Chapter 35: Chapter 35
However, Rubica was different.
‘Oh my, such a beautiful fairy!’
She was instantly fascinated by the beauty hidden within the girl. She had not budded yet, but she had an enormous beauty inside.
When provided with the right food and skincare, she was going to be more than praised. She would become the flower of the society.
Rubica was eager to run to her, do her hair, and make her put on a pretty dress that matched her. However, she was the bride of this wedding feast and she was the duchess now.
That fawn-like fairy would freak out if she approached her like that.
‘I must be careful.’
The girl appeared to be timid. Rubica couldn’t just go to her and be kind to her. It would only make her run away. Rubica tried to call Ann to find out who she was first, but Ann had left to bring Carl.
‘Hmm, thinking about it, asking Ann wouldn’t be a good idea.’
Judging from the housekeeper’s character, she wasn’t the right person to lure in the fairy. If Rubica asked her about the fairy, she would lunge in without caring about the cute fairy’s feelings and capture her with her mighty weapon: gossip.
Then that timid fairy would tightly close the door of her heart.
‘What should I do?’
Then, Rubica gazed at Edgar who was right next to her. There was no one who knew his own relatives better than him. He didn’t know Rubica was looking at him and was gracefully cutting a well-roasted wing of a swan.
How could a hand slicing meat with a knife appear that seductive?
The elegant gesture of bringing the piece of meat to the mouth and the lips opening temptingly as if they were eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge. It was like he had been created to seduce people. Who would be able to resist if he tried to tempt them? Wouldn’t even fairies be tempted by him?
‘Should I ask him?’
However, considering how he had handled the process that led from the proposal to the wedding, he would probably have Carl bring the fairy to her as soon as she asked.
Well, that much would be okay. It would not be the best way, but it would get things done quickly. However, recalling the things he had said to her, she immediately got the goosebumps on her arms.
Oh no! She could imagine her cute fairy being offended by Edgar’s words and running away from the mansion while shedding tears.
‘No, he won’t do.’
Rubica took her eyes off Edgar and looked down at her dish. Then, she took a piece of white bread.
“Butter? Or jam?”
That’s weird. He wasn’t looking at me, so how did he know I was looking for something to eat with my bread?
“Honey, I see.”
He pushed a little dish of honey to her side. She instinctively dipped her piece of bread in the honey. Edgar smiled at seeing that and soon looked toward a relative who congratulated him.
‘I hate him.’
He could have just passed her the dish without scolding her. She silently complained as she munched the bread that was now sweet enough.
That was what was wrong with Edgar.
He was elegant, but he always scolded others. He would be like poison to her small and delicate fairy. She was never going to let him get near her.
‘… the people in the mansion will come to meet me starting from tomorrow, so I will get a chance to see her again.’
Normally, when the new mistress came to a noble family, the relatives who lived nearby came to introduce themselves. They would use the chance to use all kinds of schemes to turn the lady’s keys in the direction they wanted.
Rubica’s little fairy didn’t appear to be one of them, but judging from where she was sitting, she wasn’t a relative who lived nearby. She was one of the lodgers who lived in the mansion’s outbuildings.
The lodgers would come to meet the new duchess to win her favor and continue to live comfortably as members of the family.
‘Naturally, don’t get impatient. Slowly.’
The timid fairy could fly away if Rubica was even slightly eager about her. So, Rubica decided to wait for the fairy to come to her first.
***
When the feast was about to come to an end, Rubica was taken to the duchess’s chamber. She had slept there last night, so she didn’t find the room that unfamiliar.
However, unlike yesterday, one of the walls had vanished. On the other side of the missing wall, there was a fireplace, a sofa, a desk and bookshelves.
Rubica hoped her bad feelings were wrong as she asked Ann, “That side is?”
“That is His Grace’s room.”
Oh no, she had been right. She could barely stop her hand from sweating hard.
