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But secrets are not kept so easily. The innkeeper had also heard the story from the blacksmith this morning.
However, the innkeeper also knew that he shouldn't tell that story to those stupid, hot-blooded youths. Thus, all he offered was a general warning to ‘not mess with the swordsman.’
“If those brats mess with that swordsman, they'll be in for a world of hurt.”
He had said it out of his own kind of worry. Everyone was already on edge because their crops were about to be ruined; if even one person got hurt, the village atmosphere would become uncontrollable.
“Honestly, these young ones.”
They didn't even think about how their parents were spending sleepless nights worrying.
“Ah, who's going to die!”
But Robbie didn't care. With a face flushed from alcohol, he shouted abruptly.
“Honestly, if she's such a precious girl from a noble house, her family would have taken her back long ago. Why'd they leave her sitting there in that state?”
“Uh, that's true.”
“Even if she was kidnapped, shouldn't her family have brought her back?”
Of course, they were saying this because the youths had no way of knowing the circumstances of the high-ranking officials.
The older adults of the village could roughly guess the situation of why Iris remained near the monastery with her ‘husband.’ More accurately, they understood it as something having gone wrong between the high-ranking officials.
A marriage influenced by high-ranking people that they had no business interfering with.
For rural peasants, it was something they absolutely wanted to avoid. And the name Achen was a name that no one in the Empire was unaware of.
But to the youths, it seemed that a girl from such a famous house being married off like a kidnapping and then ending up back at the monastery made her seem insignificant and easy to handle.
“No matter how famous that family is! I heard nobles have no power if they aren't direct descendants. Maybe she's just from some very distant branch family or something?”
“In the first place, if she were a truly important girl, they would have taken her to the Achen Grand Duchy to get married! Would they marry her off in this middle-of-nowhere countryside?”
“Right!”
They say knowing a little is the most dangerous thing. The youths began to chatter away as they pleased.
The innkeeper, sensing that the drunken youths were no longer people he could reason with, sighed and disappeared into the backyard. He, too, was equally worried about the potatoes in his backyard.
Regardless, the youths continued to chatter. Since everyone had harbored feelings for Iris at least once, their speculations branched out wildly.
“I heard she's not affiliated with the monastery anymore? Then why doesn't she come down to the village and live in the monastery hut? There are plenty of empty houses in the village.”
“That hut is only used briefly in the summer when my brother worked as the field hand. Isn't that husband guy a nobody too?”
That was, of course, to prepare for attacks targeting Iris Achen. Indeed, had a knight of House Achen not attacked them?
If a target that others were eyeing with glinting eyes stayed in the village, civilians could get hurt.
Therefore, Abbot Wilbert had let the two of them stay in the field hand's hut out of consideration for the people of Vandel village.
But the ignorant youths, naturally, could not have guessed that far.
Instead, they focused their energy on lewd gossip about a girl who was quiet and shy, but had been raped by some rogue and forced into marriage.
“Damn, lucky bastard. Isn't she a girl who's been in the convent her whole life? She's probably never been touched by another man.”
“She always keeps herself wrapped up tight, but she's got great breasts. I was planning to be the first to go to confession if that girl ever became a priestess. I'd go into the confessional and say, 'Father, my cock hurts...'”
“You crazy bastard.”
Low, vulgar laughter filled the air among the young men.
“But isn't this actually a good thing? That girl who acted so high and mighty has finally tasted a man. Who knows, now that she's had it once, she might want to try others.”
“Unless she goes insane, she'd never want to taste you.”
“What's wrong with me!”
“Look at that guy's face. Even so, he's incomparable to you, who looks like you were ground into a rock field. Be grateful that Mari lives with you.”
It was a conversation so low-class it would have made anyone overhearing it blush. However, drunk and knowing they were alone, the men grew louder.
Naturally, the topic shifted to the outsider who was Iris's husband.
“Hey, but that swordsman bastard is scattering an insane amount of money in the village. Seems like he's got plenty.”
“Right. Sister Millie was bragging about it while showing off some gold coins.”
The young men whispered. Rumors had already spread throughout the village about the outsider who spent money generously on daily necessities and various other things. A man who gave gold coins for the price of a goat.
Furthermore, Laura and the Vera Sisters had repeatedly praised the groom, saying he was incredibly handsome and spent money freely.
“Son of a bitch. He probably thinks having a bit of money is everything...”
It was only natural, in a way, for resentment toward the man to arise among the drunks.
An outsider boasting about his wealth. Moreover, women liked him for no apparent reason.
The fact that he was the husband of Iris—someone most of the village youths had liked at least once—played a part, but the fact that he had raped Iris to take that spot made it worse.
The young men were suddenly overcome by an abrupt sense of justice.
“Isn't Iris probably crying right now?”
“Maybe. Poor thing, what is she to do?”
It was an unbelievable shift in attitude, considering they had been spouting nonsense about Iris just moments ago.
One of them slammed the table with a thud, indignant.
“Bastard. Coming from the outside and messing with the women of our village?”
It was quite a sight to behold, considering she wasn't his woman, only a fellow villager. If the innkeeper had been there, he would have kicked them out, shouting, “You lunatics, go to sleep!” but unfortunately, he was absent.
“Hey. Should we show that bastard a taste of bitterness?”
The young men's eyes gleamed.
* * *
“I'm worried.”
Rahan clicked his tongue as he looked at the potatoes Iris had dug up.
It was exactly as Priest Vera had said about the Potato Blight returning. Since it seemed to be time to harvest the potatoes planted in the backyard of the cottage, Iris had pulled up a few plants, but more than half were shriveled husks.
“I really wanted to make fresh potato potage for dinner tonight.”
The potatoes were literally shriveled and shrunk.
When he tried splitting one in half, the inside was dried up black and emitted a strange smell. Even the potatoes that looked fine were mostly drying from the inside out once split open.
“Are the potatoes stored in the cellar okay?”
The potatoes Rahan rummaged out of the cellar were in decent condition.
The man breathed a sigh of relief inwardly, glad that some had survived. Because of the awkward atmosphere over the past few days, he had wanted to break the tension by making something delicious for Iris.
The fact that Iris had been scurrying about alone, telling the patient to stay lying down, also played a part.
Rahan felt terribly sorry. Seeing that small, thin girl whispering to herself while trying to make something in front of the outdoor hearth, he felt like sitting her down and telling her that she was the one who needed to eat delicious food and put on some weight.
Eventually, after some bickering, the two agreed to call Auntie Laura.
What must Auntie Laura have thought, being called to that tiny cottage?
Of course, she welcomed the extra money from the hired work, but she muttered to herself several times, “What am I doing between a newlywed couple?” making the back of Rahan's neck flush.
That was why Rahan had stepped up to prepare the meal today. However, Iris shook her head.
“If the field at this cottage is like this, then the fields at the convent must be the same... This is truly a disaster.”
Rahan, who had been thinking only about the potato potage for Iris, felt a bit embarrassed.
“If there are no potatoes... maybe we could eat meat?”
Even he thought it sounded like a dim-witted suggestion. He had said it hoping Iris would smile a little, but she looked up at Rahan with a face that seemed to ask what on earth he was talking about.
“That might be possible for a short while, but the people of this village can't all live on meat alone...”
Rahan became twice as embarrassed.
“Sorry.”
He had wanted Iris, who had been awkward and depressed, to smile even a little, but it seemed to have had the opposite effect.
'Damn it.'
It was a stupid thing to say that Riet would have laughed at hysterically.
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