Under the Oak Tree



Chapter 43: Chapter 43

“I t-truly do. Th-Thank you, Riftan.”

Riftan lowered his head to kiss Maxi. When she took a step back in surprise, he simply turned to the merchant.

“My wife is pleased, and you arrived two days earlier than expected. For that, I’ll reward you with fifty percent above the price we agreed upon.”

“It is my honor, Lord Calypse! We sped day and night to fulfill your lordship’s request.”

Maxi buried her face in the mare’s mane to hide her flushed cheeks. Mortified that Riftan had put on such a display of affection, she peered around to study people’s reactions.

When he finished talking to the merchant, Riftan put his arm around her shoulders.

“Let’s go up to our room. I have more gifts waiting for you.”

“Th-There’s more?”

Riftan pointed to the chests being unloaded from the wagon. “Every one of those is filled with gifts for you.”

Maxi’s jaw dropped. There were enough chests to fill an entire room.

“I’ve instructed the servants to bring them up to our room. Come.”

Riftan handed the mare’s reins to a servant and began walking toward the great hall. Maxi followed at his side, her steps as light as if she were walking on clouds. Her anxiety had dissipated.

“I th-thought you were b-busy repairing the g-gates.”

“I’ve given them my orders. The knights will take turns standing guard until the new gate is finished. Anatol will be safe from intruders even without me there.”

Maxi had asked not because she was worried about the castle’s security, but because she did not wish to keep Riftan from his duties. But instead of correcting him, she continued to ascend the stairs and entered the wide-open castle gate. Sunlight streamed in through the windows, casting golden rays on the crimson carpet. Riftan, who had been striding across the great hall, suddenly turned to look back at Maxi.

“I haven’t told you yet how magnificent the castle looks. Rodrigo tells me you worked day and night.”

Maxi blushed at the sudden compliment. “D-Do you like it?”

“Of course. When I went downstairs in the morning, I thought I’d woken up in someone else’s castle.”

Maxi breathed a sigh of relief. “Y-You didn’t say a-anything, s-so I was w-worried…”

“I couldn’t stop in the middle of my outburst to sing the praises of the castle’s splendor now, could I? Besides, I’d just seen you in grave danger! How could I have noticed anything else? You could have gilded these walls with pure gold, and I still wouldn’t have noticed.”

Seeing his eyes glint in anger at the memory, Maxi cast her eyes down. Riftan let out a short sigh and stroked her hair to soothe her.

“But that’s all in the past now. Let’s go see your gifts.”

Maxi nodded and followed him up the stairs to their bedchamber, where servants were busy arranging a pile of wooden chests. Ludis, who had been keeping an eye on the servants to ensure none were in the habit of stealing, bowed in greeting when she saw them.

“My lord, my lady.”

“Is everything here?”

“Yes, my lord. There are thirty-two chests in total. Would you like to check the contents?”

Riftan nodded, and the servants began to pry open the chests. Maxi stared with her mouth agape at the endless stream of gifts that emerged.

Fine silk and exquisitely patterned fabric from the Southern Continent, lustrous fox furs, a belt made of snakeskin, a shawl embroidered with gold, a silver hand mirror, and pearl hairpins…

Maxi couldn’t believe her eyes. Though she was used to seeing Rosetta surrounded by gifts, she had never been the recipient of such treasures.

“I-Is all of this f-for me?”

“Is it not to your liking?”

Maxi quickly shook her head. If she, a duke’s daughter, let on that she found such extravagant gifts overwhelming, Riftan would find it suspicious. Rosetta had never batted an eyelid at chests full of priceless jewels. Remembering her half-sister’s haughty demeanor, Maxi tried her best to stay composed.

“N-No, I l-like them.”

Riftan looked relieved. He instructed the servants to open the remaining chests, and Maxi tried her best to play the part of a noblewoman accustomed to such luxuries. It was impossible, however, to stop her jaw from dropping.

Riftan picked up an emerald hairpin and carefully slid it into her hair, just above her ear. Next, he clasped a sparkling diamond necklace around her neck. Seeing Maxi’s astonishment at the sumptuous jewels, Riftan softly kissed her cheek with a satisfied grin.

“I knew they would suit you perfectly.”

