Chapter 28
"Sir Abigail, despite being very aware of my presence behind you earlier, you still expressed your murderous intent to Lady Seria, didn't you? Then I could assume two things. One, you trust me...
"No way."
"Well, then you might want to listen carefully because you're basically saying that you have such poor emotional control that you verbalized your murder plan right in front of someone you don't trust."
Abigail remained silent, staring at Elliot. Elliot spoke in a serious tone.
"In other words, even if it’s just for the sake of Lady Seria, use your common sense. Also, earlier, if I were you, I wouldn't have thrown my handkerchief at the knights of Marquis Haneton. Instead, I would have chosen the highest-ranking knight and taken control over him. That wouldn’t lead to the accusation of insult."
The strange murderous aura that had been slyly flowing from Abigail quickly disappeared.
"That's a considerate piece of advice. I'll keep it in mind. But I disagree with one thing."
"What is it?"
"Instead of taking control over him, I would cut his limbs into pieces."
The dormitory was silent when Seria returned. The servants had already packed her things and loaded them into the carriage. With nothing else to do, she sat on the bed and blinked slowly. It was only mid-morning. And perhaps because she woke up too early, her eyelids were growing heavier.
She closed her eyes when the servants said there was enough time to rest before having to leave for Laurel Manor.
I shouldn’t have fallen asleep.
An hour later, she let out a silent scream of great regret.
When she woke up, she found herself not in bed but in a carriage. She heard the sound of wheels rolling smoothly. Through the window, she could see the white birches resembling a snowy landscape beautifully arranged, but there was a snowstorm...
In the midst of this white scene, her heart was not at peace at all.
“No, why the sudden snowstorm...?”
It was nice weather in the morning, but where did these dark clouds come from?
She looked at her body. She was wrapped in blankets as if she were still in bed. And what's more, she was in a nightgown. As if there weren’t enough problems, she looked up, feeling embarrassed.
There was a handsome face in front of her. Plump lips, a high nose beneath long silver eyelashes. But his eyes were strangely cold, a man who looked better from afar than up close.
That's right.
"I was in a carriage, being held by Lesche Berg with my bedding."
She had been in the middle of a deep sleep just a few hours ago.
The servants hurried to wake her. She was too sleepy to open her eyes, but before she knew it, they were calling her quickly. She even finished washing her face and brushing her teeth while still in bed. The maids said it suddenly started snowing heavily, so the order was to leave immediately before the snow got worse...
Suddenly, her body was lifted into the air... Before she regained her senses, she was transferred from bed to the carriage.
"Honestly, I thought I was dreaming, but it was real."
She couldn't even see properly what was in front of her when the maids hurriedly covered her head with blankets, telling her it would be cold outside.
So, did I imagine it? Was the man carrying me Elliot or someone else, and the silver hair I glimpsed earlier was just a mistake?
But that couldn't be, right?
She swallowed and looked at the man holding her in his arms, Lesche Berg. She spoke carefully.
"Your Highness..."
Lesche, who had been looking out the window with a frown, looked at her. His red eyes were duller than usual, but she felt scared for some reason. Then he turned his gaze and looked out the window again at the heavy snowfall.
"Sleep more. We still have a long way to go."
How could someone sleep in this position? Seria moved her head to look at the other side of the carriage.
There was an empty seat.
"I'll sleep there, so let me go."
"You want me to let you go?"
Lesche pointed at her feet with his chin.
"You don't have shoes."
"What?"
"I didn’t have time to get your shoes, so sleep like this until then."
He told her to sleep again, but she wanted to ask who could really sleep comfortably in this position. On the contrary, she wanted to ask if he could sleep comfortably if their positions were reversed.
Of course, they were too different in size for something like that...
Unlike her clumsiness, Lesche held her very firmly. Even though she leaned on him for most of her upper body, his large body was relaxed, and the blanket covering her body was fluffy.
But aside from this physical comfort, Seria felt uncomfortable. If it was a problem because she didn't have shoes, couldn't she walk barefoot and go to the other side? Or was it too aristocratic to do that and Lesche was the kind of person who wouldn't do it that way?
While thinking about this and that and looking at her exposed feet, Lesche suddenly grabbed her.
"..."
She almost fainted at the sudden touch.
When Seria stiffened, Lesche frowned.
"Is the carriage cold?"
Instantly, she was startled and shuffled her feet.
"Please, don't touch them!"
"Why?"
