Under the Oak Tree



Chapter 98: Chapter 98

Maxi was both relieved and pleased as she looked over the flower garden.

A lush patch of red buds surrounded a pool dug out by the servants, and shrubs dotted with delicate amethyst flowers grew in rows like miniature soldiers.

Next to them was an abundant patch of herbs that blended beautifully with the flowers. Maxi lay a handkerchief on a stone-carved bench and sat down.

“All the f-flowers here… can be used as herbs or s-spices.”

“You made a flower garden we can eat?”

“I thought it b-best to plant flowers… that were practical… as well as pleasing to the eye.”

Riftan laughed. “I would have to order the sentries not to get themselves hurt so we can keep this garden intact.”

“D-Do you… like it?”

Riftan gazed down at Maxi, who was seated amongst the flowers, and nodded slowly. An intense emotion briefly flashed in his eyes.

“I do,” he said, his voice sounding strangely choked.

Baffled, Maxi looked up at him. Riftan rubbed his mouth as if to hide his emotions and sat down next to her.

“The fragrance is nice. Until a year ago, I never imagined I would be able to spend quality time with my wife in a flower field.”

Maxi grew tense when she realized he was referring to his time in the Dragon Campaign.

“I-I heard that… you faced grave dangers countless times during the campaign.”

“It certainly wasn’t easy. Thousands of monsters dwelled in the Lexos Mountains, and we had to go through a myriad of barriers and mazes to reach the dragon’s lair.”

Riftan’s answer sounded apathetic. He rummaged through the basket for an apple and took a big bite. Fresh juice moistened his lips, and Maxi’s face flushed as a sensual memory flashed in her mind. Oblivious to her indecent imagination, Riftan looked as carefree as a boy as he sat on the ground munching on his apple.

He placed another green apple in Maxi’s hand. “It’s good. Try it.”

Maxi mechanically took a bite. Her tongue, which had grown stiff with tension, was unable to taste anything.

Riftan had suffered a great deal because of her father, but Maxi had been so preoccupied with her own misfortunes during those three years that she had not once thought about the hardships that he would have had to face. Instead, she had feared that he would return as her harbinger of pain.

So, how was he able to sit so calmly next to her? Suddenly overcome with uncertainty, Maxi cautiously studied Riftan’s face as he enjoyed the breeze.

Had he ever resented her? Although it had not been her choice, he had suffered greatly from this marriage to her. What man would not lament such misfortune? It was nothing short of a miracle that he had chosen to honor his marriage vows.

Suddenly unsettled, Maxi quickly changed the subject.

“Is the r-road construction… going well?”

“Yes. We should be finished by autumn at the latest.”

Riftan’s lips curled into a determined smile as he threw apple seeds into the bushes.

“I am going to expand the port as soon as the road is finished. It won’t be cheap to keep it safe from monsters, but the merchants from the south will easily make up for the cost several times over when they arrive with their massive ships. It’s a golden goose.”

“C-Can you earn so much money… from tolls alone?”

“It won’t be just from tolls. If we do business with the merchants, we could earn more than the king. We are going to offer the merchants and their expensive cargo protection so they can trade their goods safely in exchange for a portion of their earnings. We already have merchants lining up to take the offer. Not to mention the advantage of being able to obtain rare silks and spices from the south at a low price.”

He leaned his head back and smiled at her.

“When the big merchants arrive with their ships, I’m going to have five hundred silk dresses made for you.”

“I… a-already have plenty.”

“I know they are not enough,” he asserted with a grin. “Just wait a little longer. I shall get you the most expensive clothes in the world. So many that it won’t be possible to count them all. After that, I’m going to put diamond rings brighter than the sun itself on all your fingers. Your neck, wrists, everything down to your ankles will be adorned in jewels.”

He held her hand and pecked the inside of her wrist. Maxi shuddered as his cool, moist lips pressed against her sensitive skin. A deep satisfaction simmered in Riftan’s black eyes.

“I shall make you the noblest of women in the Seven Kingdoms. You shall live the opulent life of a Roemian princess.” He stroked her palm and added passionately, “If the Empire had not fallen, you would be regarded as the woman with the noblest lineage. A man like me would not even have been allowed to approach you.”

“S-Stop talking nonsense. Roem fell a long time ago, and the House of Roem now b-barely manages to keep its line… They no longer wield… any power… or influence. And I am… just one among the many n-nobles of Wedon.”

“What a humble thing to say. You are a descendant of the great imperial family that once ruled over an empire, and the eldest daughter of the most powerful duke in Wedon. You are not just any noble.”

Riftan’s face suddenly twisted into a bitter expression.

