“Damn it! What the hell!”
“Please, let’s get going! The sun is high in the sky! How long are you going to laze around in bed!”
Someone shouted harshly from outside the door. Riftan shot a fierce glare toward the person standing there, as if he had x-ray vision.
“Damn it… I said if you interrupt me one more time, I’ll rip out your guts raw! Are you protesting because you want to die or what!”
“Do it at that guy’s mansion! Did you forget we have to go to the territory and then straight back to the capital!”
“It’s not like we’ll die if we’re a day late, so stop your bullshit!”
“Commander!”
“I’m going, alright! You’ve ruined my mood, you bastard!”
He roughly raked his hair back and yelled harshly. She froze solid at the brutal curses she’d never heard in her life. The man, with a face full of irritation, got up and shouted toward the door.
“Prepare the carriage! I’ll get ready and come out.”
The person outside didn’t reply and stomped away. Riftan looked down at the floor and let out a loud sigh.
“I shouldn’t have brought those guys along…”
“……”
“Wait here a moment. I’ll go out and get some clothes suitable for you to wear.”
She nodded, her pale face drained of color as she pulled the sheet up to her neck. The man, picking up his clothes from the floor, saw her teary face and furrowed his brow.
“What? Why do you look like that?”
“……”
“Speak quickly. You haven’t figured it out yet, have you? I’m short-tempered.”
As if she hadn’t noticed. Her husband, whom she’d reunited with just yesterday, had a fiery temper beyond what she’d imagined. She swallowed those words and mumbled in a small, crawling voice.
“Th-the p-people o-out th-there… Th-they a-all kn-know…”
“Know what?”
“Wh-what w-we d-did h-here…”
“……”
Her face burned as if on fire. The man’s mouth twitched faintly as he stared down at her face. The next moment, unbelievably, he clutched his stomach and burst into roaring laughter.
“Ri-Riftan!”
“Ah, this is driving me crazy.”
He laughed until he was out of breath, then scooped her up, sheet and all and placed her on his lap. Maxi flailed her legs in panic. He giggled innocently, in a way that made it hard to believe he was the same intimidating man, and nibbled on her shoulder, which was already covered in bite marks.
“You naive noble lady. Of course my subordinates know what we did. No idiot would think a married couple reuniting after three years just held hands and slept in the same room.”
“B-but…”
“There’s no need to be embarrassed. We’re husband and wife, and what you and I did is natural.”
Natural? She knew well that ‘that’ was a wife’s duty, but what she and he had shared didn’t feel like something natural. Suddenly, Maxi was startled by her own thoughts. Shared? Was what she and he did last night an act of giving and receiving? She couldn’t understand why she felt that way. It should just be something she had to endure to have children…
“You’re blushing again. Tsk, if it weren’t for those guys, I’d just devour you right here.”
“……”
“Don’t shrink away. I don’t even have confidence I’d finish before they break down the door.”
He playfully kissed the tip of her nose and set her down from his lap. She curled up in the corner of the bed like a silkworm, wrapped in the sheet, and rubbed her nose.
Riftan bent down to pick up his clothes and began dressing piece by piece. She hurriedly averted her eyes at the sight of him moving so casually without a shred of shame even though he was naked. Once he was fully armored, he earnestly instructed her.
“Stay put here and wait.”
She nodded obediently. Her legs were trembling so much from the start that she couldn’t move even if she wanted to go out. As Riftan buckled his sword to his waist and left, she crawled to the bedside and slightly opened the window.
Under the pale autumn sky, the compact village spread out. A wide dirt road marked clearly with carriage wheel tracks, five or six wooden cottages, patches of grass scattered about, and a vast orchard…
As Maxi examined the simple scenery one by one, she suddenly felt a piercing gaze and looked down. Three of Riftan’s knights stood rigidly in front of the carriage parked at the inn, looking up at her. She was startled and quickly closed the window. Even though she was covered by the sheet, it was embarrassing to have shown her disheveled just-woken state to strange men.
‘Is the departure delayed a lot because of me…’
She anxiously bit her lip. How much time passed? Footsteps approached steadily, and someone knocked on the door. She cautiously asked.
“Wh-who is it?”
“I’ve brought water for washing.”
“C-come in.”
She huddled in the corner of the bed, wrapped in the sheet. The two maids who entered carrying a large basin, a water pitcher, and a fresh white towel exchanged awkward glances.
“We were instructed by your husband to attend to you, Madame….”
“Ah, n-no… I-I can d-do it m-myself…”
“But he said you’d need help…”
She turned so red that steam seemed to rise from her head.
“I-It’s r-really f-fine. I-I’ll t-tell m-my h-husband m-myself.”
The women didn’t press further and set down what they’d brought on the table before leaving the room. Maxi waited, wrapped in the sheet, until the sounds of footsteps faded away, then got up to lock the door. After that, she soaked a clean towel in warm water and began wiping down her body, which had been overworked all night.
