7 - How to Survive as the Wife of a Monster Duke
How to Survive as the Monster Duke's Wife
Episode 7: Is it because I'm a Sunfolk?
Den, Aden de Biften, thought as he turned away from the woman.
She has a strangely captivating scent.
'Then, what if the Duke refuses the marriage?'
He had no intention of refusing.
Of course, at first, he had intended to refuse because he thought she was a Blue Nose woman.
He had lost count of the women the three families had pushed into his bedroom, and each time, they had to spend their wedding night alone.
He didn't care that more than one woman, waiting in the dark for the leader of the Red Deloz, whom they couldn't even look in the face, had collapsed from exhaustion the next day.
"That concludes the report."
The knight who had called him, Aegis, bowed politely.
He didn't know why he remembered the face of the woman named Illyin, who had been startled by the voice calling him Captain!
Aden narrowed his eyes.
"Your Highness?"
Where there were no other family members, he was not a Captain.
He, also known as the Faceless Duke, was Duke Aden de Biften, at least in front of the knights of the Red Deloz.
Because they were the ones who didn't avoid his eyes.
"Aegis."
"Yes."
Aegis bowed.
"Is there anything to report about the Blue Nose?"
At his words, Aegis tilted his head.
"...Nothing unusual. Lidan of the Blue Nose is at the mansion, though."
At the mansion? Aden narrowed his eyes.
"Shall I look into that woman from earlier?"
Aden raised his hand to stop Aegis.
"No need. That woman is a Sunfolk."
"A Sunfolk, you say?"
Aegis' eyes widened.
He must have assumed she was a Blue Nose because of her clothes.
Besides, the 'Ataz' she had on her head was a Divine Relic of the bride that the Blue Nose had possessed for generations.
There was no room to think it was a misunderstanding.
"There was a reason Lidan came to the mansion."
The reason Dazzling Elo or Verdant Mille couldn't move faster was because an elder had come to the mansion.
It could only be seen as an open attempt to bring that person into the Blue Nose.
Unpleasant.
Aden narrowed his eyes.
He was lost in thought after Aegis finished his report and retreated.
It had only been a few days since he had become aware of the existence of his new bride.
Milo of the Red Deloz, who ran the Essid Merchant Group, had contacted him out of the blue.
Moreover, instead of delivering the message through a messenger, he said he would meet him in person to tell him.
He only spoke after meeting Aden, who had just returned from an expedition.
"Her name is Illyin de Arlen."
Aden found Milo's words absurd because he had never thought that any woman would respond to the bride recruitment with such absurd conditions.
"Are you planning to change your alias?"
In order to bring goods into the Empire, it was obviously wiser to send a Biften person than to find a Sunfolk separately.
Finding a Sunfolk who would travel to and from Biften and remain silent about Biften was a difficult condition from the start, wasn't it?
Milo was such a case.
He used the alias Milo Essid in the Empire.
He had temporarily changed his surname from the Winter Territory.
The new name is quite feminine.
Aden tilted his head slightly.
"Not that, the bride I'm talking about."
Milo handed him a letter.
The sender's name was Illyin de Arlen.
Aden was uncharacteristically flustered.
"...Someone responded to the bride recruitment?"
"Yes. Surprisingly."
The letter Milo handed over was shorter than he expected.
The neat handwriting stood out.
[This is my first greeting. I am Illyin from the Earl Arlen Fief.]
Normally, this would be followed by a boring and long weather story.
Rare letters from the Empire all started with similar weather stories.
Telling him to be careful not to catch a cold in the cold weather was ridiculous.
If someone was going to catch a cold from the cold, they couldn't live in the Winter Territory, could they?
[I can't think of any other way to contact you, so I'm contacting you through the Essid Merchant Group.]
But the woman named Illyin quickly skipped to the main point.
He liked that more than the content.
"How did this woman know about the Essid Merchant Group?"
Did the information leak? Aden's blue eyes turned to Milo.
Milo replied with a serious face.
"I don't know. I investigated the Earl Arlen Fief, but there was nothing unusual. Oh, there is one thing, but it's not very important."
When he kept staring at him as if asking what it was, Milo replied with a reluctant face.
"The Countess is said to be insane. She talks a lot of nonsense."
It was really unimportant information.
Aden lowered his gaze back to the letter.
[I am aware of all the contents written in the bride recruitment letter. If there is no reason to refuse,]
The letter was quite bold.
