfit?"
Nessie, a maid of Delos, held up a thick coat.
It wasn't as thickly padded as those in the Winter Territory, but it seemed sufficient to spend the winter in the Sunlands.
"Isn't it too thin?"
But Mito, who was with Nessie, touched the clothes and shook her head.
She brought a coat from inside the dressing room.
It was the kind of clothes that people would wear in the Winter Territory in late January or early February.
When there was no full-blown cold.
"How about this?"
"Isn't it too thick?"
"Then how thinly should we dress?"
Nessie and Mito fell into confusion.
"They said the Sunlands is also winter."
"Is that winter the same as April here?"
Eventually, they even started bickering.
Still, there was no way to get the right answer by discussing the Sunlands among the people of the Winter Territory.
"Would you like me to help you if you have any difficulties?"
At the voice that suddenly rang out, Nessie and Mito, who had been arguing without realizing it, frowned.
"You can't touch the Lady's work without permission."
"Get permission from Etra and come."
"I see. Understood."
Somehow, the soft, gentle voice was familiar.
The two maids carelessly turned around and were horrified.
Illyin was nodding and turning to leave.
"Oh my, Lady!"
Nessie and Mito succeeded in stopping the Lady, who was about to go straight to Etra.
"We're so sorry!"
"It's okay."
Illyin smiled.
It seemed that the two maids had thought it was the voice of another new maid.
"But are these the clothes you're going to take with you when you go to the Sunlands this time?"
Illyin pointed to the clothes piled up on one side.
Nessie bowed deeply.
"Yes, Lady. We prepared something a little thicker because they said the Sunlands is also winter."
Illyin looked at the clothes the maids had prepared.
They were a little thin in the Winter Territory, but they were too thick to wear in the Sunlands.
"This is..."
Above all, even among the nobles, there were no people who wore such thick clothes in winter.
The more noble they were, the more they tried to be fashionable, enduring inconveniences such as cold and heat.
Illyin chose her words as she looked at the clothes, which looked chubby and even cute.
"—Somewhat, like Winter Territory people's clothes..."
Nessie and Mito looked at each other at her words.
"Is it too thick?"
"Yes. It would be better to wear a little thinner clothes in the Sunlands."
Illyin, who spoke carefully, looked around the dressing room.
There were not many clothes that were this thin in the dressing room.
Perhaps they didn't know how much the Sunfolk felt the cold, so they didn't prepare properly.
"Since we're going for the Essid Merchant Group's business, I think we'll go to one of the merchant buildings... I think it's okay to wear these clothes and go, and if we stay for a long time, we can buy more."
Illyin spoke carefully.
Then she flinched.
"Ah... Perhaps there's no allocated budget for this trip,"
Mito shook her head.
"That can't be! His Highness ordered us to prepare without any shortages."
Illyin thought of Aden at her words.
'If you go to the Sunlands with me, I'll show you how bad a person I am.'
She had impulsively decided to go with him at his words, but it was true that she was a little worried.
What should I say when I meet my father, that person?
