Chapter 6 (Part 2)

After quickly signing and stamping the documents with the lord’s seal ring, she mumbled her response.

“…Since my grandfather has come a long way, we should treat him generously. Send someone to the village.”

“Madam!”

With the butler’s urgent voice, Edan dropped the knife he was holding.

“It’s been thirteen years since I last saw my grandfather; I can’t just send him back.”

Ellenia’s face, feigning determination, was pale. She knew Edan was looking at her but did not meet his gaze.

“Why did you do that?”

His tone was polite but firm. There was a hint of mild reproach.

After the butler bowed and left, promising to follow her orders.

Kneeling beside her at the desk, Edan placed his hand on her knee and sat close. His eyes, looking up at her, trembled helplessly.

Was the emotion in his eyes worry, or pity?

Ellenia looked down at him with a composed expression.

“…It was something that had to be done eventually.”

“No, it wasn’t. You didn’t have to do it.”

“If not, they will continue throughout the rainy season.”

Mumbling as if making a resolution, Ellenia’s gaze seemed to look beyond Edan’s face at something else. She couldn’t let them manipulate her this rainy season.

Not knowing her thoughts, Edan’s grip on her knee tightened.

Seeing his face, Ellenia’s lips curled into an asymmetrical smile. Edan couldn’t take his eyes off the dimple that appeared on one side of her face.

Ellenia’s hand gently caressed his cheek.

“You’re here, aren’t you?”

“…”

What am I, to you?

Edan swallowed that question, which rose to his throat.

***

The official opening of Tarnu’s old castle was the first in ten years.

A late afternoon when thick clouds had covered the sky all day, and heavy raindrops began to fall.

“Wow, it’s just as it was. How long has it been?”

A man with chestnut-brown hair spoke jovially as he entered the castle gate. The eyes of those following him were filled with greed.

This castle. With this castle, they could settle down firmly.

Three men, one woman. They were the descendants of the great-great-grandfather’s illegitimate child. No matter how well-connected Anzra was as a commercial city, it was useless when the rainy season came and they were stranded. During such times, they would run to Tarnu, where they could weather the rainy season without lack, despite the small estate.

When Edarson was alive, they could stay in the old castle, but after his expedition, they couldn’t, so for ten years, they had been causing trouble in the village below, claiming to be the lord’s relatives.

“Thanks to the bishop’s visit, things went smoothly.”

“My unworthy granddaughter was foolish. It was my fault for not teaching her well.”

The skinny old man with white hair, wearing a brimless hat, smiled kindly with his wrinkled face. The way only the corners of his mouth lifted slightly made it seem like a kind of sneer.

“You flatter me. By coming all the way to Tarnu and getting involved, God’s grace will soon descend upon Tarnu.”

“That would be a truly good thing.”

At the words of Schultz, the man with chestnut-brown hair, the bishop’s face was filled with satisfaction.

Schultz was the head of the Opellus branch. Since childhood, he had envied the fertile estate of Tarnu where he stayed during the rainy season, and after the death of the previous lord and his wife, he began coveting Tarnu when Edarson, who was his peer, became the lord.

Even more so after learning that Edarson had gone to war with foreign tribes, leaving only his young wife in the castle.

For him, the anonymous letter that arrived not long ago was a stroke of great fortune.

[To the head of the Opellus branch, 

I am a servant of Tarnu Castle. I am writing to inform you of an unholy incident in Tarnu. Recently, a traveler brought back the belongings of the young lord. Shockingly, the Madam has started to take this traveler into her arms. All the servants are embarrassed, and Tarnu’s reputation is in tatters. As a servant who has served Tarnu for generations, I cannot stand by and watch, so I am contacting you, the head of the Opellus branch. Please bring justice to Tarnu.]

Recalling the skinny girl he had seen only once at the lord’s wedding, Schultz licked his lips. No matter how precious she was, even when the collateral relatives stayed in the castle during the rainy season, she never greeted the guests.

That girl must have become a withered flower by now. Desperate for a man, she must have spread her legs for anyone.

