Chapter : 6
Aspara decided that, as of yesterday, she would put aside her endless worrying about the Lord of the Castle for the time being. Right now, she was thoroughly enjoying life in the North.
The furniture and the quality of the food here were incomparably worse than in the South, but when it came to actually living, this place was far more entertaining.
At Fang Castle, there were no tense family power struggles at the dining table, no tedious paperwork, and no meaningless social gatherings.
“I never knew it could be this enjoyable when there’s no one I can actually have a conversation with. At this rate, I almost hope the new interpreter doesn’t arrive for another year.”
“Yeah, yeah. Is that so?”
“What about you? Are things going well with Ugly?”
Aspara casually mentioned the name of the man she had recently suspected of being her husband’s lover.
“Ah, please don’t even say his name!”
“Have you two kissed yet?”
“My lady, I’m currently holding the reins of the horse you’re riding!”
Aspara laughed cheerfully as she teased her ill-mannered escort knight.
“…Ah, I suppose it’s about time we headed back. My body’s gotten quite cold.”
“That’s true.”
The two had been riding around the backyard while Star watched over them. Star was the girl who had helped Aspara get dressed the morning after she arrived, and before anyone realized it, she had apparently become Aspara’s personal maid.
But when they turned their horses around, there was suddenly a huge, jet-black figure standing beside the girl—someone who definitely hadn’t been there a moment ago.
It was the Lord of Fang Castle.
“What’s he doing over there? And since when has he been standing there?”
“Good question.”
The sound of hooves echoed as Jack guided the horse to the castle’s back entrance and brought it to a halt.
Jack, who had been sitting in front on the saddle, was just about to help Aspara down by taking her hand—
When Guss suddenly dropped one knee to the ground while raising the other.
“Hm?”
《— — —…….》
“Ah… Am I supposed to step on your knee to get down? Is that it?”
His gesture certainly seemed to suggest as much, but the stern expression on his face looked more fitting for someone marching off to war. Aspara wasn’t entirely convinced.
Jack hesitated as well.
It certainly looked that way…
But if they misunderstood him, he looked like the sort of man who would chop off someone’s wrist without hesitation.
“Uh… I… I think that’s what he means.”
Using the lord’s knee as a step, Aspara climbed down from the saddle.
Although Guss had offered his knee, he made no attempt to hold her hand. She stumbled slightly before landing safely on the ground.
“My husband appears to be lacking two whole measures of manners. Still, Jackie, how do you say ‘thank you’ in the northern tongue?”
“Uh… I think it’s… — — —.”
“— — —.”
The moment Guss received her thanks, he immediately turned around.
《— — —.》
“What did he say?”
“…I have no idea. Honestly, that man’s voice is so low I can barely understand a thing.”
“You should study harder. You even have a sweetheart here now. They say people learn languages quickly once they’re in love…”
“N-No, I’m telling you, we’re breaking up!”
Laughing loudly, Aspara watched her husband’s retreating figure disappear into the distance.
His exceptionally tall silhouette remained visible on the horizon for a very long time.
To warm herself after the chilly horseback ride, the young lady returned to her room.
The room that had originally been intended as the couple’s bedroom contained a portrait as dark and imposing as the room itself.
It depicted Guss wearing a sword and glaring toward the viewer against a gloomy background.
The space to his right had been left completely blank.
It seemed obvious that the painter had intended to fill that side once Aspara arrived.
“It’s empty.”
She wasn’t speaking only about the vacant place meant for his wife.
Normally, portraits like this were composed as family portraits, but seeing only the man standing there by himself made it feel strangely lonely.
Jack’s words came back to her.
The King of the Barbarians has neither brothers nor sisters. He’s completely alone.
“Still… it’s better to have too little than too much. I know that better than anyone.”
Aspara’s homeland was a warm region, and families there generally had many children.
The nobles and royalty had even more.
Her own family was no exception.
There were undoubtedly illegitimate children living elsewhere.
Just counting those raised in the main household, there had been six.
Once, there had been seven.
“When there are that many, losing one hardly matters.”
Aspara, whose status as an illegitimate daughter was an open secret, had essentially been a neglected child.
That was precisely why, before the mining business, she had been able to live as an idle nobody.
Yet…
The bolt had always been on the inside of the door.
“Don’t go into the hallway. Even if you’re just playing in your room, keep the door shut. Don’t touch the floor. Don’t run around. Don’t look out the window. Be careful how you walk, even how you look.”
“Then… how am I supposed to walk? How am I supposed to look?”