[I will be your bride.]
The Earl Arlen Fief was really nothing special, as Milo had investigated.
A quiet place with almost no external activity, the Countess' illness being the most unusual thing.
Even worse, because the Countess fell ill, her daughter, Illyin de Arlen, was blocked from social activities.
As a result, even Illyin's face was not well known.
She was so reclusive in the mansion that even a portrait was hard to find.
A portrait from when she was very young was meaningless.
[Silver hair down to her waist, dark purple eyes, and a thin build.]
That was all the description of her appearance.
If this information was true, she would be an ideal bride for Biften.
If she was from a prestigious family and close to the Atenbl Imperial Family, it would be rather troublesome.
There was only one suspicious thing.
"She is not affiliated with any intelligence organization."
Aden tapped the desk with his index finger.
It was a habit he had when he was lost in thought.
And yet, the relationship between the Essid Merchant Group and the Biften territory was discovered by a mere young lady from a Baron family.
It was impossible unless one of the three families was behind Illyin de Arlen, or unless the Imperial Family or a powerful family in the Empire had influence.
Aden looked down at the additional data Milo had investigated.
At least she was not related to one of the three families.
If a Biften person had gone out to the Sunlands, the investigation results would not be so clean.
Even if the Sunfolk didn't know, there was no way a Biften person wouldn't recognize another person from the Winter Territory.
"What kind of woman is she?"
He muttered in a low voice.
'I will be your bride.'
The voice of a woman he had never spoken to seemed to echo in his head.
Wasn't it quite bold to send a letter as if she knew the situation here?
Either way, he needed a bride.
It just so happened that an optimal bride candidate had appeared, who was not related to the three families and whose family was unremarkable.
Moreover, she was not famous in the Empire, so there would be no troublesome things.
[I am aware of all the bride recruitment conditions.]
Weren't the timing and conditions just right? Aden raised the corners of his lips and smiled.
Even the Essid Merchant Group said that the woman named Illyin had cornered Milo with her smooth logic.
"Marriage..."
The other party was a woman who had dug into Biften's secrets through an unknown route.
And yet, she was coming all the way to this distant Winter Territory to get married.
Moreover, the bride entering Biften was alone.
The position of Duchess would be attractive, but that was only if Biften had ties to the Empire's social circles.
In reality, it was a position that was only a facade.
So what was she trying to gain by coming here?
The Biften Dukedom was already far removed from social circles.
Had Aden ever been resented by anyone? If he had to pick, it would be the Imperial Family.
They were dissatisfied that the Biften family had never bowed their heads to the Imperial Family first.
An assassin from the Imperial Family?
It was impossible to jump to conclusions without any plausibility.
They were the ones who could aim for my neck with a much more plausible cause.
This was too sloppy.
"Milo."
The Merchant Leader of the Essid Merchant Group, Milo, who had been waiting outside, immediately entered.
"What are your orders?"
"Bring the bride."
Aden said as he put the letter in the drawer.
Milo said with a flustered face.
"She's still a woman whose identity we don't know. The source of the information the woman has is unclear―"
"That's why I'm telling you to bring her."
Aden smiled leisurely.
The relaxed smile as he leaned back in his chair resembled that messenger of the Sunlands.
A look of ease, as if no one could threaten him.
But when prey came, that look would be completely different.
He was a person who could bind his prey with just his eyes.
Milo bowed deeply to his lord.
"Understood."
After Milo left, Aden got up.
He was not a person who avoided the challenges of his prey.
He could find out himself.
How she knew about Essid and Biften.
And if that method was a loophole on his side, he could just block it.
The new bride's decision to come to Biften was quite welcome.
For Aden de Biften, this Winter Territory was the optimal battlefield.
The first day he met that bold new bride, Aden was on the battlefield.
"Your Highness! The enemy is approaching!"
He readied the sword he was holding.
The ones who dared to touch the walls of Biften for the first time in over a decade were Monsters with great power even in the Biften region.
The Molly Tribe with red scales had been long-time enemies of Biften.
They were the least intelligent race, but their combat power was excellent.
'Molly at the time the bride is coming!'
The elders of the three families, who couldn't even hold a sword, started to panic as soon as they heard the news that Molly was attacking.
'What are the knights of Deloz doing!'
What were they doing?
The knights of the three families were busy beating down all the Monsters that were slowly avoiding them.
Even though it was the job of each family to scatter them before they could unite, they were all derelict in their duties, as if they were colluding with the Monsters.
