Rewriting the Trash Ending - Chapter 15

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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15.

***

The Princess was a peculiar woman.
Despite her delicate appearance, her spirit was unyielding, and she showed even a man like himself such tenderness.

“I apply it bit by bit. If the Grand Duke were to get hurt, I think I’d be quite troubled.”

Did that tenderness spring from genuine feeling?
Or did she simply regard it as a duty befitting the Grand Duchess?
It was surely the latter, and yet—for the first time in his life, receiving such a warm touch left him off-balance.
There was no good way to explain it: a queasiness, like homesickness rising in his chest.
He held the Princess’s gift as he recalled the touch of her hand.
How delicate and soft her fingers had been, rubbing along each joint, each space between the bones.
How warm her touch had felt, caressing without hesitation these filthy hands so deeply steeped in blood.
The unfamiliar sensation lingered still, and his chest tightened, a dull heat spreading through him.
“…….”
He knew that an object proved its worth only when put to use, yet somehow he found himself unable to touch the Princess’s gift at all.
“…So you’re telling me this man sold moth-eaten silk meant for the Princess’s gown?”
Grand Duke’s Castle, the dungeon below.
At Kaiden’s words, Axid’s eyes narrowed to the keenness of a whetted blade.
He gazed through the iron bars as though piercing straight through them.
“…….”
The soft, pudgy merchant cowered and trembled with fear.
It was rare for him to descend to the dungeon.
There was no need to involve himself directly in the punishment of a single criminal.
Yet he had come here because he found himself unwilling to entrust anything concerning the Princess to another.
And he realized his choice was right the moment he laid eyes on the silk in question.
“Oh, a misunderstanding, my lord! I—I would never dare to—the fabric became damaged on the journey here, I swear I knew nothing of it!”
As the merchant threw himself flat and protested his innocence, Kaiden smiled crookedly and crouched before the bars.
“Well, is that all the excuse you can manage? You could try harder.”
The merchant’s face drained of color as his words stumbled.
“N-no excuse, I—!”
“Be quiet.”
A half-hearted defense was worse than none.
It would have been better to grovel with his face pressed to the earth and beg for mercy.
Kaiden clicked his tongue and rose to his feet, turning to ask.
“What shall we do with him, my lord?”
Not knowing was no excuse.
What mattered was the insult the Princess had suffered.
He had no intention of allowing anyone who dared to insult the Princess on his land to live.
His voice fell like a whisper—low, cold, devoid of warmth.
“Confiscate his assets and have him exiled.”
“P-please, my lord. That cannot be. If you do that—!”
As the merchant seized the bars and wailed, Kaiden kicked the iron sharply.
Bang!
“Ahhh…!”
Thunder-loud, the sound echoed through the chamber, and the merchant collapsed backward.
“You should have been prepared for consequences when you committed fraud.”
A horse or a mule was wealth.
In the Northern Territory, where monsters abounded everywhere, it was impossible to escape without a mount—a sentence effectively no different from death.
The Trurail Trading Company, too, was driven out with a ban on all commerce in the Northern Territory, making them economically condemned as well.
Axid stared coldly at the man huddled on the ground, then turned and left.
“Damn it…….”
At first, he’d thought it was a scheme to delay the National Marriage, but in the end, he’d simply expelled those who’d been preying on the Grand Duke’s House.
When he thought about it, the Princess had been on their side from the beginning.

“The Northern Territory is humanity’s frontline. Without the Grand Duchy, the Empire would have been consumed by war—State Guest Treatment is only fitting.”

She laid bare the Grand Duchy’s worth before the Imperial court, pointedly noting what the Empire had long overlooked.

“It’s fine. As I said before, I think your suspicion is reasonable too.”

She smiled away her own rudeness and forgave him in the same breath.
Yet here he was, judging such a person on circumstantial evidence alone, nursing doubt.
What difference was there between him and that man?
Either way, it would be an insult to the princess.
‘No, that’s not it.’
Remembering how he’d harbored suspicion twice over, he wondered if his own guilt ran even deeper.
“Damn.”
Kaiden, who had been following Axid, stopped in his tracks and roughly scrubbed his hands through his hair.
Truth was, whether he acknowledged it or not had mattered from the start.
The Grand Duchess was the Grand Duchess, no matter what anyone said.
If she stood beside the Grand Duke, even if she were the Empire’s own princess, his duty was to honor and protect her as he would him.
That was his role.
A long breath escaped him.
With eyes grown clearer, Kaiden moved forward.

