Chapter 3
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: Misunderstood Bride
-----------------------------------------------------------------
For a moment, I wondered if I hadn't mistaken her for a humanoid monster.
Who would expect the romance fantasy heroine to make sounds like that?
'Why is she acting like this?'
Still draped in the bear pelt I'd covered her with yesterday, she bared her teeth at me, trying to threaten me.
Of course, that didn't make her actually threatening.
Just like how a red panda dramatically raises its paws to intimidate, but no human feels threatened by it.
Especially considering the size difference between Cassius and her.
"......What are you doing here, Yelena?"
"Arrr... Don't come closer!"
For some reason, Yelena was extremely wary of me.
She had been guarded before, but not to this extent yesterday.
'What happened overnight?'
What suddenly came to mind was the servants harassing her.
After all, Yelena had come to the mansion practically sold off to Cassius.
In a way, she perfectly fit the profile for being bullied.
The original story didn't depict it directly, but romance fantasies are full of such scenes, almost clichéd across countless works, so my thoughts naturally veered that way.
"Did the servants bully you or something?"
"No! Lucia treated me well!"
Lucia was the name of the maid I'd instructed yesterday to keep her warm.
In the original story, Lucia was the one who helped her the most in the mansion, so I'd made the call based on that.
"Then why are you growling like a lone wolf pup that lost its mother and wandered off?"
Yelena fell silent.
A moment later, the story she let slip was beyond imagination.
"I'm never marrying you!"
Yelena shrieked and pulled the bear pelt tighter around herself.
Huh?
...
...
...
Here's what happened.
Broadly speaking, it was similar to the question Alf had asked me yesterday.
The servants had all learned that I'd entered Yelena's room and emerged much later.
The issue was that, since I'd started acting normally after possessing this body, they began thinking the mad duke had become sane.
Naturally, attention zeroed in on Yelena—the girl the duke had brought back, even forgiving another family's massive debts—and the servants reached one conclusion.
She's the duchess!
"So, the servants I met this morning suddenly treated me noticeably better, and when I asked Lucia why... that's the answer she gave..."
"......Yeah."
Still eyeing me like a wildcat, but no longer growling, Yelena nodded.
Having heard the full story, I barely stifled an absurd chuckle.
'Getting tangled with her leads to that fate—what marriage?'
I spoke to Yelena, still on her guard.
"Don't worry. That won't happen. I'll tell Alf and Lucia to clear up the misunderstanding."
"......Huh?"
"You're not here for marriage. No need to stay on guard. See you."
Trying to persuade her in detail right now would likely fall flat.
It'd probably just come off as tedious and pedantic.
So I decided to delegate the task to Alf and Lucia.
Especially Alf—if I cleared up a few misunderstandings with him, he'd handle the servants' discipline on his own.
With that settled, I turned toward my original destination.
"Wait!"
Yelena called out from behind.
I only glanced sideways at her.
"......Then what am I supposed to do in this mansion?"
Pouting, yet asking about her duties.
Come to think of it, the original story often portrayed her as incredibly responsible.
Basically, the type who couldn't live with debts hanging over her.
At that moment, what sprang to mind was Yelena's hidden ability.
As the romance fantasy heroine, she possessed a special talent that almost no one else had.
'......Wait, was that beastly noise a side effect of her ability?'
I subtly scanned around her.
Nothing stood out aside from the massive bear pelt.
'More precisely, it's invisible to me and the servants.'
I pondered her ability for a moment.
'I could solve the mage hiring issue with her help, but...'
It would slash costs and drastically cut the time dragged out by administrative procedures.
But it wasn't a great idea.
The 3rd Prince might later nitpick it as illegal labor or some such pretext.
Just feed her hearty meals and keep her warm until the ball in six months—that's all I'd do for her.
"Nothing."
"Eh?"
She asked back in a deflated voice.
I declared it to her once more.
"You don't have to do anything in the mansion. If the servants try to make you work, tell me. I'll punish them. Tell Lucia if you want anything."