'The Blue Nose cannot agree to this succession ceremony! A head of the family who cannot even protect his people...'
'The same goes for Dazzling Elo.'
The elder from Verdant Mille didn't say anything, but he kept nodding his head.
The succession ceremony, which had to be held every three years.
The only power the elders of the three families had to suppress the Red Deloz was that succession ceremony.
When you think about it, the succession ceremony was the cause of all this trouble.
The fact that the Divine Relic of the three elders was needed for the succession ceremony.
The method of pressuring the head of the Red Deloz was always the same.
Aden's sword was quickly drawn horizontally.
―Kkeek!
When he was young, he thought he could relieve his anger just by swinging his sword.
That's why he had honed his sword so much, but anger was not something to be relieved.
It was something to burn away at its source.
Aden lifted his elbow and strongly struck one of the Monsters.
"To touch the Biften family in the Winter Territory."
He let out his anger in a low voice.
There was a reason why the Biften family had been the masters of the Biften territory for so long.
He plunged his sword into the ground.
The snow, which had been piled up high and for a long time to the point where he didn't even know where the bottom was, began to disappear in an instant.
The snow around him melted and evaporated in an instant, and white steam rose.
Biften was a place where even breathing turned into white steam and fell as frost.
But only where he was was different.
The white steam that rose like the Sunlands filled the surroundings as if telling of his anger.
―Kkeek!
At that moment, one of the Molly Tribe jumped next to him.
It was an instinct that a knight without a sword was prey.
And unable to withstand the heat of that short moment, it collapsed on the floor.
―Duke Biften?
Among the lives of the Biften land that had succumbed to the blizzard, there was only one who could rebel against the climate.
The head of the Biften family who had completed the succession ceremony.
Commotion spread among the Monsters.
―Isn't that the knight of the Red Deloz?
―Why...!
―Could it be...
Hadn't they said that the Monsters of the Sunlands couldn't speak? That might be even harder to deal with.
Aden, who had drawn his sword, watched the Monsters.
―Could it be that the Captain of the Deloz Knights is the Duke?
He waited leisurely until the Monsters reached the secret.
He wasn't impatient.
Either way, the Molly in this place would be buried in the blizzard by tomorrow, and their bodies wouldn't be found.
He raised his sword again.
"Your Highness, I see a carriage!"
It was around the time he had almost finished clearing out the Molly around him.
A knight of the Red Deloz shouted.
A carriage?
Aden's gaze turned to the distance.
His eyes, accustomed to the blizzard, quickly spotted the carriage with its bland decorations.
It was a desperate space where life throbbed and dying life cried out.
In the midst of it, the carriage gave only a quiet feeling, as if it was carrying nothing.
"It's being chased!"
If it weren't for the Molly Tribe running behind it.
Aden licked his lips.
"Aegis. Which road is that carriage coming from?"
This area was under the jurisdiction of the Red Deloz.
And as he expected, that carriage was speeding along the carriage road owned by the Red Deloz.
The carriage road was filled with red Molly Tribe.
There was room to make excuses up to outside the walls, but the carriage road was different.
That was a clear invasion.
―Bang!
The carriage shook and crashed into a snowdrift.
The coachman jumped down and confronted the Molly Tribe.
The coachman is... a Blue Nose person.
Aden narrowed his eyes and turned his gaze away.
Either way, that coachman had the skills to protect himself.
If the carriage belonged to the Blue Nose, there was no reason to save them.
'Eek!'
Aden turned his head sharply.
He thought he had misheard.
His eyes were fixed on the carriage.
There was something inside the carriage.
That wasn't a baggage cart or anything like that.
Really?
Even to him, who had sensitive senses, the faint presence was confusing.
He headed closer to the carriage as if possessed.
It was almost at the same time that he arrived next to the carriage and the carriage door opened.
"!"
The one who jumped out without even screaming was a strange person.
Really strange.
Something very thin and slender was deeply embraced.
A white wrist was exposed as it pressed against his chest.
He was surprised, but he couldn't even scream, and he felt that slender breath cut off.
What had touched him was a white, slender arm that would never suit Biften.
An arm that looked more fragile than a young branch enduring the Cutting Wind.
As the surprised woman took a step back, what had been on her head fell off.
"...What is this."
Aden muttered without realizing it.
A fierce Biften blizzard struck.
As if to break the delicate thing in front of him.
