Milo expanded his search and found a maid who was complaining about her workplace upon arriving in the capital, under Ilyin's orders, to find something.
The maid had said that her boss was a strange and strange woman, she paid the price for her madness with her life.
She was already dead when Milo found her, but he discovered that the maid who served Ilyin was missing when he went to look for her.
He found it very strange that the only daughter of the Arlen family did not have a maid exclusively assigned to her.
Aden narrowed his eyes as he thought of Ilyin that first night.
She looked close to death with her frail figure and he placed his hand on his forehead in concern.
She was relieved to have her eyes covered, but Aden didn't say that she knew him as Den and he also didn't know what he would say if Ilyin asked the reason for his disappointment and strangely he feared her reaction.
He was already making up excuses in his head.
“Sir, it is Idith.”
Aden raised an eyebrow when he saw Milo enter with Idith and asked the merchant if he had anything else to report.
Milo spoke with a trembling voice:
"Have you been to her room?
Or did you say it's okay for a man to go into his bride's room in Biflten?"
“Idit!” Aden interrupted Milo's words and looked at Idith, who looked at the ceiling before responding.
"Yes sir."
“Explain why he’s talking about it.” Aden knew how efficient his subordinates were and Idith would have heard this particular conversation with her good hearing.
However, he trusted Idith, who had shown undying loyalty since they were children.
While Milo was the same, Aden didn't want others to know that.
His fiancée, who was vulnerable at the strangest times, made him act like a fool.
Aden wouldn't have said such things if he was his normal self, but Ilyin, lying in the light, surprised him.
Her summer scent caught him and Aden found her surprised face cute.
He would not have said such a thing if he had been sensible, for the flimsy lie would have been discovered the moment another man entered his room.
However, he didn't think any man would be bold enough to enter the Duchess's room.
“I had gone to her room…” Milo tried to explain.
Aden was proven wrong and the pen he was holding in his hand suffered the consequences.
***
It was said that it was a Biflten tradition for the bride to spend a week in the room where she spent her first night with her husband, so that she could be loved by him.
Ilyin was set to follow this tradition, but the problem was that his body was weak.
“You will go up to the seventh floor the day after tomorrow” the doctor instructed and Ilyin blushed as he prevented the duke from entering the room.
The maids placed Empire trinkets and flowers that Milo had brought around the room, hoping to cheer her up.
“Is everything okay?” An old maid bowed, and Ilyin knew instinctively that she was the head maid, Delrose.
"What is your name?" She asked.
“I am Etra of the Delroses.” Etra spoke with her head down and also said that the estate's second-in-command had something to talk to Ilyin about, with his permission, of course.
When Etra looked at the door, the maids standing there suddenly became alert.
"I will accompany you for a walk in the halls, as they are hot today.
His Grace must be in a good mood."
‘What did the duke have to do with the halls?
Was that a metaphor for something?’ Ilyin didn’t know.
While she was still weak, her fever was now low after resting for days.
Etra looked at Ilyin's slender arms that were revealed as the girl moved, with sad eyes.
“Winter lands have rich dishes that warm the body and they will be provided after you leave this room.”
While Ilyin thought that she hadn't changed much since she was in the Empire, she smiled at Etra's sincerity and said:
“Thank you.”
Etra bowed and helped Ilyin move more easily, as the old woman was strong enough to support her weight.
The maid helped her put on a coat and followed her slow steps.
She was different from the Blue North maids, who were surprised to see Ilyin's body after her first night with her husband.
“Hello, Madam.” Idith greeted politely.
Ilyin had seen the second-in-command, Idith of the Red Delroses, before.
She was waiting in the hallway and was now taking her to another room.
She noticed that Idith expected her to go in first and she knew that the Delroses were showing her the greatest courtesy at the moment and Ilyin found this strange.
For her, servants were those who watched her and reported to others what she did and said.
Their priority was to observe her and serving her was the least important thing.