‘If I can just win over that woman, Tarnu Castle will be…’

Hehe.

Schultz entered the castle courtyard with wide eyes, indulging in thoughts he couldn’t dare speak in front of her grandfather.

Of course, the bishop of Nux was not unaware of Schultz’s fantasies.

“Welcome, Bishop. Welcome, members of the Opellus family.”

“Where is she? Even though her grandfather has come, she doesn’t show her face?”

The bishop of Nux, who had not attended even the wedding ceremony, calling it the land of infidels, grumbled as soon as he saw the butler’s face.

This prickly old man is the noble bishop who sold out Madam.

The butler recalled the 17-year-old Madam who had arrived alone in a shabby carriage 13 years ago. Though she wore a dress made of seemingly decent fabric, her pale complexion, dry hair, and chapped hands clearly showed how poorly she had been treated at her family home.

Feeling a fatherly protectiveness again, the old butler suppressed his displ*asure and bowed to the bishop of Nux.

“Madam has been unwell for a few days. But since you have come, she insisted on seeing you as soon as possible.”

“…Hmm.”

The bishop of Nux, who had been glaring at the butler’s bowed head, reluctantly stepped into the castle, unable to hide his displ*asure. His attendant, carrying his luggage, strutted behind him.

As if they knew where they were going. With a sigh, the butler signaled for one of the servants to guide them.

“This is how you treat guests? It shows how long the master has been away.”

“Tarnu has fallen behind.”

“Pathetic.”

As if waiting for the moment, the members of the Opellus family began to complain. It had been nice not to see their faces for the past ten years since the castle had been closed. The butler, feeling the familiar discomfort that had plagued him for days, put on a friendly face.

“First, please rest from your journey. The kitchen has been busy since morning preparing to welcome the elders after such a long time.”

“Of course, it’s been ten years. They should.”

“They better make it worth the invitation after such a long time.”

The members of the collateral branch glared at the butler and acted high-handedly.

They’re not even debt collectors……. 

As the butler’s face hardened, the servants quickly took the luggage from their attendants.

“Please, elders, come this way.”

The servants, who had not had to greet guests for a while, were all busy. Even the stable boy with tousled hair quickly followed Schultz’s attendant.

“In the end… they all came.”

Edan had been watching through the window since the uninvited guests passed through the mountain gate. It was after the passionate affair that had started when the heavy rain began to beat against the shutters, and Ellenia had fallen asleep, tangled in the thick winter blankets.

Still asleep, Ellenia did not respond. Her pale face showed how she had barely eaten since deciding to invite her grandfather the day before.

After confirming that all the guests had entered the castle, Edan sat at the foot of the bed where Ellenia lay curled up. Her ankles were cold under the blanket.

Edan’s face, looking at her, was filled with pity and pain.

“In the end, you’re the only one suffering.”

He gently brushed aside her fine golden hair that lay across her face. The corners of her eyes, where she had cried in his arms, were red.

She must have cried for a long time.

She will cry again.

Ever since the decision to invite the bishop, she had been more anxious, clinging to him even at the sound of rain she would usually endure.

Thinking about it made his heart ache, and he gently stroked her ear and shoulder.

“…Hmph.”

It was a sleepy complaint. As her arm moved slightly, her pale chest emerged from under the blanket.

Edan bent down and buried his face in her br*ast. He kissed the small mound, then deeply kissed the soft flesh.

“…Edan?”

Ellenia, who had been in a light sleep, lifted her heavy eyelids. Edan, with his arm around her slender waist, silently licked and kissed her br*ast.

“Have they all arrived?”

As if it were a signal, Edan suddenly bit her n*pple.

“Ah! Wh-what’s wrong?”

As he sucked, licked, and bit her firm peak, Ellenia’s questions scattered. He buried himself in her soft flesh, biting and sucking hard. His arm around her waist tightened.

“Haa… Edan.”

Everything about him, his arms, his hands, his tongue, felt desperate. He clung to her, squeezed her br*ast, and sucked her n*pple as if hanging on for dear life.

Ellenia felt suffocated and in pain, but… she just held his hair in her hand.