The Selfish Savior - Pride and Cunning
It would be better to focus on something far more important than this, wouldn't it? After all, the affairs of the world are such that the hardship of one person becomes the opportunity of another. An opportunity that only those who have honed themselves over time can grasp in their hands.
The unknown young woman had entrusted her body to the southern beast, though she hadn't actually been touched, she felt herself enveloped by his influence just as she saw it. With those words, she disappeared.
Gautier Serpine, the second son of Count Serpine, only realized afterward in the darkness that those words had been directed at him rather than the southern brute.
Why?
I understand that he said it while avoiding the maid's eyes, but why would he say such a thing? As if someone were suffering or something.
Gautier returned to his room and tried to catch a brief nap, but sleep would not come. All he could think of was that girl, Arian Danier.
When his brother was threatening her, he didn't know what to do. He knew he had to save her, but he didn't know how.
His body and mind had turned to stone. At that moment, he was nothing but a useless lump of rock.
Arian Danier could not defeat her brother's violence. She was beautiful, but she was frail.
But she did not need to defeat Amori's violence. She was someone who knew the secret of how to render violence useless.
In just a few words from her, Amori instantly fell to the same level as that useless lump of rock.
And when Amori became that useless lump, Gautier became human. He could now feel blood, flesh, and language.
For a moment, shame filled him. His pride was wounded by the fact that he had been saved by such a small girl.
“I don't need this kind of help……!”
“Whether you need help or not is your own business, and seeing this, I couldn't just pass by and worry about it. If you don't want help, from now on get hit somewhere you won't be seen by my eyes.”
She was bold. Even in the darkness, her eyes shone. Truly, an odd girl she was.
Arian Danier, twelve years old.
The only daughter of Count Danier. The king himself had opened her first birthday party, so she was intimately connected to the royal family.
Because of that? She hadn't even twitched an eyebrow when Amori insulted her father, calling him the king's dog.
How could someone become like that?
She was smaller, younger, and weaker than himself, yet she was courageous and strong.
How was it even possible to acquire such a thing? Was it a talent or dignity that only true nobles could be born with? If so.
“I will remain like this forever.”
He wasn't a true noble.
The moment the doors of the Sacred Temple opened, an unfamiliar fragrance wafted out, as if it would perfume the entire world. Gautier stood beside his mother, staring at the Sacred Temple with wide eyes.
The god's flower, Chador. A flower that resembled a star bloomed profusely on the pillars of the Sacred Temple, along the path to the altar, on the altar, and everywhere. Together with the Chador, other flowers created the illusion that the god himself had descended into the temple.
Amori walked in the lead, wearing black and silver ceremonial robes, his presence heavy as a tower.
Following behind him, Gautier maintained an expressionless face. By standing directly behind him, he was making his presence known to everyone.
He was specifying that he would be Amori's subordinate for life, protecting him from right behind, and following him.
Behind him, the countess walked, and a little further back, the count walked slowly.
While Amori was showing off his presence to the fullest, the count walked with the relaxed air of a well-fed lion, savoring everyone's admiration.
The hem of his black mantle brushed against the Chador. He inhaled the sacred fragrance of the Chador deep into his lungs and gazed ahead.
Inside the Sacred Temple, where Chador was in full bloom. Especially the son was walking along the path paved with Chador. The son who had walked the path created by the god's flower would be recognized as the heir today, and the one who had mobilized all these Chador would remain in history forever.
It was extremely satisfying. When he saw the royal chamberlain waiting in advance, he smiled overtly. Imagining the king's furious reaction to the news carried by that chamberlain sent a thrill all the way to his fingertips.
When all the members of the Serpine family lined up in their designated positions, the duchess of Aud descended from her carriage.
Soon, Izabo Aud appeared before everyone, wearing a beautiful dress.
The people cheered. The woman who was born the only child of the Aud Duke and inherited her vast lands and enormous wealth wore a dress but revealed neither face nor hair.
They said the violet dress that symbolized rule was silk spun directly from the vineyard of the temple dedicated to the first saint. Small constellations and her own crest were embroidered in cobalt blue on the sleeves.
Her long hair was intricately and loosely braided, and legendary and protective jewels adorned her body.
She didn't use anything white to signify purity at all. She wore clothes that clearly showed she was the mistress of Aud, and she wore a signet ring.
In her hand was a delicate handkerchief tied with a silver ring. The two sage leaves embroidered on the end of the handkerchief fluttered in the wind as if alive.