The feeling of the wet cloth against her sticky skin, covered in sweat and fluids, was incredibly refreshing. She meticulously cleaned away the traces from last night. Her shoulders, arms, thighs, legs, and even up to her chest were densely marked with red and purple bruises.
Was it supposed to be like this? Memories of the night rose up, heating her cheeks. Even though rubbing wouldn’t make them disappear, she soaked the towel thoroughly and scrubbed at the red marks vigorously.
When she’d spent the night with him, it had been difficult and embarrassing, but it hadn’t felt as devastating as their wedding night. No, when he’d held her, kissed her tenderly, and smiled softly, she’d even felt ecstatic. No one had ever done that for her before.
Yet the husband she’d always thought disliked her had not only been taking her seriously as his wife but seemed to like her in some ways. Hadn’t he even said that on their wedding night, he hadn’t wanted to just leave her?
“Even three years ago, I wanted to ditch the subjugation and stay with you. You have no idea how hard it was to leave that bed.”
To cool the rising heat, she plunged her face into the basin. It felt like she was dreaming. Maxi washed her tangled hair thoroughly with soap, then wrung out the water with a towel. After that, she applied oil evenly and carefully combed through it when another knock sounded.
“Madame, your husband has sent clothes for you to change into.”
This time too, Maxi only cracked the door open to receive the clothes. It was a rose-colored dress with golden embroidery. When she unfolded it, a coiled belt, chest straps, and a thin cloth that looked like underwear rolled out from inside. Seeing it, Maxi’s face flushed bright red.
The underwear was in a form not much different from what her nanny had provided. Her face burned so hot it felt like it might catch fire at any moment. In this modest village, how had he managed to get such provocative underwear? He didn’t think this was her taste, did he?
Overwhelmed by unbearable shame, she clutched her face and let out a groan when another loud knocking came from the door. This time it was Riftan.
“Maxi, did you get the clothes? Have you changed yet?”
“N-not yet…”
“Hurry up, we need to leave soon.”
“W-wait a m-moment…”
At his impatient voice, she hastily gathered the underwear, which seemed no different whether worn or not, and put it on. Over that, she quickly slipped on the white petticoat and pulled the luxurious dress over her head. She’d never dressed without help before, so it wasn’t easy.
She tugged at the flowing skirt to let it fall to her ankles and tightened the belt around her waist. But she couldn’t manage the laces on the back and struggled for a while, her shoulders aching, when Riftan knocked impatiently again.
“Still not done?”
“U-um…”
“What?”
“C-could y-you c-call s-someone t-to h-help m-me…”
“……”
“Th-the b-back of th-the d-dress…”
“Open the door.”
“P-pardon?”
“I said open the door.”
Unable to resist his urging, Maxi held the dress in place with one hand to keep it from slipping and cracked the door open. Riftan pushed through without hesitation, closed the door behind him, and carefully scanned her appearance. Maxi, at a loss, hurriedly apologized.
“S-sorry f-for t-taking so l-long. B-but the d-dress…”
“I’m not mad, so don’t apologize. I didn’t think about how women’s clothes would be uncomfortable to put on and take off since I don’t know much about them.”
He said, looking down at the flowing skirt and long sleeves. She fidgeted with her fingers in the awkward silence. Did this flashy outfit really suit her? Did she look ridiculous? As she hesitated, he grabbed her shoulders and turned her around.
“I’ll do it.”
“U-um…”
Then he took the laces and began tying them one by one with careful hands. At the rustling sounds, Maxi tensed up. He seemed unaccustomed to it, fumbling for a while before turning her back around.
“All done.”
“Th-thank y-you…”
“It’s from a merchant staying nearby, so it might not be to your taste. But bear with it for now. When we get to the territory, I’ll prepare better clothes for you.”
She blinked. To her, this dress already seemed incredibly luxurious, but apparently not to him.
She felt a bit deflated. Maxi didn’t live as extravagantly as he seemed to think. All the support from Duke Croixo had been limited to Rosetta.
The clothes Maxi owned were all roughly made by maids from leftover fabric after making Rosetta’s outfits. She’d never worn something with such elaborate embroidery. Yet Riftan seemed worried that she might be dissatisfied.
Perhaps he was more accustomed to luxury than she’d thought. She swallowed dryly. It was a relief she hadn’t brought her luggage. She’d luckily avoided the embarrassment of revealing her shabby wardrobe. Pretending to smooth out her skirt wrinkles, she tried to sound casual.
“Th-this d-dress i-isn’t b-bad…”
Worried she’d come off as too haughty, she glanced at him, but the man didn’t seem offended and simply draped a robe over her shoulders. She rolled her eyes at his meticulous hands fastening the cloak ties. It felt so strange for a knight of his stature to attend to such trivial tasks.
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