3 - How to Survive as the Wife of a Monster Duke
How to Survive as the Monster Duke's Wife
Episode 3: At that moment, the Merchant Leader's face subtly changed.
Another person might have just thought he was smiling again, but Illyin knew better.
She had seen countless times how the Maids in the Earl Arlen Fief subtly changed their attitudes.
Mostly it was with the newly arrived Maids.
They would realize Illyin's position in the mansion and subtly start to look down on her, showing a strange change in attitude.
But the Merchant Leader was the opposite.
It was a more serious reaction.
Confirming that, Illyin spoke again.
"Biften won't trade with many places. It's also a place everyone avoids interacting with."
She handed the Merchant Leader a letter she had written herself, instead of a letter stamped with the Biften family crest.
"It seems difficult to believe that a Merchant Leader who delivers goods to the Biften family now, not even in summer, has no connection to the Biften family."
If he were going to the Biften Territory, where even in summer the Cutting Wind makes it difficult to approach, in this weather, it was almost certain.
Illyin continued.
"You are at least friendly with, or perhaps even loyal to, the Biften family. Then you have a duty to deliver my letter."
"Why is that?"
The Merchant Leader asked back.
He no longer denied it.
"As has been the case every time, if there is no one who wants to become a bride this time either, I will enter the Biften family immediately without needing a bride competition."
Illyin said softly.
"Then at least I will become the mistress of the Biften family or stay there as a guest."
She tilted her head slightly.
"Is there still not enough reason to deliver my letter?"
"...I understand."
The Merchant Leader finally bowed his head.
"I will deliver it as soon as possible."
"You can check the letter if you need to."
It's not some sweet love letter that others shouldn't see.
Illyin thought.
The Merchant Leader shook his head.
"No. But..."
The Merchant Leader looked genuinely curious.
"How did you know?"
He was referring to the relationship between Biften and the merchant guild.
Illyin indirectly conveyed her intention not to answer.
"More than that, I want to hear the Duke's reply quickly."
After all, no one would believe her even if she said she had a Precognitive dream.
It was exactly one week later.
[We welcome the visit of Lady Illyin de Arlen.]
A letter stamped with the Biften family crest arrived.
It took three days even to the Boro Territory near the capital.
But how it only took a week to go all the way to Biften at the far north was a mystery.
[We will have a carriage waiting in front of the Arlen Fief. You may board the carriage whenever you wish.]
The content of the letter was polite but also seemed indifferent.
Come if you want.
We won't be waiting eagerly.
Was it just her imagination that it seemed that way?
Illyin, taking her eyes off the letter, looked out the window beyond the mansion's fence.
A strange carriage was visible.
But there was no noble family crest visible to identify whose it was.
Illyin lowered her gaze back to the letter.
[The coachman has the Biften family's emblem.]
With this, there was no worry of getting on the wrong one.
Since what she had been waiting for had arrived, there was no reason to delay any longer.
Illyin rose from her seat.
"What is it this time?"
Earl Arlen, whom she was seeing again after a week, naturally did not welcome her.
He seemed very displeased with her repeated visits.
Illyin quietly stared at her father.
Was he a good father when she was young?
Not at all.
He was someone who cared more about the family's image than his own family.
Instead of feeling sorry for his insane wife, he was angry that mud had been splattered on the name of the Arlen family.
There was nothing to let go of before leaving.
She had no memory of being loved by her father.
"I have decided on a marriage partner."
"What?"
Earl Arlen was naturally surprised.
Marriage was, after all, a celebration for a noble family.
Depending on which family one married into, the things that had to be shown to the outside world would change.
"Which family?"
"The North."
Illyin only answered that much.
Earl Arlen openly clicked his tongue.
The largest territory in the North, the Boro Territory, already had a mistress.
The small territories around it were only minor families whose names were far below that of the Arlen Fief.
'It's better not to reveal it.'
Concluding that, Earl Arlen gestured.
It meant to go out.
There was no point in proclaiming the marriage anyway.
It would only drag the family's name further down.
"Then."
She didn't expect to be greeted anyway.
Illyin turned her body.
"Illyin."
At that moment, the Earl called her name.
Illyin paused.
It was the first time in over ten years that she had been called by her name by her father.
"Yes."
Without realizing it, an answer came out in a slightly softened voice.
As their eyes met, Earl Arlen asked.
"Have you ever had a dream about me?"
"..."
Illyin scoffed.
Even the slightest expectation disappeared.
"No."
Earl Arlen did not call her a second time.
No one came out of the Arlen Fief.
Yes, now both my father and mother will live as if I don't exist.
The underlings are the same.
Illyin did not look back twice at the mansion that was receding beyond the carriage window.
Because she would never return.
"Biften..."
Illyin looked out of the carriage.
The carriage, which had quickly left the capital, was heading north.
The coachman, who wore a sword with the Biften family crest engraved on the end of the handle, silently increased his speed.
The road was well paved, so it didn't shake too much, but it was uncertain whether it would be the same until they arrived in Biften.
Illyin repeatedly fastened the thickest clothes she had brought from the mansion.
Biften, where even finding a corpse frozen to death was difficult.
