Chapter 6: An Unexpected Feast
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 6: An Unexpected Feast
I thought everyone was too busy eating to pay attention, but they must have been listening to me under their breath. The atmosphere at the table turned icy in an instant.
“I’m joking. I didn’t mean I was spying on you or anything like that.”
I added the words hastily, glancing at Hedrick, who was chewing his meat with an expressionless face.
“I just figured you wouldn’t be staying in the capital for long. I knew you wouldn’t have time to recover from the journey, so I wanted you to stay somewhere decent for at least one night before you left.”
“Then, if we had stayed in the capital…”
“Well, I suppose I would have just done the innkeeper a favor.”
I shrugged, putting on my most harmless face.
“I heard that everyone who comes to the capital wants to stay at the Rouge Inn.”
“That is true. It is famous even in Blenheim,” Perel admitted.
“You came all the way to the capital because of me, so I simply wanted to offer a small token of my gratitude. I didn’t think you would enjoy being invited to the Marquis’s estate.”
The knights bristled again, like a group of angry cats.
My big mouth! My stupid, big mouth!
I looked directly at Perel but spoke clearly so everyone could hear.
“I didn’t mean anything else by it. Please, don’t misunderstand.”
“Ah, no. Thank you for your consideration, Your Highness,” Perel replied, finally falling silent. The other knights also seemed to relax slightly and returned to their food.
Being able to book this place was twenty percent luck and eighty percent money.
At first, my plan was simply to sell my jewelry to raise some cash. However, if I went to a jeweler myself, the Marquis might find out, so I needed an errand runner to do the work for me.
Through a squire I’d befriended while looking at horses in the stables, I was introduced to an information guild that handled small tasks for a fee.
– “You want to sell jewelry? If that’s the case, you should just go to a jeweler…”
The guild member, who had been indifferent when I first mentioned selling gems, changed his tune the moment I pulled out the accessories I had packed.
I must have looked like either a very profitable customer or a massive sucker. Because the next time I visited, the guild leader himself came out to greet me.
After confirming the sale price and taking their cut, I ended up with 200 Danir in hand.
– “The amount is smaller than I thought. Didn’t you sell them too cheaply?”
When I narrowed my eyes at him, the guild leader waved his hands dismissively.
– “The higher the sale price, the more money we make, too. I got you the best price possible.”
Well, considering that stingy Marquis wouldn’t have given precious jewelry to a child who wasn’t even his own, I suppose there was a limit to their value.
– “I have one more request…”
I told the guild leader what I wanted.
I needed to know when the proxy’s party was planning to return to Blenheim.
The guild leader initially shook his head, claiming such sensitive information was off-limits. But after a bit of haggling and a few extra Danir, he readily accepted the task.
– “The records of Gate users are sensitive, so they won’t tell me that. But if you slide someone a few coins, it’s easy to find out if there’s an application for a specific day. To get to the capital from Blenheim, one must travel from Eonveld to the Marhen Gate. There was only one round-trip application for that entire week. Both were for the morning.”
It was certain. The day of my wedding and the very next day.
Wait, they’re arriving the morning of the wedding and leaving immediately?
– “Is such a schedule even possible?”
– “If you consider staying in the capital for less than half a day… it’s not impossible.”
Only then did I realize that the proxy’s party had no intention of staying in the capital; they planned to head back the moment the ceremony was over.
In that case, I have to stick to them the moment the wedding ends.
In case the proxy tried to shake me off, I asked about the route to Blenheim and heard about an inn that was currently popular with travelers.
– “It’s an inn opened by a chef who retired from the Imperial Palace. Their roasted pork is exquisite.”
When I mentioned I’d never heard of the Rouge Inn, the guild leader raised an eyebrow.
– “It’s quite famous among the nobility, you know?”
His look was reproachful, as if wondering how someone could be raised so sheltered that they didn’t know how the world worked.
– “Anyway, if you want to stay at the Rouge, you’ll have to leave early in the morning. The rooms fill up so fast that everyone tries to arrive before sunset.”
