Duke Ashillean’s Contractual Marriage - Chapter 1

Chapter 1

 

Living in one of the Southern Provinces of the Aden Kingdom was the Count Luxen.

 

He owned several manor houses and had dozens of knights who swore allegiance from generation to generation. He also held important positions from the previous counts. He might have stood tall having central authority if he had stayed in the capital and kept in touch with the nobles there.

 

However, the predecessor Count Luxen left behind that dazzling glory and returned to his local territory, thus he was left only as a retainer of the Southern Provinces.

 

Count Luxen (present) didn’t resent her father’s decision; rather, she was grateful. She and her family were able to survive because her father gave up the glory in front of her and thought about the future.

 

The King of Aden at that time was a scum, pervert, and a murderer, incomparable to the previous kings of history. He possessed all the immoral behaviors a tyrant has, and it seemed like he left all the basic goodness a human should have in his mother’s womb.

 

If they ever captured an enemy, they would be definitely shot and killed in front of everyone; the enemy’s wife was sent as a gift to the enemy’s other rivals, and their children, no matter what age, would always be killed.

 

He saw his loyalists as enemies whenever he felt bad, he did whatever atrocity towards them.

 

The capital has long been silenced by terror and bloodshed.

 

Nobles in the capital couldn’t escape even if they wanted to, because as soon as they turned their backs on the King, they would become his enemies. The local nobles simply lay flat and held their breaths. When they were told by the King to raise taxes, they raised it, and when they were told to send hostages, they would send illegitimate children.

 

They were glad that they were far away from the King. Count Luxen was one of the local nobles who thought so.

 

During that time where surviving was only their goal, Count Luxen had two daughters who weren’t eye-catching. Her eldest is Rubiana and Callena is his younger daughter.

 

They were two years apart and got along quite well.

 

Rubiana had red hair and green eyes, she had quite a handsome face, but her hair was like a blazing torch, so intense that his impression of her was hazy. That’s why her name was Rubiana – Ruby’s blessing.

 

It must’ve been a name that her parents put in a fair amount of thought, but Rubiana thought her name was unstylish ever since she was a little kid.

 

Her younger sister Callena, was a beautiful woman with long, blonde hair, and green eyes. She was so beautiful that anyone passing by her can’t help but turn around once again to look at her. She was also extremely intelligent.

 

One day when she was fifteen, Rubiana suddenly realized that her younger sister was as smart as she was beautiful, or maybe even more than that.

 

In these difficult times, the criteria for the succession of titles and families wasn’t about who was born first, but having the ability to keep that title and the family safe.

 

Shouldn’t the Great Count Luxen, when thinking of her younger sister, Callena, consider these things?

 

Even though she was thinking about it seriously, “Sister, I will take this lace. I think it suits me better,” Callena was waving the lace woven with silver thread in front of her.

 

She was her younger sister who was not only smart but also only thirteen, coveting her older sister’s belongings.

 

The big lace Callena waving in front of her was a gift bought by her father for Rubiana’s fifteenth birthday as a present.

 

“You better get those dirty hands off it right now.”

 

Forgetting about how genius her younger sister is, her right to inherit the family, or the future ahead, Rubiana rushed towards Callena. How dare you touch your older sister’s heavenly personal belongings? This deserves a punishment. 

 

Rubiana grabbed her sister and dragged her to the study where her tutor was. She organized her thoughts as she watched her younger sister be scolded as a result of failing to do her homework. And when Callena was old enough not to touch her older sister’s belongings, she decided to tell her parents about her thoughts.

 

And before she could tell her parents her decision, her parents were called to the capital and killed.

 

They were killed for the reason of contempt towards the royal family. It was said that the pearl they offered to the king had a dent the size of a speck.

 

Neither Rubiana nor Callena was an adult when it happened.

 

Their maternal uncle rushed to the scene as the guardian of the two. Her maternal uncle became the acting Count Luxen on behalf of his young nieces. The first thing he did was to go to the capital, giving the highest tax the Count Luxen can offer, and retrieve the bodies of the Count and the Countess.

 

Rubiana greeted her parents’ bodies while hugging the sobbing Callena.

 

Their bodies weren’t intact and there were clear traces of all kinds of monstrous torture they went through.

 

Rubiana watched without blinking as her parents’ bodies entered the funeral home. She released the hand covering her younger sister’s eyes when the door to the undertaker’s house closed.

 

(T/N: In case you don’t know what an undertaker is, they were people who took care of the dead bodies and prepared them for funeral. )

 

The funeral lasted for three days. It was originally supposed to last until seven days but only three days were allowed as they had sinned against the King. There were also no mourners.

 

Those three days was the period of time Rubiana engraved the resolutions she made one day when she was fifteen.

 

Her maternal uncle was a sensible and just man. He didn’t dare covet over Count Luxen, and thought that he must return it to his nieces.

 

When Rubiana was 18 years old and had her coming-of-age ceremony, her maternal uncle tried to hand her the title of Count Luxen. Rubiana refused, saying that it wasn’t the time yet, so the position of the successor was kept vacant.

 

Then a month before she turned 20, Callena celebrated her 18th birthday, and Rubiana gave her the Luxen family seal ring as a gift. It means that she was giving up the right of succession to the family and she was handing over the title of Count Luxen to Callena.

