Why the Northern Duke Wanders the Snowfields - Chapter 32

“Thank you very much.”

The dressmaker stared with trembling eyes at the massive city in the distance and the towering ducal castle, then looked at the man before him as if afraid.

To the man, Kaeloc took out all the coins in his pocket and handed them over.

“It’s a reward for bringing us this far, so don’t hesitate to take it.”

“Th, this… th-thank, no, I-I’m deeply grateful….”

“Oh my, thank you. Your Grace.”

The woman who had been taking care of the baby in Aubrianna’s place quickly took the coins and tucked them into her pocket, smiling brightly.

“Anyway, now that our duke has returned, our village is saved.”

At the woman’s easygoing remark, Kaeloc lifted the corner of his lips slightly.

“I’ll try to live up to that expectation.”

“Y-Yes. Th-that, of course….”

“No, why are you stuttering like that?”

The woman who had handed the baby to Aubrianna nudged her husband. The ordinary dressmaker alternated his gaze between the enormous ducal castle below the hill and the equally imposing man, then shrank his head again.

When the hunter, whom they had thought would stay a few more days because of his sick wife, suddenly said he was the duke and asked to be taken to Tennant City where the ducal castle stood, they thought the young man was talking nonsense.

But when he saw the crest of the ducal family engraved on the large longsword the man showed, his heart shrank.

“Even if he’s roughly dressed in furs, to not recognize that noble face. You’re only good at making clothes, you really have no sense.”

His wife’s scolding didn’t even reach his ears. All the way here, he had been anxious, worrying whether he had said anything foolish to that duke.

‘I’m sure I complained about something….’

On top of that, seeing the woman wearing the dress he made, a dizzy feeling washed over him again.

‘I should’ve used better fabric.’

There hadn’t been such fabric to begin with, but the plain dark navy dress made of tough cloth didn’t suit the duke’s wife no matter how he looked at it.

‘But when did our duke get married?’

Before he could resolve that question, the duke suddenly turned his body.

“Your Grace! My lady! Please take care on your way! Young master, stay healthy too!”

Behind them, the good-natured woman shouted loudly as she saw them off. The woman following behind the duke turned her body slightly, bowed her head, then hurried after the man again.

“Ah! Stop it!”

Despite her husband’s attempt to stop her, the woman clasped her hands together in admiration.

“Just wait. My goodness, with that kind of elegance, even that plain dress you made looks beautiful.”

“Wh-what do you mean beautiful!”

He felt dissatisfied, but when his wife said that, the man quietly asked again with a bit of hope.

“Is it really okay?”

“Oh, of course. Who else could wear something like that and look like that? It’s not the clothes that have wings, the person is an angel.”

At the ambiguous remark that could have been praise for his clothes or for the duchess, the man frowned and watched the three figures moving farther away.

‘Still, they look good together.’

Winter was passing and spring was coming. Looking at the scenery where tiny light green leaves, no bigger than fingernails, had sprouted on the dry, dull branches, the man muttered.

‘Please, let good days come. Your Grace.’

***

“We have to go without drawing attention.”

At Aubrianna’s words, the two of them pulled their cloaks low and walked across the city.

Perhaps because the weather had warmed considerably, people’s faces were bright, and as the largest city in the North, it looked lively, as if there was nothing it lacked.

“These are the first flowers of early spring! If you give them to your wife, she’ll love you forever!”

A young girl held out a small bouquet and shouted cheerfully.

At those words, Kaeloc turned his head, intrigued. The girl spotted him and hurried over.

“For just one coin, you can have your wife’s love forever.”

He searched his pockets, but he had already given all his money to the dressmaker earlier, so nothing remained.

Kaeloc looked at the girl with an awkward expression.

“I’m sorry.”

At that, the girl’s innocent-looking face twisted sharply.

“If you’re going to take it, you have to pay!”

She forced the bouquet into Kaeloc’s hand, then plopped down on the spot.

“If you took the flowers, give me money!”

“What? You little….”

Startled, Kaeloc lifted the bouquet, then met Aubrianna’s eyes. Aubrianna, with a calm expression, handed the baby to Kaeloc, then turned with the bouquet in hand and met the little girl’s gaze.

“We’ve come a long way, so we don’t have any money right now. I’m sorry, but you’ll have to sell the flowers to someone else.”