“I may despise your father, but I have no intention of belittling him. The duke only chose me as your husband because he had a use for me, not because he thought I was a good match for you.”

Maxi wriggled her hand, but Riftan tightened his hold like a hound instinctively bearing down on a flapping bird trying to break free from its jaws.

“I have no family in the nobility, nor do I have brothers who would avenge my death. I was a knight born as a commoner, celebrated for his talent, but one who possessed no power. It was not difficult for him to designate me as his substitute to lead his knights, and my death would not have caused him any trouble. He merely chose me as the man who would die in his stead.”

“Th-That’s…”

“He only had us wed because he did not think I would come back alive,” Riftan said in a terrifyingly gentle voice. “But come back I did, and our marriage was legitimate. That man no longer has any authority over you. I am your family now.”

A cold wind twined through her heart at the profound possessiveness in his voice.

She had always been a useless entity to her father. The only daughter the Duke of Croyso acknowledged was Rosetta. Maximilian had been a failure, and her father had made use of his worthless daughter by marrying her off to a plebian knight at the right time. The noblewoman Riftan spoke of was Rosetta, not her.

Maxi bit her lip. The fact that her father had thoroughly deceived and used Riftan filled her with rage, and the reality that she had been the means that had allowed it made her unbearably sad. The Duke of Croyso should have given the young knight he had thrust into danger in his stead the daughter he treasured – Rosetta. That was the recompense Riftan deserved.

Overwhelmed with emotions, Maxi spoke in a trembling voice. “I-I am truly… s-sorry.”

“Damn it, I’ve run my mouth off.”

He hastily cupped her cheeks as though his fervor had suddenly dissipated.

“I wasn’t trying to blame you. I know that you had no part in your father’s actions. You never wanted to marry me after all.”

That was true, and Riftan smiled bitterly as he watched her unable to deny it.

“You were just a lamentable victim who was forced to marry a lowly person like me because of her father’s circumstances.”

“Th-That is not true. P-P-Please do not… speak like that.”

Riftan ignored her hasty objection.

“But I’m going to give you everything you want. I’m going to make you think being married to me is better than being married to any other nobleman or royalty.”

“I-I… already feel that way, so…” Maxi blurted abruptly, unable to listen to him any longer.

When she bent down and wrapped her arms around his neck, Riftan momentarily stiffened in surprise before returning her embrace.

He pulled her head down and kissed her. His sweet tongue, which tasted faintly of green apples, gently filled her mouth. Maxi shuddered as a dizzying chill raced through her body.

An urge to sob grabbed hold of her, and she buried her face in his neck. His illusion of her was woefully out of proportion.

She would never be able to measure up to it, no matter how hard she tried. Maxi squeezed her eyes shut at the thought.

***

Riftan caressed Maxi’s cheek with a wistful look on his face. He drowned her in kisses for a while before reluctantly rising to his feet when a pair of sentries came searching for him.

Maxi’s eyes glinted with despondence as she watched him leave to fulfill his lordly duties. The notion that her father had deceived Riftan and that her silence was complicit in the deceit plagued her thoughts. She knew she was being too hard on herself, but she simply could not shake the irrational guilt.

Maxi trudged back to her chambers and collapsed onto the bed. The fact that Riftan thought she was as noble as a royal princess felt like a thorn stuck in her throat.

For the past twenty-two years, Maxi had been inferior even to her father’s hounds. While the dogs had rebelled by baring their teeth whenever he lashed at them with his whip, she had always tearfully submitted to him on her knees.

She was acutely aware of how helpless and pathetic she was. The image of herself reflected in the mirror as she crawled like an insect to beg for forgiveness at her father’s feet was etched into her memory. She had looked like a worm as she squirmed on the flagstones, her skin swollen red.

It was absurd to think of herself as a princess, or even a duke’s daughter.

How foolish…

Maxi curled up and pressed her face to her knees. Her heart felt heavier the more she thought about Riftan.

Was it right to let him believe that he was the one who was terribly wanting in their marriage? Just the thought of telling her husband the truth about herself was enough to make her break out in a cold sweat and tie her stomach up in knots.

She remembered very well how the Croyso Castle servants had looked at her. Their sympathy-filled glances were, at times, harder to bear than her father’s abuse.

She would rather die than have Riftan look at her with those same eyes. The last thing she wanted was for her husband to find out that the wife he considered the noblest woman in the world had actually lived a miserable life.

Unable to bear the self-sabotaging thoughts any longer, Maxi raced out of her chambers. She just might lose her mind if she had to spend any more time alone in her room doing nothing.