Bala: The Duke's Contract Wife

The Monster from the North

"Please think again, Your Majesty!" exclaimed a middle-aged man. "The girl is the daughter of Marquis of Fullmeir. She's got a lot of rumors and... and..."

Victor gave him a stare as if challenging the man to continue his sentence.

Johan grabbed the paper on Victor's desk and lifted it in the air close to Victor's face. "Your Majesty, you have seen for yourself the report Damien made."

Johan's eyes were lit up with fire. "She's embroiled in scandal after scandal. That woman is a grenade, Duke! The Kingdom of Elysseria deliberately sent her as a form of mockery for the Montserra Empire. And the Emperor who stayed silent with this shows how little he thinks of you."

Victor raised both of his eyebrows. He still leaned on his work chair. His attitude was relaxed despite Johan's words.

"Your Majesty!" Johan exclaimed, "The Maraina public image will keep on going down if you let the Emperor and King of Elysseria play with you like this!" Johan's tone was elevated. His face was full of despair. "I know you don't like politics and social circle. But you are the leader of the Maraina people. If you're easily trampled like this, your people will pay the consequences later. Not to mention, Marquis Ferinde's faction can use this situation to further tarnish your good name."

The leader of Maraina put on a lazy face. He played a pen made of gold between his fingers. An insignia was engraved on the lid of the pen, three swords that make up the letter M and decorated by rose vines.

Rose... Why did I forget that there are roses in the Maraina's insignia?

His skillfully turned the pen around between his fingers.

"Johan," Victor said finally, "she requested me to not hit, grab, and injure her."

Johan looked at Victor in disbelief. "What does that have to do with–"

"Why would a woman from a respectable family like the Fullmeir damily say that, Johan?

The Maraina's Vice General ruffled his hair, showing frustration.

"Her words indicate a possible domestic abuse. But if she was the strategist behind Marquis Fullmeir's success, she could very well be acting, right? Will Your Majesty believe her?"

Victor couldn't answer that.

"What are you really planning, Your Majesty?" Johan asked in surrender.

Victor stopped playing with the pen. His eyes sparkled, one corner of his mouth curved up. Johan knew that look very well. It was the gaze Victor gave every time they found the enemy's spy during a battle. Victor would interrogate the spy himself like a beast toying with its prey. In the end, all secrets were revealed.

Johan knew full well that the nickname 'Monster of Maraina' contained a truth, although not completely. Seeing that look on his master, Johan who had been trying to get Victor to reject Rose was suddenly finding himself concerned about Rose.

Nevertheless, Johan also knew that Victor's skill was limited to war fields. In the social circle ... Johan did not know, whether he should pray for the salvation of Rose or... the safety of his own employer.

"Pierre believed her," Victor said, "And I want to know why."

***

Rose felt like being a messenger of the gods when she walked into the hallway of the Maraina residence. Wherever she walked, a sea of servants would part to give her a path and the training knights will stop to stare. Perhaps not really as a messenger of the gods, but more like a woman cursed with infectious diseases that everyone should shun out.

Rose did not consider herself as having a big head... Although beside Adrian, the head butler who walked in front of her, it was certain that the attention of all the servants and knights was directed to Rose. On the masked girl with the worst reputation in the neighboring kingdom and who would be their master from then on.

Not only one, but dozens of pairs of eyes rained down on Rose from all directions. Some stared with curiosity, but mostly stared at Rose with criticism and anger. Rose could also hear the whispers of the servants as she passed them.

'She is wearing a mask, how bad is her look?'

'I heard she tricked Duke Cornohen to kill her own father.'

'Why would a villainess like her be our master? I'm concerned about the Duke.'

'What would Maraina do if the Duchess is a woman like her?'

Rose saw Adrian's ears twitched from behind. It was clear that the old man deliberately did not silence the whispers of the servants even though he heard that his master was being insulted.

Yes ... If I were him, I wouldn't be happy if I had to serve a new employer with bad rumors.

There were two possible reasons why Adrian chose not to do anything to the servants. One, it indicated that the old man had no intention of calling Rose as the Duchess. Or two, the old man was testing Rose.

Somehow, Rose thought reason number two was more... reasonable. Rose knew that as the head butler of the Maraina residence, Adrian should be an objective and authoritative person. The head butler is the duke's right hand in internal affairs. Thus, Adrian must be a person that was purely loyal to Victor.

If so, Rose must think of a way to pass Adrian's test.

Being an iron-fisted woman or... a pearl-mouthed woman?, Rose thought of which persona she should take in front of Adrian.

Rose's thoughts were cut by Adrian's voice. "This is the west wing, the residence of the late Duchess Maraina."

Ah, for a moment I forgot that I am not Duke Maraina's first wife.