“But if my memory is correct, there was a wall between the two rooms.”
“Oh, right. I forgot to explain.”
Ann went to the side of the wall and pointed at the cupid curved on it.
“The wall will close when you press the left eye. Pressing the right eye will make the wall disappear.”
It was good. Rubica decided to tell Edgar to press the cupid’s left eye, bring back the wall, and sleep in their separate rooms as soon as he came in.
“Thank you for letting me know, Ann.”
“… um, madam.”
Ann couldn’t hold it anymore. She said what she had to say.
“Why do you talk like that to His Grace? I am sorry for saying this, but it might make the relatives look down on him. <Guide for Ladies> says you should speak respectfully to your husband to show your respect. It is for his honor.”
Rubica had seen that question coming. She had known both Edgar and the others would question her for that.
“Ann, if there’s such a thing as honor that can only exist if the husband talks down to the wife and the wife talks respectfully to the husband, it would only be fragile. It is written in the holy book of Hue that husband and wife are equals. It does not say the wife should speak politely to the husband and the husband should speak impolitely to the wife. Hue’s priest also said husband and wife have the right to call each other as they want.”
It was something Rubica had learned during her time at the abbey. Mentioning the gods made most people shut their mouths. Moreover, the Kingdom of Seritos had an especially deep faith, probably because of its bad natural environment.
And she was right, Ann seemed she had a lot to say, but when Rubica talked about god, she nodded.
“When did you have such a deep conversation?”
Ann was even deeply impressed as she thought the both of them had agreed on that. She knew Edgar. He would never let Rubica talk like that to him without reaching an agreement together.
It was as if the sun was coming up from the west. Edgar gladly letting Rubica talk to him like that? He was deeply in love with her. It was an undeniable truth.
“Yes, husband and wife should be close more than anything…”
Just when Ann was about to say more, they heard Jennie’s voice.
“The bath is ready.”
“Oh, yes. Madam, you should prepare to take a bath.”
The maids hurried to help her take the clothes off.
When the ribbon that had been tying her red hair was finally gone, she felt so happy. She went into the tub filled with warm water right away.
“Madam, is the water at the right temperature?”
“It is perfect.”
“Oh, you must be very tired. We’ve added grinded grapefruit peel to the water. It will make you feel fresh. We also added a little bit of lotus flower incense that can only be made at Ansen Abbey and fig tree oil.”
“Uh-huh.”
Rubica was drunk on the pleasant scent and almost fell asleep. Jennie thought explaining more would be no good, so she started to quietly massage Rubica’s shoulders.
Her shoulders had been suffering all day under the weight of the heavy accessories.
‘Oh, I almost dozed off.’
None of the things added to the water would make someone sleepy, but Jennie almost dozed off while massaging Rubica.
‘Well, there has been many things today, from the wedding to the feast. Both she and I have good reasons to be tired.’
Jennie massaged Rubica’s head, thought for a second, and lightly dipped a bit of musk to the water. Musk was an excitant, but when used too much, it gave its own damp smell. It had to be used in the smallest quantity to bring the right mood without letting the two know what it was about.
“Well, all done.”
Jennie and the other maids brought huge towels to dry Rubica. Next, Ann gave to Jennie Rubica’s nightdress, but Jennie was confused when seeing it.
“Mrs. Taylor, this is…”
It wasn’t a small or thin dress right for the honeymoon. Instead, it was an ordinary linen dress.
“It’s still March, the night is cold.”
“But…”
Ann had concluded that wearing a dress that would expose too much of Rubica’s body wouldn’t be good for her health as she was pregnant. However, she couldn’t say that to Jennie. She had no choice but to put on the most serious and strict expression she could make.
“Just help her wear it.”
“Yes, Mrs. Taylor.”
Rubica gladly welcomed the linen nightdress. She was worried that she might be given a see-through dress for her honeymoon. Therefore, she happily wore the soft linen dress that made her feel good.