A Political Marriage (2)

2. A Political Marriage (2)

Standing beneath the rose crest was a tall, sturdy knight with black hair and blue eyes. He stared straight ahead with an impassive expression, paying no attention to Miraine.

Miraine immediately recognized him as Sir Straus, the man called the Grand Duke’s right arm. Despite his bear-like, brutish appearance, his epithet was the Rose Knight.

To Straus’s left, beneath the wolf crest, stood a blonde knight. The young man stared intently at Miraine’s face, wearing a gentle smile. His features were very soft, but Miraine felt wariness rather than familiarity toward that goodwill-filled smile.

*After all, showing favor to someone you shouldn’t be friendly with means there’s another intention.*

The knight of the wolf crest. Harboring a suspicious feeling toward that smiling young knight inwardly, Miraine looked at the last knight beneath the eagle owl banner.

He was the most striking of them all.

With an extremely cold face, he stood upright, staring as if looking into empty space. A man with dark circles under his eyes and sharp features.

*An eagle owl.*

Eagle owls are birds that scout the night.

Looking at those keen eyes, Miraine suddenly thought that he was a man who suited that crest remarkably well.

The man silently smiled, his gray eyes glittering as he stared straight ahead from the void.

What emanated from the eagle owl man was hostility.

No, it wasn’t just him standing out; in fact, all the knights were revealing their uncomfortable feelings without filter.

Their sharp attitudes and cold, hostile gazes spoke volumes.

*As expected, this won’t be easy.*

As Miraine muttered, a strange smile lingered on his face.

At that moment, with a clattering sound, the carriage stopped, and a gentle voice was heard.

“Welcome.”

When Miraine descended from the carriage, he witnessed a surprising sight.

‘Huh?’

Surprisingly, at the front of the procession was not a knight, but an old woman with white hair.

She was of medium height, with a slender and graceful figure. Her face was full of wrinkles, but the elderly woman greeted him with a gentle and dignified air, her retainers behind her.

“I am Laisa, the head housekeeper.”

“You are the head housekeeper?”

“Yes.”

It was rare for a woman to be head housekeeper. Miraine looked startled for a moment but soon calmly composed himself.

“Pleased to meet you.”

Just as he thought her impression—like a benevolent grandmother—was not bad at all,

Miraine couldn’t help but frown at Laisa’s next words.

“Now, I would like everyone except Lord Miraine to return to the capital.”

Clang!

As soon as the housekeeper finished speaking, blades slid out of their scabbards. The horses that had escorted the carriage snorted in fright.

“What is the meaning of this!”

Cries of shock rang out, and Miraine’s face turned pale.

Laisa, with the armed knights behind her, calmly looked at the frozen Miraine.

“What is this?”

“Escort the carriage immediately!”

The seasoned knights quickly calmed the horses and surrounded Miraine, but it was like an egg about to be brutally crushed against a rock. Over a hundred soldiers with spears and swords encircled Miraine.

Miraine’s face was expressionless in the midst of the sea of blades.

After a moment of silence, he spoke.

“Is this the Grand Duke’s will?”

In any country, they do not take away the servants and knights from the bride’s family. It was a courtesy observed even in the most barbaric nations, a rule for spouses coming from afar.

“Of course.”

Laisa added,

“The castle of Grand Duke Valenstein is a place that only those specifically permitted can set foot in.”

Miraine sighed.

“I came to this estate as the Grand Duke’s spouse.”

For a moment, fatigue flickered across his expressionless face and then disappeared. Laisa stood before him with a composed face.

The housekeeper continued in a gentle voice.

“If you send the knights back, there will be no problem. The Grand Duke has ordered us to treat Lord Miraine well.”

At those words, Miraine nodded.

“Withdraw.”

This caused the knights to protest.

“But!”

“Enough!”

However, they had no choice but to obey Miraine’s command. Not only were they surrounded by Wick’s knights, but also Miraine’s face was unusually cold.

On the day he arrived at Wick, Miraine Laster sent all his attendants back to the capital.

