Why the Northern Duke Wanders the Snowfields - Chapter 17

“Even if I just go out into the streets, there’s no shortage of women who like me. I have no intention of chasing after a woman who acts all high and mighty.”

If only he were simply a fool. Cedric was too stupid to listen to anyone.

The wrinkles on Eloise’s forehead deepened.

“You didn’t properly listen to what I said, Cedric.”

What was needed at times like this was fear. She lowered her voice and fixed him with a threatening gaze.

“Where do you think everything you’re enjoying right now comes from?”

Cedric lowered his head and looked over his clothes. The lavish outfit he wore, something he could never have imagined in his family home, had all been bought with money provided by the duchess.

“W-what? W-well, all of it comes from you, my generous Aunt, the Duchess of Tennant….”

“No. That’s not it, Cedric.”

What she had given him wasn’t just money. She had also placed in his hands the immense power of the Tennant family that ruled the north.

But this foolish idiot didn’t understand that.

“Remember Tennant. You are now the acting head of the Tennant ducal house. That means you can do anything you want.”

At her sweet whisper, Cedric’s expression loosened languidly.

“Anything?”

Anything. Cedric clenched his hand. Aileen, who had called him a fool and an idiot, came to mind.

“Yes. Anything. Otherwise, why do you think every noble in the north is still rummaging through their family trees to see if any of their ancestors came from the Tennant family?”

“T-that’s true.”

“Don’t forget that this great opportunity came only because I, who was once the daughter of the Coville marquess family, became the Duchess of Tennant.”

Eloise placed a hand on Cedric’s shoulder as she spoke, making sure he wouldn’t forget.

Cedric felt warmth from the patting hand. His father, Theobald, was a gambling addict and a libertine, and his mother, Claudia, who had left him with a single drop of Tennant blood, had already passed away years ago.

To him, Eloise, who took care of him, was like both a mother and a benevolent goddess.

“T-then what should I do?”

His dull gray eyes rolled.

“First, you must not go to the brothel anymore.”

If he happened to produce an illegitimate child, it would be troublesome. At her firm words, Cedric’s expression stiffened.

“Second, do not approach Aileen.”

“What? Then how am I supposed to marry her?”

“You know Aileen is my goddaughter, right?”

At Eloise’s gesture, the cold teacup was swiftly cleared away and replaced with tea at just the right temperature.

“That child is very greedy. She doesn’t even glance at things that anyone can have.”

After taking a sip of tea, Eloise reached toward the plate.

“How does this look?”

What Eloise held wasn’t the Blanc cookie common in the North.

“This is a flower confection brought in from the Tanagrion continent through the port of Alandor. Try it.”

As expected, it was a sweet and pretty confection with a soft pink hue, like a flower.

After tasting it, Cedric exclaimed in admiration. “It’s really delicious. I’ve never tasted anything like it before.”

“Yes. It’s very fragrant and sweet. Cedric, do you want more?”

“Yes, Aunt.”

As Cedric nodded, her bluish-gray eyes turned cold like ice.

“But now there’s only one left. Try eating a different cookie.”

He had only just gotten a taste of it, and now there was none left….

The sweetness that brushed the tip of his tongue hadn’t even faded yet, but the man’s face was already glistening with greed and thirst.

“B-but.”

“It’s rare, that’s why.”

Ignoring Cedric’s gaze, she set the plate with the flower confection elsewhere, and his murky gray eyes followed it.

“Can’t you take your eyes off it?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“Thinking I might not taste it again makes me impatient.”

As a child faithful to his instincts, that was only natural.

Eloise handed the flower confection to Cedric. “Don’t forget that feeling. What you need to do is make Aileen feel that way.”

At her words, Cedric’s puzzled expression slowly relaxed. “You mean I should make her anxious?”

“Yes. You’ve understood very well.”

At Eloise’s praise, Cedric’s face brightened.

“If you act like you’re the only one of your kind in the world, not just Aileen, but probably every woman will look at you that way, with greed.”

Every woman.

At that moment, a different woman, not Aileen, came to Cedric’s mind.

