I Inherited a Beautiful Wife and a Territory - Chapter 2

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Inheriting a Beautiful Wife and Estate Episode 002

2. First Night

The beautiful silver hair of the Doll Princess.

The wind gently swayed her long hair. Though it should have tickled her face, she didn’t seem to mind.

How long had she been waiting?

Her legs might hurt from standing.

But there was no sign of such discomfort.

“Are you Lord Cliff?”

My gaze, which had been captivated by her, shifted.

It was an old man standing guard beside her.

A neat black suit and red bow tie.

It was the epitome of a butler’s attire. The moment I saw it, I got a feeling.

Combined with the girl’s face, I could sense how rigid he would be.

‘Ah, I smell an old-fashioned gentleman.’

I could already hear it.

From the depths of memory, the voices of old men from historical dramas saying “Your Majesty, you must not do such things.”

Since I was asked a question, I had to answer.

“Yes. I am Cliff.”

Just as I had received the girl’s portrait, they must have received my description as well.

I had also sent a messenger before arriving.

That’s why they came out to greet me like this.

“You must have had a long journey. This is Miss Priscilla Elimis, the eldest daughter of Baron Ellemis.”

“I am Priscilla. I am pleased to be able to serve my master closely from today. Though I may have many shortcomings, please provide me with much guidance in the future.”

With the old gentleman’s introduction, I finally heard the Doll Princess’s voice.

Contrary to her words, Priscilla showed no signs of joy.

It was strange that I didn’t sense any tension either.

And what she was saying.

‘Wow. I never thought I’d actually hear someone speak like this.’

As mentioned before, noble marriage is a big deal, especially for women.

A life closer to master and servant than husband and wife.

The husband is the wife’s master, and he guides the wife. This was the traditional view of marriage among nobles.

And naturally, ‘guidance’ here meant ‘corporal punishment.’

Incidentally, even the central nobles these days were moving away from that tradition.

‘Is change slow here because it’s isolated?’

Perhaps in the Ellemis Domain, this tradition might be the latest trend.

This wouldn’t do.

Cliff decided he would establish a new marital relationship in this estate.

“Though we’re not yet married, it seems the Lady definitely needs guidance.”

I deliberately furrowed my brow and pointed this out to her.

Priscilla’s eyes, whose expression had been hard to read, widened slightly.

This was the first sign of agitation she had shown. But there was no further disturbance.

Rather, she modestly bowed her head slightly.

“I’m sorry. My learning is still shallow and immature, so I committed a great discourtesy from the start. Please provide me with guidance.”

“…Here it is.”

Again, guidance meant corporal punishment.

Remarkably, the old gentleman produced a switch from somewhere and offered it to me.

‘Old gentleman, weren’t you part of Priscilla’s household?’

Indeed, he was a true old-fashioned gentleman.

At the appearance of the switch, Priscilla’s fingertips trembled slightly.

Cliff shook his head.

Naturally, he didn’t want to hit her from the first day.

“It’s understandable not to know. Raising a switch for a mistake made out of ignorance is behavior only uneducated savages would do.”

“I apologize.”

The old gentleman, now labeled a savage, bowed his head with an embarrassed face.

Good.

I had scored a point against the old gentleman first.

“For people, teaching with words comes before the switch.”

“I will listen attentively.”

Priscilla showed a more enthusiastic attitude than expected.

Our eyes finally met properly. As if she shouldn’t look directly into her soon-to-be husband’s eyes, she lowered her gaze, but her eyes were definitely pretty.

“A wife should greet her husband with a kiss when he comes home. Also, when her husband leaves the house, she should see him off with a kiss as well.”

“Eh?”

I saw even greater agitation from her.

With widened eyes looking up at me, she couldn’t even think to look away this time.

‘Really?’

She looked like an innocent girl asking this question.

A reaction completely opposite to her calm and composed demeanor just moments ago. Finally sensing some liveliness, Cliff’s lips curved upward.

He vulgarly pursed his lips.

“Come on, hurry up. Smooch.”

“C-Cliff, sir. In front of everyone, this is too…”

Finally, it came.

The old gentleman’s nagging.

I expected to hear it soon, but I didn’t think it would come this quickly.

“Because people are watching, we must do it even more. Nobles must be examples and models for those around them. We have a duty to show people the proper image of a married couple. Tsk tsk. Not knowing this…”

Naturally, it was nonsense.

But this was an isolated estate anyway.

The lord’s word was law.

Also, though Baron Ellemis was still here, I was no different from the lord of this place.

‘Our Iron-Blooded Prime Minister told my father-in-law not to worry.’

The Duke’s way of handling things could be trusted.

So I implemented it. It was just a personal fantasy I had harbored, but now it became the standard of etiquette.

Since my words weren’t complete nonsense, the old gentleman also backed down.

“Th-then…”

Priscilla stammered and looked around at others.

Seeming to think the atmosphere made it unavoidable, she steeled herself with determination.

As she came closer, I smelled flowers.

It was probably flowers used as bath salts.

Touch.

Standing on her tiptoes, she kissed me in front of everyone.

A moist sensation that touched my lips and immediately pulled away.

‘This is a kiss!’

Why did something like this please me so much?

Even better was Priscilla’s face, which had turned completely red.

“That…”

She had malfunctioned.

“Well done, Lady Priscilla. Next time, you can say ‘Welcome home’ or ‘I missed you.'”

Teaching her the proper(?) etiquette was already enjoyable.

