Under the Oak Tree



Chapter 11: Chapter 11

“Damn you! What do you want?!”

“Time to wake up, Commander! The sun’s high in the sky! How long are you going to lounge about in bed?”

A loud yell came through the door, and Riftan threw a fierce look at the speaker as if he could see through the door.

“Did I not tell you I’d gut you alive if you disturbed me again? Do you have a death wish?”

“Can you not contain yourself until you’re back home? We have to leave for the capital as soon as we reach the estate!”

“Delaying things by a day or two isn’t the end of the world! Stop whining!”

“Commander!”

“I’m coming, I’m coming! You ruined the mood, you little bastard!”

Riftan ran a hand through his hair, and Maxi stiffened as he spat out expletives that she had never heard in her life.

He sprang up with a look of annoyance. “Get the carriage ready! We’ll depart soon.”

In response, the man behind the door stomped away.

Riftan let out a great sigh and looked at the floor. “I really shouldn’t have brought those bastards with me…”

“…”

“Wait here. I’ll go and find something for you to wear.”

She nodded, her pale face peeking out of the blanket. Riftan was picking up his clothes from the floor when he noticed her tears and frowned.

“What’s with the waterworks?”

“…”

“Speak. Perhaps you haven’t noticed, but I am not a patient man.”

How could she not have noticed her husband’s red-hot temper? But she chose not to put such thoughts into words.

“Y-your men outside kn-knew…” she stammered in a timid voice.

“Knew what?”

“W-What we were d-doing in th-this room…”

Her cheeks felt as if they were on fire. Riftan had been staring at her intently, but now his lips began to twitch. Much to her disbelief, he burst into boisterous laughter, clutching his stomach.

“R-Riftan!”

“You really do drive me mad.”

Almost choking with laughter, he lifted her in her blanket and set her down snugly on his lap, her legs dangling in the air. For someone with such an intimidating presence, he had an extraordinarily innocent, boyish laugh. Still guffawing, he nibbled at her shoulder, which was already pocked with tooth marks.

“My sweet, innocent lady, of course they know what we did. My men are not half-wits. They know what happens in the bedroom when husband and wife are reunited after three long years.”

“B-But…”

“It’s nothing to be ashamed of. We are married, and that’s what married couples do. It’s only natural.”

Natural? She knew well the duties that were expected of a wife in the bedchamber, but what she had shared with him last night felt anything but natural. Shared? Had it been an act of giving and taking? Her own thoughts surprised her. Had it not just been a rite she needed to endure to bear a child?

“You’re blushing again. Tsk, I would have taken you here and now if it weren’t for those nuisances outside…”

“…”

“Don’t cower like that. They’ll smash the doors down if they hear us at it again.”

He gave her a playful peck on the tip of her nose before setting her down. Wrapped in the cocoon of her blanket, she rubbed her nose and watched Riftan pick up and put on his clothes one by one.

She quickly averted her eyes, but he seemed unfazed by his own nakedness. He was fully clothed, armored, and giving her instructions in no time.

“Wait right here.”

She nodded. She was in no state to leave the room; her shaking legs would give out if she tried to stand. When Riftan strapped on his sword and left the room, she crawled to the headboard to crack open the window.

Beneath the pale blue autumn sky was a cluster of small villages. Unpaved dirt roads grooved by carriage wheels, some five or six wooden cottages, scattered meadows, a vast orchard… Maxi was taking in this pastoral scene when she suddenly sensed an intense gaze. She looked down. Three knights standing by the carriage parked in front of the inn were staring back at her. Startled, she hurriedly closed the window. She had covered herself with a blanket, but she did not wish to show her disheveled state to these strange men.

Did I delay their departure?

She bit her lips in trepidation. Moments later, she heard footsteps stopping before the door. Someone knocked.

“Wh-Who is it?”

“Water for your morning ablutions, m’lady.”

“C-Come in.”

Still wrapped in her blanket, Maxi sat hugging her knees in one corner of the bed. Two maidservants entered with a large washbasin, kettle, and snow-white towel in their hands. They exchanged uneasy looks.

“We’re here at your husband’s behest, m’lady.”

“I c-can do it m-myself…”

“He said you would need help…”

Her face felt hot.

“It’s r-really all r-right. I will t-tell my h-husband.”

The women did not insist further and left the items on the table before exiting the room. Maxi waited until their footsteps had grown faint before she walked over to lock the door. She then soaked the towel in warm water and began to clean her body, which still ached from the previous night.

