Episode 3
“We greet His Grace the Grand Duke.”
The knights greeted him respectfully, but he didn’t spare them so much as a glance. His eyes were fixed solely on Eda.
His gaze felt like a scolding, so Eda lowered her eyes.
Just how disgraceful must she have looked trying to run away like that? In that moment, she could even understand if Astaldo cursed at her.
Astaldo looked over her disheveled appearance. His gaze lingered especially long on her skirt, which was torn in two and stained with blood at the knees.
Eda couldn’t bring herself to say a word. One wrong word to that fearsome face, and her head would surely fly.
When he furrowed his brow, his already terrifying expression grew even more dreadful like Nergal, the god of death.
“Go.”
Astaldo gave a cold order, and the knights bowed and withdrew.
When the knights disappeared, Eda was certain he was going to grab her by the neck and strangle her then and there.
“You must’ve really wanted to escape if you let yourself end up looking like this.”
His voice, tight with fury, left her unable to respond. She only lowered her head even more.
“Follow me.”
However, contrary to her expectations of being taken to a dungeon, the place Eda arrived at was the audience chamber.
She had rarely been here before. Only when a foreign ambassador visited, or when a knight returned bearing news of victory, perhaps?
Even then, she had hardly paid attention, too occupied with watching Ingrid and the other women.
The people gathered in the audience chamber were Astaldo’s knights and the women from the Grand Duchy.
The moment she was brought in, all eyes turned to her.
Her tangled hair, torn skirt, hair smeared with soot.
“Just look at her!”
Ingrid burst into laughter. Unlike Eda’s pitiful state, Ingrid, despite having lost her husband, looked beautiful.
Ingrid, who had clearly put effort into her appearance, and herself, who hadn’t.
Ingrid was always beautiful, and Eda was always shabby.
But today, the contrast was particularly striking, and Eda couldn’t bring herself to lift her head from shame.
A faint, hollow laugh reached her ears. She could feel the sharp stares of ridicule stabbing sharply into her face.
This was where her personal hell lay.
Eda quietly closed her eyes.
She understood now why Astaldo had dragged her here. It was to make an example of her in front of everyone.
“Silence.”
A low voice rang out. Just hearing it made Eda flinch, as if her heart had been pierced.
Astaldo raised his hand. Eda shrank back instinctively, fearing that massive hand would strike her down at any moment.
Ivar was a brute, so how could his brother be any different?
But that weapon-like, huge hand only pulled back her hood.
Contrary to how rough his hands were, the way he removed her hood was incredibly gentle so much so that Eda couldn’t tell what was happening.
Her silvery hair shimmered as it spilled out.
Then that large hand slid down and touched her chin.
As her head was lifted, she met his golden eyes.
Those eyes which were like the eyes of a beast.
Eda was forced to look at Astaldo.
Sun-kissed skin, and black hair. The black ceremonial uniform, tailored to his frame. Even that stifling formal wear couldn’t hide his solid physique and appearance.
He looked so overwhelmingly masculine it made her spine tingle. But to Eda, this man was nothing more than the one who would carry out her execution.
The man’s eyes scanned Eda’s pathetic appearance.
Bruised eyes, tangled hair, torn clothes.
His expression turned grim. For some reason, his fierce gaze hurt her more than ridicule gazes from a while ago.
Even to this man, I must look worthless…
Eda silently braced herself for the humiliation and insults to come.
“You’re not even worth spreading your legs!”
“I will take this woman as my wife.”
Eda couldn’t believe her ears at the sudden declaration.
“According to the tradition of levirate passed down in Wesselwolf, I will take my brother’s wife, Eda Mahina, as my wife.”
Eda stared at the man in front of her with a blank expression.
The second way for her to survive was to marry her husband’s younger brother.
If one inherited the title, they also inherited the marriage. That was the law in Wesselwolf.
But why was she chosen by that law? Before she could even begin to find an answer, Astaldo spoke again.
