Chapter 5

Lily’s mind went blank.

Am I really sending him away like this? Then, if he also dies… 

If that happened, Lily would be convinced that she really was a cursed woman.

Unsettled, she approached the tall knight who came to pick her up onto the horse.

“I-I’m not refuting the orders given to you. But can the mercenaries come along to the duke’s estate?”

“My lord has given his orders.” The knight’s voice was dry, neither high or low-pitched. She held her breath, realizing that his voice was scarier than any shouting.

The nanny, who was keeping an eye on them, wiped her lips and walked up to Lily.

“Milady… No, Madam. Don’t bother helping them anymore. Let’s go to the castle. You must’ve been scared, so you should sleep with me today.”

“The madam is the only one who will be heading back to the castle.”

Lily’s nanny eyes widened almost to the point of popping out. The same went for the mercenary.

“But I’m her nanny! I can’t send her to a strange land alone!”

“How dare a nanny disobey the orders of my lord.”

Every time the wind blew, the dark forest swayed with an eerie sound.  Her terrified nanny looked around and grabbed Lily.

“Milady. Please don’t tell me you’re going to leave me in this awful place? There are many mercenaries, but nighttime is when monsters are active. You’re taking me right?”

Lily licked her dry lips as her green eyes, which had been staring at her begging nanny, grew colder. “…You have to follow what you’ve been told.”

Her nanny’s face stiffened.

Lily’s eyes, which had grown accustomed to the darkness, saw the castle on the top of the mountain in the distance. The towering structure shimmered so that it could be seen even from afar.

After the unprecedented victory, the duke requested only one reward from the Royal Family.

Arcadia, namely known as the cursed land.

It was the place where Lily was supposed to live until the day she died.

***

The sound of the horn trumpeting announced the arrival of the lady of the land, echoing in the night sky of the highland city of Cadis.

To get to the duke’s castle, one had to climb a long way up Mount Pythis after getting across Cadis.

Now, Lily was completely alone.

The only person she knew in the wide area was the duke. Vladislav de Winter.  He was the most important person in her life from that point onwards.

Upon arriving at the duke’s castle, the knight got off the horse first before assisting Lily.

The chief of staff, who held a lamp in his hands, blinked. “Seems like you have arrived. But where’s our lord? Who is this?”

“She’s the Mistress of Arcadia, Sir.”

His eyes widened.  On the other hand, Lily groaned in shock when she saw the chief.

She had heard stories of people born with cleft lips. The skin from under his left nostril to the lips was split vertically.

Society despised people born with disabilities, saying they were hated by God. And yet someone forsaken by the world was the chief of staff in a high-ranking aristocratic family.

It was amazing.

While she still couldn’t hide her surprise, Lily had already adjusted her gaze.

The chief bowed politely to Lily. “Please forgive me. Madam. I misunderstood your arrival date and my hospitality was poor. I will guide you to your bedroom first so you may rest.”

***

The spacious bedroom was simply decorated and had no furniture in it, so it felt rather cold.  The translucent bed curtains didn’t go well with the room and its sparse decorations.

She finished taking a bath, and yet the duke was still not around.  Lily, dressed in a negligee, slowly stepped out to the balcony. Her body stiffened due to the cold night air, but she couldn’t leave her position.

Lily feared her husband’s death more than his cruelty.

Horns sounded from a distance.

She went up on her tiptoes, but it was too dark to see anything. Thankfully, an old maid politely informed her that the duke was about to arrive.

“Is the duke alright? Did he get injured?”

Her heart hammered in her chest. It felt like a thousand years passed before the maid answered.

“The horn is blown twice when the Lord is injured. Only once when he is alright.”

Lily sighed a breath of relief.

“I’ll now guide you on what to do when you greet our Lord.”

Lily stiffened in tension when the maid said “what to do”.

Finally, it was time to meet her husband, who was the main subject of many rumors. She still didn’t know anything factual about her husband.

Today was actually their first official night. Like the night at the chapel, she could not foresee what he would do to her. She gulped, trying to quell the throbbing sensation in her stomach.

The maid carefully took out something from her arms and passed it to Lily, who hesitated to accept it.

“It’s a black cloth. This..”

It was a luxurious fabric finished with delicate lace on both sides of the thick fabric. The soft texture revealed how valuable it was, though there wasn’t anything visibly special about the cloth.

The maid looked indifferently at Lily. “Use it to cover your eyes. And no matter what happens, never take it off.”

Lily’s breath caught.

The other night when the duke didn’t show his face, she had thought it was simply an accident. It obviously wasn’t.

“You must never look at our lord’s face unless everything is over.”

His red eyes flashing in the darkness came to mind.

Lily clenched the hand holding the black fabric. She wet her lips, worried, and finally looked back at her maid.

“If you see his face… what happens?”

Lily saw her falter, but the maid managed to answer her, albeit quite woodenly.

“No one has ever disobeyed the Lord.”

Lily immediately cleared her mind of all her nonsensical questions. She had been sold and she had no choice. It was useless to ask so much about the duke

She sank on the bed helplessly.

“You have to stand up and wait.”

“…Blindfolded?”

The maid nodded, gazing straight into Lily’s green eyes.

Lily cautiously headed towards the center of the room.  She felt the cool night air and she covered her eyes.

It was only after the maid ensured that Lily had properly covered her eyes did she leave the room.

Complete silence and darkness enveloped her.