## The Hunter's Mindset
"You know we haven't even started yet, right?"
Claudel's body shrank under his earnest gaze.
Kaian thought that he should not teach Claudel how to hunt, if nothing else.
These days, more and more ladies enjoyed horseback riding and hunting, but he didn't want his wife to know the pleasure it gave when you turned around and caught prey that was trying to flee.
Anything that comes easily to hand quickly becomes boring.
However, his relationship with Claudel had been full of difficulties from the beginning.
From the reason he'd gotten married to the fact that his partner was the daughter of an enemy family.
Was that why?
The reason he kept becoming obsessed with her.
Kaian mocked himself.
Claudel said she wanted to be obsessed over, but Kaian had been obsessed with her from the start and was relentless. Even though he was obsessed with her, she still didn't know it. That part of Claudel always motivated him more.
He always treated Claudel as if things were 'natural for the Duchess of Temnes.'
*'There's no way you would know since you just became a Duchess,'* but he passed it off that way.
He couldn't help but realize that he was falling for her.
"Kaian."
The sound of her voice calling to him was a signal.
He was ready to pounce at any moment.
Mixed breaths squeezed through the gap between sticky lips.
In the meantime, every time the name Claudel or Kaian was called, it was completely consumed.
But even at such moments, Kaian didn't forget her fragility.
He was busy coaxing and comforting her delicate body, which seemed as if he could break her neck with one hand, and tempering his ferocious excitement.
*I want you to leave a lip mark.*
He'd vaguely thought it was possible for a woman in the Duchess's position to beg him to buy her jewelry or a dress or to ask for more money to spend on household matters.
The woman who'd become the Duchess of Temnes was truly an unexpected person.
*This is serious.*
Kaian used to think that those who were extremely devoted to their wives were pathetic.
But now he was on the verge of becoming one of them.
"Kaian."
The name mixed in with heavy breathing was sweet every time he heard it.
If you were lucky enough to stay in a village where you could avoid the wind and rain on the battlefield, there would be plenty of fraternization between the soldiers and the women in the taverns.
When the drunk men crawled out of bed in the morning, the women who'd spent the night were a sight.
Their necks had turned blue with sleepy handprints, and their faces were swollen as if they'd been slapped. Even though it was all buttoned up, there were bruises on the napes of their necks that looked like they'd been bitten.
Kaian couldn't imagine Claudel looking like that.
She shouldn't be hurt by violent treatment at his own hands.
It felt like something absolutely impossible.
"Claudel."
As he whispered the name that brought joy and delight into her small, delicate ear, he suddenly remembered the unfinished conversation from earlier.
*'So, you called Valquiterre "Bark"?'*
*'Yes. He told me not to do it when other people are around, but to call him that when I feel comfortable.'*
*'That's unusual. He's the type of person who rarely lets anyone close.'*
*'He was very kind to me.'*
It had been by chance that he'd seen her calling Valquiterre 'Bark.'
Claudel had taken off the coat and cape he'd given her and gone for a walk. Holderlay Round was open terrain, so there was nothing to block the winter wind—it quickly got cold if you stayed outside for a while.
He'd turned around on his way to where the nobles were gathered, gone to the tent, taken Claudel's clothes, and returned the way he'd come.
*'Thank you, Bark.'*
Long after their marriage, the smile that had only appeared after her illness was cured was turned to Valquiterre.
*'Is Bark his childhood name?'*
*'Yes.'*
*'I thought you didn't call him that anymore, so I was going to ask you later. What about you?'*
Bark was not Valquiterre's nickname.
Valquiterre was just Valquiterre.
Kaian had never had a nickname.
They were perfectly raised successors.
They were people who had never been called anything other than their names since birth.
However, Kaian wondered why Valquiterre had been so generous to Claudel, whom he'd only met twice.
*Even if it's my wife, it doesn't matter.*
Even to his younger sister, Bianque, he wasn't a soft and giving brother.
In some ways, Bianque's difficult personality could have been due to Valquiterre being overly strict and not leaving much room. Since she didn't have the courage to coax or accept anything, it just ended up manifesting as anger.
Valquiterre's behavior was different from usual.
He didn't really want to tell Claudel that Valquiterre was treating her in a special way.
*I'm the only one who's special.*
Everything about his wife, even the smallest thing that could be given meaning, was Kaian's alone.
"Sorry."
Claudel, trembling in his arms, pleaded with a shaking voice.
"I won't beg you to do that again."
Even though she didn't know what to do with the pleasure she couldn't handle, she seemed to think she was going to get scolded for going against his wishes.
"You do whatever you want."
But he wasn't scolding her.
"I'm just teaching you what kind of person your husband is."
If only she knew how obsessed he could be without leaving a painful mark on Claudel's body.
How very persistent her husband was.
