Until our Hatred Turns into Love - Chapter 3

“Oh, you’re awake!”

The person who entered the room appeared to be a maid. She wore a uniform with puffed shoulders and had a quite youthful face. Adelheid, finding herself relieved that it wasn’t that man, asked in a low, raspy voice.

“…Where am I?”

“Reichardt Grand Castle, My Lady. Are you hungry?”

The maid’s kind tone seemed to put her at ease. As Adelheid pushed herself up to sit, the pleasant-feeling bedding rustled softly.

“How long have I been asleep?”

“About two days. It’s been two days since Lord Klaus—no, His Grace the Grand Duke—brought you here. It’s nearly noon now.”

“So…”

It was true. That man really was the Grand Duke of Reichardt, the protector of the Empire’s North. Adelheid looked around the now-brightened room with a dazed expression, realizing once again how magnificent her surroundings were.

The armor and swords of the knights in the ceiling’s fresco, along with the depicted lightning and fire, were all inlaid with gold. It was a painting so noble it looked more like a sacred mural than a scene of war. The mere fact that this massive, grand hall was being used as a bedroom was enough to guess the scale of the castle and the immense wealth of the Grand Duchy.

“Where is he?”

“His Grace is out inspecting the territory. It’s a harsh season, so he goes out every single day without fail.”

“…He’s diligent.”

“He will return in the evening.”

The maid smiled proudly, her freckled cheeks puffing out brightly. Lowering her slender legs from the bed, Adelheid asked, “What kind of person is he? Your master, I mean.”

It was an unconscious question, but one Adelheid desperately needed answered. It was clear that everything in her future depended on the intentions of the man who had brought her here.

“If you’re asking about His Grace as a master, he is very thorough and rational. It’s to the point where people wonder how a father and son can be so alike.”

The maid answered in a crisp voice as she drew back the curtains and opened the window. A garden must have been nearby, for air so fresh it defied the season drifted into the room.

“Thorough and rational…”

Adelheid scoffed softly, repeating those quintessentially noble adjectives.

Right. So thorough and rational that he brought a woman he found on the street into his castle? So rational that he gave such a passionate kiss to a woman who spat in his face and insulted him?

“Haa.”

A sigh escaped her as she suddenly felt foolish for asking such things of a maid bound to the castle. Just what was that man thinking?

“He left strict instructions to ensure you were fed as soon as you woke up.”

Adelheid, who had stood up while touching her remarkably smooth hair, asked awkwardly, “What? Who did?”

“His Grace Klaus Reichardt, of course, My Lady.”

“…”

“I’ll tell them to prepare something soft. Please wait just a moment!”

The maid left the room with a light step.

“…What on earth is happening?”

Adelheid paced the spacious bedroom in a state of confusion. She couldn’t begin to guess what was going on in that man’s head or what he intended to do with her.

“To think a man like that is the Iron-Blooded Grand Duke of the North.”

The more she thought, the more dizzy she became. Her body was already weakened to its limit, and having spent two days lying down, she was far from peak condition. With a faint sigh, Adelheid sat back down on the bed, her mind drifting back to the chaos of the day the Emperor’s army suddenly stormed the Raines Estate.

That afternoon, when the Ducal family had gathered in the drawing room, Adelheid had been alone in the garden. She was trying to catch a cat that had darted into a corner.

Suddenly, the Emperor’s personal guard invaded the estate. The beautiful garden was instantly ruined by their violent, muddy boots. It was a moment like a sudden nightmare. Just as Adelheid was about to scream, realizing something was terribly wrong, a hand clamped over her mouth and yanked her into a dense thicket of shrubs.

It was Luke. At the time, Adelheid had been terrified since she couldn’t see his face; even if she had, it wouldn’t have mattered much, as she didn’t know the faces and names of every knight in the household.

The Emperor’s soldiers suppressed the Raines knights with coarse shouts, not hesitating to draw their swords against anyone who resisted. In that air filled with the scent of blood and terror, she was forced to watch from the arms of an unknown man as her parents and siblings were dragged out one by one and forced to their knees. It felt as if her heart were being trampled into the dirt.

“The Duke’s eldest daughter is missing!” “If we lose her, she’ll become the seed of rebellion! Search every inch!”

Unable to even cry out, she could only hold her breath and hide in the brush. While her face and hair became a mess and sweat poured down her body, a single word repeated in her mind.

Rebellion?

