Chapter 19: Marx?

The maid was none other than Ella. Rodrick might not have recognized many of the servants’ faces, but he recognized her. Her parents were prisoners of war from Belmania, and after they passed, she was recruited to be a servant in the estate.

She wasn’t the only one, some of the servants in the estate were Belmanian living in Lustrand. This was part of the kingdom’s effort to promote diplomatic relations with Belmania as well as to ease the tension between the two countries. ‘So that’s how it is.’ Everything just clicked in Rodrick’s head. If there were Belmanian war orphans like Ella among those who stood in the sidelines in this incident, it just made sense. Generally, Belmanian servants weren’t allowed to directly report things to the chief butler. Although it wasn’t done in the open, second-generation Belmanians were discriminated against. He hadn’t received any reports about any such cases among the estate’s servants, but seeing this, he deemed that an investigation on the matter was necessary.

During the search, Ella was among the ones who were looking for Urien the most earnestly. Even just now, she was staring at his unconscious body with genuine concern. It was clear that she was among the decent servants. ‘Come to think of it, she handed Theobald a box, no? It should be in Urien’s room now. What’s inside?’

“Ngh…”

At that moment, Urien let out a soft groan.

Theobald gasped in surprise, focusing his gaze on his face, as if not wanting to miss any changes, but Urien’s eyes kept tightly shut.

It was already late at night. Urien’s condition was stable, so the military doctor went to stand by in the next room while the elderly doctor and the nurses went back to their rooms. Theobald seemed reluctant to leave, but he had things to do, so he eventually left with Ella.

Rodrick also returned to his study and had a talk with his vice-commander, Dieter Helder, for about ten minutes. After that, he changed his clothes and went to visit Urien again, but there was no change in his condition.

Outside, the rain was still raging. Rodrick thought of going back to his study, but eventually, he decided to take a chair, place it near Urien’s bed and sit down.

He briefly closed his eyes, but sensing a presence nearby, he opened his eyes again. Then, he just directed his gaze outside. The rain was still vigorously pounding against the window and the sound it made was like a monster hurling its body against the estate’s wall.

“Ugg…”

Suddenly, a groan came from the direction of the bed.

Rodrick got up and immediately approached Urien.

Urien’s face that was illuminated by the warm lamp light contorted in pain, as if he was having a nightmare. As Rodrick was staring down at him, he heard…

“Marx…”

Those words, uttered in a hoarse voice.

‘Marx?’

‘…Who?’

‘No one in Martritz has that name, so he isn’t his family. Is he a friend? …Or maybe a lover?’ Regardless, since Urien called his name in his sleep, Rodrick concluded that this Marx was someone that he trusted wholeheartedly.

‘I see, so he has someone like that.’ Rodrick felt a pang in his chest as he wondered if this Marx could help ease Urien’s nightmare.

“…Lord Rodrick?”

As he was lost in thought, his gaze naturally drifted back towards the window, but suddenly he heard his name being uttered in a clear voice and he immediately dropped his gaze at Urien.

‘It seems like Marx did his job.’ He thought as he noticed how the anguished expression had disappeared from Urien’s face. In its place, his calm eyes were fixed on him.

“How’s your fever?” Rodrick asked.

“Fever…? Ah, yes…my body does feel kind of hot…”

“How much do you understand about your current situation?”

“I…was saved…”

“Mm.”

“…But why are you here, Lord Rodrick?”

Rodrick couldn’t answer that. After all, even he himself didn’t know the answer. Even using his status as his husband would just sound like empty words. After all, their marriage was just a contract marriage. If he had to give out an answer, then it’d be that he just wanted to see if Marx could help Urien in his nightmare or not.

So, he didn’t reply and just grabbed the back of the chair and moved over to the side of the bed. Even though Urien just woke up, there wasn’t any sign of confusion in his gaze. He just stared at Rodrick calmly.

Rodrick then picked up the water pitcher that was on the bedside table and poured its content into a glass. When he handed it to Urien, the latter hesitated for a moment before eventually taking it from his hand.

Perhaps because he was thirsty, he emptied the glass in one go.

“Sorry for the inconvenience.”

Urien muttered.

His long eyelashes were downcast, casting shadows over the bridge of his nose. Though his small lips let out restless breaths, his expression was strangely calm.

“…I will punish the one who forced you to live in that shed.”

