MHHC Chapter 3

Unwelcome Attention

"You're being rude."

A sharp edge flashed momentarily in Adelheid's round eyes. She struggled to pull her wrist free from Oskar's grip. The more she fought, the tighter his grip became. He smirked and bent at the waist to meet her gaze directly.

"You shouldn't ask me about rudeness—you should ask the servants."

"......"

"Called the Grand Duchess, yet you walk around wrapped in these rags like some kind of mockery."

His eyes were full of pity, as if wondering what noblewoman in the world would receive such treatment.

"Adelheid. Are you truly satisfied with this?"

Oskar was right—her life was unlike that of other noblewomen. She neither had new clothes made each season nor hosted social gatherings, and rarely even ate warm meals.

Publicly, it was portrayed as self-imposed hardship, meaning she couldn't live comfortably alone while the Grand Duke was away at war. In reality, it was a semi-forced choice driven by social pressure and scrutiny.

"......"

Still, she couldn't readily admit it in front of Oskar. No matter how worthless she was trampled upon, this was her last shred of pride.

Adelheid barely managed to nod her head.

"Of course I'm satisfied since it was my choice. Butler Hermann is a fair man, and also......"

"Lies."

Oskar cut off Adelheid's words sharply. He deliberately lifted her wrist up painfully for all to see. Though her wrist felt like it might break in his grip, Adelheid barely managed to suppress her groan.

Any sign of fear or distress would become a weakness.

"Clothes that even maids wouldn't wear, completely worn-out shoes, outer garments unsuited for the season."

"......"

"Even though the noble Grand Duchess is suffering such rudeness, not a single knight appears to protect her."

"Let go of me. If you don't..."

He snorted with laughter as if he'd heard something utterly ridiculous.

"If I don't? Will you call your few remaining maids?"

"......"

"This spectacle—everyone will hear about it."

Moisture that had been barely held back finally welled up in her pale green eyes. A sense of powerlessness crushed her. Though Greta always denied it, her position was that of a prisoner with only a uselessly noble title.

Whether maid, guard, or mere knight—no one would stand against the master's blood relative for Adelheid's sake.

"Naive Adelheid. You'd do well to understand how men look at you."

How could she not know? The guards had been subtly leering at her blossoming body for months now. She'd been carrying a dull dagger, personally sharpened, for even longer than that.

If not for the hollow title of Grand Duchess of Ansgar, if not for the thin defensive barrier provided by the northerners' respect for Ansgar...

Oskar watched her with strange eyes as she understood his words. Her body stiffened under that blatant gaze.

"So don't wander around alone like this—at least bring Greta with you always."

He roughly rubbed Adelheid's pale lower lip with his thumb. Her breathing grew slightly ragged. What Oskar wanted from her had been the same from the beginning.

Fear and submission.

Adelheid pushed him with all her strength, but Oskar didn't budge. She couldn't understand what had gotten into him suddenly. Though he'd always been an unprincipled scoundrel, he was the type who would run at the mere shadow of his brother.

"Your Grace!"

At the urgent sound of approaching footsteps, Oskar's head snapped up. People were approaching from the far end of the corridor. He immediately released his grip on Adelheid and stepped back about five paces.

"Your Grace. Here you are. I've been looking for you for quite some time."

The elderly man at the head of the approaching group bowed toward them. It was Butler Hermann, accompanied by several guards.

The butler looked back and forth between the still-unsettled Adelheid and Oskar, and seemed to immediately grasp the situation. The old man's eyes narrowed slightly.

"And, Young Master. If you had sent word of your return, we would have properly sent someone to welcome you."

"Why bother with such trouble? It's my home—I can come and go as I please."

Oskar shrugged lazily. Hermann turned his head away as if he hadn't heard those words. Then he asked Adelheid with minimal courtesy.

"Your Grace, you look unwell. Are you alright?"

"Of course I'm fine... I'm fine. I was just a little startled. But what's the matter?"

"A messenger has just arrived from Northofen."

Northofen. That name wasn't unfamiliar. Adelheid searched her memory.

"Northofen... isn't that the battlefield where His Grace is stationed?"

"Yes. They pushed the front line to the Zanu River early last week. After exchanging Lenal and Barta, they agreed to a ceasefire. It's a victory."

During Hermann's report, Oskar had stepped back into the corridor's shadows. He wore a twisted smile as if he already knew everything. That triumphant expression was deeply ominous.

"And..."

Adelheid sensed that what came next would be the main point. Hermann hesitated briefly, unable to easily speak.

"His Grace died in battle in the final engagement."

For a moment, she couldn't understand Hermann's words. The Grand Duke—her legal husband.

"Died in battle."

Adelheid's light green eyes widened in shock as she barely grasped the meaning.