“Remove everyone except this woman from this room.”
Eda’s hair stood on end.
With the very expression she had imagined, he gave the order to execute the other women without a hint of emotion.
The only difference from her expectations was that she would be the only one to survive.
“Th-This is absurd! What are you talking about?”
Ingrid shrieked in protest. The beautiful makeup she had put on to seduce the returned heir was now smeared across her face.
Eda remained expressionless, stunned.
“Did you not hear me? This woman is my wife.”
I’m going to marry that man? That man who was my husband’s younger brother? This is insane.
Eda had never once in her life been chosen by anyone.
At the word ‘death,’ the people who had been in a daze snapped back to their senses and began shouting.
“Lord Astaldo, what are you saying! Kill everyone?”
“Our father will demand an explanation…!”
At Astaldo’s signal, the knights drew their swords and aimed them at the gathered crowd. The women screamed at the fierce momentum, as if the swords were about to be swung at any moment.
“Lord Astaldo! What on earth are you doing? Wasn’t I supposed to be your wife?”
Even as the women trembled in fear, Ingrid remained defiant.
But when Astaldo turned his head toward her, she flinched and stepped back.
Eda felt a chill run down her spine at Astaldo’s gaze, as if amused and telling her to go on.
“Go on. Say more.”
“…What?”
“The reason why you should become my wife.”
Eda looked at the man standing beside her. A slight feeling of unease arose within her.
Eda knew. If the brother dies, the wife would become the younger brother’s.
And if there was anyone who should be chosen under that absurd custom, it was undoubtedly Ingrid.
That was why Eda couldn’t understand why she had been chosen.
“Do you not know what my father did for you? Do you not remember how you ended up inheriting your brother’s seat after rolling in a field of corpses?”
Unlike Eda, who had been practically cast out by Mahina, Ingrid was the daughter of Count Bern, one of the noble families with deep roots in the Grand Duchy.
Of course, she had long forgotten that Eda was a daughter of the Mahina Duchy.
Ingrid felt no grief at her husband’s death.
It was only natural. After all, it was her own father who had killed him.
Whatever the case, the custom of levirate marriage—where the younger brother takes the wife of the deceased—was a marvelous tradition, especially if the younger brother was someone like him.
The moment she learned of Astaldo’s existence, Ingrid had praised the tradition.
It was thanks to our family that you became the Grand Duke.
Eda bit her lip as she looked at Ingrid’s smug expression.
Because from Ingrid’s words, Eda, too, realized what she and her family had done.
If her family had killed her husband, it was only natural that Ingrit should become that man’s wife.
Only now did Eda understand why all of this was happening.
Astaldo was trying to tame Ingrit.
Ivar had once said it drunkenly. That Ingrid was too headstrong and needed to be tamed.
In fact, so many servants had died during their fights. It was clear that this time, Eda would be the one to die.
Astaldo was trying to break Ingrid’s spirit, fearing that she would become too arrogant after contributing to his succession to the title.
“What exactly did you do?”
As expected, Astaldo’s tone softened. As the sharpness faded from the fierce-looking man’s face, the tension in the room eased naturally.
“I made sure everything was passed down to you. For your sake.”
Ingrid, too, began to speak in a sweet, gentle tone.
“So, please stop joking now. You’re scaring me.”
She smiled with her eyes and moved as if to lean into Astaldo’s arms. But Astaldo grabbed her shoulder.
“To think the woman who was said to have such a loving marriage with my brother would throw herself at me. Disgusting.”
“What are you talking about! I was a victim! A victim of Ivar, your brother! The one who had a happy marriage with him was that woman!”
Eda flinched in shock as Ingrid pointed directly at her.
SoundlessWind21’s Notes:
If there are any errors, whether it be grammatical, spelling, translation, or website-related issues, feel free to let me know. (´◡`) Anyway, thank you for reading!