All of a sudden, Arnald gently took Byletta by the hand and gazed at her. When she felt his fingers lightly stroking her skin, the sensation made her heart skip a beat. His rough, calloused hands didn’t seem to belong to a man with such refined features, but the long digits attached to them were both handsome and artistic.
Byletta felt strangely impressed that a man with such a fine face would also have such fine hands.
But then she remembered what those fingers had done to her body. A blush began to creep up her cheeks, and without even thinking, she pulled her hand away.
“Wh-what is it?” she asked.
“I was just thinking that your hands are rather calloused…”
Byletta suppressed a scream. Oh, please accept my apologies for daring not to have the hands of a sheltered maiden!
The calluses had developed through her practice with a sword. She knew that they weren’t the usual soft and pristine hands of a lady.
“I’m sure holding them must be quite unpleasant for you, then,” Byletta said. “Perhaps you should keep your hands to yourself.”
Arnald looked puzzled by her refusal. But what was there to be confused over?
Did he have something to say about Byletta’s lack of appreciation for sudden hand-holding?
In the end, Arnald said nothing and simply looked out the window. She wanted nothing more than to ask him what exactly his problem was, but at the same time, something told Byletta it was better to leave it alone.
She just couldn’t understand her husband’s behavior. Never had she wished for the carriage to arrive at House Swangan’s country estate so quickly.
Alas, it was only after spending a very uncomfortable day and half in the carriage that they finally reached their destination: a village they were due to inspect the next day.
It was a small village in a tranquil farmland where grain was grown.
The count rather liked imposing work on others, but he seemed to be overcome with enthusiasm for once…is what Byletta wished she could have said. Instead, his secret plot to work her to the bone was plain for all to see.
All he did was grumble that his back hurt. Even though it was the count himself who’d determined the speed of their itinerary, he began to complain about the upcoming victory celebration besides.
In any case, the three of them—Byletta, a reluctant Count Swangan, and a silent, mysteriously present Arnald—began to observe the village.
It appeared the villagers had been notified of the inspection, as the party received a warm welcome from the village steward before they all set off to take a look around.
Byletta casually split away from the group to approach one of the villagers who was working.
The man, who had just been plowing the fields, stared at her with his mouth agape. Presently, many men were returning from the war, but Byletta wasn’t sure if this particular gentleman had been in the military or not. She spoke to him regardless.
“Has there been much rain recently?”
“N-not much…uh, my lady.”
Noticing how the man was trying his best to speak to her politely, Byletta felt a bit guilty as she continued her line of questioning.
“I see. Has that affected the crops?”
“Not really. The harvest was actually quite good this year. There wasn’t very much flooding, so we didn’t lose many crops to that, either, my lady!”
“Have you seen anyone strange around here recently?”
“Nah. We’d know a stranger if we saw one. We know everyone ’round ’ere.”
The man’s way of speaking suddenly switched back to normal—as if the question rattled him.
“If you do see something suspicious, could you please report it to the staff at the manor? We’re going to dispatch soldiers from the capital as well, but that could take some time.”
“Should we be worried about bandits? That would be a massive problem, m-my lady.”
“Reports of such have reached our ears, so the count would like to increase the number of patrols.”
“Ah, I was wondering what a nobleman like the count was doing here.”
Even though they were speaking about Count Swangan, the man showed no signs of anger or resentment. Landowners who did nothing were usually despised. Could he have taken some kind of action to mollify the estate’s residents without my knowledge? Byletta wondered.
More likely, there was little for the man to be upset about because all the other staff at the estate had been working so hard. Otherwise, the count wouldn’t have been able to ignore his lands for so long.
“If you have any other requests, please speak to the village steward as usual.”
Byletta had begun to ask the same questions of some other villagers when Arnald reappeared. There was a dangerous light in his eyes, as though he wanted to demand something from her. Had something happened to put him in a bad mood?
“What are you doing, getting so cozy with the villagers? Are you scouting out a bedmate for tonight?”
“What nonsense…”
What on earth was he talking about?
Just because he wasn’t making his usual advances, that didn’t mean her body ached so much for him that she couldn’t sleep. In fact, she’d slept plenty well without him the previous night. Now that she knew how good it felt to sleep alone again, why would she go out and seduce a villager? Granted, sleeping in the carriage the previous night hadn’t been a very comfortable alternative, but still…
An annoyed Byletta glared at her husband.
“I was just asking them a few questions. They told me there wasn’t much rain this year, but it was a good harvest. That leads me to believe that quite a lot of the harvest is going missing. I was also laying out some bait. Now we just have to hope somebody bites.”
“Bait?”
Quickly putting some distance between them and the villagers, Byletta leaned in and quietly whispered something into her husband’s ear that made his eyes grow wide.
She giggled triumphantly.
“If no one bites, we’ll have to think of something else, but this ploy is usually quite effective. And your presence only lends more legitimacy to it.”
“Me? I should like to know what you are using me for.”
“Patience, husband. All shall be revealed once our quarry takes the bait,” Byletta said bitingly over her shoulder as she walked toward a bridge that spanned a stream.
Count Swangan and several others were gathered on the other side. But before she could take a single step onto the bridge, a pair of arms suddenly grabbed her securely around the waist from behind.
“Aaah!”
Her husband held her back tightly, leaving her with one foot dangling in the air.