Why the Northern Duke Wanders the Snowfields - Chapter 41

He was someone she disliked from the start. Just recalling the way he had looked at her with his platinum blond hair and pale gray eyes, staring in a lecherous way, made her skin crawl.

“So you’re Aubrianna.”

She met him not long after being confined to the room. At that time, she still thought it was less confinement and more recovery after childbirth.

He barged in while she was breastfeeding and said he’d come to greet her since he had become the acting head of the house.

“Oh dear, I apologize for interrupting the baby’s mealtime.”

Startled, she quickly turned her waist and tried to hide her chest, but those lust-filled gray eyes glinted as they followed and spoke toward her breasts.

“To see such a beautiful sight. Once your body recovers, we should share a meal sometime.”

Lien, who was attending beside her, made a dumbfounded expression, but the man paid it no mind and licked his lips in regret as he left the room.

“Be careful. It seems two or three maids in the main building have already been taken.”

It was said he had sneaked into the rooms of pretty maids and raped them. Just hearing it made her feel sick.

“I heard one of them appealed to the duchess, but ended up being thrown into prison instead.”

“How could something like that….”

“If things get worse, it might be best to quietly leave the ducal castle.”

Aubrianna held the whining baby in her arms again, feeding him as she sank into worry.

“If His Grace doesn’t return, what will happen to me?”

Lien, who was wiping Aubrianna’s body with a damp clean towel, put strength into her hands.

“Don’t worry about that right now. Worry about your body first.”

With a light tone, Lien carefully wiped Aubrianna’s body, then lifted the well-fed baby and burped him.

“Thank you, Lien.”

“Don’t worry too much. His Grace will definitely return.”

“Do you think so?”

It had already been almost a month since he went missing. The people in the ducal castle had grown doubtful about Kaeloc’s survival as soon as an acting head was appointed.

After that, the ducal castle became constantly filled with ominous rumors.

“It’s like an unseen monster has taken over the castle.”

Not long ago, news spread that a servant had been beaten severely and died. The reason was nothing more than dropping a milk bottle and breaking it.

“It seems all the maids and servants in the main building are trembling.”

Lien muttered in a serious voice as she threw away the withered flowers in the vase.

“Died….”

It was something that could never have happened when Kaeloc was here.

“The head attendant and Mrs. Nelly said he was just beaten a little and died from bad luck, but Carlo said….”

Carlo was from the same village as Lien and her childhood friend.

“He was beaten to death.”

As Lien whispered with a grave face, Aubrianna’s complexion turned pale.

“I’m scared, Lien.”

But what came after that was even more frightening.

At mealtimes, the maids took turns bringing food, but from some point on, it became difficult to see the other maids at all.

Even so, Lien came several times a day to help Aubrianna, but before long, her visits became less frequent.

“Lien, this food tastes strange.”

Eventually, Lien was only bringing food once a day before hurrying off again. Even when Aubrianna spoke to her, Lien would often remain silent, simply setting down the tray and leaving.

The real problem was that her milk stopped coming out. Without milk to feed the baby, she asked for cow’s milk, but nothing was brought.

“Lien! Lien!”

As she reached out to stop Lien, who was leaving with a stiff expression, the door suddenly burst open and a guard stepped inside.

The man stationed outside the door was no longer the same one as before. In his place stood a rough-looking man with a menacing face.

“What’s all this noise!”

Startled, Aubrianna flinched, and the guard, who looked her up and down lecherously as she stood there in her indoor clothes, spat on the floor and muttered ominously.

“Keep that baby quiet. If you make a fuss in times like these, you’ll disappear without a trace.”

At that moment, Aubrianna noticed Lien standing at a distance in the corridor, looking at her with sorrowful eyes.

Only then did she realize it. That there was no place for her and the baby in the ducal castle now.

Something even more terrible happened a week later.

Once winter truly set in, days when the sun rose became rarer than the dark sky filled with snowstorms. As usual, Aubrianna looked at the dim sky and, with a gloomy expression, drew the curtains shut.

She sat quietly in one corner of the bedroom, which had grown dim like night, and looked into the cradle. There lay the baby, who had been sucking at her breast that no longer produced milk and had fallen asleep from exhaustion.

And then, suddenly, the door opened.

“Hello.”