***

Miraine walked silently, following Laisa who led the way.

As he walked down the corridor, a short sigh escaped his lips.

*They hate me.*

The blatant hatred seemed to foresee his future. He was under the escort of three vassals, fewer than twenty knights, and about eighty servants.

Miraine noticed they were watching him but said nothing.

He simply followed Laisa’s words silently.

“This is your room.”

Fortunately, the room assigned to Miraine was not like a prison nor beneath his station. However, it was excessively ornate.

*…A cheap taste, ugh.*

His head ached. Miraine frowned and pressed his brow, swallowing the words that threatened to burst out. If he said, “The room is too nouveau riche for my liking,” there would be a pile of people ready to stab him, saying that the enemy’s son had insulted Wick.

*At least it’s not a barn.*

As Miraine steeled himself, Laisa’s voice reached his ears.

“If you need anything, please tell me. I will do my utmost to obtain it.”

Miraine did not reply. Normally he would have answered politely, but now he was too exhausted from fatigue. The housekeeper, pretending not to see his uncomfortable mood, bowed politely and left the room.

Click. The door closed. Miraine’s emerald eyes calmly sank as he stared at it.

*A warning.*

If he needed something, he should tell the housekeeper. He wasn’t stupid enough not to know that those words meant not to act rashly.

Taking off his deep blue knight’s uniform and hanging it on a rack, Miraine moved his travel-worn body.

Plop. He sank into the soft couch, looking up at the ceiling with a tired face. Then he let out a sigh.

*I’m going crazy.*

He witnessed the ceiling covered with gold leaf, depicting a famous painting.

Barbarically splendid.

He disliked it immensely.

More precisely, it was horrendous to look at.

*Ah, damn it.*

Miraine finally squeezed his eyes shut.

*Even if it’s about spies or whatever, I have to get close to them just to ask for a room change.*

But the opportunity did not come easily.

The Grand Duke avoided meeting him.

***

Until the day before the wedding, Miraine’s days continued like an unofficial confinement.

Laisa provided Miraine with the food, clothes, and writing instruments he wanted, but she strictly restricted his movements, and Miraine could not even speak to the servants or maids.

An outsider who wasn’t even qualified to participate in the communal meals, an old custom of Overt. That was Miraine’s position.

But Miraine did not protest to the Grand Duke, and silently complied with his measures that treated him coldly. He didn’t cause a fuss and obeyed the Grand Duke’s words.

Miraine’s response was indeed wise.

Laisa, who had treated him harshly at first, seemed to soften at Miraine’s attitude and became more generous. She remained faithful to her nominal master and sometimes spoke to him. Through conversations with Laisa and listening to her words of comfort, Miraine was able to learn quite a few things he hadn’t known.

That the nobles of Wick were arrogant and refused to submit to the capital’s nobility.

That due to the Grand Duke’s position, it was difficult for him to refuse them and come out to welcome him personally.

Nevertheless, he had sent the knights of the three pillars of the Grand Duke’s house—the houses of Straus, Lin, and Rabe—to save Miraine’s face.

Hearing that, Miraine was able to somewhat soothe his uneasy feelings.

*He’s trying to consider me in his own way?*

If so, he could understand to some extent. Still, confining him like a rat in a poison trap was too extreme.

Miraine sighed.

*Without being able to do anything, the wedding…*

Finally, the wedding was approaching.

It was uncertain whether the Grand Duke, who hadn’t even shown a single piece of cloth, a strand of hair, or even a passing rumor, would appear at the wedding. Thinking that he wouldn’t possibly not show up, Miraine still had to make a subtle expression at the thought that it might happen.

So, would it be better for the Grand Duke to appear at the wedding? Or not appear?

Miraine fell silent.

He still hadn’t made up his mind.

More precisely, he couldn’t shake off his fear.

Rumors said the Grand Duke was a cruel man, and Miraine couldn’t completely ignore people’s words.

A heavy sigh escaped.

On the night before the wedding, unable to contain his agitated heart, Miraine ended up sitting blankly on the bed and staying up all night.