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In her vague memories, she recalled his companions mentioning divorce regarding this marriage.
Was this marriage, perhaps, predicated on a parting from the very beginning?
Was that why Rahan was trying not to form a deep relationship with her?
Was the statement, ‘I liked you from the start,’ actually a burden to him?
The cold skin of the lizard was transmitted directly to Iris's palm.
“You know.”
The lizard shook its head. Iris became curious.
‘It’s not even my pet. It just unilaterally sticks to me.’
That was what Rahan had said about this lizard. But for someone who said that, he had brought it from the Grand Duchy and seemed to feed it.
Rahan claimed he didn't feed it, but any living creature must eat. Since the lizard didn't eat much of what Iris gave it, she could only conclude that Rahan was the one providing its meals.
“Is he always like that? I mean, doing nice things even though he doesn't even like it….”
Halfway through, Iris closed her mouth. No. In the eyes Rahan looked at her with, she had read a vivid desire.
Then what on earth was it?
“I just can't figure your master out.”
Naturally, Iris was not Rahan, so she did not know the twenty-odd years he had lived.
She felt it was unfair that others called him the child of a demon and such. However, it was difficult to guess how much the heart of a person who had endured those grueling times had been worn down.
That was because, in Iris's eyes, Rahan was an excessively wonderful person.
She simply could not understand why the coolest person she had seen in her twenty years of life was pushing her away.
“I'm just saying pathetic things. I'm sorry.”
The pink lizard simply stared at her quietly.
* * *
In Vandel, the village where Wind Rock Monastery is located, there are no taverns. Since it is a small village, it wouldn't be profitable to sell only alcohol.
Instead, the place where the village youths gathered instead of a tavern was the first floor of the inn. Since it was an area with few travelers, it was no exaggeration to say the innkeeper lived almost entirely off selling alcohol.
Today, as well, several youths were lounging on the first floor of the inn, drinking ale. Gathering for a glass of ale after the day's work was not an uncommon sight.
However, it was unusual that one of them was gulping down strong liquor.
“Damn it!”
It was Robbie. With his face flushed bright red, he was pouring several glasses of expensive distilled spirits down his throat.
It was alcohol the innkeeper had served with a look of great regret and annoyance. One of the youths tried to stop Robbie as he refilled his glass.
“Hey, stop drinking. What's up with him lately?”
“Leave him be. He got beaten to a pulp by his father.”
Another youth chuckled.
The village chief, Robbie's father, had returned twelve nights ago.
As soon as he returned from Arnsberg, he counted the goats, which were his number one asset. Seeing that his assets had gone from forty to thirty-eight, it was only natural for the chief to flip out.
‘Where did two goats go!’
The chief's wife rushed out late to explain the situation and showed him gold coins. Robbie had sent two as a wedding gift for Iris; one was bought by Laura, and the other was paid for by her husband.
The chief flinched when he saw the gold coins. No matter how you looked at it, a gold coin for one goat was excessive. It was enough money to buy ten, no, twenty goats.
From the chief's perspective, there was no greater stroke of luck.
But there are things in the world that money cannot solve. For example, pride, and anger that hasn't fully subsided. Feeling it would be embarrassing to just say ‘Is that so?’ and pocket the gold coins immediately, the chief took it out on his easy target of a son.
‘Robbie! Where did this brat go!’
Unaware that his father had returned, Robbie, who had been flirting with the neighbor's maid, was immediately dragged back by the scruff of his neck.
‘You brat! What were you thinking, giving away a nursing doe to that house!’
‘He paid for them, Father!’
‘You idiot! Is money everything? What about the kids' milk!’
Robbie, who had also been cursed out by the chief's wife after Rahan's visit, felt only resentment. That bastard had clearly thrown gold coins and left.
‘Ah, why is Father only yelling at me!’
‘Because you're the only one causing trouble, you brat!’
‘Then I'll go to that house and get the goats back, okay?’