Were they actually claiming that Duke Raines had committed treason? The loyalty of this noble founding family was something even the moon and stars above would know. The Emperor had to be gravely mistaken. Or was this merely an excuse created to eliminate them? Even that felt suspicious. The relationship between the Imperial family and the Duchy had never been bad; it was actually friendly. There had been no omen whatsoever that such a barbaric act would occur.

Why did such a tragedy have to happen to the House of Raines, the very model for the Empire’s citizens?

Adelheid’s hot tears flowed endlessly over the hand of the knight covering her mouth. It was a silent shriek.

By the time the Emperor’s army left the estate, unable to find Adelheid and Luke, the world was covered in the red of the setting sun. In a corner of the now-silent garden, Luke finally let her go. Adelheid asked in a shattered voice.

“Wh… what is happening?” “The Ducal House is innocent. The Imperial family has framed them.” “Then…” “…They will all be beheaded.”

At those words, Adelheid’s body collapsed. Luke held the pitiful lady and whispered.

“You must flee. If you stay here, you will be captured as well.” “I… I am alone now. Without my family, how can I…” “You have me.” “…” “I am telling you that you are not alone. You must be strong.”

His low voice jolted Adelheid back to her senses. There might still be the Emperor’s men inside the mansion. Instead of packing bags, the two hurried through a hidden passage in the corner of the garden to escape.

After narrowly making it out, they watched the situation from an alley and spotted a carriage driver looking for customers. When they asked for a ride, the coachman recognized the Lady and, though he showed respect, he could not hide his distress. Having witnessed the Ducal family being brutally dragged away in broad daylight, helping her would be an act of defying an imperial order.

However, there wasn’t a citizen in the territory who didn’t know the merciful House of Raines. Ultimately, the coachman closed his eyes and decided to help them escape—until the knight spoke.

“Take us to the North.”

The northern reaches of the Empire. A barren wasteland known as the Land of Death, forsaken even by the gods, where ancient monsters were said to still roam. The question of whether they were going there just to die naturally arose.

“The… the North, you say?”

That notorious North was a land even the Emperor ignored. Consequently, it was common for Northern nobles not to appear at annual events in the capital, and an unbridgeable gap existed between the North and the rest of the Empire. It was a place where no sense of shared identity as part of the same Empire existed. But because of that, it was the only option for the two of them.

“That is correct.” “But—” “Take us to Reichardt.”

The coachman gasped at the name Luke mentioned. The northernmost part of the Empire’s North, said to be filled with an unpleasant fog year-round. A cursed land with its back to a giant mountain. The journey would be long and treacherous, but the idea of setting foot in such an ominous land was fundamentally unappealing. The coachman rolled his eyes, hesitant to answer.

Then, Adelheid took off her necklace with a determined look and handed it to him.

“This should be more than enough for the fare. Please.”

It was a hauntingly beautiful pendant set with a large ruby. The coachman, receiving the necklace in a daze, looked as if he were a blind man seeing light for the first time. As his vacant gaze studied it as if possessed, the Lady’s steady voice followed.

“It is a memento from my mother.”

Adelheid abruptly wiped the tears flowing down her cheeks with the back of her hand and stopped reminiscing.

“Why the tears…?”

Whatever the Grand Duke’s intention, the fact that she was sitting in a warm room wearing clean clothes was a comfort more precious than gold. More accurately, it was an unthinkable luxury. Only a few days ago, she had been lying in a cold alleyway crying like a madwoman; now, even a single tear on her cheek felt foreign.

Thinking back, she hadn’t even had a single dream during the past two days of death-like sleep. Adelheid suddenly wondered if what she had needed most was a long, dreamless sleep.

Soon, after regaining her strength by eating hot soup, an omelet, and a potato dish with soft beans brought by the maid, someone came to see her. A woman entered the room cautiously and offered a calm greeting. She looked elegant, with her lustrous brown hair styled in a full, sophisticated updo.

The words that came out of her mouth were entirely unexpected.

“My name is Daisy. I will be serving as your lady-in-waiting from now on.”

“…Pardon?”

“I’ve heard much about you from His Grace. It is an honor to serve you.”

Adelheid’s brow naturally furrowed. A lady-in-waiting? Did that mean he intended for her to continue living here?

More importantly, he’s talked about me? That man and I have never even met…

At that moment, Daisy added in a soft voice.

“I heard the two of you were old friends?”

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