Episode 32

?????? (16)

“Isn’t he the one with the nasty rumors in the capital?”

The young maids whispered incessantly as they looked at Andrei, who was looking around.

“He introduced himself as a cousin of the lady”

“Oh, my…”

“Did you see those eyes? It gives me goosebumps….”

Tatiana scolded the maids when she saw them huddling and whispering.

“You there!”

When they saw Tatiana, the maids bowed their heads and scattered to their places. She needs to keep her subordinates in check as she looks at Christa.

“The lady has a visitor.”

“You mean me?”

No matter how much Christa thinks, there was no way that there would be a guest who would come here to look for her. Then Tatiana quickly added.

“He introduced himself as the cousin of the lady.”

“Cousin…”

If it’s her cousin, then it would only be Andrei, the son of Sebastian and Eva.

Andrei lived in a dormitory near the capital, so he rarely encountered her. They do not interact except for occasional encounters once or twice a year. It was questionable why he came to see her at this point, but it was difficult to turn him away either.

“I’ll go.”

‘Why did he come here?’

When she thought about their relationship, she couldn’t get rid of her displeasure.

Christa was guided to the drawing room by Tatiana. When she opened the door of the drawing room, she saw Andrei sitting with a teacup in hand. Indeed, her cousin visited her.

“Christa!”

Andrei greeted her with open arms. He strode up and clasped her cheeks. Christa stood bewildered because he had never done such intimate acts before.

“You really succeeded in life.”

His eyes, looking up and down at his cousin, were quickly analyzing something.

“Andrei?”

Seeing Tatiana standing behind Christa, Andrei clears his throat.

“Well, well, I have something to talk to Christa about.”

Tatiana, who could not refuse the request of Christa’s blood, stepped back with a smile.

“Then talk to your cousin. I’ll be waiting outside.”

She left the drawing room, hinting that she would not go far. The heavy wooden door closed silently.

As soon as the door closed, Andrei pushed Christa roughly and kept his distance. Then he shouted in an urgent voice.

“What the hell have you done?”

His voice was tinged with accusation.

“What?”

Then Andrei pointed to her stomach and wrinkled his nose.

“I mean, how did you deceive the Duke?”

“How dare you cheat…”

Christa bit the flesh in her mouth. Andrei talked incessantly, not caring about Christa’s inaction.

“No, no. I don’t have to know how you tricked the Duke. I just admire my cousin’s new talent.”

Christa doesn’t know how he interpreted her silence, but Andrei just chuckled.

The two stood vaguely at the tea table in the drawing room. It was Andrei who flopped back into the chair.

“Mother said you’d need a doctor.”

“A doctor?”

When Christa asked back, Andrei shouted loudly at the door. It was an exaggerated way of speaking as if he wanted someone to hear it.

“Yes! My cousin is carrying a precious baby, so she can’t see just any doctor, can she?”

Andrei’s cheerful chatter with exaggerated gestures and voice was somewhat unfamiliar and awkward. Andrei then put his ear to the heavy mahogany door and checked outside.

“What the hell are you talking about….?”

Then Andrei, who lowered his voice again, interrupted Christa and whispered.

“This is all for you to do well. We already bought one. We’ll send a doctor soon, so be careful not to get caught.”

Christa had nothing else to say when he answered all her questions on his own. At that time, the door of the drawing room opened without a warning.

“What the hell is going on?”

It was Ragnar. When he heard the news about Christa’s cousin who came without an appointment, he came in a hurry and it was like this. Andrei reacted immediately to his appearance.

“Oh, who is this? Aren’t you my brother-in-law?”

No matter if it was Andrei’s tactlessness or sense of humor, he tried to stick to Ragnar without being intimidated by his cold expression.

At the same time, the sound of armor crashing was heard, and the Duke’s soldiers moved. Andrei crumbled to the floor.

“Argh!”

They grabbed Andrei like a beast and pressed him to the floor.

“M, my Lord? Hey, Christa!”