“W-welcome home.”

The embarrassment was hers to bear.

“Ahem.”

And the embarrassment belongs to those who witnessed it.

The old man cleared his throat to draw attention.

“Please come inside. We have prepared a banquet, lodging, and bath water for the acting lord.”

I’d heard that medieval hygiene standards were terrible, and that wasn’t wrong.

However, nobles were different.

Nobles enjoyed bathing.

Most noble houses had bathtubs and had slaves fill them with heated water.

And they would add flowers as bath additives.

However, the flowers used by women and men were different.

Women added fragrant flowers to scent their bodies. And the flowers that noble men used as bath additives were.

“Normally I should attend to you personally, but since I’m still young, I’ve prepared other flowers. Please enjoy your bath comfortably.”

Priscilla gestured to a maid beside her who bowed to him.

“My name is Anna, master.”

That’s right.

The bath additive that entered a man’s bathtub was a woman.

“Stop!”

However, even when Cliff was at the Duke’s Mansion, he had never received such bathing service.

He was the Duke’s half-son.

A bastard child, not a pure-blooded noble.

Though Cliff had just taken a first kiss as if deceiving the girl, he was still embarrassed to show his bare skin to a strange woman.

“I’m hoping that the first flower for my bath would be my wife. I can wash myself, so Anna, you may leave.”

“Oh my.”

The maid showed a surprised reaction to his sweet-sounding words.

After even the maid had left, Cliff entered the bathtub alone.

“Haah.”

Entering the steaming bathtub filled with hot water, he felt his travel fatigue melting away and became drowsy.

Incidentally, soap didn’t exist in this world.

Instead, there was something that served that role.

‘This sticky and tickling sensation…’

Whether for men’s or women’s baths, there was another bath additive besides flowers.

Slimes!

Blue slimes, to be precise.

Harmless slimes with weaker toxicity than regular green slimes.

They mainly lived in water and were sensitive to water temperature. So when put in hot water like now, they would melt and die.

‘While they’re alive, they remove waste products, dead skin, dust, and such from living beings.’

Blue slimes that start melting in hot water become even less dangerous.

Perfect as a soap substitute.

“Kuk.”

Sometimes when they brushed past sensitive areas, there was a creepy feeling, but they were grateful creatures that kept the body clean.

He soaked his body and washed his hair with the dying slimes.

No foam formed, but his hair felt refreshed.

And his body too.

“Hwaaam. Should I get out now?”

As he became drowsy, he started yawning.

If he stayed longer, he might really fall asleep. To avoid that, he got out, put on light clothes, and went to the dining room guided by the maid.

The banquet prepared for him.

‘…They put more care into this than I expected?’

It was indeed a modest level to call a banquet.

Having lived at the Duke’s Mansion made it feel even more so.

Still, he had already sensed the estate’s situation on his way here.

“It’s a feast.”

“Thank you for saying so.”

Priscilla, whom he met again in the banquet hall, had returned to her initial appearance.

Her doll-like expression.

‘To change that expression…’

Cliff looked at the dining table where they sat.

Like many noble households, it was a long rectangular table.

He had been guided to the head seat.

Come to think of it, this was his first time naturally sitting at the head seat for a meal.

‘But among my fantasies is also the “ahh” feeding, after all.’

The distance between him and Priscilla was a bit far.

“The food is quite to my liking… but the dining table is a bit disappointing.”

Flinch.

This time, the old man reacted first, even before her.

“If the dining table doesn’t suit you, what kind…?”

“Right. How about we make our dining table round from now on, more stylishly?”

“Pardon?”

“Round, I mean round. Originally, families should live in a circle.”

The old man’s face showed a perplexed expression.

His confused face.

Cliff, who was eating, said.

“Of course, I don’t mean to prepare a round table immediately. It might take time. But if possible, I’d like to dine together at a round table before my wife comes of age.”

Fidget fidget.

“Acting lord, that is…”

“I didn’t ask and I don’t care.”

“Eh?”

The old man questioned the strange phrase.

His troubled face in various ways made him laugh.

‘Ah, I shouldn’t be doing this…’

Actually, this was his original personality.

At the Duke’s Mansion, he couldn’t act up as a mere bastard child, so he had endured and suppressed it.

But coming here, his restrained mischievous nature couldn’t be controlled.

Because this was a place where he could do so.

‘Power is such a wonderful thing.’

Cliff was enjoying this.

“Pfft.”

He heard a burst of laughter from beside him.

Cliff turned his head.

He saw Priscilla with a slightly reddened face as if caught making a mistake. She wore her usual doll expression, but her eyes were trembling uneasily.

As if she had something that shouldn’t be discovered.

Cliff’s lips curved upward in a grin.

‘I really think this estate and bride are perfectly to my liking.’

Thus ended the first night after the banquet.

There are no separate wedding ceremonies in this world.

A man and woman who promise marriage before reaching adulthood.

And when the man comes of age, he goes to the woman’s house to take her away. They say women under 18 are not adults, but that doesn’t really mean much.

Usually, women leave home with their husbands at 16-17 years old.

‘In other words, our marital relationship already began the moment I arrived here.’

So the first night.

Sleeping with the bashful-faced Priscilla was already a predetermined course of events.

However, even in this world, there were youth protection laws (?) of sorts.

What does that mean?

…We only held hands while sleeping.

But the strange things I’ve been seeing since earlier—am I already dreaming?

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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