MHHC Chapter 9

The Trap

At that sudden exposure, Adelheid let out a short scream and covered her eyes with both hands. However, the vivid image was already burned into her mind.

His broad, well-built chest and narrow waist, arms with smoothly attached muscles. His wide shoulders gleamed orange in the firelight from the hearth. Light pooled softly around each tightly woven muscle and flowed down gently.

He looked as solid as freshly forged steel. Who would have thought that a man's naked body could appear so elegant?

As she gazed upon that dazzling sight, only her own wretchedness seemed to grow. Her hastily mended clothes, her shadowed eyes, pale complexion, and small stature unlike the women of the north...

'This half-grown thing is also a daughter and supposedly a woman? How well they graft things together.'

A memory from several years ago became a sharp weapon that stabbed into Adelheid's chest. She barely managed to exhale the breath she had been holding.

"There don't seem to be any more large wounds now."

Adelheid spoke while resolutely tearing her gaze away from his chest. Her voice trembled miserably, but he didn't seem to notice. To begin with, it was unclear whether he truly understood words at all.

Adelheid picked up the tray and rose from her seat. Valentin frantically grabbed the hem of her skirt. His sensitive eyes had somehow become soaked with anxiety.

"Ah... uh..."

If he could speak, he looked ready to demand where exactly she was going. Adelheid gently tried to soothe him.

"The water has gotten cold, so I'll just throw this out and come back."

"Ah-eun, an..."

"Do you dislike me leaving?"

Valentin looked at her with his lips pressed tightly shut. He didn't even make a gesture of nodding or shaking his head. However, the hand gripping her hem gradually tightened with more force. The seam pulled taut as if it might tear, and the veins on the back of his hand bulged. Adelheid suddenly remembered that same hand crumpling the pewter cup into shapeless mess.

"W-wait a moment."

Adelheid put down the tray in alarm.

"If you dislike it, I won't go, so p-please let this go. I really don't have many clothes..."

She added quietly that it would be troublesome if it tore. Her voice crept in weakly with shame. Valentin stared intently at her face, then obediently released the strength from his hand.

'Phew.'

Adelheid felt slightly relieved. If it had been the former Valentin, he would have raged that wretched things only make wretched sounds. Her husband had been quick to hate whatever she did.

There had even been times when a flag she had embroidered with Ansgar's seal, having stayed up all night for several nights, was returned torn.

"Adelheid."

Valentin, who had keenly noticed her mood sinking, softly called her name. Adelheid looked at her husband's face with some unfamiliarity.

It was still awkward that someone who couldn't properly say anything could pronounce only her name correctly. It made her feel strange and bitter.

It was as if she were truly something of that man's, unaware of her place. As if she had become an important existence in someone's life.

Adelheid smiled dimly.

"When you call me by that name, I'm sorry to say it feels a bit unfamiliar."

"......"

"Your memories still haven't returned, have they?"

Valentin looked at her without any reaction.

Adelheid hesitantly moved a little closer to him. She carefully smoothed his disheveled black hair. She remembered when she first saw Valentin at the wedding ceremony. When she stole glimpses of his splendid face through the thick veil and her heart raced.

The southern people pointed fingers at him, calling him a barbarian, yet regardless of gender, they all blushed as if enchanted by his splendid appearance.

If they looked past their deep-seated hatred of the Bitzleben region, they would see the prestigious lineage of the Emperor's blood. And eventually, they would bow their heads sincerely.

Even knowing that her father had dragged him into a tremendous fraud, Adelheid had initially been filled with hopeful expectations. Those presumptuous dreams were shattered to pieces the moment she entered the bridal chamber...

'From his position, his anger was only natural.'

She had heard that several years' worth of Ansgar Territory's budget was offered outright. Even that wasn't enough, so family heirlooms were sold to supplement it. Reichenau's healers always sold for the highest prices in the marriage market.

The Grand Duke of Ansgar's only mistake was not specifying the daughter's name in the contract with Count Reichenau.

'Indeed, who would have done such a thing? Even among the maids working in Reichenau, extremely few knew of my existence. From the beginning, Father used that to deliberately deceive His Grace.'

The more she considered how much Reichenau had gained from Adelheid's marriage, the more the Grand Duke of Ansgar's noble name became an object of mockery. From the perspective of the Ansgar people, she was truly a detestable 'southern wench.'

Until just yesterday...

'Everyone seems to guess that there's something between His Grace and me, but I know that's not the case. He probably just suddenly remembered my name. There's no need to think of any deeper meaning. Since he's lost all his memories, he must be clinging to the one thing he remembers.'

It felt as if someone was painfully stabbing her heart. She couldn't believe that her own thoughts had turned back as a blade. Adelheid bit her lips tightly.

