The Trash Lady Who Stole the Duke's First Night
Chapter 33
I'm just trying to get along well for the time being since things turned out this way. You don't have to worry.
By the way, do you have money? If you need money, tell me. I made a little with potions. And I got plenty of living expenses from Sir Carlos, so…
Anyway, I'll send you money. If you run out of spending money on your wanderings, don't sleep on the streets and be sure to let me know. Always take care of your arm…
You'd better reply. Write to me more often.
I miss you. But still, don't come to catch me.
Elio cautiously approached the carrier pigeon perched on the windowsill, dozing leisurely as though it were an ordinary bird, and tied the letter to its leg.
She scowled in disbelief at the pitch-black bird, which merely glanced at her and went back to sleep without flying off. After rushing her so much before? Giving up on waking the carrier pigeon that ignored her to sleep through the night, she counted the money in her purse several times before setting aside half of it for unnie. A gloomy sigh escaped her at the sight of her thinned purse.
Clutching the spicy novel she had kicked away and unnie's letter, she lay down beneath the window. Just touching the letter brought unnie's angry voice stabbing straight into her ears.
“Don't pretend to love that bastard and end up actually loving him. You'll give away your heart and die. That's how your mother died, too.”
Squeezing her eyes shut, Elio folded unnie's letter twice more, curling into a ball.
“…Unnie worries too much. Why would I die?”
Elio's faint voice seeped tremulously into the quiet drizzle.
❖ ❖ ❖
The sun rose as though it never would. Having not slept a wink, Elio blinked her bloodshot eyes rapidly.
Having read the spicy novel again, brooded over that hateful man, fretted about swordsmanship training at the Duke's Castle, and worried about playing the trashy young lady, a tangled knot of random thoughts had kept her up all night.
“Lady! Are you really going to train with us? You'll eat with us after, right?”
Elio flashed a bright eye smile at the regular knights who greeted her warmly, then bit her lip.
Her heart beat faster as tall female knights all over the training ground kept eyeing her up and down like some rare animal. She almost wished they would just ignore her like a few of the male knights who treated her like an invisible person.
With the fierce glares of those female knights alone, it felt like they could take down an ogre in one strike.
“Lady. I'm Salah.”
A shaggy-haired female knight wearing a curious, faint smile approached her. Having spent the whole time wiping her dagger while pretending not to notice the female knights staring at her, Elio quickly curved her eyes in return.
“Hello. I'm Elio. Belated greetings. I came to learn swordsmanship from Sir Toby, but it's very nice to meet you.”
“Yes, I've heard a lot about you.”
Salah's eyes curved into a grin as her gaze shifted.
Elio felt her gaze scan her slender wrists and ankles. Her shoulders shrank back instinctively.
“Are you really engaged to our Commander? Wow, I still can't believe it even looking at you. A delicate lady for our Commander. Ah, I'm not criticizing you, Lady.”
“Didn't you see, Sir Salah? You should've seen with your own eyes how terribly doting the Commander was to the Lady at the last banquet!”
The squires beside Salah answered excitedly on her behalf to her teasing question.
Elio gave an awkward smile to the squires and nodded.
Most of the knights already guessed that she and Carlos had some sort of contractual arrangement anyway, so the squires' remarks discussing his affection were thoroughly embarrassing.
Even a few of the male knights who had been treating her like an invisible person let out a scoff, making her face heat up.
“Why do you want to practice the sword?”
Salah bent down closer to Elio.
“Ah… just…”
As Salah stood close to her, Elio blinked rapidly, realizing anew that Grita had been extraordinarily huge.
Grita had been tall enough that one had to crane their neck far back, with broad shoulders to match. Among the female knights in the training ground, none seemed to possess a physique as massive as Grita's. That fact lingered uncomfortably in her mind, leaving a bitter taste.
…Was it because she was the first female knight from the Military Academy in Lübeck?
Whether she liked it or not, Grita was undeniable proof of a strong and ambitious woman representing Lübeck. It naturally made sense why Carlos kept treating Elio like an insignificant child. The thought crossed her mind that he might never see her as a woman for the rest of his life, drawing out a hollow laugh.
“Lady? Why do you want to practice swordsmanship?”
“Just so I can protect myself when wandering around…”
“Wandering around? Not staying in Schuppenhardt?”
Gauging how brazenly she would have to lie, Elio laughed awkwardly and deliberately raised her voice brightly, like a noble lady raised without a single shadow of hardship.
“Ah, I'm thinking of going on a long-term journey. Now that I've come of age, I want to gain experience with various cultures and customs. I'll have escort knights with me, of course, but wouldn't it be better to practice myself too?”
Elio smiled radiantly as if playing the part of an innocent high-born lady, pretending she was about to embark on a Grand Tour—just like high-ranking noble youths aged eighteen to twenty-two who traveled abroad to personally learn other countries' politics, arts, and societies.
