Chapter 34: The Castle’s Mistress

“Goodness, really? Oh dear… It’s true. You didn’t even touch it.”

Bardel held the heavy silver tray and let out a deep sigh. She had brought only things she liked, but not a single piece of fruit had been cut.

“I wonder if her feelings were hurt.”

“She seems delicate, so maybe. And she’s a painter. If she became a painter as a woman, she must be really sensitive. Shouldn’t we be more careful around her?”

Lavarus, unlike this place, was a country with gender discrimination. Women mostly did chores, while men went out on boats to fish, built dams, and focused on trade. Rich and poor were strictly divided, and proper education was hard to get.

Even so, Amblin was called a woman painter. If Jerond liked her enough to bring her, her skill must be guaranteed, and her family could not be ignored either. Her skin was dark and her hands a little rough, but she looked like a noble’s child.

Maybe she was born the daughter of a poor count and had lived a hard life, but that did not change her birth.

Anyway, Bardel was happy to have a lady she could serve in this castle. But Amblin had fainted as soon as she arrived, would not get out of bed, and would not let anyone touch her. So Bardel had been sulking.

“Right. She’s sensitive. That’s why the lord said to be especially careful. You know Dillian?”

“Oh, I know him.”

“He’s paying enough attention to assign Dillian to her separately.”

Bardel swallowed the words that Jerond had picked Amblin as the castle’s mistress. Rumors could spread in the castle, and even if they did, it would not be a real problem. The problem was sensitive Amblin.

She had just started adjusting to the castle. If she learned that Jerond had called her the mistress, she would not just refuse meals. She would dig a hole in the ground and lie down in it.

“Our lord really likes her. How amazing must her painting be for that?”

The maid the same age as Bardel sparkled her eyes and imagined the cool woman painter at work. A beautiful woman holding a brush and painting was a cool sight no matter how many times she imagined it.

“I haven’t seen it yet, but she must have surprising skill.”

“Right. That’s why our lord brought her himself. Ah… anyway, our lord has reached the age when he must have a portrait painted… He really is becoming one woman’s man.”

She sighed as if she found it a shame. In Isllem, having a portrait painted meant one had entered marriageable age.

“Who will be the woman placed beside our lord’s portrait? Surely someone from the imperial family? One of the imperial family, the biggest and richest. She could be a precious only daughter, or the youngest lady who grew up with only precious love. Ah, she’s so lucky. I’m so jealous…!”

Bardel laughed inwardly at her words. The person whose portrait would hang beside the lord’s was Amblin. Jerond’s portrait would also be painted by her. And Amblin would paint Bardel in a wedding dress.

Just imagining it made Bardel shiver.

The lady she served would become the lord’s wife. Soon a child would be born, and she would raise that child well.

“Why is your face suddenly glowing?”

“Nothing. Thinking about how busy I’ll be makes me impatient.”

“Busy?”

“There’s something like that. Thanks for listening to my complaints.”

Bardel held the silver tray and smiled brightly. Then she hurried to the butler’s room.

“Hmm… I see.”

The old butler nodded slightly at Bardel’s report. Ardo, neat in his long robe, dipped the tip of his pen in ink and wrote something.

“Really. She didn’t drink a single sip of tea.”

Ardo nodded at Bardel’s grumbling. Then he turned a page and pulled out a new sheet of paper. It was a list of things needed in the castle, an order sheet.

Ardo checked it and passed it to the steward, and finally it went up to the lord, Jerond. Mistakes were rare and there were no gaps. Money overflowed, but he never spent it carelessly. He was rather too thrifty, and there was not a single sparkling jewel box.

But that meticulous order sheet, with no room for gaps, had changed. The new order sheet was named [Amblin], and everything for her was written on it.

Ardo wrote “tea good for insomnia” with his pen. Then he added a detailed note to order all the teas and spices in the country.

“I’m upset that she isn’t eating.”

“She’ll get up soon.”

“When are the seamstress and the guild merchant who sells fabric coming? I want to change the curtains and pillows to new ones. We need a wide wardrobe too, and the silk slippers and oat oil are running low. Ah, and the art supplies arrive today, right?”

Ardo stopped his pen. Then he spoke to young Bardel.

“Your heart is floating.”

“Of course! Do you think she needs just one or two things? I was so upset dressing her yesterday. She deserves the most beautiful dress in the empire, and she was in a pink Mophin dress.”