Kaian gave her a long, thorough kiss.
---
## The Capital's Anticipation
The culmination of the King's Birthday celebrations was a ball held in the royal castle.
A social gathering of nobles was scheduled around the young King's birthday, and a ball was held on the day the noble King was born.
The nobles, decked out in colorful dresses and transformed into living flowers, were literally offering the world's most extravagant bouquet to his dignity.
Usually, money and time were needed just to choose lodging in the capital and to match the attire of a noble couple attending a royal ball, so it was decided quite early whether or not to go to the capital for the King's Birthday celebration.
When the country had been in emergency due to war, the ball hadn't been held to mourn the death of Queen Sylvia.
The Kingdom of Oberon had won the war and reaped the spoils, and as Valquiterre's reign entered a stable period, royal events were revived again, and the King's birthday returned for the third time this year.
Aristocratic parents with daughters eagerly waited for the ball, thinking that this would be the time for the unmarried King to welcome his Queen, while those who weren't interested in royal weddings were slowly losing interest, thinking about not going this year.
However, due to an unexpected event, the number of people who wanted to attend increased and only the workers of the capital suffered.
One of the reasons was that the King had sent a letter to the Duke of Vermont, the ruler of the North, and personally invited him to the royal palace.
On the surface, it was an invitation to the Duke of Vermont, but in reality, it was to invite his daughter, Princess Irena, who was called the Jewel of the North, to the royal palace.
As a result, the girls who'd been hoping to make an impression on Valquiterre on the day of the ball were so disappointed that they canceled the dresses they'd ordered, causing an uproar in the capital's dressmaking shops.
Since Vermont had rarely been active in the capital's social circles since the founding of the Kingdom of Oberon, the prevailing opinion was that 'it would be quite a spectacle to even see red hair at a ball.'
However, when news broke that the Duke of Temnes, who'd only been rumored to have married by order of the King, would attend with his Duchess, the capital was turned upside down.
That was the mind of an ordinary person.
His Majesty the King seemed like a distant being that couldn't be reached, and the pressure and burden of being Queen was not easy.
Wouldn't the Duke of Temnes, who was young and handsome and possessed great spirit, be worthy of courting? They thought that was more achievable.
Therefore, many people were skeptical about the fact that Kaian had received the King's order to go to Valmonde's estate and get married.
There was no way Temnes went to Valmonde, in the middle of enemy territory.
There was no way Vermont would have sent Temnes' heir out of the castle alive.
They couldn't have married into an enemy family.
Even if they'd married, something would have happened by now—either Vermont poisoning Temnes or Temnes stabbing Vermont to death.
It was mostly negative speculation.
There was no way the Duke of Temnes was married.
There were also some who didn't want to believe in the marriage itself.
Anyway, they said they would go beyond all the rumors and show their faces in society, and after that, there was an uproar, including re-ordering canceled dresses and preparing to go to the capital.
The Duke of Temnes, who'd sat in the most expensive box seat while the masterpiece produced by the capital's performing arts scene, *The Revenge of Karl Hamelin*, was performed, had kissed the Duchess throughout the climax?
There were so many eyewitnesses that once again the capital's society was turned upside down, and the lead actor who'd played the role of Karl Hamelin, hearing the rumor, was hurt and doubted his qualifications for the leading role. He reportedly declared a period of rest and left the capital.
Red hair!
It would be wonderful to actually see Vermont just once!
Those who'd arrived late at the hunting party in anticipation of this were shocked to learn that the Duke and Duchess of Temnes, who'd made a brief appearance the day before, had hurriedly returned to the capital mansion due to the Duchess's health.
In the end, the only way to see them was at the royal ball.
Vermont had become the nucleus of the capital's social scene this season.
---
## The Ball
Claudel, unaware of that fact, was immersed in happiness.
Madame Marcel's dress was definitely eye-catching and extravagant.
Claudel, who'd already witnessed her skills at the Estate Festival, pleased Madame Marcel by obediently cooperating with her wearing elaborate makeup, even though she'd thought *I don't think this would suit me.*
Kaian also looked quite satisfied when he saw her finished appearance.
"It's the best I've ever seen."
My husband, who couldn't simply say I was pretty, gave me the most generous review he could.
However, I was happier to see Kaian dressed up than to see myself transformed.
I usually saw him dressed up or not, but my husband, who looked wonderful either way, looked truly magnificent in his formal ball attire.
*What if everyone is staring at Kaian?*
I grew anxious and fidgeted with my thin silk-gloved hands. Because of my voluminous dress, Kaian, who was sitting across from me, reached out his hand and caressed my cheek.
"Why are you doing that? Are you nervous?"
Said the handsome man, arranging my hair to reveal my forehead.
"I said it wouldn't be like that."
*...Is it because of you?*
---