I Married the Mad Duke Who Killed My Husband - Chapter 53
“… Why do you have so much luggage? Throw away everything unnecessary.”
“But…”
I snatched the bundle from the hesitating Lorang and examined its contents. Then I threw it back into the narrow, dirty house and closed the door.
“Let’s go.”
“What? What about my luggage?”
“Why are you packing used-up paints? Just come with your body alone.”
There wasn’t a single useful item. It’s not like there were any paintings or objects with memories either. Literally, the luggage filled with only junk would just be a hindrance to our travel.
“Do we really need to flee in the middle of the night like this? It’s been so long since I’ve ridden a horse, wouldn’t it be better to go during the day…?”
“We need to leave without the villagers knowing. Didn’t I tell you there’s surveillance from the Empress? If we leave openly, it’ll immediately reach the Empress’s ears.”
As I scolded Lorang and reached out my hand, Cassion, who was already on horseback, naturally lifted me up.
Fortunately, Lorang had experience riding horses from when he associated with the Empress, so Cassion had quietly procured an extra horse during the day. Originally, it would have been better if I rode alone, and Cassion rode with Lorang for supervision.
I still didn’t have the courage to ride a horse alone on mountain paths, and Cassion said he could quickly catch Lorang even if he tried to escape. This is certainly not being careless.
“Oh, oh my. Oh dear, horse! Calm down!”
“…”
“…”
And Lorang, though not as bad as me, wasn’t particularly good at handling horses either, so escape didn’t seem feasible. Cassion sighed as he guided Lorang’s horse onto the right path.
“For now, we’re not going far, just over the mountain path to the next village. It’s important to return quickly, but we also need to send word to His Highness the Second Prince and assess the situation.”
But Lorang, preoccupied with patting his horse’s neck, didn’t seem to hear Cassion’s words. Feeling a bit of sympathy, I squirmed, wondering if I should switch places with him now, but Cassion, sensing this with uncanny perception, tightly wrapped one arm around my waist.
“Don’t get any unnecessary ideas, Asilia.”
“But I’m better than that, aren’t I?”
“…”
“…”
“…”
“… Fine. You’re hurting my feelings without saying a word.”
Usually, when you find someone who’s as incapable as you at something, you feel relieved, but the brief display from Lorang was so hopelessly inept that I didn’t want to admit being on the same level as him.
Feeling hurt in my pride, I pinched the back of Cassion’s hand, but he paid no attention and moved our horse behind Lorang’s.
“Try to relax your body as much as possible and just hold the reins. I’ll guide the horse in the right direction from behind.”
“That…”
“Is that even possible?!”
Damn it. I almost spoke at the same time as Lorang. Is this what they call mirror therapy or something?
Normally, I would say it’s fine because I’m pretty, but he’s not lacking in looks either… It’s unsightly.
“Asilia, are you uncomfortable somewhere? Why are you so uncharacteristically quiet?”
“Be quiet. I’m in the middle of self-reflection.”
“It’s better not to try hiding if you’re in pain somewhere.”
My heart hurts, that’s what. I tightly shut my mouth, guessing that the journey to the next village would be longer than expected.
***
“Y-Your Gr-Gra…” “Don’t use titles. Just call me madam.” “Madam! Can I please get off and walk now? Please… save me.”
Contrary to Cassion’s claim that it would take about 3 hours to reach the neighboring village, we only arrived after nightfall. Lorang, who had ridden so poorly that it was a miracle he hadn’t fallen off, pleaded with a pale face as we entered the village outskirts. In fact, he had been doing this since we first caught sight of the village in the distance.
“…Hah… Get down.”
Cassion, who had sighed countless times already, helped me down first, then jumped off himself before grabbing the reins of the horse Lorang was clinging to.
“My lord, could you help me too…” “Are you a lady?”
Lorang shamelessly extended his hand to Cassion, but he was cold. In the end, as the sniffling Lorang slid off the horse, he landed on his bottom, causing passing villagers to chuckle.
“Well, what brings someone who can’t even ride a horse well all the way here? Are you here to see the festival?”
Still, a good face makes a good first impression, and since Lorang, myself, and Cassion all possessed considerable good looks, the villagers approached us warmly.
Children who were touting for business in the village quickly ran up, begging us to let them guide us to an inn and hand over the reins.
“Where’s the inn with the largest room?” “It’s our inn, sir! We even have baths available!”
