I’ve Become a S*ave Bride - Chapter 32
The “market day” that Kazen had visited earlier was a rare occasion, a “special market” where even those who usually didn’t open their stalls came out to sell all sorts of things. Naturally, even on days without such special markets, the regular market remained open.
Lenette, who had received permission to go out, initially thought she would head to that “regular market.” However, the direction she was currently taking was the exact opposite.
“The market is that way, not this way. If you want to buy herbs, you need to go in that direction,” one of the guards pointed out.
“I know,” Lenette replied casually, continuing her steady steps towards the less populated area.
Seeing her go that way, Nazan and the palace guards following her exchanged puzzled glances. Since she was aware of where she was going, they didn’t particularly stop her. It wasn’t a dangerous direction, after all.
After walking for a while, Lenette finally came to a halt. The place she stopped at was the river that ran through the village.
As she looked around the riverbank, she spotted a patch of thick grass and walked over to it as if drawn. After crouching down for a moment, she suddenly stood up and reached out her hand to Nazan.
“Could you pass me the basket I asked for?”
“May I ask what you intend to do?” Nazan inquired, taken aback.
“I want to check the herbs.”
Nazan, flustered, tried to help her up. “You can request the herbs from the herb merchant.”
“But most of those herbs are dried, right? It’s better for me to see them in their raw form to compare them with the plants from my hometown.”
“…Even so, the sunlight is quite strong. You might have health issues if you’re not careful.”
“I’m fine. I’ll only do it until it becomes too much. Oh, and the others can go find some shade. I’ll be done soon.”
Saying that, she pretended not to notice Nazan’s troubled expression and squatted back down.
“This one looks similar to Smalcho. Hmm.”
Nazan silently looked down at her and, with a sigh, gave orders to his subordinate guards.
“Have everyone keep a lookout in all directions.”
“Yes, understood.”
* * *
As soon as Kazen returned to the palace, he received a report from Najan regarding Lenette’s activities.
“She spent half a day investigating wild herbs?”
“Yes. And she even dug up some herself.”
“Dug them up herself?”
Kazen’s steps, which had been ascending to the next floor, finally came to a halt.
“What? The herbs?”
“Yes.”
“She did it with her own hands instead of asking you or others to do it?”
“I tried to help her, but she vehemently refused, saying it would damage the roots.”
Not just a refusal, but a ‘vehement’ one. Truly, she is quite a peculiar woman.
“She didn’t go anywhere else?”
“No. As soon as she left this place, she headed straight for the riverbank without hesitation, so it seems she planned to go there from the beginning.”
“Is that so.”
Kazen resumed moving.
Upon reaching the second floor, where the newlywed room and Lenette’s personal room were located, he stood at the stairs, alternating his gaze between the right and left sides where the rooms were.
“Where is she now?”
“She’s in the laboratory.”
They had recently cleared out the tea table from the bride’s room and replaced it with a comfortable desk and chair. Additionally, they had installed shelves and drawers for books and herbs.
Because of that, they were calling it the ‘laboratory.’
“Got it. Go back to what you were doing.”
“Yes, understood.”
Kazen’s toes pointed towards the laboratory. As he was about to burst through the door as usual, Lenette’s muttering suddenly came to mind.
“…Does it hurt to speak nicely?”
It wasn’t just the words. Lenette’s frequency of grumbling in Ecaronian about Kazen’s unrefined actions had been gradually increasing.
It didn’t seem like she was doing it intentionally; it felt like a reaction that slipped out unconsciously.
Kazen, who had been staring down at the hand gripping the doorknob, eventually raised that hand.
Knock, knock.
“Are you inside?”
Before long, the door opened.
“What is it?”
She slightly opened the door and peeked out, her eyes widening in surprise at Kazen’s unexpected behavior.
“What are you staring at like that?”
Feeling embarrassed, Kazen pushed her forehead gently and stepped into the room.
“You said you went to gather herbs.”
Lenette, who was rubbing her forehead where Kazen had touched, nodded reluctantly.
“Yes. I wanted to study while I was at it.”
“Are you short on herbs?”
“Not exactly, but I wanted to see them with my own eyes.”
“So, did you get satisfactory results?”
“There’s no way that could happen. It was just once.”
She naturally approached the desk and began to touch the sorted herbs.