The first wife of Duke Maraina was rumored to have killed herself. Victor was also rumored to play a part in her suicide.

"And this is her old room." Adrian turned the key on one of the doors and opened it. Then he stood next to the door, allowing Rose to entered her new room.

The first thing Rose noticed was how spacious the room was. A spacious mattress was in the middle of the room and a large closet stood almost covering one of the walls of the room. On the far left, there was a door that opened up to a spacious bathroom. Then on the right side of the room, there was a balcony with a small table. The room's tone was beige, light blue, and a little gold. Flower patterns and vines decorated the walls and furnishings.

It was the most beautiful room that Rose had ever seen.

Soon another servant approached Adrian with a large leather bag. The servant nodded at Adrian then at Rose and put the bag in the room.

"Tch," Adrian clicked his tongue in dislike, "You have two hands, Tom. Why don't you use both to save time? If you bring Miss Rose's things one by one, when will you finish?"

The servant flinched when Adrian lectured him. The young man glanced at Rose before finally answering Adrian, "Bu– but ... Miss Rose only has one bag as her luggage."

Shock ran through Adrian's face as he heard that. Then Adrian stared at Rose straight. It was obvious that he certainly didn't think a noble daughter would only be equipped with one worn-out leather bag for her luggage.

When Rose saw her luggage, a feeling of shame propagated her. Her clothes wouldn't fill the big closet in that room. She never had that much clothing from the beginning... some of her clothes were also quite old and would need repairs. It would look awkward for those clothes to be hung in that beautiful room.

"Ju– just this one bag?!" Adrian asked in disbelief.

"Is there a problem?" Rose asked back.

"Bu- but ...," a surprised Adrian had to clear his throat several times to set his expression back to neutral. Then he stretched his arms towards the servants who had lined up in front of the door.

"Let me introduce you, Duchess," Adrian said her title with emphasis, "This is Lisa. She will be your main personal maid in here."

A woman with blonde hair and brown spots on her face curtsied to Rose. "Nice to meet you, Duchess Rose."

Rose nodded to Lisa.

Behind Lisa, there were three other maids. Unlike Lisa who was dressed all in black, the three women wore aprons and white bonnets on their hairs. From the outfit, it was clear that the three women came from a lower servant class than Lisa's. They were the general maids.

"These are Mary, Kit, and Sandra, who will help me serve you."

One by one the maids gave curtsy to Rose. Rose nodded back at them. The maid named Mary stepped in to pick up clothes from Rose's leather handbag. But as soon as Mary saw the contents of the bag, she frowned.

Mary glanced at Rose before finally glancing at Lisa, as if telling Lisa that something had confused her. "Th– there's just... four dresses here."

It certainly surprised all the maids in the room. How can a noble lady only carry a few clothes when she is about to move residence?

"I only packed clothes for the cold. I don't think other clothes will be useful in Maraina," Rose said in a flat tone.

For the first time, Adrian actually noticed Rose from head to toe. Rose's dress was short-sleeved and the fabric was slightly thinner than usual Maraina outfits. Actually, it was the warmest dress Rose had. Rose could recognize the concerned gaze from Wiseman's face.

I should play weak then to gain his sympathy then...

"Of course, Duchess," Adrian continued, "The weather in Maraina is very different from Elysseria. Do you want me to contact the designer to make winter dresses for you?"

Rose nodded. "I'll be grateful to you for that."

"All right, then I'll leave you to rest. Lisa will help you. Please ask her about anything."

"Thank you."

After Adrian got out and closed the room door, Lisa approached Rose to help remove Rose's dress. But Rose stopped her.

"I'm used to cleaning myself and dressing my own self," said Rose, "You just need to prepare the water for me to bathe in."

When Lisa was still flabbergasted to hear those words, Rose was already sitting at the bedside dresser.

She began removing her hairpins, making her long black wavy hair covered her shoulders and back.

Seeing Lisa and the other maids not moving away, Rose gave a cold stare from behind her mask through the mirror's reflection. "Was I not clear?"

"Ah, of course, it was clear, Duchess." Lisa immediately instructed the other three maids to fill the bathtub.

When it was over, Rose told them to get out of the room. They protested at first because they had never met a noble lady who cleaned herself. But Rose gave another cold stare and the four women finally obeyed.

Finally alone, Rose took off her mask. She looked at herself in front of the mirror. Big red eyes, a slightly oval face, and snow-white skin. Then Rose stripped off her black dress slowly. Until all her skin was exposed to the cold Maraina air even though there was a fireplace in the room. Then she entered the bathtub that could have accommodated three people.

The sensation of warm water touching her skin felt so good. She soaked her whole body and at last... she could breathe.