Chapter 25
‘So what.’
Eliana, who was sometimes bold and sometimes shameless, now looked shy—another unexpected side that reached Kaylen.
When she blushed while he tied her scarf earlier, Kaylen hadn’t realized that he had slowed his hands without knowing.
But Kaylen quickly gathered his brief thoughts.
His careless desires had always given Ferdinand something to enjoy. Sometimes it had been toys, animals, or even people.
All of them were broken in Ferdinand’s hands.
He was not someone to be ruined because of cheap curiosity or desire. That was why Kaylen had to refuse the Grand Duchess’s temptation, which felt too direct—almost innocent.
Kaylen was about to close the book he was reading and speak, but he stopped when Eliana spoke first.
“I just found out too, but… they said there’s no room for me to stay in right now….”
Eliana trembled at the end of her words. She slid toward the fireplace and continued.
“They said the lords of Winterford used the same bedroom.”
“Who said that?”
“Greta did.”
Did the Winterford lords really share a bedroom?
From all the information he had received, the previous lord and lady had not gotten along. The former lord loved women, and because of that, arguments between the couple were frequent.
A couple like that used the same bedroom?
It seemed Eliana didn’t realize Greta had plotted something.
Warming herself by placing her hands close to the fireplace, Eliana quickly glanced around Kaylen’s room.
There were no fancy patterns, but thick curtains blocked the cold wind. The fireplace burned brightly, and beside it was a pile of dry firewood.
The Grand Duke’s room was very large. Everywhere in the room, traces of the servants’ careful efforts to keep out Winterford’s cold could be seen.
Eliana’s gaze finally landed on the bed.
Compared to the large room, the bed felt a bit small. A sofa near the fireplace seemed to fit her perfectly, but it looked uncomfortable.
Eliana looked between the bed and the sofa, then marched straight toward the bed.
“I’ll order them to prepare a proper room for me as soon as possible. Until then, I’ll rely on you.”
Eliana came close to the bed and flipped the blanket open. Lifting a pillow, she tapped Kaylen’s legs, which were in the center.
“Move over a bit.”
Her shameless attitude as she said she would “rely” on him made Kaylen shift his body to the side without thinking.
Once she had space, Eliana climbed onto the bed. She put a pillow in the middle and pulled the blanket up to her chin.
“Ah. It’s warm.”
Before Kaylen came to the room, Benjamin had placed heated stones under the blanket.
Kaylen had used stones instead of torpaz heating stones during the four years he spent at the Gasten Border Marquisate.
They probably couldn’t afford expensive torpaz here either. Heating stones were their own clever way to survive the cold with what little they had.
Feeling the warmth seep into her body, Eliana grinned. She glanced at Kaylen, then asked cautiously:
“Can I take off my gown?”
Kaylen narrowed his eyes.
“It’s too stuffy…”
The nightgown she wore was much thicker than the one she used in the capital. It was so thick she could wear it outside, so of course it was uncomfortable to sleep in.
Eliana grinned at Kaylen, who was silently frowning, then pulled the blanket over her head.
From the bump under the blanket, she wiggled around and then tossed her gown out. Soon, Eliana’s face popped back out of the thick blanket.
Her messy brown hair stuck all over her pale face.
Pff.
She tried blowing the strands off with her breath, then simply reached an arm out to fix her hair before closing her eyes.
“Good night.”
Kaylen watched her quietly, then gave a deep sigh and put out the lantern. As he lay down, he slowly opened and closed his eyes.
Light from the fireplace flickered across the ceiling. Kaylen rested an arm over his forehead and watched the dancing shadows.
Thinking of this abandoned land he had come to, Kaylen realized he actually liked it here. This place unexpectedly ended up in his hands because Ferdinand had persuaded the Emperor.
“I was planning to give Martid to you… but the movements of those Ober people are suspicious. If you take charge of Winterford, the Ober kingdom won’t make a move so easily.”
Martid was a territory in the south of the Empire, famous for its rich fields. The Ober Kingdom’s rebellious movements had been a problem for a long time, and the Emperor used that as an excuse to give Kaylen Winterford instead.
Or rather, since this all came from Ferdinand’s mind, maybe it wasn’t really the Emperor’s excuse.
He simply didn’t want to give away a profitable land.
Kaylen gave a small, bitter laugh and lowered the hand resting on his forehead.
He had known Winterford’s condition wasn’t good, but seeing it in person was far worse. There were many things to investigate and many things to fix.
He didn’t want to stand by and do nothing.
In the midst of his thoughts, he heard soft snoring.
As Kaylen organized what he needed to do in the morning, he thought he should tell Dylan and Greta to prepare a room for Eliana as soon as possible.
“She said she doesn’t snore… shameless as ever…”
Kaylen looked at Eliana, already deep asleep, then turned to the opposite side and pulled the blanket over his head.
The journey from the capital to Winterford had been long. Kaylen soon fell asleep too.
I had practically been living in the office since arriving in Winterford.
Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will win every battle.
I asked Benjamin for books on Winterford’s history and culture, and the ledgers showing how the territory had been managed all this time.
Moved by my determined expression, Benjamin opened the library that had been closed for years and brought every document I asked for.
My desk quickly filled with books and papers. There was no more room on the desk, so books piled up even on the floor. I briefly wanted to run away, but there was nowhere to flee to in this freezing land, where even stepping into the hallway made my teeth chatter.
On the third day of drowning in documents—
I jumped to my feet.
“Your Grace?”
Mia, who had been knitting beside me, flinched and widened her eyes. Benjamin, who had stopped by to check something, jumped in surprise too.
“This won’t work. This just—this just! Makes no sense!”
“Y-Your Grace, is there a problem with the ledgers…?”
A problem? Not just a problem—this was a disaster.
“Where is the Grand Duke right now?”
“He should be in his office.”
“Can you ask if I can visit him in a moment?”
I was amazed this enormous mansion was operating with such finances. Many servants had months of unpaid wages.
I grabbed my coat and headed out, then hurried back to search my messy desk.
“Found it.”
I took the document summarizing everything I had studied so far and headed toward Kaylen’s office with determination.
As I walked down the hall toward his office at the end of the same floor, I paused and lifted the heavy curtain covering the hallway window.
Mia, who ran after me, said:
“The wind is fierce. They say it might snow tonight.”
“A friend who was born and raised in Winterford told me,” she added.
Friendly Mia had gotten close to the Winterford servants quickly.
She often shared what she heard from them—it was fun and also helpful in understanding Winterford.
“Winterford isn’t winter all year. They said there are four seasons. But during winter, strong snowstorms often come. When that happens, people stop outdoor work, close the curtains like this, and do what they can indoors while waiting for spring!”
The sky was gloomy just as Mia said. It wouldn’t be strange if heavy snow began to fall soon.
“But it feels suffocating with everything blocked like this.”
“Right? But thanks to these curtains, it’s at least warm.”
Even I—who preferred practicality over prettiness—couldn’t help frowning whenever I saw these ugly curtains.
Still, they were essential for this absurdly large Winterford mansion.
Soon, I would replace them with brighter ones.
Nodding with determination, I resumed my steps toward Kaylen’s office.
