Droit du Seigneur: His Lordship's Right of the First Night - Chapter 61
What Cherinia found were beautiful dresses and satin shoes that only noble ladies would wear. The silk lace that made up the stomacher, the pearls, and the jewels decorating the elegant hem of the skirt ignited a blaze of jealousy within her.
Though she herself had persuaded Helio to buy her new clothes every season and had even gone to great lengths to acquire silk garments, the cheap silk bought from the village shops seemed like rags compared to what Louise had.
“What are you doing? Why are you rummaging through other people’s things?”
“…Louise! Where did you get all this?”
“Get out.”
“Tell me! Tell me now! Did you steal it from the castle?”
Despite her flinch, Cherinia kept probing, but Louise didn’t answer any of her questions and pushed her out of the room. If Helio had been there, she would have tattled immediately, but he just had come back drunk that night and went straight to bed, sleeping soundly.
No matter how much Cherinia shook him, he only snored. And the next day, when she checked again while Louise was out, the dresses and shoes were gone.
Cherinia was so curious and frustrated that she could barely stand it. She tried to provoke Louise, but since she didn’t get a reaction, she grew even more anxious. She wondered where Louise had been enjoying herself, looking much prettier than before, despite claiming she had gone to do menial labor at the castle.
“Helio, doesn’t Louise seem a bit strange lately?”
“Why? She seems the same to me. That annoying brat has always been like that.”
“No! Think about it. She changed after she came back from the castle! And those dresses and jewels….”
“You’re talking about that again. You must have seen it wrong. How could that dull girl get something like that?”
“I’m telling you, they really existed!”
Though she ran to Helio to tattle, he was too selfish and indifferent to anything but his own business to be of any help.
“Fine, fine. So there were these big jewels, right? I believe you. Now, come here, darling. Haven’t we been distant lately?”
“Get away from me!”
Cherinia shuddered as she dodged Helio’s hand, which tried to grab her. She decided she would have to uncover the truth herself.
‘There’s definitely something going on. Cherinia will find out!’
***
‘Louise….’
Richard stood in front of the house, feeling no signs of anyone inside. Though his strikingly handsome face was the same, his hardened jawline now made him look sharper and more ferocious. He had come to the village alone, without any attendants.
Since Louise left, the recent days had been the most painful and difficult of his life. He had wanted to follow her immediately upon discovering her absence, but a massive landslide on the outskirts of the territory had caused significant damage to the people, delaying him.
When he finally returned to the castle, what awaited him were the dresses and shoes Louise had sent back. Not only had she left behind all the jewelry, books, and other gifts he had given her, but she had also returned the clothes she had worn when she left. It was clear she wanted to completely sever ties with him.
Louise hadn’t left him even a short note. She had even cleaned the room they had shared before leaving. Richard had frantically searched the bedroom but couldn’t find a single strand of her light hair.
It was as if the past two months had been a dream, as if the playful forest fairy who had stayed by his side had vanished. Louise had disappeared just like that.
The clothes and items she had used while staying at the castle were neatly arranged in a corner of the bedroom. While looking around in a daze, Richard had found the nightgown Louise had worn on their first night together and picked it up with trembling hands.
“My lord, aren’t you curious about women? I can teach you.”
Ah….
In that moment, he truly understood the expression ‘shattered heart’. The bold, lovely fairy who had shaken his world had taught him the joy, excitement, and wonder of love, only to leave him with a wound that could never heal and an empty sorrow.
Richard spent nights in her room, holding her nightgown, feeling like he was back to being a seven-year-old boy crying alone under the covers, tormented by the knowledge that no one loved him.
The last night in the capital, when he had forcefully taken her at the ball, was one of his deepest regrets. He should have apologized and sought forgiveness immediately. No, he should have expressed his feelings earlier. Instead of treating her roughly, he should have treated her well while she was with him. Given how he had acted, there couldn’t have been any good feelings left.
Remembering her tear-stricken face, his heart shattered again.
In the end, his unbearable longing had led him here, but he hesitated to knock. She might be happily married now, building a family with the man she truly loved, and he feared ruining her happiness.
Still, if he could just see her smiling face from afar, even once….