Lesche asked again as he let go of her feet.
"Why? Why would you touch people's feet?"
"Aren't we married?"
Suddenly, a strange thought crossed her mind.
"Your Highness, could it be that you're going to the mansion for... um... a honeymoon?"
At that moment, Lesche's eyes opened slightly. He responded in a low voice.
"Yes."
However, contrary to his words, she felt relieved seeing Lesche's face as he quietly affirmed.
"You're lying. You scared me, you know?"
"..."
One of Lesche's eyebrows arched slightly.
"How do you know it's a lie?"
"I'm very good at reading people's expressions."
When Seria responded in a serious voice, Lesche clicked his tongue.
Then, he leaned back comfortably in the carriage seat. The angle at which he naturally supported her back and thighs also changed. They were much closer than before. She could feel even through the blankets that his grip on her was really strong...
In fact, Lesche was a remarkable knight.
"I touched your feet because they seemed very cold. Due to the heavy snowfall, the carriage temperature couldn't rise more, and I think the best option would be for me to hold you."
"No, your Highness. Please, your Grand Duchess* not..."
(N/T: referring to his future wife).
For a moment, Lesche's expression hardened. He said that suddenly because he was afraid Lesche would stand up until they reached the mansion.
Was I presumptuous?
She blinked and added.
"Or in the name of Stern, who is inspecting the glacier..."
"Why are you correcting it?"
Lesche said, looking at her.
"You are the Grand Duchess, aren't you?"
"Yes, well... temporarily..."
"Yes, it's temporary."
Lesche carefully removed his hands from her feet and lowered the blanket to cover them.
"If you don't like being the Grand Duchess, there's nothing I can do."
His words didn't seem like a simple list of facts. His tone was strange. Above all, she was the one who knew Lesche in the original story.
‘I think this man is also a mess... That's strange. Why can't I remember it clearly?’
She began to wonder. She memorized most of the original story. Sometimes, she even felt internally satisfied that she herself was a genius. But why couldn't she remember the hidden past of the male protagonist of the novel, which was as important as the heroine?
When she looked back at them one by one, it was as if only the memory of them was erased.
Seria looked out the window, thinking that she would have to return to the original story later. It was a seasonal carriage used in the dead of winter, and the windows were small and narrow with thick glass. Still, it wasn't difficult to see outside.
While looking out the window at the heavy snowfall, she suddenly saw one of the knights passing by the carriage.
It was strange. Elliot said knights couldn't enter Laurel Manor, but could they enter the main house of the mansion?
Isn't that even stranger?
"Your Highness. Are there knights in the procession?"
"Yes."
"Why Your Highness? I heard that knights aren't allowed in Laurel Mansion."
"Didn't Linon explain it to you?"
"He didn't tell me anything."
"That guy..."
"What?"
Seria blinked for a moment because she could see the confusion on Lesche's face when he wrinkled his eyebrows. It was as if he was forced to take on the role of conveying involuntary words.
"Anyway, he said there's a story I should know too."
However, she was willing to accept it even if Lesche said it wasn't necessary for her to know. When she was about to tell him that she would ask Linon later,
That was when it happened.
The carriage shook and everything stopped. For a moment, the fear that she might fall out of the carriage seized her, but then there was a force that held her tightly.
It was Lesche.
Her heart pounded as she was only putting her weight in Lesche's arms.
There was a knock on the door, and a loud voice, presumably from the knights, was heard from outside.
"Your Highness!"
"A demon! A demon has appeared!"
For a moment, she couldn't believe what she heard when she heard those words. A demon had appeared? Why?
Lesche quickly reached out and opened the small window of the carriage door. Immediately, a chill ran through the air.
"What's the limit of the mansion?"
"Right in front of us!"
"I'm relieved to have a Stern."
With these words, Lesche lowered Seria into the carriage seat. Meanwhile, he tried to keep her feet off the ground.
"Stay in the carriage, I'll send Linon."
"Yes, please, don't get hurt."
Seria nodded hastily. Lesche wasn't surprised to hear that a demon had appeared. There was no one who didn't know what the horror meant on this continent. And she wasn't as surprised as she thought she would be because Lesche had a casual demeanor.
"The weather is really bad."
Even in that brief whirlwind of Lesche's departure, she could feel that the snowstorm had dropped the temperature inside the carriage by at least a few degrees. She pulled out her arms, which were warmly wrapped in the blanket, and looked out the window with anticipation.
