Chapter 7
Eubnia walked forward and lightly brushed her fingertips along the clothes hanging on the rack.
Every single one felt different from ordinary garments—the texture of the fabric itself suggested only the finest quality.
Eubnia asked in awe,
“When did you prepare all of this?”
“Well… when I first came here, most of it was already filled. I heard that Lord Ram bought them one by one whenever he thought of it.”
“He bought them himself?”
“Yes, for the bride.”
Hannah answered proudly.
She seemed to hope Eubnia would be moved by Agram’s devotion, but as someone who was merely staying here under his goodwill, Eubnia could only feel burdened by the situation.
Eubnia quickly withdrew her hand from the wardrobe and asked,
“Is it really okay for me to wear these?”
“Huh?”
Hannah, who had been blinking blankly, suddenly understood and nodded slowly.
“Oh, I’ll ask Guillermo to fix the sizes for you when we have a day. Please bear with it for today. Fortunately, the sizes don’t look too different…”
“No, that’s not it. I’m not really the bride. I shouldn’t use something that belongs to someone else.”
Hannah tilted her head, looking confused.
“Well… um… are you not Eubnia?”
“That’s true… but the person who was supposed to be Lord Ram’s bride was originally my sister, Emilia.”
“That was true until ten years ago. After she passed away, the bride who would come here became Eubnia. I’ve always thought of the person I serve as Eubnia.”
“You knew I was coming? But Lord Ram…”
“I knew. Guillermo knew too. Sir Seven and Sir Max knew, and Levi… do you know him? Anyway, the only one who truly didn’t know was Lord Ram. He’s been sleeping for the last ten years.”
Now that she thought about it, she remembered Guillermo saying something similar earlier.
Could it mean not that he had wasted his time, but that he had literally slept for ten years?
Eubnia asked in disbelief,
“Is that even possible?”
“Ah, it may sound pitiful, but please understand. When a person is depressed, they tend to sleep more. Lord Ram was very devastated when he heard the news of your sister’s death. He probably cried a lot where no one could see.”
Listening to Hannah’s explanation, Eubnia naturally imagined a man sobbing loudly in her mind.
It didn’t seem fitting for the monster Ram, but for someone who had waited for his wife’s reincarnation, it was believable.
What would he have felt when he learned that the wife he longed for so desperately had died again before his hands could even reach her?
“I don’t think it’s pitiful.”
Eubnia responded impulsively.
She couldn’t bring herself to belittle his love like that.
Remembering the warmth in Agram’s eyes as he looked at his dead wife, Eubnia added slowly,
“Actually… I think he’s a very good person.”
Hannah’s face brightened at Eubnia’s words.
Excited, she began searching the dress room for clothes that would fit Eubnia.
“That’s right. There are some harsh rumors about Lord Ram outside, but those are just from people who don’t know. I’m from this region, so I know him well. He’s so lazy he can’t even kill a mosquito. He often raises his voice at Guillermo, but… if you look at it closely, that’s also Guillermo’s fault. It was his decision to ignore the order to cancel the marriage proposal and not deliver the message.”
So that was why the marriage arrangement continued without the person involved knowing.
But thinking of Guillermo’s polite attitude toward her, it didn’t seem like he did it out of malice.
“If Lord Ram had gone outside more, he wouldn’t have been able to deceive people like that. But as you can see, he doesn’t want to get out of bed. He was holed up in his room with a barrier for a while. And the only one in this castle who could get through that barrier was Guillermo, so we couldn’t complain. That’s how things ended up.”
“Why would Guillermo accept a bride that the master didn’t even want?”
“I don’t really know. When I asked if he still needed to employ me, he said Lord Ram still needed a bride. That’s how I realized he was doing it on purpose.”
Well, at least I didn’t lose my job, so it was fortunate for me.
Hannah said as she took out a few casual dresses and handed them to Eubnia, as if inviting her to choose.
After hesitating, Eubnia picked up the simplest chemise.
She didn’t think Agram would demand her to return the things she had been given, but she wanted to repay him as much as possible.
Eubnia nervously touched the clothes that weren’t hers and said,
“But marriage is something both parties have to want. Lord Ram doesn’t seem like he’d ever want to meet another woman besides his late wife.”
“Um… Guillermo isn’t exactly normal, so his way of thinking is unique… I can’t explain why he did that. He’s very absorbed in his role as butler, so maybe he just needed a mistress to serve.”
Hannah added a more frighteningly realistic assumption.
Eubnia, remembering Guillermo’s oddly proud attitude when serving food, fell silent for a moment.
Hannah carefully watched Eubnia’s expression and spoke.
“But I agree that Lord Ram needs a new person. He’s been lonely for so long. I heard that the previous lady was a very good person, but I don’t know if having that kind of love is really a good thing.”
No matter how happy they had been, no matter how much they had cherished each other, it was all in the past.
Those precious times made his days without her even more unbearable.
Was it truly a good choice to force a past connection to stay?
Is enduring endless pain for a brief happiness more like a reward or a punishment?
Hannah asked, and Eubnia couldn’t answer. It wasn’t her decision to make.
After a long silence, Eubnia changed the subject.
“By the way, Hannah, are you… not human either?”
“Huh?”
“I’m sorry if that’s rude. You seem about my age, and you know so much about things from long ago, so I just wondered.”
“Oh no, I’m human. I’m twenty years old. I know this castle well because I’ve lived here since I was a baby. Guillermo found me abandoned on the road and took me in to be a maid.”
“…He hired a baby as a maid? Twenty years in advance?”
“People here don’t have the same sense of time as ordinary people.”
Hannah answered awkwardly with a small laugh.
Twenty.
That was exactly the same age as Eubnia’s sister, Emilia.
So this maid had been prepared for her since the day her sister was born.
Like this wardrobe filled with affection, wishing the new bride, who had left her family, to live peacefully and comfortably even in a strange land.
Eubnia suddenly recalled Agram’s gloomy figure lying under the blanket.
And the people of the Hessen family who had cried their hearts out upon hearing of Emilia’s death.
“Oh… so even here… like my home…”
This castle had been preparing to welcome her even before her sister was born, and the Hessen family had sacrificed everything to protect their daughter.
Eubnia suddenly wondered.
What would it be like to live a life where the entire world moved for her happiness?
What would it feel like to be loved by everyone?
