Chapter 239 – 23. Flower and Bird Month (9)
The trigger was a minor deviation.
The Duchess, who had to live a life of extreme oppression for her survival, gained the status of the country’s foremost woman along with Princess Jang through such efforts. Considering the checks that Marianne inevitably faced while challenging the kingship, the ranking in the Gallic ceremonial rank was the sole first place.
Despite her stigma as being the first king’s target for purges as the former king’s bastard, she made her debut in the social world.
With her dazzling beauty and well-groomed demeanor, she won the duke, her contemporaneous groom. After fierce competition behind the scenes with Joanna, the daughter of Baron Pierre, she emerged victorious. In the process, she was called the woman who brought spring to the East, and she was also reborn as the origin of the stone of the four seasons.
‘Don’t cry, Henrietta.’
‘As her older sister, I want you to protect her one and only younger sister.’
A nobleman has a duty. Henrietta never forgot what she called noblesse oblige in Gallic language. From the tragic loss of her mother, two of Aquitaine’s blood, and left alone with her younger brother.
‘Sister, where did mom and aunt go?’
‘Oriane, it’s just you and me now.’
‘Why? Are we abandoned?’
‘It is not so…’
She wanted to be a responsible adult. No matter how heavy the load placed on her shoulders, she aspired to be a great person who would endure it silently. Such was the wish of her young lady, who had made her living in her shoddy mansion, treated as a scion of a fallen family.
‘You have nothing to worry about.’
‘Sister, are you crying?’
‘I will support you without being envious. I’m going to get married to a good marriage, so you don’t have to worry.’
‘Why are you crying?’
‘Because I will never cry from now on…’
She resented her father. She loathed him with all her heart when she sat on the throne and pursued her vulgar pleasures and cared not for the subject to whom she had sowed her seeds here and there. She is more than the gentlemen and ladies who play shady tricks to get a girl who is only a dozen years old.
‘Lady of Aquitaine, I’ll be honest.’
Looking back, it was a dreary day. In the meantime, the Duke of the East, whom I met by chance at a banquet, was a decent man. He was sincere, had strong convictions, and was even righteous. It wasn’t that he was fascinated, but as his companion, he was clearly inferior.
‘I don’t know what love is. To me, the opposite sex is a stranger and more difficult entity than an enemy facing swords on the battlefield. It’s not a good thing to criticize your fiancée, but that’s why you went over it even after knowing about the atrocities that Lady Pierre did to you.’
‘Joanna is just afraid. At stake is the position she had believed she would give me for so many years. Everyone reacts aggressively to such a threat, so I don’t resent it. She wouldn’t have been happy to have her help, since this is a conflict between me and her, let alone what happened between you.’
‘I don’t know which is more immoral, a marriage arranged for family interests or a marriage based on necessity. But in my selfish sentiment, having you as my spouse would be much more peaceful in the days ahead.’
Sometimes there are marriages that stem from a sense of kinship. Henrietta, who became the wife of the Gallic dragon onslaught, thus bestowed her selection with her husband for some time. As if she were walking on thin ice, she put her last days behind her and fought against the elders of the LeBlanc family and finally seized her hegemony.
‘Sister, I’m getting married to the North this time.’
‘… Uh?’
‘Because Mr. Gérard of the Marquis of Lemoyn proposed to marry me. It didn’t sound like a bad offer, so I accepted it right away. So now I want her not to worry and live her sister’s life. He said he’s not on good terms with his brother-in-law lately.’
Have you ever heard that life doesn’t always go the way you want it to? The reason Henrietta endured her severe sepa was to protect her one and only sister. However, as she struggled with those who stood in her way and gradually became more like them, her precious Oriane was left alone.
Because of that, like me, I had to find a way to survive with a marriage that I did not want, even if it was difficult.
It was natural to feel deeply guilty. Especially since I know that the reason my sister gave the news was not a rebuke, but a sense of concern. The daughter of Aquitaine, who became the Duchess of LeBlanc, found in me the figure of her father that she hated so much.
‘Madame LeBlanc, it’s a bad news.’
‘What happened?’
‘His Majesty Eugene de Gallia…’
It wasn’t long before I heard the news of the dear king’s passing.
‘You’re selfish to the end, Dad.’
The position of the duchess gave the right to pay condolences alone to the former king, who was buried under a magnificent stone monument. Around that time, Henrietta, tired of her life, burst out in front of her dead father’s tomb, pouring out the words she had stored all her life.
‘It’s all because of you! I just wanted to be loved normally! I’m not redeeming the bonds of a father who ignores his children and a mother who dies while waiting for such a husband!’
Everything was heavy To a young girl who would be in the midst of her growing up, the existence of two mothers and a father she would never see was a nightmare. Of course, the women who became sisters and concubines at the same time had a deep love as much as a deep friendship.
‘Do you know how her mom and her aunt died? Do you know how long Oriane has been looking for you? It would have been better if she had been born into a poor serf family! At least, if only her parents truly loved that child!’