It was true that the Aquitaine family had once been wealthy, so even if it were a fallen house, it seemed better to appear as a thoughtless lady familiar with high-society culture.
Rather than being treated as a pitiful woman raised with beatings, she wanted to be seen as a cherished daughter raised without hardships. To Carlos, and to his people.
…Though anyone who knew probably already knew.
A bitter smile crept onto her face at her petty desire to cover up the truth of her abuse. What did it matter when she wasn't even going to become the real Duchess…?
Still, even if not a full Grand Tour, if she left on a solo journey and drifted apart from Carlos until they broke off the engagement… wouldn't that be a fairly plausible ending?
Amidst the gigantic Duke's Castle and dozens of strangers evaluating her, her complicated mind raced.
Finding something amusing in her answer, several female knights standing with Grita could be heard whispering and chuckling: “Coming of age?” “First love?”
Even without turning her eyes, Elio could see Grita standing diagonally across from her, and her smile stiffened.
“Haha. The Commander is letting you go on a trip? In these dangerous times, alone? Not going on a honeymoon together?”
Elio glanced at Grita, forcing a pull at the corners of her stiffened lips. A honeymoon. Was she probing into her and Carlos's future, or being serious?
“Sir Carlos is too busy for an extended trip. Of course, he's against letting me go alone, but… I plan to persuade him.”
“There's no way he'd let you go alone when he'd be jealous and worried. With monsters and mercenaries running rampant these days.”
Salah said with a bright grin. Elio's face flushed shyly. Worried, my foot. She snorted in disbelief. The lingering sense of grievance she had kept buried suddenly spilled out.
“…If he were worried, he wouldn't have left me alone in front of an ogre. Sir Carlos wants me to become strong. Strong enough to beat an ogre to death by myself. Just like you all, Sirs.”
Salah burst into hearty laughter and crouched down before the blushing young lady.
“Like us? To do that, you'd have to join Lobitan. And undergo formal training. How can a lady kill an ogre just by practicing alone? Our Commander was too harsh.”
“…Formal training?”
“Anyone can beat an ogre to death after rolling around under our Commander for half a year.”
“……It only takes half a year?”
To the young lady who perked up her ears with suspicion, Salah cackled and waved her hand dismissively.
“Just kidding. Are you trying to turn our Commander into a scumbag who works his fiancée like a squire?”
❖ ❖ ❖
“As we anticipated, the monster population in the Dragon Mountains has increased more than fivefold.”
Leon read swiftly through the report, matching Carlos's stride.
“Led by high-intelligence first-grade monsters, they are gathering all the way to the Cyprus border. After a month, the numbers are expected to swell more than tenfold. This rainy season will be the turning point. Strangely, this year is especially severe.”
“See? I told you it's certain all the proper dragons have gone extinct. That's why those monster bastards are running amok so brazenly.”
Toby clicked his tongue fiercely, trailing behind.
“The Papacy is also investigating the cause. What's even more serious is that an epidemic is spreading along their migration route. A whole flock of priests has already been dispatched to Marquis Duran's territory.”
Leon frowned, turning immediately to the back page of the report.
“Aquitaine seems unaffected for now since we subjugated it beforehand… but grempins will likely raid within a week. With zero military strength, I don't know if they'll survive. What should we do?”
“Send a dispatch to evacuate only the fief's people, and leave Count Aquitaine to die.”
“…If we're helping anyway, wouldn't it be better to keep Count Aquitaine alive? He may not be a normal father, but having a maternal family intact would make it easier to find a marriage match for the young lady of Aquitaine. You did say you promised to find her a husband.”
“I'll act as that woman's maiden family, so it doesn't matter. I'll pick a marriage candidate from among my juniors.”
Carlos said, striding ahead. Leon tilted his head, then scrunched his face dramatically.
“One of your juniors for Aquitaine?”
Leon exclaimed with an appalled look, asking how that made any sense, but Toby casually chimed in, saying what was so wrong with it—it was better for the Commander to introduce a junior he had observed up close and vetted himself.
“If you introduce a junior, you'll inevitably keep crossing paths. If you meet as a couple with a junior after breaking an engagement, won't it just be awkward and humiliating for everyone?”
“Breaking an engagement is common enough. What about gathering healers?”
Leon let out a sigh at Carlos's resolute retort. Of course it was common—among low-ranking nobles and fallen families who shopped around for prospective husbands even among potbellied widowers.
A broken engagement among high-ranking nobles, strictly arranged for political alliances, was by no means common. The breakup alone would stir endless gossip in noble society. If they became entangled as senior and junior couples, what kind of soap opera disaster would that be…
“Why bother personally introducing a husband candidate when you can just break the engagement and send her away with a reasonable amount of money?”
“Are there no applicants for healers?”