Winter Field Chapter 9

However, a person suitable to be matched as the spouse of a sovereign was, naturally, a member of a royal family or a child of a great noble house of equivalent standing. All the more so if it was a matter decided by the Emperor. In the long history of the continent, the marriage of the ruler of Oldenland had, at some point, become a procedure akin to a penalty lottery among the kingdoms.

The current Emperor commanded the King of Cornia to select and send a bride from among his princesses for the young Archduke of the North. And the King of Cornia had seven sons and three daughters.

“Do you wish to return to Cornia even now?”

At those words, Rensley could not help but turn to look at him. The amber eyes, which betrayed no emotion, met his own eyes, which were bound to waver disastrously.

When Rensley extended his hand, the Archduke, too, wordlessly held out his palm. Rensley’s finger trembled faintly as it traced across his palm. It was not from fear or tension. Had he been able to answer aloud, his voice, agitated by an anger with no target, would have burst forth like the rough handwriting.

<No. I do not wish it.>

“Then do you wish to proceed with this marriage?”

With his index finger still resting on the Archduke’s palm, Rensley slowly lowered his head. He could write neither yes nor no, and remained silent.

After waiting a moment, the Archduke withdrew his hand. Rensley, too, let his hand fall onto the bed. A low voice broke the brief silence and continued.

“After receiving the soldiers’ report, as I thought it over, it aligned perfectly with what happened during the day.”

What happened during the day? Rensley only listened in silence.

“The man who claimed to be your attendant has remained here instead of returning to Cornia. A man called Malosen. I believe it is a name you know well.”

Of course he knew it. An unprepared anxiety began to constrict his chest. Why was he suddenly bringing up the name of the man he had met during the day? The child in the back courtyard had only glimpsed the intruder briefly from far below.

“Hearing the intruder’s approximate description, it matched that man. The color of his hair, his attire, and such. His eyes are the same shade of violet as yours. I do not know if this is so in Cornia, but it is uncommon here.”

At that, Rensley’s eyes widened. It was closer to a blue with a hint of red than a true violet, but as the Archduke said, it was not an entirely rare color in Cornia. Even within the Cornian royal family, there was one more person with eyes of a similar shade.

‘To think it would be a color so rarely seen here that it could identify a person.’

Unable to easily grasp where the Archduke’s words were leading, Rensley only swallowed dryly. His Adam’s apple, hidden by the veil, rose and fell deeply.

“The height is similar, and the eye color the same, so at first I wondered if he might be a blood relative… but if he were a member of the royal family, there would be no need for him to secretly remain, nor to break in through a window. He could have revealed his identity and visited at any time under the pretext of personally escorting the princess. That being the case, it must mean he truly is your attendant.”

He let out a shallow sigh. Rensley, too, inwardly felt a moment of relief. He had tensed up, worried that the Archduke might reach the conclusion that Malosen and Princess Yvette were the same person, but not yet.

The Archduke still wore an expressionless mask that revealed no message, but the faint breath conveyed that he felt his own share of turmoil. The grain of deeply hidden emotion. As Rensley’s senses touched upon it, he could not help but stare at the Archduke, even knowing it was dangerous.

“Thinking that far, I felt I understood why that man risked danger to sneak into the bedchamber.”

“…”

“I understand, to some extent, the anguish you must feel, Princess Yvette, having been ordered to marry another man when you have a lover. If you wish, you may allow that man called Malosen to stay here. If you only fulfill your duties as Archduchess, I will not interfere with your secret meetings.”

‘…Pardon? What did you say?’

Rensley’s mouth fell open behind the veil. A young man had been caught by the light of day sneaking into the room of a woman on the eve of her wedding. It was a situation ripe for scandal. Hadn’t the eyes of the guards and maids already turned suspicious?

But a lover? Secret meetings? Hadn’t he jumped too far ahead? Why did you come to that conclusion? Unable to speak, he could not even ask.

“I have hardly ever left Oldenland and do not know much of the outside world, but I have read as many books as anyone. Most were for study or research, but occasionally others were mixed in. And from time to time, pilgrims or poets visiting the castle would tell songs or stories.”

Well, that would be so. Even in Cornia, it was common for pilgrims or poets to enter the castle and enliven the evening atmosphere with songs and stories. Wanderers visited even this far northern land without discrimination, leaving their traces behind. Indeed, some would spin tales of their travels, claiming to have been to other continents across the sea.

“In most cases, a man sneaking through a woman’s window in secret from others is either courting her or unable to overcome forbidden love. After that, the most common pattern was for them to flee from the eyes of others.”

‘No, Your Grace. Of course, poets and books that sing of lovers’ flights overflow in the world, but those are only stories of imagination. Such songs of love are popular precisely because ordinary, real people lack the nerve for such things.’

However much he argued inwardly, the Archduke could not hear him. The conversation was flowing in a direction Rensley had not anticipated, becoming a torrent that was growing harder and harder to keep up with.

“I thought him a beautiful man. So you must have been unable to forget him and brought him all the way here.”

Rensley only blinked his eyes.

Certainly, Rensley Malosen was handsome. He was a master of swordsmanship, sang well, and danced well, so it was a daily occurrence for him to receive the discreet advances of many women when he stepped out onto the street. He had stayed out drinking and dancing all night and returned home only after sunrise more times than he could count.

But if one were to rank appearances, even judging with a bias in his own favor, he did not think he could best the man before him. Even if the real Yvette Elvanes had secretly dragged her lover here, the moment she saw her husband-to-be, she would change her mind on the spot and cast her lover aside.

As a fellow man, he himself felt utterly diminished before the Archduke’s sovereign aura, but might he not give a different impression to women? Judging by the face alone, truly…

“But as you know, this marriage is a state union arranged by the Emperor. If you were to act on such a flight, it would be difficult to handle the rumors and the aftermath. Rather, create a suitable pretext and meet within the castle on a set day. Then there will be no disturbances like today, and no problems at all, would there not be?”

‘Is that truly acceptable? No matter how much of a political marriage this is, she would be your wife.’

Then again, it was a world where it was more natural for royalty and nobles to take several lovers even after marriage. Rensley chewed on his lip. When he had been filled with the desire to keep his secret, he had wanted neither to meet the Archduke’s eyes nor exchange words with him. But now that points he wanted to argue had arisen, it was becoming increasingly difficult to keep his mouth, which was about to burst open, shut. Though it embarrassed him to admit, Rensley was not the taciturn type.

He firmly steeled his twitching lips and extended his finger. Without hesitation, he slowly traced lines on the Archduke’s palm, which met his without delay.

<Your Grace, could you not send me away?>

The strength seemed to drain somewhat from the Archduke’s eyes. But he did not flatly refuse. Instead, he asked, as if dissuading.

“Must you go that far? Even if it means endangering yourself and that man?”

This was no time to debate whether the Archduke’s judgment was romantic, grotesque, or rational. An opportunity Rensley could not afford to miss might be presenting itself.

What should he do? Given how the Archduke was now, even if he said he would flee with his lover, it did not seem likely he would leave them to cross the frozen land bare-bodied to freeze to death. If he intended to bear a grudge and strip them naked to drive them out, he would not have made the proposal about secret meetings in the first place.