Winter Field Chapter 8

After he hid the men’s clothes in the princess’s bundle and properly lay down, he noticed that the wooden shutter of the west-facing window he had just entered through was still slightly ajar. He hesitated, but gave up on securing it again. The commotion outside the bedchamber was already growing.

—An intruder in Her Grace the Archduchess’s bedchamber…

—We were definitely guarding the main entrance.

The voices of the people grew clearer. While Rensley focused all his strength on steadying his ragged breathing, the door flew open after a harsh, pounding knock. The shouts of the guards followed.

“Your Grace the Archduchess! Are you all right?”

“Forgive our impertinence! Someone has witnessed an intruder entering the bedchamber.”

I’m not the Archduchess yet, though…

The people of Oldenland were more quick-tempered than he had thought. Rensley, having become the Archduchess even before the wedding, hunched his body, pretending to be startled, and covered his face with the blanket.

The maids then entered the bedchamber. They soothed the guards and surrounded the area near the bed.

“The princess is frightened! She hasn’t even shown her face once since she arrived.”

“But Madam Samrit, there is a child who saw the intruder.”

“Please wait. I will ask her.”

Madam Samrit. First of all, please explain to them that I am not the Archduchess yet.

Grumbling only inwardly as a matter of course, Rensley fumbled to put on his veil under the blanket. When he hesitantly peeked his face out, as befitted a timid and bashful princess, the soldiers only then bowed their heads deeply as if they had committed a grave breach of etiquette, and some even turned away entirely. The head lady’s maid approached.

“Princess, a child who was playing ball in the courtyard a moment ago says he saw a suspicious man sneak in through the bedchamber window. By any chance, did you see this suspicious man?”

Rensley shook his head forcefully enough to make the ends of his veil ripple.

“Would you permit us to briefly examine the area near the bed?”

This time, he nodded.

Several maids thoroughly searched inside the blanket, under the bed, behind the pillars, and between the curtains. Naturally, not a single hair of the intruder was to be found. The suspicious man was currently engaged in a passionate performance, pulling the blanket up to his shoulders, leaning his back against the headboard, and looking around with frightened eyes.

While the maids examined the vicinity of the bed, the guards also searched every corner of the bedchamber. Inside the wardrobe, inside the drawers, under the table, inside the valuables chest, inside the jars, even behind picture frames where a person could not possibly hide, and inside the blazing fireplace.

When the meticulous search yielded nothing, one soldier shrugged and grumbled.

“Couldn’t he have been mistaken? Children often see things that aren’t there.”

“His account was too specific for that.”

Opinions among the searchers were beginning to split, when one guard gestured to the others.

“Come over here. Something’s odd.”

Damn. Rensley ground his teeth. He had desperately hoped they would simply let it pass, but it seemed the sharp-eyed guard had caught sight of the shutter that wasn’t properly closed.

He saw several guards rush over to the west-facing window and examine it closely. Surely he hadn’t left behind any trace that could be used as a clue? Hiding his anxious heart behind the veil, Rensley remained silent.

—I still think he’s hiding somewhere in here.

—It is strange, no matter how I look at it… If it’s true that the bastard got in, it doesn’t make sense that Her Grace the Archduchess didn’t see him.

The murmuring voices grew increasingly tinged with suspicion, and that suspicion was just beginning to shift its target from the vanished intruder to the foreign princess, when—

“What has happened.”

A voice that belonged to neither guard nor maid scattered all the noise. Everyone in the bedchamber—everyone, that is, except Rensley on the bed—stood up straight and bowed their heads. Rensley, on the contrary, pulled the blanket up to just below his eyes and looked at the newcomer.

Having received a report that an unidentified man had broken into his fiancée’s bedchamber, the prospective groom had come in person to assess the situation.

He stood at the entrance, taking in the scene of the bedchamber, the people standing there, and finally, sending a glance at Rensley, before slowly walking in. Not a single footstep could be heard, yet his movements did not feel light in the slightest. Rensley felt as though he were watching the gait of a predator. Were not great beasts like tigers or lions also exceedingly quiet when they walked?

“We have searched the entire bedchamber but have yet to find any particular trace. However, the window in the direction the child indicated as the intruder’s point of entry was slightly open.”

“Footprints or any other clues?”

“It seems we will need to investigate more closely.”

The Archduke approached the west-facing window where the guards were gathered and swept his gaze around once. He stood still for a moment before opening his mouth.

“Everyone, leave.”

“Pardon?”

“I believe I need to speak with the princess. Everyone, leave and stand by at your respective posts.”

No. Rensley’s lips twisted behind the veil.

This was the worst possible turn. He would rather they had posted guards in the bedchamber and conducted an investigation all day than have the Archduke make the decision he just had.

The maids and guards left the bedchamber without further delay. Only Madam Samrit glanced back at the two with a somewhat worried expression, but she, too, eventually disappeared without a word. The door closed firmly once more, and the bedchamber, which had been so noisy, fell eerily silent.

Rensley cast his eyes down and fixed his gaze on one section of the embroidered pattern on the surface of the blanket. A design symbolizing the noble mountain lily was embroidered in gold thread upon the luxurious velvet.

The Archduke approached the bed and sat down on a chair placed beside it.

“Princess Yvette Elvanes.”

His voice was calmer than expected, and his manner of speech was as courteous as the day before. Instead of answering, Rensley, still facing forward, merely nodded his head lightly.

“You have said that you cannot speak yet, so if you truly wish to observe the custom, I would like you to inform me through written words, as you did yesterday.”

“…”

“This marriage is simply a matter decreed by the Emperor. It is not even a marriage that the Cornian royal family truly desired. So I believe that you, Princess, did not truly desire this marriage either.”

It was exactly as he said.

The north of the continent, the cold and desolate land of Oldenland. Unless its ruler actively sought a courtship or married a woman of his own country, it had been difficult for generations to achieve matrimony.

Oldenland is the most crucial breakwater protecting the continent. Beyond the ramparts of Loudkhen stretch dense forests and the Black Sea, and across the sea lies a nation beyond the Emperor’s dominion that believes in other gods, and above all, terrifying monsters live beyond the ramparts.

To Rensley, a native of the south who had witnessed only the peaceful scenery of Loudkhen, all such accounts felt like nothing more than fantasy or legend, but the stories he had heard were nonetheless so.

In the far north of Oldenland, in the thick forests, towering ice mountains, and black sea, dwelled beings that were neither human nor beast, and they were always watching for an opportunity to make prey of the humans of the continent.

The ruler of the northern country, despite hardly ever intervening in political strife, trained a military force stronger than any other country on the continent, and the reason was precisely to fight against those monsters.

Thus, even the Emperor could not ignore or turn a blind eye to Oldenland. It was said that, respecting their loyalty and acknowledging their honor, he granted them greater benefits and freedoms compared to the other kingdoms of the continent.

Choosing a bride for a sovereign who had reached marriageable age was also one of the favors the Emperor bestowed. Even if everyone knew that before being a simple favor, it was largely an intention to tie the strings of his influence to the frontier land he had to keep an eye on.

Oldenland was a country indispensable to the continent, but it was not a politically attractive region for the other kingdoms. The territory was barren, the distance far. It showed little interest in central political strife and lived its own independent life.

Although it was rich in natural resources and possessed formidable military power, mining and forestry were strictly managed under royal control, and since the justification for cultivating military strength was to fight monsters, it was difficult to request aid for other conflicts.

As a result, no royal family wished to send a precious child of theirs to Oldenland.