Droit du Seigneur: His Lordship's Right of the First Night - Chapter 21
“Hmm, la la la.”
A little while later, Louise returned home to find Cherinia humming in front of the mirror. She was admiring herself in a pure white wedding dress and veil. Cherinia’s eyes widened when she saw Louise.
“Oh my! You’re back already?”
“…….”
Without responding, Louise walked straight into the small kitchen connected to the living room. She silently placed the marriage approval document from the castle on the table, where an unfinished pie and an empty teacup sat.
“We can prepare for the wedding without any worries now!”
Cherinia, who had followed her, saw the document and began to jump up and down in excitement.
“So, how was last night? It must have been awful, right? They say that after spending the first night with such a rough man, you can barely crawl out the next day….”
Cherinia had been happily examining the document with her and Helio’s names on it, then she began to glance sideways at Louise.
Her dark eyes quickly scanned Louise up and down, assessing her condition. After a while, realizing that Louise had no visible bruises or injuries, she became visibly disappointed.
“Oh…? Did he hit you where it doesn’t show? Or strangle you…?”
“Where’s Mildred.”
“She went to visit the neighbors.”
Ignoring Cherinia’s curiousity, Louise asked back. Cherinia answered in a noticeably disappointed voice. Louise’s gaze settled on the white dress Cherinia was wearing.
“Where did you get that dress?”
“…This? I, I bought it!”
“When did you buy it?”
“Um, I don’t remember. I’ll tell you when I do! Haaahm, I’m so sleepy now. Maybe it’s because of the baby? Why am I suddenly so tired…?”
“Stop right there.”
Louise grabbed Cherinia, who was hastily trying to leave. The dress she was wearing was undoubtedly her own, which she had stored deep in the wardrobe.
Though altered to Cherinia’s liking with a shorter skirt and comically large ribbons at the chest and wrists, it was the dress her late mother had left for her.
“My dear daughter! Louise, one day you will be the happiest bride in the world. There’s a saying that if a mother makes a wedding dress for her daughter in advance, she will meet a good husband and live well.”
Her mother, who was skilled with her hands, often took on sewing work from the castle, making dresses for weddings and parties. She collected leftover decorations, lace, and fabric scraps, and when Louise had her first menstruation, she bought pure white silk and made a unique dress for her daughter.
Even though they were too poor to afford such a beautiful dress or have any occasion to wear it, it was a precious keepsake from her mother. Louise never sold it, no matter how difficult their situation became, because just looking at it brought back memories of her mother.
Avoiding Louise’s cold stare, Cherinia stuck out her tongue cutely and laughed.
“Aww, are you mad? Don’t be so scary…! It’s so sad if no one ever wears such a beautiful dress. Cherinia couldn’t just let that happen.”
Cherinia fidgeted with her fingers, constantly gauging Louise’s reaction.
“Helio said… that since you’re already sullied, no decent man would want to marry you, and you’d have to work like this forever….”
“Shut up, Cherinia. Give me back my dress.”
“Hey, stop it! This is Cherinia’s now…!”
Cherinia tried to shake off Louise’s hand and run to her room, but suddenly she doubled over, clutching her stomach.
“Ow, my stomach… it hurts! The baby must be scared…!”
“The baby is scared?”
“Y-Yes! Cherinia’s stomach is cramping and it hurts so much. So please let go.”
“…….”
Louise noticed something on Cherinia’s red lips and turned her gaze to the table. The contents of the half-eaten pie matched what was on her lips. The filling of finely chopped apples, honey, and cinnamon emitted a strong cinnamon scent.
“Did you eat that pie?”
“Huh? Um… the baby was hungry….”
“There’s cinnamon in that pie, and pregnant women shouldn’t eat that. Tell me the truth. You were lying about being pregnant from the start, weren’t you?”
“N-No! Cherinia really doesn’t know!”
Cherinia whimpered, looking like a puppy caught in the rain, her eyebrows drooping.
“At first, Cherinia really thought she was pregnant! Cherinia felt nauseous and heavy….”
“You should have told me as soon as you realized you weren’t! How could you lie about something like that?”
“Cherinia wasn’t lying, Cherinia just didn’t tell you yet because she was afraid you’d be angry! It wasn’t on purpose, so don’t be too harsh. And it’s not fair! Cherinia didn’t know what would happen at the castle, and Helio told me to do it. He said no one wants a woman who’s been with another man….”
“You….”
Louise was about to retort furiously when a knock sounded on the back door of the cottage. Who could it be? Mildred already back? Louise tilted her head in confusion and walked towards the sound. At the open door stood a man she had never seen before, dressed in a knight’s uniform.
“Are you Riddel?”
“Yes, but what is this about…?”
He produced a golden badge from his chest to verify his identity.
“Follow me. Don’t make a fuss.”
