6 - How to Survive as the Wife of a Monster Duke
How to Survive as the Monster Duke's Wife
Episode 6
It was already night.
In the pitch-black night, only the light leaking from the Biften mansion illuminated the surroundings.
Torches flickered at regular intervals in the distance, but they appeared as mere faint lights amidst the thick darkness and blizzard.
A faint light that barely revealed a person's silhouette.
Illin gazed beyond the mansion's walls in the distance.
Lizzie offered her a glass.
"It will help ward off the cold a little."
"Ah, thank you."
It's an awfully small teacup.
Illin brought the glass to her lips without a second thought.
And almost recoiled.
"...Alcohol?"
It's not tea, it's alcohol? The moment it touched her tongue, the scent of alcohol, even in those few drops, pierced through her mind.
It was a very strong liquor.
"It's wine that young ladies usually drink."
...It seemed the young ladies of the Winter Territory were quite strong drinkers.
It wasn't incomprehensible, considering the people who lived in such cold.
Illin only sipped the liquor enough to moisten her lips.
Even that was enough to spread a warmth throughout her body that could be called heat.
Around that time, the fire flickering in the distance went out with a whoosh.
At the sudden change, Illin's gaze fixed on the window.
"The emissary has come."
Lizzie said.
Emissary? Illin rubbed her flushed hand.
Even with the warmth from the alcohol, she felt goosebumps.
"It seems they've come to apologize for the attack this time."
Only then did Illin realize that the emissary Lizzie spoke of was not the god of death, but a messenger.
But the shadow visible in the distance didn't look like a human silhouette.
As it drew closer, it became clear.
Guarded closely by soldiers, it approached the vicinity of the mansion's boundary, its red scales gleaming.
"!"
Startled, Illin set the glass down with a clatter.
A person walked out from the mansion.
Even though it was the mansion side with relatively more lights, it was difficult to discern.
But even from afar, his tall height, compared to the person next to him, was easily visible.
He was the only one wearing a light coat, while everyone else seemed to be wearing several layers of clothing, even in silhouette.
As he appeared, everyone on the mansion side bowed deeply.
Even the Monster seemed to avert its gaze from him.
"Who is that person?"
She felt like she knew.
As Illin expected, Lizzie answered.
"That is His Grace, the Duke of Biften."
She thought so.
No one could meet his eyes.
If I were in front of him, I wouldn't be able to lift my head either.
The Duke of Biften and the Monster stood like that for a long time.
If that wasn't just standing still...
"Do Monsters... understand speech?"
There was only one conclusion.
Lizzie nodded.
"Of course. Ah, it's very different from the Monsters of the Sunlands."
It was such a natural reaction.
Illin felt like she'd been hit on the back of the head.
There are Monsters that understand speech?
The Monster lowered its head even further.
She could tell even from afar.
It was an apology.
It seemed to be about the battle that took place at the fortress.
That was the moment Illin thought so.
The red scales gleamed in the torchlight.
And something else gleamed.
Illin's eyes widened.
"!"
The Duke of Biften slowly sheathed his sword.
The Monster collapsed in front of him.
Illin didn't know the Biften territory well yet, but this place was also where people lived.
Killing a messenger who came bearing the will of a group meant declaring war.
"The inside of the mansion is safe, so please rest assured."
It seemed Lizzie thought she was surprised for a different reason.
Illin tilted the glass a little deeper.
It felt like something hot was flowing down her throat and pooling in her heart.
Her heart was pounding.
The Duke wielding the sword, and those beside him, didn't even pay attention to the corpse.
The same was true of Lizzie, the Maid beside her.
Illin was the only one who was surprised.
'This place is different.'
There was none of the peaceful atmosphere of the capital.
It was completely different from that place, where the only sharp things were the socialite's words, like knives in the mouth.
The capital was a place full of people who were shocked even by a red scratch on the body, let alone killing someone.
But this place ignored even the corpse.
That corpse would be buried in the snow by tomorrow.
At that moment, Illin realized how unfamiliar and cold a place she was in.
\*
Two days had passed since Illin arrived at the mansion.
Illin had not seen the Duke of Biften even once.
She had only seen him from afar.
He was the man she was going to marry in five days.
Moreover, the Red Deloz, the ducal family, had not sent anyone to this side.
The other two families had tried to send people to her by any means, even breaking through the Maids of the Blue Nose, but no one from the Red Deloz even approached her.
The only people she saw occasionally were the knights of the Red Deloz guarding the mansion.
They, too, did not speak to Illin.
'It's not good to be in the Winter Territory for long.'
Was it Den?
The Deloz seemed to think the same way as that person.
Then was the Duke the same?
Instead of coming to her, the Duke had left for an expedition.
Illin only learned that fact the next day after seeing the procession of knights.
Even after returning, he didn't show his face at all, whether he stayed in the mansion or went somewhere else again.
[The Duke hardly stays in the mansion.]
It seemed the contents of that bride recruitment letter were really true.
Anyway, he's someone I can't even look in the face even if we meet.
And the first night must be performed.
Illin calmed her racing heart.
A cold wind blew fiercely.
She grabbed the blue veil fluttering above her head.
"The daytime is still okay."
They say humans are creatures of adaptation.
Illin had adapted a little to the biting cold.
It was still cold, but not to the point where she couldn't be outside at all.
Anyway, if she was going to live here, she had to adapt to the cold.
Illin had come out in front of the mansion's main building to look around the mansion.
The Maids of the Blue Nose who served her were far away, as she had requested.
"The snow..."
How far is it piled up?
Illin looked at the piles of snow that the knights had pushed to both sides, supposedly making a path.
It was piled up almost as tall as a person.
On top of that, snow was gradually piling up at her feet as well.
It really snowed incessantly.