"No, wait..."
"Then I'll be off—busy as I am. Even with that pelt, the mansion's cold, so don't catch a cold."
Or it'd give them excuses over illness.
Leaving Yelena standing there dumbfounded and dazed, I headed to my destination.
What the hell is that guy?!
Yelena—no, the girl named Yelena Astria—thought that.
The already cavernous black corridors of the mansion felt like a lifeless, lonely void now that even the duke, her sole conversational partner, had vanished.
Of course, Yelena had already noticed.
The fact that servants were stationed throughout the mansion to appear instantly if she was in danger or needed something.
[Kiing. Kiing.]
Thanks to the special friends visible only to her eyes since childhood, she'd realized it early on.
"...Ulpi. Did that guy really leave?"
[Kiaang!!]
The small sky-blue wolf that had approached her lonely room after she arrived here responded affirmatively.
Having left most of her friends from her homeland behind due to the north's harsh weather, Ulpi was now her most reliable comrade.
"......Nothing for me to do, puheng! Then why'd he bring me here?"
He'd demanded her in exchange for forgiving her family's enormous debt.
At first, suspecting ulterior motives, she'd resolved to protect herself however she could.
[Nothing.]
Yet he'd stated it so calmly and evenly, as if he truly wanted nothing.
"......No, snap out of it, Yelena."
She couldn't let her guard down just because he'd said that.
Men could turn beastly at any moment, according to a famous book from the empire.
"Maybe later he'll exploit me... or harvest my organs to sell..."
She doubted her organs matched her family's debt in value, but still.
Of course, separately from that, she quite liked this mansion.
Back when she was at her family home...
"......No, don't dwell on that anymore."
The future ahead must be seized entirely with her own strength!
Yelena vowed firmly, watching Ulpi furiously wagging its tail beside her.
I will definitely get out of here and live freely!
Right after my encounter with Yelena, the place I headed to was the Winterguard family's training grounds.
Ahead of tomorrow's subjugation mission, I needed training to quickly acclimate to this body.
"Family head!"
The training grounds were already bustling with guests—the knights of the Winterguard-affiliated Storm Knight Order who would join me on tomorrow's subjugation.
They too were pouring their efforts into training for tomorrow.
"Is there anything you need?"
But their gazes felt oddly peculiar, and when I wondered why...
'......This guy hasn't set foot in the training grounds once since the previous duke and duchess died.'
My first visit in years—naturally, the knights were flustered.
On the other hand, it was astonishing that he'd safely completed subjugations even a few weeks ago without training like this.
'All thanks to Winterguard blood.'
"No, I don't need anything. Everyone, carry on with your duties."
"Yes, sir!"
I waved off the sharply disciplined knights and headed to the array of wooden training weapons laid out on one side of the grounds.
One-handed swords, two-handers, axes, spears, and all sorts littered about.
Fortunately, it meant no struggling to find a suitable weapon.
'Cassius... mainly wielded the spear.'
To be precise, spear and one-handed sword, but the spear was his main.
The long spear handled with overwhelming power and a robust physique showed invincible prowess.
Especially its characteristic extended reach, dominating a wide area around him as he mowed down foes—those memories were vivid.
'Part of why Cassius was called the mad duke was that occasional frenzied charge, swinging his spear wildly.'
In that sense, this spear could be called his signature weapon.
I picked up a wooden spear about 2.5 meters long and swung it slowly.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
But no matter how familiar the body and memories, this was my first time actually doing it.
In the end, imitating the spear techniques from memory, I dragged the tip across the training ground.
Kwaaang!!
And in that instant, a deafening roar erupted from the spear tip, accompanied by the sound of something shattering.
The training ground's stone floor didn't just crack—it gouged out a chunk.
From a mere wooden spear.
The Storm Knight Order members training nearby stared over in shocked eyes.
"......Insane."
Only then did I truly feel the depth of Cassius's talent in my bones.
```