“I don’t know either…”
The prematurely aged woman had simply shrugged.
“That’s why it’s easier if you just keep the door closed.”
Aspara never blamed the mother who had turned her into a child kept hidden away.
Because her mother hadn’t been wrong.
The king’s official consort and her attendants would praise the Second Prince’s energetic stride as strong and spirited.
Yet when the youngest princess walked with that very same energy, they would criticize her for looking crude, like a common foot soldier.
“Even if those people hate you, don’t let it crush your spirit. They don’t hate you because you’re a bad child, nor do they love them because they’re good children. They love because circumstances allow them to love, and they hate because circumstances give them reason to hate.”
Aspara recalled the hazy image of her mother.
Her hair was always slightly messy.
The servants of the inner palace considered the hours they were assigned to care for her mother to be free time when they could slack off without being scolded.
Even so, her mother never fixed her own hair.
Whether that had been the last remnant of her pride or simply resignation…
Even now, Aspara couldn’t tell.
Looking back, she found her irresponsible father far more unpleasant than the women who had looked sideways at her and her mother.
He had deliberately forced the women to compete for his affection—
Then scolded them for being jealous whenever he saw what had become of her mother.
Even now, after being exiled to the North, Aspara still believed that if her mother and her father’s wives had met under different circumstances…
…they might actually have become friends.
“Which is why… if my husband has someone else, I’d rather he simply introduce her to me.”
Once again, Aspara found herself thinking about the hidden lover she still believed her husband possessed.
There was no jealousy.
No resentment.
There was no reason to be jealous over a man she did not love.
To My Dear Older Sister, from Jack.
Big Sis,
How have you been?
Your adorable little brother is doing terribly.
Seriously, didn’t I tell you to write my résumé honestly? What was that all about, Sis?
Because of that one little lie you wrote in the language section, I’m getting more snow than I ever asked for.
Sob… It’s freezing.
Please use your money to send me some warm clothes, if you have even a shred of conscience.
And send something tasty while you’re at it. The people here, I swear, eat potatoes on top of potatoes with potatoes on the side.
And believe it or not, I’ve somehow ended up with a lover I can’t even communicate with.
I did keep saying I wanted a girlfriend, but this isn’t what I meant, Sis.
That barbarian only has pretty acorn-colored eyes. Other than that, there’s nothing attractive about him.
Before I knew it, he even stole my very first kiss.
At this point, I have no choice but to marry the guy and give you nephews and nieces.
Actually… on the way here, I accidentally cut off our interpreter’s head…
Jack’s hand stopped.
The young lady was currently forging letters to send back to her family by imitating the handwriting of the traitorous interpreter whose head had been chopped off during their journey north.
Her plan was to keep deceiving the Second Prince for as long as possible.
After hearing about that plan, Jack had thought,
“Then I might as well write a letter to my sister while I’m at it.”
…No. I guess this information shouldn’t leak out.
The interpreter who had served as their strategist had been beheaded on the road.
As a result, only two people had arrived in the North completely alone—
The princess.
And one low-ranking knight.
Eventually, everyone would learn the truth.
But that day had to be delayed for as long as possible.
From Aspara’s perspective, with no allies at all, there was no telling how the other side might react.
“Though… from their point of view, this might actually be convenient. She’s effectively been imprisoned here, so they may simply leave her alone… Still, I want to postpone anything that would make those bastards happy for as long as possible.”
That was what the young lady had declared.
Then she had added,
“For now, we’ll hold out until we’ve established ourselves here.”
“Then I definitely can’t write that…”
Jack furiously smeared the ink until the words became unreadable.
“Then what should I write about?”
After thinking for a while, he ended the letter by asking his sister to send every new volume of the romance novels he had faithfully followed back home.
“…From your adorable little brother, Jack. Farewell for now… Jack Fruits.”
Looking at the completed letter, Jack smiled proudly.
Among the many illiterate commoners in the South, he believed there was no one who wrote as well as he did.
“Finished.”
《— —?》
“Whoa!”
Jack instinctively spun around.
Standing before him was the very person he had almost mentioned in the letter just moments ago.
Beyond the balcony railing stood Ugly, one of Fang Castle’s attendants.
“W-What? It’s you.”
《— — — —?》
He stood there with both hands tightly clasped together, as though hiding something inside them.
“What is it?”
Ugly simply grinned without revealing what he was holding.
Curious, Jack slipped his fingers between Ugly’s clasped hands and tried to pry them apart.
