Chapter 27
What does it matter? She doesn't care anyway if I disappear and wallow or not with another woman. I'm just overthinking things.
Despite saying those words to himself, he was striding towards the banquet hall. Riftan smoothed his hair nervously. He didn't like how he felt restless as if he was caught doing something wrong in the dark corridor.
"Do you think it's true that the Duke's daughter is searching for candidates among the knights to be her husband?"
Just as he was about to leave the dark hallway and step into the banquet hall, he heard men whispering amongst each other. Riftan casted a sharp gaze towards the chattering noble men.
Inside the banquet hall, the people were dancing under the shimmering candles to a bard singing a heroic epic to a lute melody. The men whispering seem to be taking advantage of the current bustling and enjoyed a secret conversation. Riftan continued to listen. A slow, drunken voice spoke.
"Isn't she still too young?"
"She's sixteen years old and will be turning seventeen in a few months. That's the perfect age for marrying."
A slickly dressed man replied as he grinned and placed his lips against the wine glass. "She's old enough, there are rumors that she's showing her face more often to find a suitor."
"Often showing her face?! She has been sitting a little longer than usual at the banquet today, but she always literally just shows up and disappears in a flash, huh?"
"That proves it a lot then. Do you know how much the Duke of Croix pampers his eldest daughter? Among the vassal knights, only a few of them have seen her face before. Even her servants don't speak of her. Everything about that lady is veiled."
Another man joined the conversation. "I've heard rumors that her health isn't very good. The Duke of Croix cherishes her daughter so much that he built a huge chapel inside the castle and stationed four high-ranking priests to stay there."
"It seems that she has been sickly since she was a child, so she's being overprotected as such."
A relatively old-looking man said as if he pitied her. Riftan stiffened as he observed Maximillian Croix more closely. She sat next to her father, her eyes watching the ball with a tired and anxious expression.
Is that why her face is so gloomy, because she's sick?
The mere thought of her being seriously ill drilled a hole into his heart. The discreet voices of the men continued, Riftan hearing them through his dazed ears.
"The Duke of Croix has no intention of sending her daughter to the royal palace. That's why some people are saying that she's looking for a husband among the knights. I wonder if it has something to do with the frequent conflicts with Dristan that the duke is looking for a top-notch knight as a son-in-law."
"You are underestimating the Duke's ambitions." A knight who was quietly listening, drinking wine, suddenly sneered and joined the conversation. "No matter how much the Duke of Croix cares for his daughter, she will amount to nothing compared to the honor and power of the family. Everyone knows the duke's intention is to form a deep blood relation with the royal family, right?"
"Maybe he intends to entrust that task to his second daughter instead. Although she's still young, there are rumors already spreading around that she possesses outstanding beauty and skills."
"That figures, if his eldest daughter has concerns regarding her health, she can't marry into the royal family. It will be difficult for her to produce healthy boys to be future heirs."
