Albrecht’s Pearl 62

Chapter 62

***

Caius frowned, then rubbed the nape of his neck, as if annoyed.

"I'm a little confused, Louise. I thought I were pushing you to the point of poisoning yourself so you wouldn’t get pregnant, so I've been minding my own business."

"I didn't do it because I didn't like......... it, I told you."

Caius sighed.

"Is Martin nagging you, or is it the maid? Learn to keep their words in moderation and out of one ear."

The man looked up, his brow less creased than it had been at first. Louise took a courageous step forward and ran her hand over the buttons of his vest.

"Ha."

Caius clicked his tongue, pent-up anger overtaking his furrowed brow.

"What the hell is this, you have a favor to ask, just say it."

Louise answered his irritation with a steady voice.

"Get some sleep then leave later................... You look tired."

"......That's your favor?"

"Yes."

She could see him biting his lip, so she must have been wrong after all. She thought he had lost all his arrogance after what had happened.

But then he asked.

"Don't you regret it? I've had enough, and I don't feel like looking out for you anymore."

Louise nodded slowly.

"......I don't."

His golden eyes flared with a mixture of anger and desire.

He seemed torn between unleashing a barrage of verbal abuse and a barrage of rough kisses, but it didn't take him long to decide.

Their lips collided and their clothes fell off.

Louise collapsed into a heap with him, relieved at the familiar weight.

A strange relationship, I know.

Still, it was better than sleepless nights side by side across a short hallway. They may not be able to communicate, but they could share warmth.

His body was hot and hard against her palm, as always.

Caius buried his face in the nape of Louise's neck, pausing for a moment to take in her scent, then began tracing soft trails with his wet lips.

Soon the quiet room was filled with gasping breaths.

Louise swallowed her sobs throughout the night.

No matter how hot and steamy the man's embrace was, there was a creeping emptiness that she couldn't fill that made her heart ache.

Falling asleep was something she had begun to look forward to, but when she awoke, the man was gone.

Only the red marks on her body reminded her of his presence.

***

A week later.

Four horses were waiting in front of a four-wheeled carriage with the coat of arms of Burg gleaming in gold.

As the hired hands lined up in the garden to watch, Caius stroked Louise's cheek affectionately.

"I'm sorry to send you alone. You'll be safe, won't you?"

After the night she had the courage to ask him to spend the night with her, he and Louise were sharing a bed again. Imagine the delight of their employees, thinking that the couple had reconciled after a long cold war.

Louise forced a smile, feeling the expectant stares.

"Do your best not to worry, Your Excellency, and have a good trip."

While she was in Imperiale Celle, Caius would be visiting the Duchy of Galicia. With that in mind, Caius grinned.

"Well, good luck, I mean, have a safe trip, don't get hurt."

The man's thick thumb brushed across Louise's lower lip. With a little effort, he pushed it slightly apart, and his eyes met hers with longing.

As he tugged at her lower lip, Louise's heels lifted off the ground. Her golden, winged lashes fell effortlessly, hiding her green eyes.

She knew how cold he was.

Shw knew that he only wanted to use her and punish her, but at times like this, her heart flutters every time.

If he hadn't been born into the imperial family, he could have been an actor, Louise thought sarcastically, and stifled her excitement.

The stares of the hired hands were intense. The kiss became more insistent and slower as everyone watched.

After a long kiss, the man finally pulled away.

Caius put his arm around Louise's shoulders in a dignified manner and walked among the servants. Then he personally escorted her to the carriage.

Pauline, who had checked her luggage the entire way, followed behind. The coachman shut the door as if he'd been waiting for her and sat down.

"Goodbye, then."

Michael, who had agreed to accompany her, bowed before mounting his horse. Caius urged, his face serious.

"Be very careful."

"Of course, Your Excellency."

The carriage soon set off.

Caius listened to the pounding hooves as they headed out of the manor.

"I see the two have made up." 

He heard the whispered voices of the young maids and pulled back his lips slightly.

It was worth the effort to bite his lips. From this week onward, every day would be an important one, and Louise would no longer sweat the small stuff. Domestic affairs were not to interfere.

****

Celle was in the north of the capital. It was not a distance that could be covered in a day by carriage, unless one were to change horses and overexert oneself.

So Louise ended up spending the night in a strange city.

"Wow, this is the first time I've ever slept outside, like, anywhere other than home or work."

Pauline exclaimed as she entered the inn. Michael interrupted, sounding dissatisfied.

"I apologize, ma'am. There are no cities outside of the capital that still have hotels, and this was the only inn we could find around here."

Saccharine eyes averted their gaze apologetically.

After last week's unexpected sharing of a small talk, he was a little easier to deal with than before. Louise replied softly.

"It's okay. I like it here."

Louise's sentiments were not unlike Pauline's.

The inn was lime-washed and shiny on the outside. The interior was also very clean.

It was twice as large as Melk's earthen house, and five times as clean.

There were two beds side by side in the bedroom, so Louise asked Pauline to share the room.

Pauline was surprised and said no, twice and thrice, but when Michael didn't argue, she followed Louise into the room.

"The quilt is incredibly soft, Madam!"

Louise was far more comfortable on her own choice of Burg bedding, but it was good to see Pauline so pleased.

"The next time the mansion is overhauled, I'll replace your bed in Burg with something better."

As she said this, Pauline stopped stroking the bedding and jumped to her feet.

"No, madam, you're talking about trouble!"

She placed her palms firmly on her hip and spoke with authority.

"I've only just escaped being bullied. Don't be nice to me in the manor, ma'am. You can kick me once when everyone else is looking."

Louise scratched her forehead in disbelief.

"What kind of lady kicks her maid?"

Pauline's eyes widened, and then she huffed out of the corner of her eye.

"Oh, if only there were more like my lady in the world."

Then she flopped back down on the bed and continued to stroke the quilt.

Louise giggled and flopped down on the bed as well. Outside the window, the sun was setting over the small garden.

***

The next day, the carriage carrying Louise and her entourage pulled into Parma on the capital.

There was a time in her childhood, when her family of three lived on the outskirts of Parma, in a place she didn’t remember.

Louise did not know the exact location of the house her mother so fondly remembered. She asked a few times, but never got an answer.

In retrospect, her mother had many secrets. The answers she waited for, hoping that she was still too young to understand, were never forthcoming.

But she did know that her father's remains were buried in the parish of Gotha in the west. It was a long way away, but if she could, she would visit once a year on his anniversary.

This time, of course, she couldn't afford it.

Pauline stared out the window for a long time, her nose pressed against the glass, and then, as if on cue, she asked.

"Has Madam ever been to the capital?"

Louise remembered the red-roofed house her mother had often talked about.

 "I lived there .................. once, though I was a kid so I don't remember much."

"Wow, I've never seen a place this busy."

On the boulevard, horse-drawn carriages came and went in both directions, and passersby with bags and merchants with bundles bustled by.

Burg was a big city, but it certainly wouldn’t compare to the capital.

She heard there's a train to Celle, and Pauline and she was going to look like a couple of country pumpkins. Louise smiled at the thought.

"Actually, I'm excited about the train ride."

"You too? I'll never believe it until I see it. A long carriage just pulls away without a horseman!"

As Louise giggled and looked out the window, her gaze caught sight of the illegal advertisements plastered on every building.

Prove Prince Leopold’s lineage!

****

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