As Kazen followed her and glanced at the herbs, he noticed her dirty hands.
‘She must have worked hard.’
“Did you usually gather herbs yourself?”
Kazen knew that wasn’t the case. Her hands were too fair and delicate to belong to someone who regularly foraged for herbs.
“That’s not it. In Ecaron, we usually relied on herbalists, and only in special cases would we go out to gather herbs ourselves.”
“Really?”
Even while responding, Kazen quietly looked down at the woman organizing the herbs behind him.
It wasn’t just for show; she was genuinely focused on her work.
Why is she working so hard? She doesn’t seem particularly driven by a sense of duty as a healer.
“You, I mean.”
As Kazen started speaking, Lenette abruptly turned her head and opened her eyes wide in surprise.
Her bold reaction made Kazen chuckle softly.
“What? What’s the problem now?”
“Why do you keep calling me ‘you’?”
“Then what should I call you?”
“You could just say my name.”
“Leneta?”
“Yes, that one.”
Her response was as if he were mentioning someone else’s name.
Kazen stepped closer to her. With his arms crossed and leaning slightly, he tilted his head.
“That’s not even your real name.”
Did she not expect him to point that out so directly?
Though her expression didn’t change much, she seemed flustered, as she didn’t immediately respond with something like, “That is my real name!”
Seeing her reaction, Kazen was convinced that the name was fake and smirked as he asked again.
“Why do you keep asking me to call you by that fake name?”
“……”
After a brief silence, she sighed and opened her mouth.
“I see you noticed after all.”
“It’s an awkward name to use in your neighborhood.”
“…You know quite a bit about Ecaron, don’t you?”
“Not as much as someone who knows about Tazetra.”
Lenette shook her head with a look of resignation.
“That’s right. ‘Leneta’ isn’t my name.”
“You’ve lied twice now.”
“I’m sorry. I heard a lot of strange stories about you on the way here, so I had to be cautious.”
Though she didn’t add much explanation, Kazen understood what she meant well enough.
“My name is… ‘Lene.’”
Kazen stared at her silently.
“It’s true. My family and friends all called me ‘Lene.’”
From her words, Kazen noticed two things.
‘So, it seems ‘Lene’ isn’t her real name.’
But that didn’t mean her words were a lie; she must have indeed been called ‘Lene.’
‘Is it a nickname?’
It was yet another attempt to deceive him, but it didn’t bother him.
‘That’s acceptable for now.’
In fact, if she were to reveal her real name without hesitation at this stage, that would be even stranger.
“Lene. Now that’s a name that suits you. ‘Leneta’ never fit you.”
She seemed to agree, nodding slightly.
Kazen turned his gaze back to the herbs she had gathered. Picking one up, he examined it closely.
“Do you know this herb?”
“No. I’m just looking at it.”
Not finding anything particularly special, he dropped the herb and looked back at Lene.
“Do you seriously want to start working as a healer?”
Was it a sudden proposal? She stared at him intently.
“If you’re capable of gathering herbs like this, it doesn’t seem like you lack passion.”
“That’s true.”
“I’ll set up a clinic in the village.”
At that, she shook her head with an enigmatic smile.
“No, thank you.”
This time, Kazen was surprised. He hadn’t expected her to refuse.
“No, thank you?”
“Yes.”
“Why not?”
“Because I don’t want to play doctor to that extent.”
“Doctor?”
“In Ecaron, we call healers ‘doctors.’ Anyway, I don’t have the passion or calling to open a clinic under my name.”
Kazen understood that much.
However, even if she lacked a sense of calling as a healer, she seemed to have a strong desire for freedom.
“Opening a clinic could make things more convenient, you know?”
“Convenient? How so?”
Was he asking knowingly, or was he genuinely unaware?
“I mean, you wouldn’t have to stay in this abandoned palace all the time.”
“Ah… that?”
“‘Ah, that?’”
What was with that reaction?
It was as if she had no intention of escaping at all, her demeanor so carefree.
As if reading Kazen’s thoughts, Lene rolled her eyes slightly upward and then let out a light sigh.
“Having lived here… it doesn’t seem entirely bad.”
“What’s not bad?”
Could it be that living in this abandoned palace wasn’t bad?
Or perhaps… her role as his ‘bride’?