“She was beautiful enough.”

“That’s only in men’s eyes! Do stuck-up noble ladies and shop owners think so? The way she is now might be because of that shabby Mophin dress.”

The Mophin dress was made of high-grade fabric. The color was trendy these days, and above all it matched her long, beautiful blonde hair. Even so, Bardel chattered, afraid Amblin might have been looked down on. Ardo looked at her over his glasses.

“She’s not someone who cares about appearances.”

“But I still don’t like it. She’s been like that since she went out yesterday, so it bothers me. It’s not like our lord has no money! And our lord even picked her as the castle’s mistress…!”

At that moment, Ardo’s eyes turned stern. Footsteps sounded, and a new voice cut in.

“Mistress? What mistress? What are you talking about?”

Startled, Bardel shut her mouth. But the owner of the voice walked right into the middle of the butler’s room and stood before her.

“Say that again.”

“Welcome, Sir Vane.”

“Skip the greeting. I said say that again.”

The butler bowed, but Vane did not care. His gaze was fixed on the maid who had spoken about his nephew Jerond.

“If you mean mistress, does that mean the wife of Jerond, the master of this castle?”

Vane was Jerond’s cousin. He had once been rumored among nobles as a strategist with a good eye. Due to some circumstances, he was in a slump now, but he was a young man who had once received some attention from the imperial family.

“I think there is some misunderstanding.”

At Ardo’s calm words, Vane raised an eyebrow.

“Ardo. If you’re being considerate of me, it’s fine. If it were that kind of woman, he should have broken the engagement long ago. How could he live a lifetime with a woman who dared fall for my cousin and send him a love letter? Don’t you agree?”

He said it was fine, but because of that incident a year ago, he was still grinding his teeth. Just watching him enter the castle freely and prick up his ears made it clear.

“It is already in the past, isn’t it?”

“Hmph. As you say, the past is the past. But what is coming cannot be ignored either. Can’t you tell just from me visiting regularly and showing my face?”

The butler did not answer immediately. He bowed his head slightly and raised it. Bardel, who had been watching, hurriedly bowed and disappeared. Vane asked again.

“You’ve lived alone your whole life, so you know. How deep the pain of a broken engagement is. Even if you try to hold another woman, the memory torments you, doesn’t it?”

The old butler laughed, haha.

“It’s been over thirty years. I don’t even remember now.”

“Don’t talk nonsense. Do you think I don’t know who your woman gave her heart to thirty years ago?”

“A heart can be given to anyone. I respected her choice.”

“Ha! You’re good at smooth talk. Even so, your uncle chose another woman. He didn’t even glance at your woman.”

With a twisted heart, Vane poked at Ardo’s old wound. The woman who abandoned Ardo long ago had admired the knight commander, Ferel. When he did not accept her, she abandoned Ardo and ran away.

“Hearing about old days makes me feel I’ve returned to my youth.”

“So understand my feelings.”

Vane was born into a noble family and grew up without lacking anything. He was the scholar type with a good eye. He was admired among nobles, received invitations from the imperial family and left the castle for months, and crossed the sea by boat to explore another continent.

But he had one thorn, and it was Jerond. His cousin, only six years younger, did not fit with him. At first they seemed to get along, but when Jerond was appointed a knight, Vane turned his back completely.

To be exact, Jerond did not deal with Vane. He did not attend meals or parties even when invited, and he never replied once to letters. Vane visited the training grounds and gifted new swords made by an artisan,

and Jerond returned them. The donations Vane sent were donated to the poor as if they were worthless.

Vane disliked that Jerond. Still, he could not reveal his inner feelings because of the halo around Jerond and his ability. Jerond was an unquestionably strong knight and a dragon hunter.

He took this castle in one stroke without anyone’s help, and whenever he went to battle, he annihilated the enemy and returned.

Rumors about the young knight spread, and his fame and virtue kept rising. He caught the eye of the imperial family, and many women visited the ballroom to meet him.

But Jerond did not blink at any of it. He did not give women the time of day, as if they were bothersome. He did not just keep his distance. He was even colder.

Women who went to him personally were often rebuffed. Their schemes to catch his eye were useless. In the end, even his own fiancée fell for Jerond, and Jerond never apologized, so Vane ground his teeth.

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