"We'll take everything."
Even after hearing Kaian's words, I didn't immediately comprehend what had happened. At that moment, the jeweler practically floated in the air as if he'd grown wings.
"Thank you, my Lord! Haha! I knew it—your wife has such fair skin and beauty that any jewelry would suit her perfectly."
"Ah..."
Only then did I come to my senses as I watched the craftsman gesturing frantically to his assistant, urging them to quickly close the lids of the jewelry boxes and pack everything up—as if Kaian might renege on his order at any moment.
"Wait... Duke! Wait."
I quickly grabbed Kaian's jacket as he was already standing to leave the shop.
"You're buying all of that?"
"What's the problem?"
Faced with Kaian's imposing presence, I found myself speechless.
"There are too many."
"Too many? Do you really think so?"
I nodded vigorously.
"You're mistaken. It's not much at all. It's necessary to maintain the dignity of the Duchess of Temnes. You wouldn't know, having only just become a duchess."
"..."
I wanted to argue, but I had no rebuttal. In truth, I'd been feeling rather gloomy about this very thing lately. It wasn't until I'd seen the tombstone with my name engraved on it that I'd truly understood I was the Duchess of Temnes.
This was the land where I would die and be buried—not the place where I would live.
But Kaian had saved my life. As I continued living, I'd come to realize that I truly was a duchess now.
"I'll find something even better when we go to the capital, so let's settle for this for now."
"I don't think I need this much. Really."
"You haven't even had your dresses fitted yet, so how would you know if you need more or not?"
"Well..."
I bit my lower lip slightly. Kaian was right. As a duchess, it would be expected that I wear several different dresses each season while socializing. And naturally, I'd need jewelry to match each outfit.
"Unless you intend to disgrace me, you should conduct yourself in a manner befitting a duchess."
"Yes. All right."
"I have another place to visit. Come along."
When Kaian extended his arm courteously, I quickly placed my hand on it. However, he seemed to forget my presence entirely and strode forward with such long steps that I was nearly pulled along behind him.
"Duke! Your steps are too fast. Please slow down."
"I am walking slowly."
Surprisingly, the man's eyes seemed sincere—perhaps this was his way of being considerate.
"Our stride lengths are completely different!"
"Ah. Right."
We began walking again, and this time our pace finally matched, unlike before.
---
We were in a small city located not far from Rowan Castle. During the carriage ride, I hadn't seen any residential houses—it seemed the area consisted entirely of commercial buildings and marketplaces.
Valmonde was a frozen land, so cold that merchants maintained designated shops within the massive castle built by the Lord. The castle was largely divided into an outer ward and an inner ward—the outer ward, which formed the perimeter surrounding the inner castle, housed the market and shops. The inner castle was the space where the Duke and his knights resided.
Since Rowan was warm, it appeared the commercial district had been established separately like this.
My eyes were busy taking in everything around me. Then, a wide garden filled with roses appeared along the roadside.
*So pretty.*
I was worried about appearing unsophisticated, so I kept my "Wow" internal. But when I looked more closely, it appeared to be a café. Lovers and friends sat at charming tables scattered throughout the spacious rose garden, enjoying tea.
I was staring at the café unconsciously when—
"This way."
Kaian pulled me toward him. I looked up at his face as he headed toward the rose-covered tunnel that served as the café's entrance. There was this man with his usual cold expression, ducking his head and frowning to avoid catching it on the tunnel overflowing with red, white, and pink roses.
"Would you like to have tea here?"
"Yes."
The café's rose garden was even more beautiful up close than it had been from outside. The vivid scent of fist-sized blooms was intoxicating. And Kaian, dressed in his formal going-out attire and seated against a backdrop of red roses, looked devastatingly handsome.
My heart raced. It fluttered.
Regarding this marriage—to be blunt, I'd thought I had married willingly for the sake of the starving children on the estate, while Kaian had been forced into it against his will. A marriage commanded by royal decree.
I'd resigned myself to the fact that there was nothing I could do about him hating me or hating Vermont.
Everything changed after Kaian saved my life.
Before that, after the incident during the crocodile hunt, he'd treated me with somewhat softened manner for a while. He'd said it was because I was his benefactor. Then, after discovering my consumption, he'd become enraged, claiming he'd been "tricked into marriage."
I'd never imagined he would personally oversee my medicine like this. My death had been expected only a month ago.
*Clink.*
A teacup with a lovely fragrance was placed before me.
"Enjoy, my Lord, my Lady."
As I gazed at the tea brought by a maid wearing a white frilly apron and the silver tray laden with layers of small, beautiful desserts, I felt strangely close to tears.
"What's wrong?"
He asked as I stared intently at the silver tray, blinking rapidly to keep from shedding tears.
"I'm just so happy. I'm grateful to be sitting here right now."
Instead of lying in the dark castle catacombs where no one would visit, I could enjoy flowers and tea under brilliant sunlight. And I was with Kaian, who was cold but also somehow different from his harsh exterior.
"Thank you."
I smiled at Kaian. It had been so long since I'd had anything to smile about. I laughed joyfully as I picked up and ate each delicate, beautiful dessert placed before me.