The tallest boy with the sharpest eyes among them raised his hand, and when Cassion handed him the reins, the other children turned away with a “tch” sound.
Indeed, it seemed that the closer we got to the capital, the larger the villages became.
“Festival, you say? What festival is being held in this village?” “Oh my, did you come without knowing? You’re in luck! Today is the wedding day of our lord’s youngest daughter!”
Now that they mentioned it, I could see people cleaning up the streets, seemingly preparing for a festival. It’s fortunate that there’s a vacant room at the inn.
“But isn’t the wedding ceremony usually held at the groom’s side when it’s the daughter getting married?” “Oh, don’t even mention it. Our lord cherishes his youngest daughter so much that he chose a son-in-law from among those who would live in our village and learn about managing the estate. He simply couldn’t bear to be apart from his daughter.” “Just look at how the entire village is holding a festival. Imagine how grand the wedding will be. This evening will be quite a sight. There will be plenty of food too. You’ve come at just the right time.”
It seemed that the lord’s youngest daughter wasn’t just loved by her father; all the villagers were laughing and rejoicing.
My, what a fairy tale-like father-daughter relationship.
“That’s good. The hustle and bustle will make it easier to hide our traces.”
In any case, isn’t it good that we’ll be able to eat delicious food and rest? But for some reason, Cassion’s expression was subtle.
“What’s wrong?” “No, it’s just that they mentioned a grand wedding…” “And?” “…It’s nothing. You must be tired, let’s go to our lodgings. You wanted to take a bath, right? Lorang, stop gawking and follow us.” “What…? Why did you stop mid-sentence? You’re making me curious.”
He clearly had something on his mind. Cassion avoided my persistent gaze and grabbed Lorang by the collar as he was peering at a shop preparing skewers.
Maybe he couldn’t say it because Lorang was there. I’ll have to ask him again later.
“Sir! This way!”
At that moment, the boy who was guiding us to the inn waved at us from a distance. Indeed, it looked like the largest inn in the village.
“How should I arrange the rooms? You wanted a large room, right?” “Yes. Two rooms. Prepare a bathtub in the large room.” “Yes, sir!”
As Cassion spoke to the boy, adding a tip for his errand, the child ran excitedly to the innkeeper. Seeing the innkeeper hand over the keys with a hearty laugh, I tilted my head in confusion.
“Two rooms? What if Lorang tries to escape or something goes wrong if we leave him alone?” “The large room is for you to rest alone, Asilia. I’ll be keeping an eye on Lorang.” “What?” “You’ve been pushing yourself too hard. Take a good rest today.”
Ah… I suppose that’s right. It is more comfortable and better to have separate rooms. It’s natural, but we’ve been staying in small inns and sharing a room because people would question why a married couple would take separate rooms. So I just assumed we’d share a room this time too.
But this time, with three people, we look like ambiguous travel companions whose relationship is unclear, so it’s a situation where we don’t necessarily need to sleep together.
“Well… I guess I’ll take a bath and get a good rest, then eat something delicious.”
But strangely, I don’t feel excited about it. Am I too exhausted? Actually, I don’t feel that tired.
“Your clothes and shoes are in bad shape too, so it would be good to buy new ones. I’ll go buy them, so wait here, Asilia.” “I’ll go with you.” “You’ll be wearing commoner’s clothes anyway, right? Don’t worry, I know your size.”
Unlike the dresses of nobles where there’s room to choose designs, commoner’s clothing doesn’t leave much room for choice. With just sturdy fabric and simple designs, Cassion pushed me into the large room we were guided to, insisting as I tried to follow him.
“Don’t come out, just rest.” “Sir, can’t I rest in the room too…?” “No more words, just come with me.”
Thud.
He’s even taking Lorang with him while going to buy my clothes. Isn’t that bothersome? If he’s just going to rest in the room anyway, I could keep an eye on Lorang.
“…The room is spacious.”
Although it was smaller than the room in the Duke’s mansion, it still felt somewhat empty even with a wooden bathtub large enough to fully submerge in and plenty of space left over.
“Did I prefer cramped spaces?”
No. Having grown up in a room like a storage closet, I had liked the spacious room in the Duke’s mansion, but now why do I feel this emptiness? Even the bed seems too large.
“Oh well, I might as well take a bath.”
Things are going well, but somehow I feel uneasy.