They said she resembled her mother, who was said to be a peerless beauty, and Izabo was dazzlingly beautiful. The people were spellbound by the sight of a beauty they had never seen before.
As Izabo moved, the priests followed behind her, and knights guarded both sides as she walked.
“An ignorant wench, but her appearance is passable.”
Amori's muttered words reached Gautier's ears, and he inwardly snorted.
Amori seemed to think that Izabo Aud was a woman who could treat him like a lover. If he said come, she would come; if he said go, she would go; and if he said she should wait for him for life, she would wait.
His lover might be such a woman, but Izabo Aud was never that. Gautier could easily predict Amori's married life. It would be similar to his parents' marriage.
No, worse than that. His mother was a duchess's daughter, not a duke.
Izabo Aud walked toward the Sacred Temple very slowly. She was not a bride coming to wed; she was a goddess who had descended to the world.
With eyes that seemed to look down, she surveyed the people of the Serpine territory cheering in front of the Sacred Temple, one by one.
Then, as if remembering something just before entering the temple, she turned around once. It was a rare sight for the bride to look back.
Why turn around?
The moment Gautier felt a sense of puzzlement, a woman screamed among the crowd and suddenly dashed forward. Because there were so many people, falling was common.
Gautier wondered why Izabo was still not moving and was looking at the fallen woman.
But since so many people were lined up, he couldn't even see the face of the fallen woman.
“H-Highness, please have mercy……!”
It sounded like a voice he'd heard somewhere. At that moment, Amori's body flinched.
“That crazy……!”
Amori gritted his teeth and muttered. Only then did Gautier realize who the woman lying before the Aud Duke was.
She was Amori's lover.
Someone had pushed her to the ground. With a cry of pain, she collapsed, and soldiers approached. They would surely grab her and send her behind the crowd.
It had been over a month since Amori had lost contact with her.
He had said he loved her. When she became pregnant with his child, he had soothed her by saying he would protect the child and what was there to worry about.
But now, a month had passed without any contact. And the noble woman before his eyes was so incredibly beautiful.
His lover had never seen such a beautiful woman. Rather than jealousy, worry rose higher than defeat, and rather than hatred, concern rose higher than revenge.
According to the world's people, was he really just a plaything? If so, what would become of him? And what about this child?
But strangely, the Aud Duke was not entering the temple; he was looking down at her. As if he were waiting for her to say something.
While falling, she tightly gripped the ends of the lace wrapped around her head. She had wrapped her head in expensive lace and exposed only her face, as the foreign priest had instructed.
“This is the property of a noble lady.”
The priest had certainly said that.
“Wrap your head with that lace and attend the wedding. The noble lady will look back at you.”
The property of a noble lady. And she said the noble lady would look back at him. It seemed the noble lady was the Aud Duke herself. That meant the duke had known his existence from the very beginning.
It was obvious that a single moment of thought would reveal this to be an absurd scheme. Having Amori's lover appear at this place was a disaster for the Serpine family, let alone for the Aud family.
But the lover was not a person who could understand this political issue.
If she had truly understood the gravity of the situation, she would have fled far away the moment she became pregnant with Amori's child. That would have been the only way to save her life.
The lover had simply been overwhelmed by Izabo's dazzling beauty and the sacredly felt power.
A woman could be like that.
He had thought that the greatest miracle that could occur was only that his son would somehow survive and become the heir of the Serpine family, but upon seeing the duchess, the maximum miracle he had imagined felt far too insignificant.
So he thought that such a trivial miracle could be granted by that noble lady.
It felt like giving away one silver coin; it was nothing at all. She had everything anyway.
Perhaps pushing her to fall before the duke's eyes right now was destiny's arrangement to obtain the miracle. The lover opened her mouth as if in a trance.
“H-Highness, please have mercy……!”
Finally.
Izabo gave a faint smile.
The woman Arian Danier had told her about beforehand was definitely eye-catching. In such a chaotic place, a woman with lace wrapped around her head was rare.
Moreover, she had somehow managed to secure the front row of the crowd.
Then, pushed by someone, she had rolled on the ground. As befitting a pregnant person, she was holding her belly with one hand.
But with the other hand, she was tightly gripping both ends of the lace around her head. Greed could be read from that hand.
Izabo took a step and stood in front of the woman's feet. The Aud's retainers and knights followed their lord with puzzled expressions.
No one dared to urge Izabo to enter the Sacred Temple.