Because even that died soon after.
‘I’m suffering. I don’t know how long she has to endure like this. Maybe she has to do that for the rest of her life, so she comes to panic. And when that happens, I hold my breath in an empty place and comfort myself.’
Have a drink and find something to help your heart. That doesn’t change anything, but she never gives up. She doesn’t cry in tears or express her pain to others.
‘Still, I won’t give up. Even if I hear that I am a strong woman, I will carry out my will until the end. That’s my revenge on you.’
Because that was the promise of Henrietta Aquitaine.
Even now, as the mistress of the LeBlanc family, she still defends her oath as a single-minded individual. But somehow lately, the noble Duchess has been letting go of her worries little by little. He believed in the man who enlightened him to the belief that he was the only one.
Romuald Ardenne, the invincible knight of Lumiere and the man who became my husband.
As an illegitimate child, he never liked anything, but now he has become indispensable to Henrietta. He is a sly, vicious, and even lascivious person, but at least he is sincere, unlike the disgusting crowd of socialites.
“I can count on you…”
The Duchess muttered involuntarily and shook her head from side to side. She glanced at her calendar on the wall to check the date. It was the eve of the last day of the Lunar New Year, so there were only two days left until the contract was concluded.
‘Henrietta is cute.’
Ironically, the emotion that passed through her mind was regret. He was the one who turned his noble product quality into that of a prostitute, but he did it because he felt good about it. The tryst over the past month was like building secret memories just for the two of them.
‘Now, shall I tell you who you are?’
‘The bitch of Baron Ardennes, the daughter of a faithful motherfucker to her father…’
Any expression is fine. The original nature of things is an important law. So Henrietta had an accurate insight into my relationship with Rome. A gentle but strict ruler and a subordinate who wants to be fooled by him.
‘I’m sorry, but that’s probably because it’s also an order, right?’
Dad because I can depend on him.
She is a daughter because she wants to look cute.
She is a bitch because she will wag her tail when she meets her.
She is the master of taming me with her pleasure on a leash.
‘I forgot to bark, so I must be punished. It’s not particularly outrageous.’
The Baron’s pure desire led the Duchess, who was unaware of corruption, like a coo. He forgot her position as the wife of the LeBlanc family and trained her to become a female willing to serve devotedly while kneeling down.
When asked to show her underwear, she was forced to pick up the hem of the dress she was wearing without hesitation. When she was ordered to be naked, she was tossed off without leaving a single thread after making sure her surroundings were safe.
‘Ahhhhh…’
‘Don’t be vulgar when you say you’ll be stabbed.’
‘Yes, hehe…’
‘Should I politely put her hands together and express my gratitude?’
‘Thank you… !’
She also learned a lot of immoral etiquette that goes against common sense. The clothes you take off should always be neatly folded and placed under your feet, and when you are kneeling, you should not move your hands in an appropriate manner and put your arms behind your back to restrain yourself or place them neatly on your thighs so that you do not take them off.
Her obedience was endlessly cultivated, and she left no resistance.
Just to please the baron.
She wants to be reborn as a pretty bitch and cute daughter of Romuald of Arden.
The lewd world was like a river to learn even then. She didn’t give up, even though she thought she was quite aggressive. Then, suddenly, she saw through and realized his ulterior motive for not letting me go.
‘Why don’t you hug me… ?’
‘Because I don’t want to order.’
In that remark, which had many implications, Henrietta glimpsed her future. With the truth that her contract, which she once thought was meant for me, was in fact just an obstacle, she finally let go of her excuses that she couldn’t help it and realized that she would be completely subservient.
‘Even if it’s not an order, what if you want it?’
‘It must be interesting.’
Only yesterday
‘Especially if you don’t change your mind even after the contract ends.’
‘… !’
Although it had been a long time, all that came to mind from life in the Winter Mansion was one thing. That was the joy of following Romuald, Baron of Ardennes. Therefore, Henrietta, who was painfully aware of the vacancy of her man who rarely visited me in the middle of the night, looked into the full-length mirror placed in the corner of the room where she had been secluded all day.
Purple hair that boasts a desirable color even in dim lighting.
Decorated with round side hair, shining eyes under the graceful figure.
A dense yet distinct appearance that accentuates the apatite-like eyes.
Above all, her outstanding figure is evident even on top of thick northern clothes for cold weather.
The white color, which is incomparable to being called the origin of the four seasons, had an expressionless face and an unknown blush, and made a certain decision. As a result, my henchman, who had quietly knocked on the door, cautiously approached and opened his mouth, so I turned around in surprise.
“Master, I’m resting, so I’m sorry all of a sudden.”
“… Annette? What’s the matter?”
“Well, I’m not sure.”
It wasn’t as dramatic a reaction as it seemed to her remarks that followed.
“I think I found a clue that could be Baron Ardennes’ weakness.”
One thing was certain: the relationship between Rome and Henrietta would soon end in one way or another.