 

Rubiana was the heir of Count Luxen for 20 years – she didn’t do anything wrong, she also led the affairs of the Luxen family really well as the successor, so there was a lot of opposition from their vassals and relatives.

 

In order to convince them, Rubiana was forced to give up her worldly life. She declared that she would choose suitable monasteries built in the Count Luxen’s territory to live her whole life as a monk, renouncing all of her worldly rights. Then the vassals no longer bothered her.

 

With no one there was to object to her, everything proceeded smoothly.

 

Callena stayed silent – she neither refused her 18th birthday gift nor stopped her from announcing her intention to enter the monastery. So everyone believed that the two sisters had already talked about it and acted as it was.

 

＊＊＊

 

The night before Rubiana was to leave for the monastery, Callena crawled into Rubiana’s bed in her pajamas.

 

“Sister.”

 

“…….”

 

“Don’t pretended you’re sleeping, I can see your eyes moving.”

 

“… … Your sister is sleeping.”

 

“You’re not sleeping.”

 

“I’m really sleeping.”

 

“Then quickly wake up and open your eyes.”

 

Callena pressed her pillow against Rubiana’s stomach.

 

“Ugh.”

 

Rubiana had no choice but to open her eyes, feeling sleepy.

 

Callena put the pillow she was carrying next to Rubiana’s pillow and slammed it down. A handful of feathers came out and covered Rubiana’s face. While Rubiana groaned and busily brushed away the feathers, Callena quickly lay down on the bed and pulled the quilt up to her neck.

 

“What, there is no thunder right now.

 

“I’m not afraid of thunder anymore!”

 

“Then why did you come?”

 

Haaa. Rubiana yawned and lay down next to Callena. She wasn’t sleeping but that doesn’t mean she wasn’t sleepy.

 

“I have something to tell you.”

 

“Say it.”

 

“I know why you want to go to the monastery. You’re going there so you can play and eat comfortably for the rest of your life, right?”

 

“Hey, will you let me go if I said it that way?”

 

“Then tell me why.”

 

“It is, but shouldn’t you say something else in this case?”

 

“I know you’ll be fine.”

 

“No way.”

 

“No, sister has always been like that. You’re still trying to sleep, keep your eyes open.”

 

Callena pinched Rubiana’s arm but won’t hurt her, while she also swung her arm to and from.

 

“I know why you chose that monastery. It is the place where our family donates the most every year. If you really wanted to turn my back on the world and return to God while praying for our parents’ well-being, you would have gone to the Amel Monastery next to it.”

 

“Hey, I won’t go there even if I die. Being a count is that good.”

 

“The Rutel Abbey is a place where the Abbot is also a distant relative of us, and the discipline is loose and almost non-existent. A lazy person like my older sister can eat and play while sleeping for 20 hours a day.”

 

“… … Well, I don’t really sleep for twenty hours.”

 

“You have to eat three meals a day, so fifteen hours?”

 

“…….”

 

Indeed, her younger sister is smart. Why do I need to pretend to be faithful in front of my sister who says that? Rubiana erased her calm and depressed expression in front of her relatives.

 

“Please donate well in the future. The abbot there is a greedy man, so if the donations go down, I may be harassed.

 

“Look at what my sister is doing.”

 

“What can I do?”

 

“I won’t tell you to write a letter first because there’s no way a lazy person like my sister can do it. Instead, if I send a letter, be sure to reply within three days. Send it to me within a week.”

 

“I will try.”

 

“Don’t try, you must do it.”

 

Callena fell into the arms of Rubiana.

 

“Oh, hey. Why are you doing this disgusting act?”

 

Rubiana was terrified and tried to pull Callena away, but after hearing a sniff from her bosom, she refused to push her away. Instead, she patted Callena’s shoulder.

 

“Are you crying?”

 

“Do you really have to say it?”

 

“Who is the one who keeps talking even if she dies?”

 

“It’s because my sister said that.”

 

“Yes, yes. It’s all my fault.”

 

Rubiana pretended not to notice that her shoulders were getting wet. Instead, she brought out her inner thoughts, which she had been hesitating about whether to say it or not.

 

“Lena.”

 

“Hmm?”

 

“Don’t even think about getting revenge.”

 

“…….”

 

“Your sister was lazy, so I decided not to.”

 

“It was to protect me.”

 

“No, it was because it would be a bother and it was only fleeting, so your sister gave up, and that’s why don’t do it either.”

 

“…….”

 

“Let’s just live like this. I play and eat in moderation, and you, who are smart, manage our family well.”

 

“…… Sister.”

 

“Listen to your sister, don’t do it. Forget it all. Just live. Let’s just live.”

 

“…….”

 

The arms hugging Callena tightened as Rubiana held her while sobbing. But she can’t tell her older sister to release her hand because she’s proud of her. Even if it was a mistake, she kept her mouth shut so as to not make a sound, and just wiped her shoulder.

 

Rubiana pretended that she didn’t know how her younger sister’s shoulders were trembling and her shoulder was getting hot, from where her face was touching. They stayed up all night like that.

 

＊＊＊

 

Rubiana was beaten on her shoulder early in the morning for making fun of Callena who had swollen eyes.

 

The morning quickly faded away. She prepared a bow and a bunch of arrows her father used, a few clothes, books, and a silver pocket bag to stuff the abbot.