Eloise excitedly left for the North.

She expressed her eagerness to get close to the child and stated her anticipation for the cuisine in the North, which is primarily meat-based.

‘Unless she’s a particularly skilled spy, I believe she’s a woman who is seriously lacking somewhere.…’

For a brief moment, he believed he had eluded Diego, who was keeping him in check.

However, what kind of strong-hearted person is she to confess that she is a kind of individual who cannot easily tell the ‘truth’ in a peculiar marriage for everyone to see?

In many ways, she was a strange woman.

The weirdest thing was himself. It was merely a wedding with no special significance. Nonetheless, there were a couple of times when he felt unusually disconcerted.

The memory was hazy as he could not dig further into it, so Johannes felt frustrated after a long time.

Seemingly trying to extricate the sense of disillusionment, Johannes turned his head without seeing the carriage depart to the north properly.

As Pagan followed him, he glanced sideways at the dusty clouds that were created by the wheels of the wagon fading away. Then he added softly.

“However, now that you have a wife, she has promised to treat you well. She went so far as to say that she fell in love with the Duke at first sight.”

“What wife?”

Johannes said with cold look.

“Hopefully we won’t be racing back to the South the next time we visit the Duchy for whatever reason.”

She doesn’t appear to want to say anything, but she must have expected something from him. I’m sure she was overjoyed at the prospect of marrying the person she fell in love with at first sight.

Whatever Eloise must have wanted, she wouldn’t have wanted to endure the evil spirits of the North. It didn’t matter if it was someone’s reason or a peculiar, unpredictable ambition.

In their mid-teens, a person who grew up in the north could defeat at least a low-level demon on their own. This is due to the fact that children who are not competent enough die young or flee the North.

As such, there was no way Eloise can stand it. She might flee after encountering her first low-level evil spirit. Even if she did, he had already accomplished his goal of marrying as per the Crown Prince’s wishes.

“By the way, Duke…”

Pagan said cautiously.

“Even so, I’m looking forward to it. You have always been calm. I’ve never seen the Duke so agitated. Except for the ‘Blue Ruby,’ of course. In the Duke’s life, aside from the ‘Blue Ruby,’…”

Of course, Johannes cut him off without even giving Pagan another chance to speak.

“Start working on the next report right now.  This is a waste of time.”

 

The usage of holy power creates an imprint on the user’s body in some way. ‘Blue Ruby,’ on the other hand, is the first one to have used a holy power illegally and hide its traces while evading the temple’s pursuit for so far.

 

Johannes, who’d already disposed numerous reports saying that they have no distinctive use, frowned. This is due to the fact that the results varied from previous hypothetical data.

 

By imprinting an ancient magic circle in the heart, you can prevent being tracked. This magic circle consumes the user’s vitality and causes them to die before they reach the age of 25. As a result, the ‘Blue Ruby’ has no incentive to use this magic circle.

 

It was hard to believe the hypothesis that the ancient magic circle was engraved into his heart to avoid being pursued.

Because these requirements are excessively stringent. If the theory is correct, ‘Blue Ruby’ is under the age of 25, knew of an ancient anti-tracking magic circle that is unknown to the general public, and knows a powerful wizard who could engrave a magic circle nearby.

 

It is well known that there really is no way to dismantle this ancient magic circle. If ‘Blue Ruby’ is younger than 25 years old, and finds about all this afterwards, he will be desperately looking for something to overcome this situation.

 

So, if the ‘Blue Ruby’ is younger than 25, he could have a time limit.

Before he knew it, Eloise Renoir was entirely forgotten in his mind.

After that, he actually nearly forgot about her. He has even forgotten that during his time with Eloise; he laughed the most in his life, and that he felt strange after the brief wedding.

Johannes genuinely thought he would never see her again.

***

At that time, Johannes’ sudden marriage bewildered the duchy of the North,

“Oh… So… You really did marry the Duke.”

“Yes!”

Within a few days, a handwritten letter from Johannes and Eloise arrived, beaming brightly and courteously.

“I look forward to your kind cooperation!”

“… Yes, madam. Please make yourself at home.”

Eloise looked slightly embarrassed at the title of ‘Madam’, but vigorously nodded her head to show that she had no intention to postpone.

“Ah, is that so? All right. I don’t need a personal maid. I can do all the work on my own.”

“Ha, but… but you still need at least one child to take care of you.”

“Then I’ll tug the rope when needed so anybody can come. That’s what I’ve been doing in the South.”

Among the big-boned northerners, Eloise was like a small child. She grimaced and shivered, as if this was her first time in such a frigid environment.

The wagon she was pulling was simple.

“Anyway, I can’t wear southern clothes here. Bringing it with me would have been a hassle.”