"Actually, when Your Grace woke up, there was something I wanted to ask."

He had been languidly closing his eyes as if her touch felt pleasant, but slowly lifted his eyelids. Eyes that shimmered crimson in the firelight looked directly at Adelheid. They were straightforward eyes, holding no answer or reaction.

"I was curious why you thought of my name first. Not Sir Hermann or Lord Oskar... They were also in the room."

"......"

"But I know that when Your Grace's memories return enough for you to answer that, you won't want to be with me like this either. Even if it wasn't my intention, I'm the person who deceived Your Grace..."

"......"

"Right now, I'll do as Your Grace wishes. If Your Grace needs me, I'll continue to stay by your side."

Adelheid continued pretending to arrange his disheveled hair, caressing Valentin's forehead a little more. She pressed her lips tightly shut, then spoke as if spitting it out.

"In exchange, I'd like permission to enter the library in the western tower. I know only Ansgar's direct lineage can access it, but—"

Adelheid hurriedly added,

"I want to borrow books about herbology."

Healing arts were a discipline that only a few born with power could handle, but herbology was different. Even without innate power, anyone could learn it if they studied. The problem was that enormously thick specimen books were needed. And books were always very expensive, as they always were.

At Reichenau, she had learned a little by watching over people's shoulders, but here, that was a distant fantasy. She didn't even have permission to enter the general library. Her only option was to pick and dry herbs herself, tasting them one by one. Recently, even that was gradually reaching its limit.

"I do have two old books now, but they're just outdated ones."

Only Falkenhaim's 'Ivory Tower' professionally taught herbology. Though inferior to healers, herbologists from the Ivory Tower were precious.

The illustrated guides they compiled over their lifetimes were worth a few months' income of a decent territory. And several such books were said to be neglected in the western tower's library.

'If what Oskar told me is really true.'

Adelheid added without confidence. She fidgeted with their clasped hands a little.

"If I learn herbology, I can help the territory too. If I work hard... I'll repay the debt I owe to Ansgar. If I manage to operate a small clinic, then this marriage won't be a complete loss for Your Grace either..."

"......"

"It would be difficult to go to Falkenhaim right now, but I hope you'll permit me to leave someday. I'll work hard at anything so I can help Your Grace and Ansgar in the future..."

Valentin's breathtakingly beautiful face was instantly distorted. Adelheid looking elsewhere, didn't notice his expression and innocently added,

"It would be nice if you could understand all my words. The healer said Your Grace has forgotten language itself, but somehow I feel like Your Grace understands everything I say. So please, if you understand, nod your head. If not, like this. Side to side..."

"Ah, nia..."

"Your Grace. What did you just say?"

His reddened eyes were desperate. He grabbed Adelheid's skirt hem and waist, crumpling them tightly.

"N, no."

Adelheid was caught as she was and fell onto the bed. He climbed over her, casting a shadow. He seized her wrists and trapped her thighs between his knees, preventing her from escaping. Forehead touched forehead as they overlapped. His back curved like a thin tree branch.

"No, A... Adelheit..."

He desperately called her name again.

She couldn't understand why he was suddenly acting this way. She just stiffened awkwardly before the one-sided, flooding of affection. Then suddenly, the moment she met his anxious eyes, Adelheid realized.

"No, no, ah."

From the beginning, it was a plea. Please don't leave me.

Dawn.

She had dozed off for just a moment while holding and comforting the anxious Valentin. Adelheid woke with a start at the hand covering her mouth. The familiar voice that barely reached her struggling ears calmed her.

"Shh. It's me, My Lady."

Adelheid was barely relieved. The culprit who had intruded in the middle of the night was surprisingly Greta. Adelheid slowly blinked to shake off the remaining sleepiness. Once she had calmed down, Greta carefully removed her hand from Adelheid's mouth.

Greta hunched her shoulders nervously, warily watching Valentin sleeping beside her, and whispered,

"I came because I have something to tell you."

Valentin slept soundly, holding Adelheid's waist tightly. His breath was slow and steady, and he remained unmoving.

"Right now?"

Greta, who glanced anxiously at Valentin, gestured and signaled with her eyes to go outside. Normally she would have told her to talk in the morning, but Greta's face, barely visible in the moonlight, looked too pale.

Adelheid thought anxiously for a moment. She had repeatedly promised Valentin that she wouldn't go anywhere, but maybe standing right in front of the door would be acceptable.

"Just a moment."

Adelheid carefully removed Valentin's hand that was tightly gripping her waist. She found it strange that such a sensitive and wary person didn't wake up, but now wasn't the time to worry about such things.

As soon as she carefully slipped out of the bedroom, Greta grabbed Adelheid's hand tightly.

"I found a way to escape from here."