Chapter 6

It was already so cold that she had bundled herself up tightly, and now, hearing such spiteful words, she felt almost moved to tears out of sheer humiliation. She had not expected a warm welcome after parting from her family and coming to a foreign land, but such a tone of contempt was too much.

It wasn’t unexpected—she had imagined this situation dozens of times and thought she’d adapt quickly, but experiencing it firsthand made her eyes fill with tears.

Moreover, Flora felt as if the first button had been completely misfastened with Emeric, the man who would become her husband.

“Oh, I’m sorry, but please don’t cry. Showing tears is something unheard of in our household.”

Emeric Blois certainly had a talent for hitting people with words. Just listening to him speak made Flora’s whole body ache.

She took a deep breath, trying not to cry, and followed Emeric, who was already walking away, toward the grand and luxurious Blois carriage.

The carriage bore the Blois crest. Like Emeric’s blue-toned clothes, the family’s emblem was a mix of gold and blue.

Charllon’s was orange, red, and gold. Thinking about it, the two families were different in so many ways.

“Are we really going together in the same carriage?”

She opened the door and asked Emeric, who gestured for her to enter, in a voice full of disbelief.

She’d heard it would take another day to reach their destination, and now she had to travel in the same carriage as this man!

“Sorry, but it’s not exactly pleasant for me either.”

“Then why did you come all the way here to greet me?”

Emeric sat across from her, arrogantly crossing his legs as he replied.

He was tall and long-legged, but the carriage was spacious enough for him to move comfortably.

“Let’s call it a family tradition. Besides, if Charllon’s crybaby youngest daughter arrives at Blois in a rattling little carriage, it would be an insult to me as well.”

With that, Emeric signaled for the carriage to depart. Every expression and word from him irritated Flora.

She didn’t understand why she was called Charllon’s ‘crybaby youngest daughter.’ And he treated the carriage her parents had prepared—not the best in the house, but better than anything a commoner could use—as useless. Every word stoked Flora’s anger.

“Are you always so rude?”

At her response, Emeric gave a short laugh, then wiped away any trace of amusement.

“Hearing that from someone who was rude first puts me in a difficult position.”

Flora couldn’t make sense of what Emeric was saying.

Not until he pressed his lips together and uttered the word ‘letter.’

“Oh, I’m sorry. I’ll apologize again. I must have lost my mind back then. Please just think of it as childish behavior and forget it.”

“I’m trying to. It’s just too hard to understand with a clear mind.”

He was definitely not an easy opponent. He never lost a word, never backed down.

In fact, every word he directed at Flora was laced with dislike and contempt.

Having to spend a whole day in the same carriage with someone he found so distasteful must be uncomfortable for both of them.

Flora didn’t reply further and instead opened the velvet curtain to look at the scenery outside the carriage.

They were still traveling through the forest. The wasteland she’d heard about in stories hadn’t appeared yet.

Ellie was probably following behind in the carriage from Charllon.

“Is that how you always dress in Charllon?”

“Excuse me?”

Distracted by the scenery, Flora didn’t catch Emeric’s meaning at first.

The point of the conversation was clearly that he didn’t like her clothing.

“The west is always warm, so I dressed as warmly as I could. I don’t know how cold it gets in the east, so I didn’t know what to wear. And besides, it’s not easy to buy clothes as thick as yours.”

“When you arrive at Blois, you should probably throw away all the clothes you brought.”

Emeric said this and tossed a thick velvet blanket at Flora.

His action, tossing the blanket as if annoyed, pushed Flora’s patience to the limit.

“Emeric, if there’s something you don’t like, could you say it with words? Don’t just throw things.”

“I’m trying to be gentlemanly and patient with you.”

“What?”

“If you arrive looking like that, the castle will be buzzing about you all week.”

“What do you mean?”

“In the east, only people with lowly jobs wear clothes like those.”

“That’s rude!”

As soon as she heard those words, Flora shouted. He was truly rude, speaking so bluntly in front of a lady.

“I expected you to dress in the Blois style. No, I overestimated Charllon. Your parents have neglected you.”

