WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Malfoid

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◈ Fragments of Thorns and a Cradle ◈

Chapter 32

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She shook her head as though she might cry and looked around. Endymion watched her coldly. Marie patted the back of the son in her arms and wiped her wet cheek. Young Ewin burrowed into her chest, pressing his face into the expensive silk and shaking his head.

"Hush, hush."

Marie made a soft sound of breath as she soothed him. It was familiar, but Endymion did not like it today.

He called Madame Flandme, who waited in the distance. She rushed over to take the child from Marie's arms. Marie shook her head, but soon gave Ewin to her. The problem began then. Something had upset Ewin, and he wriggled and began whining again.

"I will take care of him. You are the host of the banquet, Master, so please stay with the marchioness."

"Do not presume to order me around. Come here and behave prettily."

Marie moved her lips. She watched the child being carried away with a sad face, then glanced at Henrietta. Henrietta had been entirely pushed out of the marquess's sight and stood among her birth family.

"If you ignore the marchioness on a day like today, surely..."

"I will handle that. And if anyone spreads talk because of today, I will handle them in my own way."

"But..."

"You are San Arzok's woman."

Endymion pulled Marie close by the waist. Holding her narrow waist, he seemed to feel a little better. He lowered his head, pressed his lips to her nape, and breathed in her scent.

"You are beautiful."

"..."

"I gave you a necklace. Why are you not wearing it?"

Marie lowered her gaze. She looked dizzy simply standing there. At Endymion's words, her eyes darkened abruptly.

She shifted her gaze over Endymion's tailcoat. It was not the one she had chosen. Had Henrietta altered this too?

Marie had heard that Henrietta had ordered everything she touched while preparing the banquet to be replaced. From candlesticks, tableware, and vases to banners and curtains, everything had been removed and changed. Marie thought it might be for the best.

It was right for Henrietta to prepare the banquet from beginning to end. Marie should not have participated in it or hosted such an important event. Unless Henrietta's place had been visibly empty as it had the previous year, Marie should not sit back and receive reports while Henrietta was there.

Henrietta should oversee it according to her own tastes and all she had learned and built. There was no place for Marie here.

'She has reason to hate me. I am a girl she would hate even if I did nothing, and I have only done hateful things, so she must be even angrier.'

But...

"You seem low-spirited today."

"No."

"Then what is it?"

"It is not that. I am only a little nervous..."

Marie lowered her head and let out a broken breath. She saw his cravat, tied neatly around his neck. His tailcoat, fitting his flawless body, was a deep navy almost black.

The tailcoat Marie had chosen was an elegant sky blue nearly gray, matched to the dress Marie had selected for Henrietta.

Because of the occasion, the marquess and marchioness needed to appear affectionate and harmonious. They were at an age when they should be sharing love and intending to prosper their household, so Marie remembered personally making a design that evoked their wedding and giving it to the dressmaker.

But they wore different dress and tailcoat. Even the fabric and colors differed, making them look nothing like a married couple.

Henrietta wore a navy dress slightly brighter than Marie's. Its saturation was brighter, making it similar to the family banner's color. But Endymion wore a lower-saturation navy tailcoat, nearly black.

Above all, he wore the tailcoat Marie had given him for the first time. The family crest and white lilies Marie had embroidered herself adorned its sleeves, cravat, and fastenings.

'You made this?'

Marie swallowed the rising feeling and remembered Endymion's smile that day.

It was a tailcoat she had given him for his twenty-seventh birthday. As soon as Endymion saw it in the box, he buried his face in it as though kissing it.

'It smells like you.'

Marie's heart had fluttered as Endymion looked at her with a gentle gaze.

'Embroider lilies here too.'

'Lilies?'

Lilies were flowers. They were the most common flowers in San Arzok and sometimes used to describe the women of San Arzok, but they were not a symbol placed on a man's tailcoat.

'Because that is you.'

He whispered in a tender low voice. The tip of Marie's nose reddened, and she glanced at him. Endymion smiled as he softly held her waist.

'It means you will be with me forever. So embroider lilies wherever the Gwendel family seal appears.'

His red lips brushed Marie's nose. Marie became a little tearful, unable to control her pounding heart. Endymion habitually bit her earlobe and enjoyed the sound of her sniffling.

Endymion silently watched the woman whose eyelids had reddened. He had worn the first tailcoat she had given him so she would recognize it. She had secretly prepared it for months. Marie was skilled at embroidery. Sewing was what she did best among everything she had learned.

She had used those skilled hands to make baby clothes, decorate his cravats, and create family banners to adorn San Arzok.

Thus, every banquet held until last year had been full of decorations marked by Marie's hands. Endymion liked that. A banquet Marie held in Marie's home. He wanted to live there with Marie forever.

"Look over there."

Whispering voices reached them. Endymion stared at the people. As though staging a protest, those fools gathered together and fanned themselves.

"Oh, do you think something so improper begged the marquess to bring her to a place like this?"

The voice was low enough to barely hear. Endymion glared at the woman with features that looked familiar. The women flinched under his cruel gaze. Henrietta's younger sister especially trembled and tucked herself in like a frightened dog.

"How dare a slave forget her station."

Endymion stopped walking. He stared at the face of the girl who had carelessly spoken without knowing her place, just as she said. Was she Henrietta's cousin? Endymion watched her coldly.

He looked at her to remember her face, promising himself he would retaliate. The woman, perhaps frightened, turned her eyes away. Yet her face remained full of displeasure.

As Endymion was about to speak, Marie slipped out of his arms. She raised her head and shook it at him.

At that moment, the Duke of Durak approached Endymion. The young ladies of Nestro gracefully curtsied to him. The extremely handsome man possessed a beauty unlike Endymion's.

His gait was disciplined like a knight's, and his features were distinctly masculine. His eyes were sharp and vivid, his impression cynical. He was the opposite of Endymion, with his brilliant blond hair and blue eyes.

Yet when one looked closely at each fine feature, it was clear they were blood-related cousins. After all, they were close relatives descended from one ancestor.

Marie glanced at her friend following behind the duke. Ella's silver hair flowed long and brilliant as dawnlight. She wore amber ornaments fashioned like daffodils, though her attire was plainer than usual. Given the occasion, she had clearly dressed to avoid standing out.

Marie pressed her lips together, unable to control the nausea that had troubled her for some time. When Ella met Marie's eyes, she asked with her lips, 'What is wrong?'

Marie did not know what to say, so she looked at Ella as though she might cry. Seeing Ella made tears she had restrained for so long seem ready to spill.

But she could not cry. If she showed tears here, she would again be called a temptress who swayed men with tears.

Marie was always chewed up and torn apart, but today felt especially frightening and difficult. Was she more sensitive because she carried a child? She did not know.

Perhaps it was because this was her first public gathering with Endymion's wife. She had broken the etiquette expected of a female slave at such a large banquet and worn a dress more expensive than the mistress's.

When Endymion briefly left to greet the Duke of Durak, Marie watched him with an empty face.

"Wait here for a moment. I will come get you soon."

Perhaps he felt her eyes on him, for Endymion turned back. Marie neither nodded nor answered. The two men left, leaving only Marie and Ella.

Considering the order of the banquet, Endymion would soon go smoke with the nobles and knights in a place reserved for men. Lucrezia would be meeting members of her birth family after so long.

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