After looking around, Illin grabbed her hem and touched the snow pile with her toes, which were surrounded by cotton balls.
The soft snow pile caved in without resistance.
A handful of snowflakes stuck to the cotton ball shoes given by the Blue Nose.
"It's fluffy."
She had secretly thought it would be frozen like a wall.
Illin looked around again and pressed a little deeper into the snow pile.
It was then.
A strong blizzard blew, threatening to lift her blue veil.
Startled, Illin grabbed the veil.
Just because she had adapted a little to the cold didn't mean she didn't need the veil.
If the veil flew away, her body would freeze before she even entered the mansion.
As she hurriedly grabbed the veil, she lost her balance and staggered.
"I don't intend to interfere with your hobby, but there are stairs ahead."
A man grabbed her arm.
Illin was startled.
Perhaps because the veil seemed like it would slip, the man steadied her head with his other hand.
"I told you to take good care of it."
Heat was transmitted through the blue veil and through her arm.
She could tell even by hearing his voice.
"Den?"
I don't know when he came.
I definitely checked that there was no one around.
Illin's face flushed.
She heard a short exhale from above her head.
Was it a scoff?
"If you get buried in the snow, you'll go missing."
Den didn't deny that it was him.
As he held her arm, Illin's slender, white wrist, hidden under her thick clothes, was revealed.
The cold wind touched her skin directly, but Illin felt a burning sensation there instead.
"...Let go."
Illin pulled her arm away and turned to him.
As she took a step back to create distance, her weight-bearing foot stepped on something and sank in.
"Ah!"
Den pulled her arm strongly.
It was a strong force.
Illin hugged him before she was buried in the snow pile.
A red ornament jingled and moved in front of her eyes.
Startled, Illin moved away from him again.
"Thank you."
I'm sorry.
Illin quickly dusted off her clothes.
Den watched her do that and then asked.
"What are you doing, leaving the Maids of the Nose far away?"
His gaze focused on a nearby building.
As if he could see the Maid hiding beyond that building.
"Do you want to go missing before the wedding?"
That couldn't be.
Illin shook her head.
"No. I just wanted to see a little of the front of the mansion. I have to get used to the cold, too."
Illin took a breath as she moved a little away from the man.
She seemed to have unconsciously tensed up.
There was none of the sharpness in his dark blue eyes that there had been yesterday.
"Get used to it... Do you plan to be here for a long time?"
Of course.
Illin nodded.
Anyway, she couldn't go back to Arlen.
"Yes."
"Even if the head of the Deloz has no interest in you?"
Thanks to the informal address, Illin realized a beat late that he was talking about Duke Aden de Biften.
Are they personally acquainted with the Duke?
He was a person of the Red Deloz, so it was possible.
Illin looked up at his eyes.
His blue eyes were so still that she couldn't tell what he was thinking.
"Even if I can be here safely?"
I hate an unloved marriage! It's what young ladies who aren't even ten years old say when they dream.
Illin was someone who had abandoned that dream before she was even ten years old.
"Even if you can't see his face for the rest of your life?"
She spoke softly with her lips, which were tinged with color under the blue veil.
"Of course."
I will be his bride.
Illin said with confident eyes.
Den's lips parted.
"What will you do if the Duke refuses the marriage?"
The cold wind grew a little stronger.
The Red Deloz ornament on Den's clothes fluttered in the same direction as the white snowflakes.
Illin grabbed the blue veil.
The dark blue eyes visible through the blue veil were so calm that it was difficult to know the intention of the question.
"..."
Illin's answer was late, but Den only stared at her as if time had stopped.
It seemed like a silent action that he had to hear the answer.
In my dream, I had no aversion to being called Illin de Biften.
Whatever happens after that, it's certain that I'll get married.
The Duke will not refuse the marriage.
Illin already knew the correct answer, but she had no intention of revealing it.
He wasn't the Duke himself, and he was still someone whose identity she didn't know.
"I'll have to think about that if I get rejected."
Illin smiled brightly.
Anyway, it was a question she couldn't answer.
She grabbed the blue veil again, which was fluttering in the wind.
It felt like the wind was getting stronger in Biften the later it got.
It was about time to go inside.
"Where did you get that?"
What he pointed to was the blue veil.
He narrowed his eyes, showing that he didn't like it very much.
Illin looked at his face and then glanced at the veil.
Wasn't I supposed to wear it in the first place?
It seemed like a precious veil.
The Maids here all wore puffy cotton clothes, and no one wore thin veils.
If it was a common veil, they wouldn't have failed to supply this highly insulating veil long ago.
"It was in the carriage I rode in... Is it someone's property?"
Lidan, the elder of the Nose, and the Maids seemed to take it for granted that she wore it.
The only one who was uncomfortable was this Den of the Red Deloz.
Ah.
At that moment, Illin realized the correct answer.
She took the veil off her face and asked.
"Is it perhaps an item of the Blue Nose?"
The cold wind rushed in fiercely where the veil had been removed.
Illin thought that the man's blue eyes sparkled even more amidst the snowstorm.
"...That's right, but you don't have to worry just because I'm Red Deloz."
Den lowered her hand.
Come to think of it, he was the one who told her to take the veil first.
Illin obediently lowered her hand.
It was then.
"Commander!"
A knight of the Red Deloz was running from afar.
Illin looked at him and then turned back to Den.
The knight was calling Den.
Was he the commander of the knights?
Den was seen clicking his tongue.
"Then I'll excuse myself first."
His steps as he turned and walked away were fast.
Illin was about to enter the mansion, but instead looked down at her feet.
Snow had already piled up on top of her shoes.
It seemed she had been talking for quite a long time.
But it wasn't very cold.
Illin tilted her head slightly and moved her steps inside the mansion.