Rodrick said, ignoring the apology. But then Urien looked up at him.

“…Um.”

“I have a lot of things that I want to ask, but I’ll save it after you’ve recovered.”

“Yes.”

“But, tell me one thing. Last night when I asked, why did you tell me that there’s nothing out of the ordinary?”

——’Has anything out of the ordinary happened?’

——’Out of ordinary, huh? Nothing that I know of.’

No matter how one tried to look at it, what had happened was clearly something out of the ordinary. After all, the duke’s consort was kicked out of his own estate.

At that, Urien fell silent for a moment. Rodrick belatedly realized that it probably seemed like he was pressuring him. His tone of speech oftentimes sounded like he was threatening others even though it wasn’t his intention at all. But, even though Urien clearly looked taken aback, he didn’t seem to mind it that much and just answered in a calm tone after a while.

“Our contract is to not involve ourselves in each others’ lives…”

At that, Rodrick swallowed.

‘Ah, I see.’

Now, it was his own heart that felt the pressure.

His chest felt like it was going to fall apart due to guilt. He let out a sigh before brushing his hair back. Urien stared blankly down at the lamp, not knowing what to say. But then Rodrick’s voice echoed again, “We need to review the terms of the contract.”

“Is that so?”

“For now, just focus on recovering.”

“Mm.”

Just like when he first agreed to the contract’s terms, Urien accepted his words quietly. Then, thinking that he’d be in the way if he were to stay here any longer, Rodrick stood up.

“If you need anything, just ring the bell here. A doctor’s staying in the room next to this one.”

“Thank you very much.”

“Good night.”

Urien’s eyes went wide as he stared at Rodrick. “You too, Lord Rodrick,” he whispered.

“Good night.”

Rodrick averted his gaze from his stare, nodded, and quietly left the room.

As he was walking down the hallway to his study, he suddenly thought, ‘I’ll move his room to the east wing.’

It’d be easier to protect him if something were to happen if his room was in the east wing as it was close to the knights’ quarters. Not only that, instead of hiring new maids, he decided to just assign the maids that served him to serve Urien too. After all, the servants that served him directly were all earnest about their work, and they were competent enough to not be swayed by baseless rumors. Many of them hailed from families of knights too, so they could be of help if Urien were ever in danger again.

‘The bad thing here is that they are all quiet. Maybe I should assign that maid, Ella, was it? To him as well so he won’t feel too lonely. As for the rest… Theobald can decide for me.’

‘Next, I’d need to investigate those criminals’ identities again. Even if Camilla’s identity has been cleared, that doesn’t mean the other maids have.’

‘I’d also need to correct those ungraceful rumors circulating around the estate. Tomorrow, after the meeting is over, I will gather all the servants and straighten their attitude.’

After he returned to his room, Rodrick unbuckled his belt and picked up an old coat sitting on the edge of his bed. He drank some water, took a deep breath and let out a deep exhale. After repeating this several times, he headed to the shower to rinse his body off the dirt that had been sticking into it during the search for Urien.

When it was all done, he returned to his study, receiving a cup of herbal tea from the butler who had been waiting for him, who immediately updated him on the status of the west wing’s servants who were being detained. Then, he checked on the flares and other resources that were used during the search, as well as checking up on the injured. When he was in the middle of that, a knight that he dispatched reported back to him about the amount of damage his territory suffered due to the storm. At that, he told the knight to send more knights to the affected areas. Eventually, morning came and the storm subsided as if it was just a cruel joke by the gods.

*   *   *

Rodrick once got stung by a bee in the western forest. The military doctor of that time told him, “Take this medicine the next time you get stung and drink plenty of water,” but ever since then he steered clear of the forest no matter what happened.

But for some reason, even after he told him the dangers, Urien still frequented the forest. Curious about what the other man was doing, he went to check on him, only to find him sitting on the grass, eating them.

“…What are you doing?”

“Ah, Lord Rodrick.”

Urien turned around, slowly standing up, but he didn’t stop munching. He tilted his head and in a calm voice, he asked, “Are you out for a walk?” In which Rodrick replied with a raised voice.

“Why are you eating grass?!”

“Well… Because it’s grass?”

“Didn’t they serve you breakfast?!”

“…”

“Answer me!”

“I’m sorry, I was swallowing.”

After saying that, Urien let out a subtle smile.