Andrei hurriedly called out his cousin’s name, but the knights waited for their master’s instructions without moving as if they could not hear Andrei’s pleas. Only then did the butler Bjorn speak softly to Andrei, who was lying on the floor.

“What a rude thing to do to the Duke.”

It sounded as if he was recommending tea instead of seeing the current situation.

“Let me go, let me go. Ha, ha ha ha, Christa?”

Andrei now cried out for Christa desperately. But there was no reply. It was because Ragnar ordered her rude cousin to be removed before Christa could answer anything.

Upon hearing the order, the soldier dragged Andrei out.

“Seems like he said something nonsensical. What did your cousin say?”

“Oh, that’s….”

Christa mulls whether to say it or not. Then she finally confessed. Ragnar, who whispered expletives, briefly asked her for understanding and left his seat before returning.

“I’m asking again just in case, are you close to your cousin?”

“No.”

Ragnar laughed with a strange expression as if saying, “That’s alright, then.”

“I was wondering if I should invite him to the wedding. As expected, it’s okay without him.”

Christa thought for a moment. Andrei did not attend her wedding to Count Pasquier in her previous life. So it’s okay if he doesn’t come.

“Yes.”

Ragnar delivered the order to his men.

“This has to be done deliberately.”

“How about we skip the wedding ceremony?”

Marriage between nobles was not a necessary formality. It is more common to hold only documents and omit ceremonies.

“That’s not going to happen.”

But Ragnar was adamant.

“Why?”

“How can I skip the wedding ceremony for my lover?”

It was just a marriage contract. Last time, she recalled that they were going to announce their marriage at the hunting festival. It was clear that doing such a thing at an event hosted by the imperial family would upset the political spirit exchanged with the imperial family at once.

Obviously in her previous life, he refused to marry the imperial family. It was so when she recalled her faint memories. As soon as the war ended, she only heard that Ragnar had returned to Wishus’ northern territorial waters as if he were being chased by something.

Since then, he has not appeared in any public appearances and remained in northern frozen soil until the end of his life. It was difficult to determine the authenticity of all these things because they were all in Christa’s cloudy memory.

Christa sighed softly.

Everything, including the wedding, was going remarkably differently from the past. The past is no longer the past she knows.

Being different from the past soon overshadowed her knowledge. The facts were becoming more and more distorted.

“The wedding will probably take place on the territory.”

“At the territory…”

In Wishus’ rough northern land, there are four seasons in a year, half of which are heavy snowstorms and the other half is heavy fog and hail.

“It’s a cold place, but hot spring water flows inside the castle, so you can enjoy taking a bath anytime.”

“Are you talking about the hot spring?”

Christa had heard that once, too. There were large and small volcanoes and more than 400 hot springs on Wishus. The architect of the Wishius Castle took advantage of the terrain to bring hot spring water into the castle. Thanks to him, they were able to enjoy the luxury of always using hot water.

“Have you ever been to the North?”

Christa shook her head silently. Of course, she has never been outside of the capital in her entire life except on the battlefield.

“I’m sure you’ll like it.”

Ragnar remembered Christa standing on a white snowfield. For a moment, Ragnar could not escape a strange sense of deja vu. As if he’s been watching her for a long time.

Christa standing on an endless white snow field. She would fit in very well. As she is all white, she may even be impossible to distinguish from the background. But her red eyes, like the intense color of blood stained on the white snow, will distinguish her.

When he first met her— it was at the Battle of Gryllian — that he thought so. As opposed to a wet, muddy battlefield, Christa Palmaril suits the cool, cold, polar ice castle.

He was not wrong in what he thought then. They were about to return to Wishus.

“I can’t wait to show you the territory. At least there are more interesting things there than here.”

Ragnar spoke eloquently and told her what was going on with Wishus.

It began with a scary legend about a frost giant, then led to a mine story and finally to Ragnar’s favorite landscape.

Christa nodded her head and glistened her eyes like a child immersed in an old story.