The Abandoned Duchess Seems to Want a Peaceful Life - Chapter 104

Chapter 104: Northern Folktales 3

Although Marie and August had different perspectives, they somehow managed to understand what each other wanted to say.

At the same time, it became clear just how ignorant I was about the circumstances of the North.

The circumstances were too different from those in the South or the royal capital, and if the Enkar region hadn’t needed an alchemist, I might have never had such an opportunity.

At the very least, the Melfina in the game might have remained unaware of it all.

—This feels like being told to miss each other entirely.

If the game’s Melfina had known the circumstances of the North when she entered into her marriage, what would she have done?

At the very least, things wouldn’t have escalated as badly as they did in the game’s scenario.

The situation in the North is like a mix of the various human constitutions in this world, and it’s not something Melfina’s personal efforts could change.

The idea that Melfina was unsuitable but Maria, who could purify magical energy, was acceptable might make sense if it’s about the abilities they each possessed.

If the Melfina in the game had understood the circumstances, she might have felt frustrated at her own inability to change them, but at the same time, she might have felt relieved that she avoided becoming a pawn in a political marriage that would put her life at risk.

After a few dealings, it’s clear that Alexis is not a stingy person. If Melfina had requested alimony in exchange for accepting the divorce without harassing Maria, it seems likely that he would have paid it properly.

With that in hand, Melfina might have been able to start a new life in another country, or in the East or West, in a place far from both her family and her husband’s family.

All of these are stories of a future that never came to be.

“…Lady Mary Jane must have been an incredible person.”

Just by experiencing a glimpse of the suffering of magical energy overload syndrome, it seemed impossible for Melfina to have the resolve to endure a pregnancy that would last for several months.

“Yes, indeed. She was an incredible person.”

August nodded with a reflective tone.

“Even giving birth to just one child for the Oldrand family is a life-threatening ordeal for most women. Despite that, Lady Mary Jane, who entered the family at the age of sixteen, bore two children. I don’t know the exact number, but I believe that there were several children between His Excellency and Lord Christoph who could not be born.”

‘It’s not uncommon for children to be unable to survive due to an excess of magical energy, or to not be born at all—’

Yes, those were indeed words I had heard from Julius.

“But doesn’t the Oldrand bloodline have resistance to magic?”

“Regardless of the children, it’s the mother’s body that can’t endure.”

It was Marie who answered that.

“Many women become so weakened in both mind and body that they can’t sustain a pregnancy, resulting in the loss of the child. Lady Mary Jane repeatedly went through life-threatening difficult births, even though just once would have endangered her life, and thus gave birth to Alexis and Christoph.”

“Was that… perhaps influenced by the wishes of the former Duke?”

In the North, where it was common for husbands to take wives from among vassals or commoners, it would have been difficult for a wife to refuse if her husband desired many children.

Magical overload was harsh enough to make one consider that possibility.

However, Marie and August exchanged glances at that question and shook their heads slightly.

“Lady Mary Jane openly declared that bearing many sons was the battle that women could fight in the North. As a public figure, she was truly exemplary. And Lady Margaret was raised by such a remarkable Lady Mary Jane.”

It seems that “Mary Jane’s character” connects to this point.

“Lady Margaret was originally the only daughter of a direct vassal of the Oldrand family. Her father died while subjugating magical beasts, and her mother also passed away early, so she was taken in by the Duke’s household from a young age and later became engaged to the Duke.”

According to August, it wasn’t uncommon for the Oldrand family to take in the wives and children of direct vassals who died in battles against magical beasts.

They also take care of the daily needs and manage the household while the heir is still young.

It seems that it’s precisely because of this support system that knights in crucial positions, such as the current or future heads of the family, can fight on the front lines without worry.

“In winter, the men leave home to fight, so the Duke, Lord Christoph, and Lady Margaret lived together like real siblings… To me, they seemed like a close brother and sister. However, after His Excellency became an adult, Lady Mary Jane repeatedly ordered him to have children with Lady Margaret as soon as possible. This was probably also due to the obligation that, once reaching adulthood, members of the Oldrand family had to participate in the subjugation of magical beasts.”

Supporting the families of fallen members is important and certainly admirable.

However, even Melfina couldn’t help but feel uneasy about how things unfolded.

If Alexis was already an adult, he could have gotten married. She had just heard that in the North, even illegitimate or extramarital children could inherit, but it wasn’t necessary to go out of one’s way to ignore customs.

