Chapter 11. There Is a Condition
The wild, noisy heartbeat that Frida could feel through Daniel’s clothes got even stronger as time went by. Thump-thump, thump-thump, thump-thump.
It was as if her weak presence was being replaced by a loud, fierce heartbeat.
‘His heart is as honest as its master.’
Even Balzac, Daniel’s favorite war horse, was calmer than this. Daniel, hidden in the shadows, gave a silent smile.
She was trying so hard to keep the lantern level for him, but it was useless. She clearly didn’t know her effort didn’t matter. He could see her stubborn fingers working to keep the lantern straight.
This secret passage was the only place Daniel had spent a lot of money on after getting the castle. It was made to avoid unwanted guests who might watch him. Five secret passages were built in the castle—one in the couple’s bedroom, one in the office, and two more that even Dominic didn’t know about. You could enter the passage from those places, but there was only one door to the outside.
Only Ricardo, Dominic, and Daniel knew how to survive inside—anyone else would get lost and starve after days.
Even though Daniel was walking slowly, the lantern still shook, and Frida’s skinny wrist tensed up each time. He wanted to tell her not to worry about it, but her small hand looked so serious holding the lantern that he felt almost guilty for laughing at her.
Frida’s racing heart and her nervous, turning neck made Daniel want to walk faster.
Finally, when Daniel saw the wooden door at the end of the passage, he let out a breath.
Frida, in his arms, jumped at the sound.
“Y-you can put me down now.”
“Even if you tell me not to, I won’t.”
When they were close enough to touch the door handle, Daniel finally set Frida down on the floor.
He quickly blew out the lantern, so he didn’t notice her blushing face.
Before opening the door, Daniel pulled Frida close to his chest.
“Close your eyes.”
He covered Frida’s eyes with his big hand, easily blocking her whole face.
“If you look at the light suddenly, you’ll feel dizzy.”
With a loud creak, the door opened.
Gentle sunlight slipped over Daniel’s hand as he protected Frida from the strong light.
He looked so used to caring for people weaker than himself.
Frida could feel how strong Daniel was—so strong, so kind, so impressive.
Her eyes felt hot, and she almost wanted to cry, even though she wasn’t sad.
Daniel’s breath touched her ear.
“Try closing your eyes for a moment. It’ll be easier to see the sunlight.”
His voice was polite and low, and it made her ear feel burning hot.
Her heart beat wildly, and her body trembled.
She remembered feeling this way before, on days when something exciting happened.
When Frida was little, she loved the eastern merchants who visited. She would wait in the kitchen all day to see their goods.
Sometimes, she’d sit by the fireplace and listen to their stories about lands far away.
If her parents came home late, Frida would sneak to bed and pretend to sleep, pressing her hand to her chest so they wouldn’t hear her heart.
But now, she felt even more nervous than then. This time, she didn’t know why her heart was beating so fast.
“Now, slowly open your eyes.”
Daniel moved his hand away. Light came in, little by little. Frida opened her purple eyes, and the first thing she saw was Daniel, waiting for her by a small door.
“If you feel dizzy, hold my hand.”
She felt dizzy. Daniel, standing in the sunlight, was so bright and beautiful that she almost forgot the sunlight was hot on her skin.
She thought, “If my heart keeps beating like this, I might not even see my twenty-first spring.”
It didn’t take long for Frida to realize her heart wasn’t beating fast only because of her husband. Her heart beat quickly whenever she saw gold, especially bright gold.
She stepped forward, her eyes adjusting to the darkness. She knew about the old tower near the mercenary quarters—people said it was haunted.
Dominic hadn’t found a reason to open the tower and forgot about it.
“There’s a rumor that the lord’s lover died in the tower and her ghost still waits at the top window.”
Frida never thought there would be a secret room here.
And Daniel had told the truth—there really were ducats here.
But it wasn’t just ducats.
There were perfect piles of gold coins, untouched by anyone.
“Oh my…”
The gold and treasures filled more than half the large basement.
Was this all Daniel’s property?
“You can use anything here as much as you want. You don’t need to report to me.”
Frida had to ask if he was serious.
If he was joking, she would grab him by the collar!
“So, all of this belongs to you? And you’re letting me use it?”
She wished he would say yes. If this was a dream, she never wanted to wake up.
Daniel nodded.
“Can I really use this gold however I want?”
“Yes.”
“Even without your permission?”
Daniel hated being asked the same thing twice, but he nodded more clearly this time.
“Yes. Exactly.”
He didn’t want to bother checking every time. Even if all the gold was gone, it would fill up again.
He didn’t know why Dominic trusted this small woman, but to Daniel, she was still a pampered noble lady.
Noble ladies with money usually just did simple things.
“Wow…”
Frida’s pale face turned pink, and her eyes grew wide.
The lights made her eyes look golden, and Daniel thought she was cute.
She looked so happy it was almost too pure to call it greed.
Daniel had wanted to see her disappointed, but now he didn’t want to anymore.
“You don’t need my permission. Use it as you like.”
He swallowed, his throat feeling rough
Then he quickly said what he had planned to say.
“But there is a condition.”
“A… condition?”
Frida looked worried, which bothered Daniel a bit.
“Don’t worry. It’s nothing big.”
“Even if it is big, I’ll accept. What’s the condition? If I can do it, I will.”
She squeezed her fist to show her determination.
“Order a bed.”
Daniel would never stay in that flower-scented room again.
“Right now.”
He didn’t want to sleep with his wife in a room full of that smell.
Ten days after Daniel woke up, the doctor said he could ride a horse.
Anton, the doctor, couldn’t stop Daniel from riding anyway.
Balzac, the horse, was so excited to go out that he pawed the ground in the stable.
“Calm down, Balzac. Tomorrow, I’ll let you run even longer.”
Balzac snorted and went to his place.
Daniel was about to leave the stable when he looked up at the sky.
The sun setting behind the mountain was beautiful, even to him.
He could have watched longer if Dominic hadn’t run up.
“Didn’t I tell you not to give her the vault key? What are you going to do now?”
Daniel calmly looked at Dominic’s angry, bloodshot eyes.
Dominic looked tired after another hard day.
“If you keep this up, you’ll be bankrupt within a year, you idiot!”
