Princess Shu

“I’m afraid you’ll have to wait.”

Schuden answered lightly. In any case, it was not a lie, he did not go somewhere else. And because of Valia, he went straight home. It would be fine to talk about going to the palace while having dinner later. After finishing his judgment, Schuden reached out his hand.

“Hold on to me.”

“Pardon? Oh, yes.”

Valia held Schuden’s hand. He held her arm and waist and helped her up. Schuden had a firm touch, but he was careful enough for her to get up from her seat without difficulty. As she stood up straight, she could see that Schuden’s shoulders were slightly wet.

“Your shoulders are wet.”

“This much is fine.”

“You’ll catch a cold.”

“You’re one to talk.”

Schuden responded lightly and made a gesture. The employees rushed in, struggling to manage their facial expressions and traces. In particular, Paul and Sarah’s expressions were bright, as if they had saved the country. Valia was a little surprised by the appearance of the employees. She did not even realize they were in the backyard.

‘Since when had they stood there?’

Valia was always sensitive to the traces of others. The combination of her senses as a lady-in-waiting and her senses as a knight had been acquired by her body. But this time, she could swear that she had not noticed them at all.

‘But then again, I was just looking at him without thinking of anything else…’

Valia felt embarrassed again. What did he think when he saw that she could not take her eyes off him?

‘…But it can’t be helped.’

 Any woman would act the same as she did. Which woman could easily turn her eyes away when her husband brought an umbrella through the rain? Moreover, Schuden was not just any ordinary man. He was so beautiful that the words ‘falling in love at first sight,’ could easily be applied to him. So, she was perfectly normal. That was how Valia justified herself. Otherwise, her face would have become very red.

“Madam, are you okay?”

“You’re drenched. Aren’t you cold?”

Contrasting Valia’s calm demeanor, the employees were very anxious. Still, Sarah, the housekeeper, carefully and prudently wiped off Valia’s wet hair and face. She wiped the remaining water off with a soft and fluffy towel that was abundant with wool, then, she draped a new clean shawl over Valia’s shoulders.

Because of the hot season, it did not feel very cold in the rain. As she changed to a new shawl, warmth quickly gathered. Sarah tied the shawl’s ribbon and asked Valia.

“Madam, should I call the carriage?”

“It’s okay. I can walk.”

“But…”

Although ordinary ladies were vulnerable, that was them. It did not apply to Valia. However, Sarah could not erase her worried expression because their madam looked more delicate than those ordinary ladies.

“Valia.”

Schuden had also changed his coat in the meantime. He strode up to Valia. Sarah, who recommended riding a carriage, and the other maids took a step back.

Schuden’s expression was no different than usual. His look was in contrast to the restless employees. But Valia thought that, since he was her husband, he seemed to know that she was okay.

Just as Valia thought so, her legs were lifted.

“…”

In a blink of an eye, Schuden lifted her up in an embrace. Valia wrapped her arms around his neck in spite of herself.

“Schu?”

“Yes.”

“I can walk.”

“But you have been rained on for a long time.”

Valia changed what she had thought of him earlier. 

“But if you do this, the umbrella…”

“I will hold it, Madam.”

Paul appeared in very good timing. His skillful form of holding a large umbrella was unusual. No one knew when he brought it. It was an umbrella with a wide front brim. Coincidentally, the Imperial family and high-ranking nobles did not even lift umbrellas themselves, so Valia used to carry one when she worked in the Imperial Palace in the past.

Paul stood behind Schuden with the umbrella.

As Valia lost her words and wiggled, Schuden asked.

“If this pose is uncomfortable for you, shall I give you a piggyback ride?”

“No, it’s fine.”

Valia eventually chose to be embraced calmly. In fact, her husband was very strong as a trained knight. Valia’s tense body gradually loosened up with the stable pose.

“Valia.”

Schuden broke the not-so-short silence and called her name.

“I think I will have to cover the backyard with a roof.” 

“Pardon?”

“Because I can’t stop the sky.”

Valia thought Schuden was joking. She smiled brightly.

“You don’t have to do that. I didn’t know it would suddenly rain.”

“Why did you only take one maid with you?”

“It’s because I’m not used to having a lot of people behind me.”

Schuden also felt annoyed when there were people following him from behind. So he often went around without an escort. But that was possible because he knew no one in the world could harm him.

‘But not her.’

Schuden knew that it was a mercenary who raised her, but there were no reports of her learning swordsmanship. In addition, Valia was an ordinary noble lady who looked vulnerable at first glance. Of course, no one would dare to harm the Marchioness in the Marquess Garth’s residence, but there was nothing bad about being careful about everything. The backyard in particular was relatively vulnerable to security rather than the yard.

‘It’s so uselessly wide.’

The backyard of Garth’s manor was several times wider than that of other noble manors. It was even wider than the one in the residence of Duke Billiam, the only dukedom in the Empire.

‘That old crook was just greedy.’

The wide backyard was extended by the previous Marquess Garth. 