– “You mean there might not be any rooms?”
– “If you arrive late, there’s a high probability it’ll be full. Many guests end up camping nearby because they can’t get a room.”
That was when a brilliant idea flashed through my mind.
The basic rule of hospitality is a reservation.
What if a delicious meal and a comfortable room were waiting for the proxy’s party as they left the capital with their exhausted bodies?
Wouldn’t that raise their opinion of me just a little bit?
With that thought, I looked at the guild leader with sparkling eyes.
– “Is it possible to secure a room in advance?”
– “Secure a room?”
– “I mean, can’t I reserve a room beforehand, like a hotel?”
The guild leader scratched his head at my question.
– “That probably won’t work. Why would they wait for a guest who might not show up when they have customers standing right in front of them?”
– “What if I pay for the room in advance?”
– “Hmm, that might work. I’ve never tried it, but few merchants turn down a down payment.”
– “Can you handle that for me?”
The guild leader looked satisfied, as if he’d caught another fish.
– “Of course. I’ll give you a special regular’s discount on the commission.”
And that was how I was able to treat them to an inn feast instead of a wedding banquet.
It cost a bit of money, but I’m glad I made the reservation.
Watching Leon ask the innkeeper for more food, I felt at ease enough to pick up a piece of the famous roasted pork.
The roasted pork, with its crispy skin and the perfect amount of fat, was truly exquisite.
*
That night, Loik received a baffling letter from Perel via a magic messenger bird.
[The Grand Duchess will be returning to Blenheim with us. It seems we need to prepare a room for Her Highness.]
Loik’s sharp jawline tightened.
Is this bastard out of his mind?
It seemed Perel had completely forgotten the orders his superior had given him.
As if anticipating Loik’s reaction, Perel had added a lengthy explanation, stating that the Grand Duchess had followed them alone without a single maid or guard, making it impossible to send her back.
Loik couldn’t understand the Marquis’s daughter at all.
Any ordinary noble lady would have felt humiliated just by having a husbandless wedding in a chapel. Yet she was following them all the way here, knowing full well that no one would welcome her?
Was she coming to demand an explanation?
But it was a grueling journey just to vent her anger out of pride.
“We should prepare to receive Her Highness,” Whitley, the white-haired butler standing before him, spoke up.
“Prepare to receive her? For what?”
Loik felt like turning her away at the castle gates would be too kind.
However, if he immediately sent back the Marquis’s daughter after she had traveled by carriage for a week, rumors would spread that he had mistreated his bride. He couldn't give the Marquis such a justification for criticism.
I suppose I have no choice.
Loik frowned and loosened his cravat.
“Just prepare a room. I’ll be sending her back within a few days anyway.”
“…Will that be alright?” Whitley asked hesitantly.
Sensing the intent behind the question, Loik let out a shallow sigh.
“Prepare it as far away from my room as possible. Make sure we never have to cross paths.”
“Understood.”
Watching Whitley nod silently and leave, Loik ran a hand roughly through his bangs.
– “If she’s the Marquis’s third daughter, isn’t she the notorious villainess of the capital!”
The voices of the knights who had been gossiping for days echoed in his head.
To be honest, he had no interest in rumors about the lady. He knew better than anyone that such talk couldn't be trusted, considering he was known in the capital as the "Monster Grand Duke who drinks the blood of beasts."
But no matter how he thought about it, she was certainly no ordinary woman.
Should I call that grit?
One couldn't survive in the North by being fragile and weak. In any case, it was better for her to have some spine.
Useless thoughts.
Loik furrowed his handsome brow. Whether the lady was sturdy or soft, what did it matter?
Somehow, he felt like he had been played by the Marquis again, and the blood rushed to his head. To send his daughter to such a harsh place without even a single maid.
If the Marquis had used his head to lower Loik’s guard, then the tactic had worked perfectly.
But his goodwill toward his wife on paper ended exactly here.
Loik reaffirmed that vow to himself.