It had been the same for over twenty years, she was used to the treatment she received with the looks she received and the whispers.
"A place that can support a regular supply of goods to the North.
Most of the items have to be food that can last for months and should only consist of things that come from warm places." That was enough to limit him to a few places.
There was little land in the north near Biflten with large amounts of food, there weren't many people who wanted to live near the monster infested lands.
“But why are you looking for this?” The knight asked suspiciously.
“To find a place to get married” she said.
The knight sneered.
‘I bet he thinks no one will marry me’ thought Ilyin.
Rumors of Ilyin of Arlen would have already spread throughout social circles.
A young noblewoman who hadn't even made her social debut despite being in her mid-twenties and they automatically assumed she had some kind of defect.
This became a topic of gossip for many and they wondered what flaw she could possibly possess.
“You can go now” Said Ilyin “Thank you for your service.”
The knight turned around without even a nod.
‘Decent courtesy is dead these days.’ Ilyin persevered.
'She was human too' she couldn't help but feel a little resentful.
‘It’s okay’ she comforted herself.
She was used to it and could certainly handle it a little longer, she found comfort in the thought that she had little time to spend in this mansion.
She would be leaving soon and that relaxed her.
‘What will happen if I choose to leave Biflten?’ she wondered.
Something might go wrong on the first night, the recruitment letter also offered a divorce alternative for the future brides, they gave him the option to leave, but Ilyin would never set foot in his father's mansion again if he could help it.
At least, not in this life.
‘No one will take me in anyway, my father doesn’t love me enough to take me back from my divorce.’ she thought.
‘If anything happens, they will say I ruined the family’s reputation.’ She sighed and was startled when the door closed with a bang.
The knight slammed the door behind him as he left, the knight's attitude disgusted her however it didn't matter, she would be gone soon.
Eventually, she would come for her first night.
The Mistress of the Biftlen family was already ready, there was no need to worry.
Ilyin felt a little relieved.
***
Ilyin had a dream:
[It was a dark dawn, for the morning sun had not yet risen.
A time so dark that you could barely see the shadows of people and things and a dozen people moved towards a cart.
They moved silently, dragging their feet because there was no light and there were mainly fruits and rice loaded in the cart.
The high-quality ones were hidden under blankets to protect them from the weather¹, the blanket had a seal drawn on it in green, indicating trust.
The seal of a rising hawk.
"Hurry!" Said a voice.
“We need to leave before sunrise.” The Lord perhaps.
Ilyin in the dream saw a person running towards this Lord and bowed his head.
“My Lord,” said the person
“If we leave too early, deliveries could freeze in the cold.”
“Everything is fine,” assured the Lord
"If we leave now, we'll be at the gates of Biflten by afternoon.
Don't worry." ‘Biftlen?’ Ilyin thought of the dream.
She watched the Lord lift the blanket and check the deliveries.
Under the blanket there were thick cotton plugs, their purpose was to prevent the fruits from being crushed together.
“We are ready!” The lord declared as he lifted the last blanket to check the contents and Ilyin saw a mobile with the provisions, so colorful that it shined and sparkled.]
Ilyin opened his eyes, perhaps the dream was a sign that gave him a way to quickly reach Biflten.
***
Ilyin's first prediction dream was during autumn when she was seven years old.
The dream was as vivid now as it had been so many years ago and she had seen her own brother fall from the terrace on a snowy day.
“Sid!” She cried and woke up.
She clung to her parents, crying and unlike Baron Arlen, who brushed it off as nothing more than a childhood nightmare, Lady Arlen, her mother believed her.
She knew the nature of these dreams, she was afraid of winter and went crazy when the day got colder.
“Sid will fall from the terrace to his death on a snowy day” Ilyin said and it stayed in Lady Arlen's mind since that day.
Lady Arlen had convulsions whenever Sid approached the terrace and forbade him to leave the room on days when it snowed, it was a desperate attempt to avoid his imminent death, without success.
Sid fell down the stairs of the mansion.
The emergency stairs on the third floor were usually high and when Sid fell, his head hit the sharp edges of the stairs.
Sid was badly hurt and when the fall ended, Sid was already dead.
He had died on a snowy day and no matter how much one tried to avoid them, the dreams of prediction always came true.
“Have you ever dreamed of me?” Her father would ask her after Sid's death.
Every time he saw her, that was the only thing he barked at her, little Ilyin was afraid of her father.
He never showed her any warmth after that, only pestered her for whatever unfortunate visions she had that would happen to him in the near future.
N/T ¹:Intemperie is a feminine noun that means bad weather or storm.
The word intempérie originates from the Latin term intemperies, with temperies referring to an ideal, good temperature and in is the particle of negation.