The touch of the warm towel was refreshing. She wiped away the sticky layer of sweat and secretions, noticing the red and purple marks strewn across her shoulders, chest, arms, and legs.

Was this how every woman woke up after performing her marital duties? Recalling their acts of the previous night, she blushed again. Though she knew that no amount of scrubbing would make the love marks disappear, she rubbed at them furiously with the wet towel.

Spending the night with Riftan had been as taxing as it had been embarrassing, but she had not felt the same terror as she had three years prior. Truth be told, his embrace, smile, and gentle kisses had enraptured her in a way she had never known.

Far from finding her inadequate, Riftan treated her as his wife and seemed pleased to have her company. He had even told her that he had left her after their wedding night only with great reluctance.

Three years ago, I wanted to throw the Dragon Campaign to the dogs and be with you. It was agony for me to rise from your bed.

It felt like a dream. Afraid of the sparks reigniting inside her, she plunged her head into the washbasin. She washed her tangled hair with soap and dried it with a towel before applying a generous amount of perfumed oil. She had just started combing her hair when she heard another knock on the door.

“My lady, your husband sends you a change of clothes.”

She opened the door just enough to receive a rose-red dress embroidered with gold thread. As she unfolded the dress, a girdle, a sash, and a thin piece of cloth resembling an undergarment fluttered to the floor.

The undergarment was not so different from the one her nursemaid had given her. Her cheeks burned. How had he managed to find such garments in this backwater? And surely, he had not mistaken this to be her taste in clothes?

She was whimpering in shame with her face covered when she heard yet another series of knocks. This time, it was Riftan.

“Maxi, did you get the clothes? Have you changed?”

“N-Not yet…”

“Hurry. We must leave soon.”

“One m-moment…”

At his urging, she hastily put on the flimsy undergarment. Feeling no less naked, she threw on the white chemise and pulled the extravagant dress over her head, then tugged the flowy skirt down so that it grazed her ankles. But she was not used to getting dressed without the assistance of servants. Fastening the girdle was not so hard, but the straps on the back of her dress were impossible to reach. She was groaning in frustration and her shoulders cramping from the strain when Riftan knocked again impatiently.

“Are you dressed yet?”

“Uh, um…”

“What?”

“C-Could you s-send for someone t-to help me?”

“…”

“The s-straps on the b-back…”

“Open the door.”

“P-Pardon?”

“Open the door!”

She opened the door slowly, clutching her dress to prevent it from sliding off. Riftan pushed past her, closing the door behind him. As he appraised her from head to toe, she hastily stammered out an apology.

“F-Forgive me f-for b-being slow. But the d-dress…”

“Don’t apologize. I’m not angry,” he said, examining her flowing skirt and swinging sleeves. “I don’t know much about women’s clothes, so it didn’t occur to me that getting dressed alone would be difficult.”

Awkward silence followed. Maxi wriggled her fingers, deep in self-deprecating thought. Do such lavish clothes suit me? Do I not look ridiculous?

Suddenly, he grabbed her shoulders and spun her around.

“Let me help you.”

“Uh… I…”

One by one, he started to fasten the straps. Something about the rustle of the dress put her on edge. After much fumbling – he was plainly unused to handling women’s clothes – he spun her around to face him again.

“All done.”

“Th-Thank you…”

“I bought it from a merchant who happened to be staying nearby. It may not be to your liking, but this is the best I could do. I’ll find you something nicer once we reach my abode.”

Maxi blinked. The dress was luxurious beyond anything she was accustomed to. Was it not to his liking?

Her life was not as extravagant as he imagined. All her dresses had been sewn by the maidservants with the scraps of fabric left over from Rosetta’s clothes, for only Rosetta had known their father’s generosity. Maxi had never worn something so richly embroidered. Seeing him concerned that she would not find the clothes acceptable, she felt disheartened.

Perhaps he was more used to luxury than she had assumed. And perhaps it was a good thing that she had not brought her belongings. What a stroke of luck to have avoided the humiliation of putting her shabby wardrobe on display! Pretending to straighten a crease in her skirt, she attempted to speak in a detached manner.

“This d-dress isn’t s-so b-bad.”

Anxious that she had come across as too haughty, she quickly searched his face. But he betrayed no sign of displeasure as he draped a cloak around her shoulders. She turned her attention to his hands, which were now carefully fastening the cloak straps. To see a knight attending to her most trivial needs felt surreal.