“Are you insulting my family and parents now?”

“I’m glad you felt insulted. I was holding back from saying something worse. Parents sending their daughter to a battlefield without any weapons…”

Emeric clicked his tongue again.

She was angry at his words, but even sadder was the fact that he wasn’t entirely wrong. All they’d focused on was bridal lessons—her parents hadn’t told her anything about the east, what clothes to wear, or what behaviors were forbidden.

They only told her to live quietly, to be loyal to Emeric. It was the servants and maids who brought her useful information. So it wasn’t unreasonable for Emeric to mock her and her family.

Shame made Flora’s whole body tremble.

“Don’t you have hands?”

“What?”

“Why do you think I gave you that blanket? Stop shivering and cover yourself.”

In the end, he seemed unable to hold back his irritation and turned his head away. It was hard to tell who should be angrier.

Flora glared at his profile and pulled the blanket over herself. It was warm.

“We’ll be arriving soon.”

“What? Already? I heard it would take a whole day…”

“The Blois castle in Bjorn. After bumping into you yesterday, I contacted them right away. It’s urgent to get you changed.”

“Yes.”

“Let’s change into Blois clothes at the castle before we set off.”

With those words, the carriage stopped.

Emeric, with the noble elegance ingrained in his body, extended his hand to Flora. Weighted down by the blanket, Flora took his hand and stepped out of the carriage.

Of course, as soon as she exited, he let go and walked straight into the castle without looking back.

“Tanya!”

As he entered the castle, Emeric called out a woman’s name. It was probably the name of the maid who would help Flora.

Hearing that, Flora looked back at the road she’d come. The carriage she’d ridden and Ellie hadn’t arrived yet.

“Tanya will help you change.”

Emeric gestured indifferently for her to go inside and change.

“My maid hasn’t arrived yet.”

“She won’t be coming.”

“What?”

“Ellie, right? She’s probably on her way back to Charllon by now.”

Emeric fixed his blue eyes on Flora, his expression unchanged.

“What do you mean? Are you saying I can’t even keep my own maid?”

All the emotions Flora had suppressed seemed to boil up inside her.

Ellie was young but spirited, and had encouraged Flora to live well even in a foreign land.

“You’ll be a person of Blois, so you should have a Blois maid. Tanya?”

When Emeric called the name at the end, he sounded rather irritable. Flora’s defiance clearly didn’t please him, but since it was their first meeting, he seemed to be keeping up appearances.

“Oh, so you need eyes and ears in the castle.”

“Of course.”

With that, Emeric turned and left the room.

From outside, Flora could hear Emeric’s voice.

“Tanya, except for her face and hands, I don’t want to see any bare skin.”

He spoke as if seeing any part of her body was dirty and unbearable.

Flora felt, as expected, that this marriage was off to a wrong start.

* * *

“You look much better now.”

Emeric said this as he put Flora in the carriage.

The clothes Tanya had brought were practically like a nun’s habit.

For Flora, who had lived her whole life in bright, colorful clothes, it was a shock. She wondered if all women in the east dressed this way, but seeing Tanya bundled up just the same made her resolve not to complain.

“I wish there was at least some color.”

Of all things, the clothes were a dark navy blue. There were some white frills and lace here and there, but what good was that? Flora felt sorry for the women of the east who had to live in such clothes all their lives. Ah, now that fate was hers.

“There’s no need to be so upset.”

“Why not?”

“The clothes may be stifling and dull, but sparkling things are a must.”

“I don’t understand what you mean.”

“Women of the Blois family receive incredible jewels from their husbands.”

“So, Emeric, does that mean you’ll give me incredible jewels too?”

“It’s tradition. People from cold regions—our family’s women focus more on decorating with jewels than clothes.”

At Emeric’s words, Flora simply moved to the window and gazed outside.

“Don’t you like jewels?”

“I do. Please give me plenty.”

Who doesn’t like jewels? But Flora felt she’d have to use those jewels as a future living fund. Would she be able to endure in Blois for long? She’d better save up the jewels to sell later.