A maid with strikingly alluring red eyes, and Kaeloc’s mistress. And what about that exotic beauty of hers?

‘If the duke lost his mind over her, kept her hidden from everyone, and even made her bear a child, then she must be incredible in bed.’

“Cedric!”

Startled by his name being called, Cedric lifted his head to see Eloise glaring at him with a twisted expression.

“Are you listening to me?”

“Yes, yes, of course.”

It was obvious he’d been distracted, so Eloise felt anger rise, but now she was bound to Cedric on the same boat.

‘I must make this fool the duke no matter what.’

Otherwise, all the treatment and power she had enjoyed as the duchess would disappear.

Who would care about the former Duchess of Tennant with no successor?

And it was the same for her natal family, the Coville marquessate. Her eldest brother had already inherited the title, and there was even a second brother.

She was nothing but a widow. Her gray-blue eyes wavered like rippling water.

‘I can’t let that happen.’

Eloise clenched her fist tightly so as not to lose the large ring that filled all five fingers.

***

A smooth sheet of paper slid from Sion’s hand onto the desk.

Sion looked over the desk. Documents the duke should have handled were piled high, and letters that needed to be read were stacked in boxes.

“Damn it.”

Four months since his superior went missing.

The ducal territory was falling into disorder, and the sporadic battles at the border kept ending in defeat.

‘No commander, so it’s only natural.’

The one currently commanding the northern soldiers in place of the duke was Count Bartos, an old veteran who should have retired long ago. He was a man accustomed to battles from an even earlier time than the Carnu tribe conflicts.

‘I told them the Carnu tribe’s trait isn’t full-scale war but guerrilla warfare….’

But it wasn’t just the old general’s tactics that were the problem. The duke’s disappearance had clearly affected the soldiers’ morale.

‘And that damn Cedric became acting head and isn’t doing anything.’

Thinking of Cedric, who appeared more often in brothels than in the duke’s office, Sion felt a headache coming on.

He thought of Kaeloc. He had held a sword since he was seven, and at fifteen he was granted the title of young duke by the previous duke.

And that wasn’t all. From the moment he began learning the sword, he progressed at a terrifying rate and gained such outstanding skill that he was called a Sword Lord.

For the past thirty years, as the Carnu tribe’s raids intensified, the northern territory had conducted regular border patrols every autumn, and the young sons of noble families considered it a great honor to take part in these patrols.

Kaeloc was first deployed to a border patrol at the age of seventeen, and as the border stabilized thanks to his overwhelming strength, the people of the territory praised him and glorified the Tennant family.

But that very Kaeloc had disappeared. In the midst of complete chaos, that foolish Cedric became the acting head simply because he carried the blood of the Tennant family, leaving Sion with endless worries.

“Where are you, my lord?”

The view of the ducal castle seen through the wide window of the office was changing by the moment.

The dreadful ice that had clung beneath the pointed spires melted and fell away, and green sprouts of grass pushed up through the hardened ground.

The wind was still cold and the air still chilly, but the sunlight alone grew warmer, like the mercy of the goddess.

“Sir Sion. Everything is ready.”

A servant approached.

“We have packed every item you requested without leaving anything out.”

“Good work.”

After the servant withdrew, Sion quickly wrote a letter to Count Bartos and rose to his feet.

[……We have searched everywhere in the northern territory, and since he is nowhere to be found, it is certain that he is in the snowfields. Though it is still early, I am setting out to find the duke. I have selected only the finest knights of the ducal castle to form a search party. So please endure a little longer. They will likely retreat once they feel the warm spring breeze as well.]

The residents living along the border suffered every year from the Carnu tribe’s raids during autumn and winter.

Especially this year, with Kaeloc missing, Bartos was struggling considerably.

The Carnu tribe’s objective was food. Living even farther north than the northern region of the Kingdom of Trilan, winter was a season of starvation for them.

Murder and plunder.

There had to be better methods, yet they chose extremely barbaric ones.

‘That’s why they’re called barbarians.’

With a face mixed with disgust and contempt, Sion turned around and came face to face with a young boy opening the office door.

“Your face is unfamiliar. Who are you?”