***

After Axid’s return.
The ceremony preparations proceeded smoothly—far better than her fleeting worries might have suggested.
Though busier now with different suppliers, the local merchants didn’t play games with estimates the way foreign traders did.
While she was at it, she ordered several everyday dresses to add to her wardrobe.
Her dressing room still held only the comfortable indoor clothes the head maid had prepared beforehand.
In any case.
‘Thank goodness.’
With so many helping her along, she could hold a ceremony worthy of Winterheim’s name without postponing the date.
In the meantime, she made an effort to grow closer to her future husband, sharing meals with him morning and evening.
As the days filled with purpose, the wedding dress was finished before she quite knew it.
“…You look absolutely beautiful, Your Highness.”
Lumiere, dressed in a pristine white gown, gave a small nod of agreement to Becky’s wonder.
It was true.
Her reflection in the mirror was so beautiful that any show of modesty would feel like a lie.
‘Not bad at all.’
It was incomparably more satisfying than when she’d first returned.
Then, suddenly, she felt a gaze upon her.
“I—I’m so sorry. You’re just so beautiful, Your Highness……”
When she turned her head slightly, Becky rushed out an apology, her face flushed.
A lie.
Becky had been far too absorbed in admiring the dress to be caught staring.
Lumiere laughed softly and opened the dressing room door.
Axid was waiting outside.
“What do you think?”
At her question, he went rigid.
He didn’t answer, didn’t even blink.
“Is something wrong with it?”
When she asked carefully, unsettled by his reaction, a quiet voice came back after a moment.
“…That’s not it.”
“Then why……?”
He turned his head away, looking flustered.
Only then did she notice his ears, faintly flushed.
That was when Becky smoothly interjected.
“It’s the first time I’ve ever seen the Grand Duke look so embarrassed.”
The warm tension dissolved in an instant, and Lumiere’s eyes turned cold.
Whether because she knew what Becky had done in her previous life, or simply because it grated to hear her speak as if she knew the Grand Duke, to see her act so casually familiar—she found it all unbearable.
As her expression hardened, Axid’s gaze shifted toward Becky.
His gaze was cold, a warning not to dare interfere.
Becky stammered defensively.
“I, I mean, what I was trying to say is that the Crown Princess was looking particularly beautiful today….”
But as the chill silence stretched on, she finally flushed crimson and closed her mouth.
Only then did he withdraw his gaze and speak.
“Has anyone been troubling you or causing you discomfort?”
“Not at all. Everyone has been very kind to me. If anything becomes inconvenient, I’ll let you know right away.”
It seemed an odd sort of concern coming from someone who’d once struck a noble lady’s cheek hard enough to swell his own hand.
His expression was warmer when addressing her than it had been with Becky, and her lips curved into a smile.
“By the way, are you using the Moisturizing Balm I gave you?”
A flinch.
His expression suddenly turned rigid.
‘Hmm…?’
Sensing something amiss, she narrowed her eyes, and that was when he hastily tucked his hand behind his back.
“…Yes, I am using it.”
His answer came only after a long hesitation, yet his hand moved to hide with unmistakable haste.
‘He hasn’t used it at all.’
She’d known he was a poor liar, but she hadn’t expected it to show so plainly.
It was endearing, yet at the same time, worrisome.
The weather in the Northern Territory was cold and dry—skin cracked and split easily in such conditions.
“Grand Duke, don’t forget to apply it. The scent is subtle and won’t irritate you, and it absorbs quickly. You can use it between your duties, throughout the day.”
“…I will make sure to do so.”
Could she trust that promise?
She studied him with skeptical eyes, but his face had already settled back into its usual impassive expression.
‘Well, if he refuses to use it, I suppose I can just nag him about it whenever I get the chance.’
She began to picture herself scolding her taciturn husband-to-be, then let out a soft, helpless laugh.
The image of the Grand Duke receiving reproach from her—
It was simply impossible to imagine.

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