---
*It's a good thing I listened to the butler's advice.*
Kaian couldn't understand why a place like a café existed, why he needed to go to such a place, or why drinking tea in such an establishment could constitute a date.
*"My Lord, you shouldn't think that way."*
*"What's wrong with my thinking?"*
*"When courting, you must always listen to and accommodate your partner's preferences."*
*"So you're telling me to go to some shabby building and pay money to drink cheap tea?"*
The tea available at the Lord's castle was surely the finest in Rowan. The butler had looked somewhat perplexed at Kaian's question.
*"Do you really think she'll dislike it?"*
*"As far as I know, there's no garden café like this in Valmonde—it's too cold. Roses, in particular, are the representative flower of the southern region."*
The butler had insisted with a stern expression.
*"Can you guarantee that Claudel will like it?"*
*"Absolutely. If your wife doesn't enjoy the garden café, I'll accept a pay reduction."*
Since the butler had committed so strongly, Kaian had eventually accepted the recommendation. They'd decided to stop by a nearby café while purchasing jewelry for Claudel.
"Thank you."
But he'd never expected to see this.
Claudel, smiling brilliantly.
He'd had no idea that the woman who'd been sitting silently and expressionlessly with a pale, hollow-cheeked face could smile like that.
Claudel, who was still recovering, had skin that was regaining its color and cheeks that were filling out. Her red hair and golden eyes somehow made her look like she herself was a blossom in this rose garden.
She reminded him of a simple daisy. When she'd sat in the white flower garden, he'd thought such a calm and quiet setting suited her. But as she sat among these colorful flowers, Claudel seemed to be the most vibrant of them all.
He must have been staring too intently, because Kaian cleared his throat and retrieved the menu.
"Let me see if there's anything else you'd like to order."
Claudel smiled happily.
"Really? May I?"
Kaian responded by crossing his arms. Before leaving, the butler had coached him repeatedly.
*"My Lord, when you go to a café, be sure to let your wife choose what to order."*
*"Does it matter?"*
*"It's important. Very important. If you don't give her choices from the menu, it may be worse than not going to a café at all."*
He'd forgotten initially and ordered the most expensive dessert set and tea for two in the establishment. Remembering too late, he'd thought she could order additional items, so he'd brought over the menu.
"Hmm."
Unlike at the jewelry shop earlier, Claudel was reading each menu item very intently and enthusiastically.
*Is that actually enjoyable?*
Kaian couldn't believe that the "ladies" the butler had mentioned truly enjoyed something as mundane as a list with food names, ingredients, and prices written on it.
However, Claudel before him genuinely seemed to enjoy exactly what the butler had described, so he kept silent. Instead, he was able to observe Claudel studying the menu at leisure.
The southern-style dress made of thin fabric suited the slender woman far better than the dark-colored northern-style dress that buttoned up to the neck.
*She must have only worn northern dresses before coming here, mustn't she?*
Valmonde Castle was infamous for its chill—even in summer, the interior remained cold. The long, elegant neckline, the delicately defined collarbones, and the pale nape of her neck that stood out even more because she wore no necklace—all of it caught his attention.
When he considered that his lips and hands would have touched beneath Claudel's white neck before the midday sunlight ever reached there, Kaian felt irritated again.
He'd been experiencing this feeling frequently when looking at Claudel these days. It was strange to feel irritated while watching the woman's illness fade and her health return—especially when it was a life he'd saved with his own hands.
Today, his eyes kept drifting to her red lips, blooming like petals among the red roses.
He'd never yet kissed Claudel.
In retrospect, he found it odd, but he'd been too preoccupied with consummating their marriage that first night to think about it. The disease Claudel had suffered from reportedly caused pain that felt like a thousand-pronged blade scraping her chest with each breath.
So what Claudel had endured while lying beneath him with her eyes squeezed shut and teeth clenched must have been the chest pain caused by her illness.
Without realizing it, Kaian had assumed it was because the woman from Vermont found it terrible to give her body to him—a Temnes. Even thinking that, he'd had no reason to show consideration for a woman from his enemy's family when he was merely fulfilling his duty under the King's command. It hadn't mattered to him why she was in pain, as long as she eventually died, so he'd simply done what was required.
However, now that the woman was free from pain, her lips kept fluttering before Kaian's eyes like flower petals blown by the summer wind—as if she too had been liberated from suffering.
Claudel flashed him that smile she'd shown for the first time today and ordered several items from a maid she'd just met. Only then did she set down the menu and look at him.
"May I ask you something?"
"Anything."
"Why did you save me?"
On this beautiful day, she asked Kaian the same question again.
*"You won't die. I won't allow it."*
*"Why? I'm from Vermont."*
*"I can't permit such a stain on my life. Do I look like someone who would live with the disgrace of holding his bride's funeral three months after the wedding for the rest of his days?"*
She probably didn't want to hear the same answer as before.
However, something—a tightly twisted knot that wouldn't come undone—made him respond impulsively.
"Just..."
Like when she'd once said she saved him without any particular reason.
"If anyone were dying like that, I would have saved them."
It was then—after hearing his words—that Claudel's face brightened like a flower in full bloom.
*Why does she look like that?*
---