Her luggage had more jewels than garments. The maids exchanged glances as they watched the aristocrat from the south of the country.

“Is it possible for me to purchase clothing from here? Please take good care of it.”

Eloise rummaged through the box and handed Kate a ruby a big as a knuckle. Kate blinked and grasped the ruby in her hands, astonished.

“… This… I think it would be enough to fill an entire room with clothes.”

“Oh? Then please do just that. The Duke instructed me to use two or three rooms, so I stated one would suffice, but such a whim would be acceptable. Oh, that’s right! I was able to have an agreement with the Duke ahead of time that I could choose my own room.”

It was also an odd experience. After genuinely exploring the structure of the castle and looking at illustrations, Eloise ended up choosing a rather unexpected room, not the room of the preceding duchess.

There was nothing unusual about it at the time, except that she inquired about Leo’s room before selecting her own. When questioned why, she half-heartedly said that she chose it because it was bright.

“This room must be the ‘Treasure Room’ where Noavik’s treasures are stored, right?

Eloise asked with an innocent face, but to that, Kate responded sharply.

“… How do you know that room?”

“I heard it from somewhere.”

“Where?”

“Zion, my brother. My brother used to run a pawnshop, so he knows everything about treasures.”

“I see.”

Kate couldn’t shake her suspicions and returned her gaze to Eloise’s soft eyes. Except for that one time, she didn’t say anything to be cautious about.

Nevertheless, they had completed sorting the luggage after she had chosen a room. Despite the fact that the examination was carried out at Johannes’ request, nothing unusual was discovered.

There was something unusual. Looking at the enormous teddy bear sitting in the wagon like a human, the maids working in the mansion flocked and even giggled.

“My teddy has been my friend since childhood. So, I hope you don’t touch it carelessly. If you ever want to put in laundry, be sure to get my permission. Got it?”

When the people of the castle learned that ‘Teddy’ was the name of the teddy bear, they all hang their mouths in absurdity. In the North, no one gave a doll a name.

“Don’t even move it. I always sleep with Teddy in my arms. I like this angle.”

All of them nodded because Eloise’s expression was so serious as she holds teddy against its waist.

When the residents of Duke’s castle saw Eloise’s innocent expression and bright face, they felt subtle emotions. It didn’t appear that she’d get along well here.

The next day, the prediction turned out to be wrong. In fact, she showed remarkable adaptability.

“Oh, this is delicious. It’s a unique flavor. Do you have any secrets?”

The recipe differs completely from that of the South, but Eloise emptied all the plates. In fact, in just a few days, she started gaining weight on her skinny limbs.

Because the southern food culture was more well-known, the chef was initially suspicious, fearing she was mocking him. But now he would privately glance at Eloise proudly, whose complexion was improving day by day.

“Just… a northern recipe where sugar is scarce. It’s a little different from the South, where deserts are made.”

Then, the maids, who had not yet mastered their etiquette, approached her friendly and added a few words.

“By the way, our chef is really good. It is really amazing.”

“… finish? Life?” [1]

“Yes?”

“Are you good at poison?”

The ambiance in the dining room was pretty decent at every meal, except when Eloise set down her fork with a serious question after failing to comprehend the maid.

Looking at the anecdote, Eloise was especially popular with the maids in the castle.

The workers found it difficult to be wary of Eloise, who frequently stated, “It’s good that the weather here is so dreary.”

‘Keep a strict eye on her, and do not allow her any authority,’ Johannes cautioned in the letter concerning his unexpected wife.

However, the maids followed Eloise well. It was the first time they had seen such a gentle looking and petite adult before.

Furthermore, unlike other adults who were always worried about evil spirits, Eloise had a carefree attitude and feared nothing.

Eloise, for example, enjoyed playing with the maids. She always rejoiced anew, as if she had never played such a widespread game as a child.

“It’s because she doesn’t know evil spirits very well. If she has lived in the South, will she be able to live like that with no sense of crisis?”

“Then if she sees an evil spirit even once, she will be very surprised. Right?”

“Will she be surprised? It would be nice if she didn’t go crying back to the South right now.”

While the staff talked behind the scenes, no evil spirits invaded the castle for quite some time. Eloise showed no interest in the Duchess’ affairs and played well with the maids.

But she also had one awkward child. It was Leo Noavik.

[1]끝내주죠(ket-neh-ju-jyo) – amazing, wonderful;  끝내줘(ket-neh-jwo) – ending a life.

***The maids in the story are actually called children, but to avoid confusion, I changed them to maids.

Note: I will be updating every Tuesday. I do plan to translate another story which will be updated every Friday. Additionally, this website is still in process so some things are still lacking. Thank you everyone! Please be patient with me.

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