The forest in the back of the Garth residence was not actually a forest, it was in fact a backyard that Schuden’s grandfather had created. And the backyard that had occupied the wide area was built only for showing off. The tackiness was not far away. The ordinary disgust ran up his skin. When Schuden had first ascended as the Marquess, he wanted to burn everything in the backyard. He postponed it because he did not have the time to do so, but in no time at all, it had already turned into this day. But as Valia seemed to have a hobby of taking walks, he did not feel like burning it anymore.

“Valia, I will assign a knight for you so let him accompany you. In terms of safety, it will be better than having many maids following you.”

“Yes, sure.”

Valia nodded calmly. Her body temperature, which had cooled in the rain, quickly warmed up in Schuden’s embrace.

‘This is weird.’

He wondered why his heart sank when he saw Valia sitting under the tree, burying her chin. It was not even his first time seeing someone wet in the rain. It was a daily routine in the military and was even more so on the battlefield. Only the nobles and Imperial families made a fuss about getting rained on. It was not like they got hurt or died, yet they still made such a fuss. Schuden had a cynical tendency to ridicule the exaggeration of those precious bodies.

‘But she was rather calm.’

The silvery-gray eyes that just stared at him. That dawn-like face that made even the hearts of those seeing dropped and then smile as if nothing happened.

‘Because she never tells me.’

Unfitting of someone her age, Schuden did not hate Valia’s calmness and her tendency to hide her feelings. Rather, he even gave a passing score because she was a perfect fit as a Marchioness. But Valia was not just quiet, befitting her age, she knew to smile and often even blushed. There was a time when Schuden thought that much was enough for him, but now, he felt a little disappointed. Even he thought that he himself was inconsistent.

Schuden put his lips on Valia’s forehead. She seemed to have flinched a little, but she did not push him away.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

At that time, the manor’s door was completely open, and was looking forward to the return of the masters. It felt grand to call it a return but it was called so because of the situation. When the masters returned home, it was a principle for the employees to greet them. Earlier, they could not greet Schuden properly because they lost track of things. But it was different now.

They waited for the lord of the house, who went out with an umbrella, and the lady of the house, who could not carry an umbrella, before going out to return peacefully.

“They are coming back.”

Someone in front whispered quietly. The situation was so quiet that they could even hear the drop of a needle. It was thanks to this silence that the whisper could go into everyone’s ears well. They were ready to greet their masters. They could hear the sound of someone gently stepping on the rug laid in front of the door.

“Greetings to Lord Garth.”

“Greetings to Lady Garth.”

The employees’ greetings went off without a hitch. Then, they raised their heads a little bit. The angle was consistent because they practiced in harmony in advance. Unlike usual, they opened their eyes wide when they saw Schuden come in with Valia in his embrace. But they were employees of a high-ranking noble family, even though their cheekbones twitched, their expressions were endlessly polite.

“My lord, Madam, your bath is prepared.”

Usually, they would take a bath after dinner just before they fell asleep, but today was different. Valia was drenched and Schuden was also rained on. Even though she did not tremble, Valia had been in the rain for quite a long time so she wanted to soak in warm water. She was delighted by the news.

“Schu, shall we take a bath before dinner?”

“As you wish, my dear.”

Valia was secretly happy whenever Schuden said so. Whether it was because of the way he addressed her or whether it was for other reasons, it was only natural for a smile to spread around her lips.

“Then, let me down.”

This was the hall on the first floor. The Marchioness’ bathroom was on the second floor. 

Why did she smile like that while asking me to let her down? Don’t women usually smile, asking to be hugged?

Schuden slightly raised his eyebrows. 

“I don’t want to.”

“Pardon?”

“We have to go to the second floor anyway.”

“But there are stairs…”

“Valia.”

Schuden lifted her up and looked at her.

“Is your husband that weak in bed?”

“But that…”

“That?”

Valia shut her mouth tight.

Is he weak? Not at all.

In Valia’s opinion, Schuden was a man of great physical strength who could spend days and nights together in bed. And this imagination was close to reality. If Schuden had not given up his honeymoon leave, that would actually happen. Seeing her white cheeks flushing, Schuden walked to the stairs feeling satisfied.

‘Why is she so light?’

She did not look so skinny but he kept getting that feeling. Was it all in his mind? She must be made of bones, blood, and flesh, just like other humans. But she was too light. Her body was soft and her frame was delicate so it felt more like that. It would be understandable if she floated away somewhere.

A little force entered the arms that were holding Valia.

Of course, Valia did not know.

“Hmm, Schu, you can drop me off here.”

For her, the entrance to the bathroom was the last bastion. She looked as if she would stop him with all her might if he said he would take her inside even if it was just a joke. The maids, who were already guarding the bathroom door, were lowering their heads with red cheeks. 

If he embraced Valia for a little longer, their flushed faces would then be transferred to his wife. Schuden thought that even that would be fun.

But he dropped her off. Valia gently landed on the floor. She was worried if he would take her in just like that but it was a relief that he dropped her off. Valia spoke as if driving a wedge in.

“See you later, Schu.”

It meant, let us not see each other for now. Schuden, who fully understood what she meant, laughed.