“Th-Thank you.”

Maxi’s cheeks burned, and Riftan’s eyes glowed with pleasure. Brushing a lock of hair behind her ear, he urged her to try on the rest of the jewelry.

Looking at her reflection in the mirror, Maxi felt both delight and unease. Riftan was treating her like a royal princess, yet she felt closer to a jester performing under an ill-fitting mask.

Riftan frowned at her troubled expression. “What’s wrong?”

“N-Nothing.” Maxi quickly put a smile on her face. “These are b-beautiful. Y-You must have been s-so busy in D-Drachium. How d-did you find the t-time…?”

“You had to leave all your belongings behind at Croyso Castle because of me. It’s only right that I make up for it.”

“Th-Thank you…”

Maxi forced another smile, trying to hide her dismay. Her heart felt as if it had been stung. Riftan seemed to relax, and he began instructing the servants to put away the gifts. Maxi looked on from the back of the room, struggling to shake the strange sense of guilt. She told herself that she hadn’t lied, that Riftan had simply assumed she was worthy of such indulgence. But such reasoning did little to ease her mind.

***

After confirming that everything had arrived, Riftan left to check on the captives. Meanwhile, Maxi decided to finish writing the fabric order that had been interrupted by the commotion the day before. After discussing the details of the order with the maidservants, she made a thorough list of the necessary items. When she finished, she went to the kitchen to oversee food preservation for the winter.

Late autumn to early winter was the busiest time of year at any castle. When the weather grew colder, fresh vegetables became scarce and the price of meat increased manyfold. Servants tirelessly cured meat, pickled fruit, smoked sausages, and carted copious bags of flour from the mill. If they had any time to spare, it was spent preparing winter fodder for the livestock.

Maxi listened to Ludis’s explanation as she scanned the kitchen, the smell of oil permeating the room.

“It’s difficult to find enough grass to feed all the animals during winter, so we keep a fixed number and slaughter the rest. Butchers prepare the meat and entrails to be sent to the castle, where the meat is smoked and the entrails used for sausages.”

Maxi nodded. The kitchen was always busy, but for the past few days, it had become a battlefield. On one side of the room, four servants were busy stuffing sausages at a long table, washbasins and plates piled high next to them. On the opposite end of the room, other servants were sawing meat, drained of blood, into small pieces.

The smell of smoke pricked Maxi’s nostrils. Wrinkling her nose, she turned to look over her shoulder. Outside the open door, there were four makeshift ovens made of stones. Steel mesh had been placed over the stones, and five to six servants were smoking meat over the mesh. Maxi’s eyes widened at the sheer volume of meat they were handling.

“I-I’ve never s-seen so much m-meat.”

“We’ve prepared enough to last the whole winter. Since smoked meat doesn’t stay good for long, we plan to cure most of the meat. Jerky will serve the knights well when they go on expeditions or monster raids.”

“W-We’re c-curing all this?”

Maxi inspected the hunks of meat hanging from the walls. The records that Ludis had given her had contained detailed accounts of the quantity of food preserved in previous years and the amount planned for preservation that year.

“With the knights’ return, we’ve had to prepare twice as much food as last year. In fact, we should have started the process earlier while it was still warm…”

“D-Does it take a l-long time?”

“It certainly does, my lady. Curing the meat with salt takes several days. After that, the meat must be cut into thin strips before being dried.”

Maxi was dismayed, thinking that the refurbishments had caused delay to the winter preparations.

Seeing her expression, Ludis quickly added, “But with the extra help we have this year, I’m sure everything will be ready before it gets too cold.”

“Th-That’s a relief…”

Maxi glanced at the servants laboring away in the kitchen. As lady of the castle, it was her responsibility to manage every item of housekeeping, and from her observations, the servants never had a moment’s rest. As she listened to Ludis’s explanations on food storage methods, she tried to gauge the amount of work that was still left.

The servants performed backbreaking labor every day. Their duties included cooking for all the castle’s inhabitants and cleaning every nook and cranny, but with winter approaching, they also had to make warm clothing for the knights and store fodder for livestock. Maxi decided to ask Riftan if she could hire more servants.

“I-I’ll ask Aderon if he can f-find us more help f-first thing tomorrow-”

“My lady!”