“Lady Margaret was a year older than Lord Christoph, so the formal marriage had to wait a few years.”

Marie’s words, spoken heavily, left Melfina without a response.

If Christoph was thirteen at that time, Margaret would have been fourteen when she gave birth to William.

Beyond the problem of magical energy overload, it was a birth that happened far too young. Her frailty and lingering puerperal fever might have been due to her body not being fully matured.

If they were in such a hurry to have an heir, they could have chosen a fiancée who was Alexis’s age or an older woman. Given the already high risks of childbirth, it would have been safer than pairing him with a girl barely old enough to have reached her full height.

“The fact that Lady Mary Jane lived that way herself is likely a major reason. Even so, she could only bear two children. She often lamented that things might have been different if she had been younger.”

“…Was she speaking so openly about it that even a knight like you could hear?”

“Perhaps that is what it means for the heart to break.”

August’s words sent a chill down her spine.

It’s clear from observing Marie that in the North, both men and women tend to suppress their emotions.

Melfina doesn’t know what the former Duchess Mary Jane was truly like.

However, she couldn’t suppress a shiver at the thought of August, a man, expressing that even the highest noblewoman in the North wanted to have more children.

“Lord Alexis has always been stubborn and prone to ignoring others, so he never heeded Lady Mary Jane’s words. On the other hand, his younger brother Lord Christoph was highly empathetic and struggled to strongly refuse when asked. Although it was disrespectful to the lady of the house, I believe Lady Mary Jane’s demands were too much for Lord Christoph.”

Neither August nor Marie went into detail about the circumstances surrounding this.

But as a result, William, the current heir of the Oldrand family, was born between Margaret, who was strongly urged to have children, and Christoph, Alexis’s younger brother.

“After Lady Margaret was officially designated as Lord Alexis’s fiancée, Lord Christoph began to call her ‘sister’.”

“I see…”

Melfina herself doesn’t possess an excessive amount of magical energy.

It’s a modest amount, enough to faint in her room while attempting alchemy.

And Serleine has a significant amount of magical energy, enough to affect her growth.

With such conditions, it wouldn’t be surprising if Alexis saw similarities between his relationship with Serleine and that of his younger brother and former fiancée.

“I heard that the younger brother also passed away…”

“Yes, he died during the first winter campaign after being knighted. The following year, Lady Mary Jane passed away soon after.”

And a few years later, the former Duke also died, leaving Alexis alone to succeed the Oldrand family as the only one capable of subjugating the Pluina.

Somehow, it turned out to be a much more complex and weighty story than she had anticipated.

Feeling utterly exhausted, Melfina sank deeply into the sofa.

Looking up at the ceiling, a strong anger toward some vague “someone” high above stirred within her.

Unable to curse, she instead let out a deep, heavy sigh.

“Me, Melfina-sama?”

“Sorry, that was unseemly of me… I was just thinking about why things seem so impossible.”

If the conditions in the North are as she has heard so far, then Lady Mary Jane’s thoughts were probably not wrong.

Melfina doesn’t know Margaret or Christoph personally. It’s easy for an outsider who hasn’t been involved in the process to feel that there might have been another way, but that’s an irresponsible emotion.

While Melfina often feels Alexis is insensitive to the subtleties of human emotions, it could also be considered that his insensitivity allows him to bear such heavy burdens and still manage.

Without the wounds and complexes from not being loved by her parents, perhaps she could have confronted Alexis more assertively after the wedding, demanding a proper explanation for his actions.

Since marriage is a contract, requesting a satisfactory explanation might have made Alexis open up.

Various thoughts swirled in her mind, making her feel somewhat nauseous. She closed her eyes and squeezed her hands tightly on her lap.

“…There are many things on my mind, but I’m glad I heard this. Thank you for sharing, Marie, August.”

“No… I should have talked to you sooner.”

“It’s alright. It’s not easy to bring up such things without some trigger.”

Cedric is always present as Melfina’s guard. For Marie, it would have been difficult to broach the subject in the presence of others, even if it was just Melfina.

Since regaining memories of her previous life, Melfina has often felt powerless and exhausted whenever she is struck by the helplessness of this world.

Even with her knowledge of the North and Alexis’s past, there is nothing she can change.

Still, it’s better than thinking of Alexis as just an insensitive man without knowing anything.

If the day ever comes when he finds happiness in the future, she felt that at least she would be able to offer her congratulations more sincerely than she could have before hearing this.