Along with the stench of alcohol, the man appeared. Cedric, who had come in broad daylight wearing only a robe and holding a bottle, staggered into the room with a leering grin.

For a moment, Aubrianna was dazed, but the warning ringing in her head snapped her back to her senses. First, she calmly pushed the cradle to one side of the bed as if nothing was wrong and slowly stood up.

“What brings you here, Lord Cedric?”

She thought it was important to placate someone who was drunk. More than anything, she was afraid.

“You see, I was drinking, and while I was at it, I was doing this….”

The man swayed his hips back and forth, mimicking a sex act, then took another gulp of alcohol and snickered.

“Then all of a sudden, your tits came to mind, you bitch. So I came here myself.”

He lowered his head and suddenly hurled the bottle.

Crash.

The blood-red liquor spilled across the floor.

“Damn it! It keeps snowing here endlessly. You know that? It drives a man insane!”

The man shouting and raging in the middle of the room looked insane no matter how one saw him.

Aubrianna swallowed dryly and adjusted her clothes.

“There’s nothing to do!”

The man stomped his foot and glared at her with bloodshot gray eyes.

“Take it off!”

When she froze in shock, Cedric shouted again, “I said take it off! Whether you’re the duke’s mistress or not, I’m the head of this place now, so you should obey me!”

Then he strode forward and grabbed the front of her clothes.

“They say the duke cherished you. Let’s see what kind of taste he had.”

The way he licked his lips was grotesque and vile, and Aubrianna squeezed her eyes shut.

“You seduced me first last time, didn’t you? Hm?”

The man waved his hand.

Rip.

The indoor clothes made of warm but light fabric tore easily in his grip.

“P-Please, don’t do this.”

As she sobbed weakly, the man threw Aubrianna to the floor. Her figure collapsed onto the red liquor, pitiful to the point of being horrific.

“Pretty obedient, aren’t you? So this is what the duke liked. Too bad, I prefer something a bit more feisty….”

Standing at her feet, Cedric loosened the belt of his robe. As it fell open, his obscene cock hung out.

“Let’s see how long you can keep acting shy.”

Aubrianna’s pale cheeks flushed red as if soaked in blood. Gasping and crying, she barely managed to push her trembling body up and tried to run away.

“Where do you think you’re going!”

Cedric grabbed her long brown hair, shoved his nose into the strands soaked with liquor, and sniffed.

“Good! You’re becoming more and more my type.”

This man is insane!

The more the terrified person struggled to the end, the more twisted satisfaction he felt. The desperate thrashing soaked in fear, the frantic attempts to escape. All of it was a pleasure that proved the power he held.

The slender female body tried desperately to break free, but it was useless. It had been quite some time since she’d even eaten a simple meal. As Aubrianna, drained of strength, gradually stopped moving, the man, as if bored, threw her down again.

As Cedric took a step toward her, thinking the breast that had slipped out through her loosened front was at least worth looking at.

The door burst open and a man appeared.

“…Sir Sion.”

As she murmured the man’s name, the black eyes frowned as they took in the liquor-soaked floor and Cedric, who was practically standing naked.

“Lord Cedric. The Duchess is looking for you right now.”

Sion soon spoke to Cedric in a businesslike tone, his face cold.

No matter how arrogant Cedric was, he knew that Sion’s family, Valian, was a branch of the Bellone count’s family, which was connected to the royal family.

Moreover, Sion was the strongest man in the North after the duke.

Coming to his senses, Cedric tied the belt of his robe again and forced a casual smile.

“My belt came loose by mistake.”

He staggered forward, then, with one arm raised, gave a mock bow toward Aubrianna, who was clutching her clothes and curling in on herself.

“I’ve committed a discourtesy. I’ll take my leave.”

As Cedric shamelessly walked out the door and disappeared, Carlo could be seen fidgeting behind Sion.

She squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them. Clear tears flowed, washing away the red liquor on her cheeks.

“It would be best for you to watch your conduct. Aubrianna. Your reputation is the Duke’s reputation.”

After speaking coldly, Sion turned his body, and Aubrianna hurriedly grabbed him.

“Sir Sion! Please!”

Seeing the man stop, Aubrianna sobbed and pleaded.

“At least the baby, I’m fine, so at least save the baby!”

She knew he hated her. But the baby should not be caught in the middle of such cold emotions.

“He’s the duke’s son. You know that! Please! Help us.”