The chief got even angrier upon hearing Robbie's words. Because then he would have to return the gold coins.
If he hadn't received them, it would be one thing, but seeing the money he had received, his greed flared up separately from the loss of the goats.
‘You brat, you think I don't know you're just trying to hit on Iris! Don't you dare go near that house!’
‘I—I'm not!’
‘What do you mean you're not! Is there anyone in this village who doesn't know you've been lusting after Iris?’
Since there wasn't a single village youth who hadn't harbored feelings for Iris at least once, the frame placed on Robbie felt slightly unfair.
However, the chief used that as an excuse to beat Robbie thoroughly.
‘Do you know how restless Arnsberg is right now? With the Potato Blight acting up, a goat you raise is more precious than gold coins!’
Robbie didn't know how serious the Potato Blight was. Regardless, it was clear that his father had found one more excuse to beat him.
Resentful, Robbie walked on eggshells for a few days. But that didn't last long. Eventually, Robbie stole money from his father's wallet today and bought the most expensive strong liquor at the inn.
And that led to the present.
“I mean, even if it was a wedding gift, he paid the full price for the goats in the end. Did I really do something that wrong?”
One of the guys who had been getting free drinks from him shrugged.
“Geez. Still, taking two goats was crossing the line, you brat. What would have happened if that husband guy hadn't paid?”
“Hey, that husband guy is a total thug. Looking at the way he dresses, he must have seduced hundreds of women. And his eyes are so bloodshot.”
The other youths chuckled at Robbie's slander. Watching this, the innkeeper, who was tidying the fireplace, clicked his tongue.
“Robbie, let me tell you, stop sticking your nose in Iris's business. I'm on your father's side.”
“Ah, why are you like this too, Mister!”
“That husband person stayed at our inn, didn't he.”
The innkeeper remembered that Rahan had stayed for a few days with his adjutant before kidnapping Iris.
He had looked suspicious to anyone, but at the same time, it was obvious he wasn't of ordinary status. He had been so shocked later to hear that the man had kidnapped Iris from the monastery and made her his wife.
“Even at a glance, he's no ordinary person. If you get mixed up with swordsmen, you could end up dead. Besides, they say Iris is a daughter of a noble house. You won't be involved with her anymore, so stop it and find a suitable woman to marry, quickly.”
The innkeeper's advice was half-sincere. And while the immature youths didn't know, the village was currently in a restless atmosphere.
After the chief returned with news that the Potato Blight was spreading in Arnsberg, all the villagers dug up their own potato fields.
As a result, they found that more than half were infected with the Potato Blight. That alone was enough to drive them crazy, but the baffling events didn't stop there.
The day after the chief returned, the blacksmith's wife, who had gone to pick herbs near the monastery forest in the afternoon, discovered a pool of black blood.
Because the priests of the monastery were flustered by the appearance of such a large magical beast, they had focused on burning the carcass and completely forgotten to deal with the pool of blood.
Riet had worked hard to clean up, but that was only for the body. She couldn't possibly deal with all those enormous bloodstains.
Naturally, the woman fainted, and upon waking, ran back to the village.
A few villagers, realizing the pitch-black blood belonged to a magical beast, immediately rushed to the monastery to ask what had happened. But strangely, the priests all kept their mouths shut.
‘A pool of blood? We don't know much about it. Perhaps someone made a mistake while hunting?’
But the people were not fools. They didn't miss the faint smell of sulfur wafting from the monastery.
Circumstantially, it was clear the priests had dealt with a magical beast, yet no one would open their mouth. It was incomprehensible.
As the villagers knew, a lord would usually buy a magical beast's carcass for a high price.
Furthermore, dealing with a magical beast at the monastery would be proof that the priests' divine power was high. There was no reason to keep it a secret.
So why were they staying silent?
Someone cautiously speculated.
‘Could it be… that outsider is involved? They say he's the child of a demon.’
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