It would be difficult to endure with the winter clothes she wore in the capital, which boasted a relatively mild climate even in winter.
"The coachman doesn't seem to be wearing thick clothes."
That might be because the coachman was from Biften.
Illyin looked around inside the carriage.
The seats made of black microfiber velvet were plush.
The walls were also covered with plush velvet fabric containing soft cotton, perhaps to block the wind.
More noticeable than the decorations was the meticulous effort to prevent cold wind from seeping in through the window gaps.
"What is this?"
Illyin examined the cloth placed on the opposite seat.
It had a silk-like sheen, but the texture was somewhat like cotton, and it was blue.
The luxurious cloth with silver trim was so warm that her fingertips twitched.
It felt like the cloth itself was generating heat.
Was it a cloth only made in Biften?
There was no way a noble lady who had to be sensitive to dress trends would have an unfamiliar cloth.
Even if Illyin didn't engage in social activities, she had experience welcoming guests of the Earl Arlen Fief several times in place of the Countess, who had madness.
She had been exposed to a lot of clothing, but she had never seen such a cloth before.
Was it okay to touch it?
If it was a precious item that shouldn't be touched, it wouldn't have been placed inside here.
However, there was no box or anything like that to store the cloth.
Was it there to cover up if it was cold?
Illyin carefully unfolded the cloth.
It was close to sky blue, but it was a mysterious cloth that reflected a purple sheen when exposed to outside light.
It seemed closer to a veil to put on the head than a lap blanket.
It was so thin that you could see through the cloth.
Illyin carefully placed the cloth on her head.
As her vision was slightly covered with a blue light, a warm energy spread to her Exposed neckline.
"Wow,"
Illyin exclaimed.
If this was a common item, the people of Biften might have different clothing from the people of the capital.
'I'm really going to a different place.'
A place where there was no exchange with the empire, so much so that it could be called the Biften Duchy rather than the Biften Territory.
Could she adapt well?
And could she survive?
An unfamiliar land, within the same empire, but there was no one to punish the Duke of Biften for not following imperial law.
In fact, it was like the Biften family's own country.
A place where she didn't know a single person.
Even if she successfully completed the first night, she didn't know what would happen if she fell out of favor with the Duke of Biften.
Besides, the Duke of Biften...
'You must not make eye contact.'
The story that a noble who first made eye contact with the Duke of Biften died frozen stiff was dismissed as a rumor.
However, after the knights under that noble were also found as frozen corpses, the distorted interest in the Duke of Biften abruptly stopped.
Who would want to freeze to death out of curiosity?
'You must never make eye contact.'
The Biften ducal family was even recruiting brides, which could tarnish the family's honor.
They probably wouldn't freeze the bride's body to death, but you never knew what could happen.
Illyin fastened the blue cloth she had put on her head.
She didn't know how fast they were going, but her legs were already trembling.
"It's okay."
Illyin comforted herself.
Her dream had not yet predicted her death.
The outside of the window was dyed white.
The somewhat uniquely shaped carriage continued to run north.
Perhaps to run through the blizzard, the coachman's seat was also provided with a separate compartment, and the horses were also armed with protective gear.
"Wow..."
It was hard to believe that it was close to late summer.
It was as if she had turned the calendar back instead of driving the carriage north, with a blizzard swirling like a lie outside the window.
The white snow, each with a rough appearance, drew white lines and swept past the carriage.
And the temperature inside the carriage also dropped drastically.
To see her breath in late summer!
"Hoo."
She rubbed her hands together repeatedly and breathed into them.
Her hands, which seemed to warm up a little as the white breath touched them, quickly froze even more.
Illyin, breathing again, quickly hid her hands inside the blue cloth.
Only the inside of the cloth was warm.
Clunk!
The carriage shook incessantly.
Fight the cold, or fall asleep.
Even if she fell asleep, she would wake up quickly.
It was a harsh cold that made it impossible to sleep properly.
The tips of her toes were aching from the cold.
Illyin rubbed her legs with her warm hands, which she had taken out from under the cloth.
It was clearly a blizzard, but the speed of the carriage was getting faster and faster.
There were no markings to tell the time, and the sun was already buried in the blizzard and clouds, so it couldn't be seen properly.
Sometimes they passed through cave-like places.
When she thought it was in the mountains, they were passing through places that were covered with snow and dug like caves underneath.
"!"
The carriage shook violently.
Illyin tightly grabbed the wall of the shaking carriage.
The carriage shook as if it would tilt to the side, but it did not stop.
What's wrong?
Illyin turned her gaze to the outside of the window, which she couldn't even see.
"!"
And she covered her mouth without even screaming.
Bright red things were rushing in from outside.
They didn't care about the swirling blizzard.
The creatures that were catching up to the carriage at a fast speed were running on four legs.
Monsters?
Illyin didn't know much about Monsters.
But even the knights of the capital wouldn't know what kind of creature could run at such a fast speed through a blizzard where you couldn't even see ahead.
"I will run faster!"
The coachman's voice was half-buried in the rattling noise.
The other half was buried in the cackling sound of the Monsters running.