Aubrianna said this as she helped the child to her feet and brushed the dust off her clothes.

“Or if you’re still here this afternoon, I’ll send someone.”

“You don’t even have money! Don’t lie!”

With an irritated look, the child snatched the bouquet from Aubrianna’s hand and ran off to another place.

Kaeloc approached with a growl, looking dumbfounded. If it came to it, he looked ready to chase after the child and give her a piece of his mind.

“What kind of brat is that? What kind of family does she even come from?”

A small hand pressed against his chest. “Let it go. She probably needed to sell those flowers to buy something to eat today.”

There were many girls like that selling flowers all over this city. The young flowers that had bloomed early in the fields were likely picked without mercy.

To make bouquets like that, that small girl probably had to sneak into a noble’s territory or someone else’s land to pick the flowers.

It had been five years since Aubrianna came to the North. For three of those years, she had lived as the duke’s mistress, but that didn’t mean she lived a rich or glamorous life.

Rather, she had been forbidden from doing maid work and simply waited for Kaeloc in the space given to her.

Kaeloc….

She gently stroked the cheek of the man who still looked angry.

“Calm down.”

This man was the duke who protected the North, an invincible knight who guarded the border.

He trained his body and practiced swordsmanship, trying to fulfill the responsibilities and duties that matched his position as duke, but he didn’t know much about the lives of the people under his rule.

The overall matters of internal affairs and administration belonged to Duchess Eloise, and out of respect and affection for her as the duchess, Kaeloc had been careful not to overstep her role.

“Why is it like that when I asked Mother to take care of it?”

After finishing a grueling training schedule, it was a day when Kaeloc finally had a bit of free time, so they decided to go to the theater together.

Although she was supposed to receive a new dress, she hadn’t heard anything about it. She simply had to prepare the neatest outfit she had among her belongings.

Kaeloc wore a displeased expression, but there was nothing to be done. Aubrianna had to sit quietly in a corner of the theater’s royal seats, watching the performance with bated breath, then hurry back to her quarters.

“Even if he didn’t want to go out with me, isn’t that too much?”

At the man’s criticism, she didn’t know what to do. To begin with, she had only ever worked as a maid.

Even after becoming the duke’s mistress, she didn’t even know where to go to have a new dress made.

After that, they never went out together again.

The same went for balls and tea parties. Even if she had only been the daughter of a minor baron family, she would have at least been qualified to show her face, but her status made it inappropriate to take her anywhere.

Kaeloc also didn’t know how to comfort her or ease her mood, so he simply thrust jewels and expensive accessories at her.

‘In the end, we were both too naive.’

As she recalled the past, Aubrianna began to worry that the current Kaeloc was even more defenseless than he had been back then.

It was refreshing that Kaeloc expressed his thoughts without hesitation, but it would surely become a weakness.

“The people of this territory are going through a difficult time like that right now. You need to become the duke again and help those people.”

For a moment, Kaeloc’s expression wavered.

“Me?”

“Then who else would do it?”

The man’s tightly pressed lips trembled faintly, and a shallow sigh slipped out. Kaeloc, who had been confident as a hunter, was feeling fear toward the position of duke.

‘Is it only natural since he lost his memories?’

Aubrianna grasped the man’s confusion and agitation and bit her lip in frustration.

‘If we go straight to the ducal castle like this, it’s dangerous.’

It would be like walking straight into the jaws of an enemy whose identity they didn’t even know.

Aubrianna tightly held the confused man’s hand.

“Since it’s been a while in a place like this, shall we rest a bit before going?”

“Rest? Where?”

She thought for a moment, then took a light step forward.

“If we find a place we like while walking, we’ll rest there. We can eat something good, and before entering the ducal castle, we can buy you a set of clothes.”

“…But we don’t have any money.”

“It’s fine. I know someone who does. I’ll say it again, you are the duke of this place.”

“But I still don’t know anything.”

“But I know someone who has money and can help.”

As Aubrianna walked ahead without hesitation, Kaeloc slowly followed behind her.

“Who is it?”

“They’ll probably come running in less than an hour if we contact them.”

“So who is it?”

Without easily satisfying Kaeloc’s curiosity, Aubrianna chuckled softly.

“You’ll find out soon.”