"That can't be. What do you..."

Denial sprang out instinctively.

"The courier from the battlefield has confirmed it repeatedly. Grand Duke Valentin Karizu Albrecht von Ansgar has died. This sword is both relic and proof."

A measured response came back immediately, as if barely tolerating someone whose understanding was frustratingly slow.

Adelheid received the Grand Duke's sword, dried thick with blood, from Hermann's hands. Her fingertips trembled.

"The coffin should arrive within three days. According to proper funeral procedures..."

Less than half of Hermann's steady stream of words penetrated her mind. Her head, frozen by shock, creaked like a rusty hinge. She suddenly felt a persistent gaze watching her from the darkness. It was Oskar.

Like someone licking their lips, like looking at soft food that would melt sweetly in one's mouth.

She could see his lips curve upward in obvious delight. His mouth twitched into that cursed expression.

[Smile, Adelheid.]

Sticky,

Breathing.

[Isn't this good news for us?]

The Grand Duke of Ansgar's coffin arrived exactly three days after the news was delivered. The messenger who brought news of the Grand Duke's death and the coffin had departed from the battlefield simultaneously.

Under a priest's supervision, Adelheid opened the coffin to confirm her husband's face.

"......"

It was a corpse that had been dead for well over ten days. Having come hastily from the battlefield, there would have been no time for salt preservation. Contrary to the horrible state she had prepared herself for, Valentin looked intact except for his skin turning deep blue. As if he might come alive and move at any moment.

Without taking her eyes off Valentin's face, Adelheid asked the priest beside her.

"Is this normal?"

"Pardon?"

"Is it normal for someone to look like this, as if they're just sleeping deeply......"

Adelheid trailed off. Essentially, she was asking why he looked so intact. The priest answered readily without reading deep meaning into her words.

"Actually, it is rather unusual for a corpse recovered from a battlefield. There are no wounds that would suggest fatal injuries, and while pulse and breath have ceased, there's been no decomposition at all... It's remarkable."

Still gazing into the coffin, Adelheid murmured.

"......It seems like His Grace might come back to life at any moment."

"Perhaps Lord Morig has watched over him with divine power. He is, after all, the master of Ansgar."

It was a mythological tale that the masters of Ansgar had been protected by Morig for generations. She nodded faintly.

"That might be it."

"If you've finished your confirmation, I'll close the coffin now. Your Grace should also return to your quarters as soon as possible. Starting tomorrow, your schedule will be quite demanding."

Adelheid watched the priest close the coffin with strange emotions. Though her husband's death was shocking, it didn't leave a great wound on her soul.

This was a world overflowing with noblewomen who had lost husbands to war. The moment she married the Grand Duke of Ansgar, who frequently went to battle as supreme commander, her life had essentially been no different from being shut away in a convent.

The next dawn, Adelheid boarded a carriage with the priests. It was customary to cover the coffin with black cloth and tour the territory when a lord died. At every crossroads the funeral procession passed, Ansgar people gathered and threw wreaths woven from fir trees to pay their respects.

Ansgar was a house that ruled two-thirds of the vast Bitzleben. Just touring the major cities with grand temples took three full days.

On the fifth night, after the long journey, the Grand Duke's coffin returned to the main castle and was moved to the central reception hall.

"...that's the rumor going around."

It was just as Adelheid was about to climb the stairs after confirming the stone coffin had been placed. She heard voices gathered in the upstairs corridor, whispering among themselves. She hesitated to avoid the area, then stopped when she caught the topic of their conversation.

"By that logic, wouldn't our Grand Duchess be Saint Degunda herself? What nonsense."

"Still, she's so composed at such a young age."

"She's holding up well, which is admirable. She's still so young, yet she's never once shown any sign of hardship."

"You're being ridiculous. Have you already forgotten the past? How much tremendous damage Ansgar suffered from that fraudulent marriage."

"Well... His Grace did sell the family's ancestral...... to get that healer."

The voices suddenly dropped so low that Adelheid missed some words. After a brief silence, another maid spoke up.

"So what will happen to our Grand Duchess now?"

"Probably, if there are no unusual circumstances, she'll take lifelong vows at a convent? Ultimately, it's for the Young Master to decide."

A woman's fate in Denburg always depended on the men in her family. From father to husband before marriage, to son when the husband died, or to direct male relatives if there were no children, or further down the line... For her, it was a terrible chain.

As Valentin's only sibling was Oskar. Adelheid barely swallowed her rising panic.

'First, I should write a letter to the parish priest expressing my intention to take lifelong vows. Just in case—I need to proceed as quickly as possible.'

Lost in thought, Adelheid pondered various plans. Then she suddenly looked up at the shadow cast before her.

"You were here?"