“Are you ready, milady?! It’s finally time! If you’re able to overcome tonight, then you and Lord Claus will be a couple in both name and reality!”
It was the evening of Jeanette and Claus’s wedding day. Jeanette was sitting on her bed with a frightfully determined Sara in front of her. Jeanette was wearing a simple white negligee.
“I know! But Sara... We already are a couple, aren’t we? I mean, we had a ceremony at the church, and we signed the documents.”
“No! Well, you do have a point, but strictly speaking you’re also still wrong!”
“Am I...?”
Jeanette wasn’t sure what Sara was talking about. There were practically question marks floating above her head. Sara cleared her throat.
“Look, milady. A wedding ceremony isn’t enough to make a couple a true couple. You’ll become a couple once you share a bed! Otherwise, you’ll have a mariage blanc, which is considered an incomplete marriage! Everyone will point and laugh at you!”
“Mariage blanc... I didn’t know there were different kinds of marriages.” Jeanette gulped.
“There are! That’s why tonight is very important!!!” Sara emphasized dramatically.
Jeanette nodded earnestly.
“Okay! So what should I do? Tell me, Sara!”
Jeanette had never thought much about these things because she never had a woman around to teach her about them. But now that she was married, she could stay ignorant no longer.
I’ve got to learn properly about this!
Yet for some reason, Sara was utterly silent.
“Sara?” Jeanette asked, confused.
The maid stared at Jeanette fixedly.
“Well... I do know about it on a superficial level just from hearing things, but... Should I really be telling you about it? I’ve never done it myself... But I guess you need to know in order to prepare yourself mentally, huh...? But then again, knowing Lord Claus, I bet he’d say something like ‘I’ll enjoy teaching the oblivious Jeanette myself’... Yes, I’m sure of it...” Sara muttered under her breath.
“Um... Teaching me about what?”
At Jeanette’s question, Sara quickly snapped back to her senses.
“Nothing! It’s nothing at all, so please rest assured! You can just stay innocent!”
“But you said that tonight is important. If that’s true, then I’d better learn about it properly.”
“No no nonononono! It’s totally fine!” Sara waved her hands with great exaggeration. Her eyes were looking everywhere except at Jeanette.
How suspicious...
Jeanette pouted.
“You’re hiding something from me, Sara.”
“No I’m not!!!”
“You’re lying. I know because your hands are clenching your skirt. It’s your tell.”
Sara scrambled to come up with a response.
“S-So you can see through that, can you?!”
“Come on, Sara. Tell me. Tonight is important, so I don’t want to mess up.”
The maid let out a troubled shriek.
“Yes, but... If I tell you, he might be angry with meee...!”
“Then I’ll tell Lord Claus not to be upset with you. Okay?”
“Even so, I don’t think I should tell you this...!”
“Tell me what?” Jeanette prompted, totally at a loss.
Sara was covered in a waterfall of sweat. Her fervor from before had all but disappeared.
“Come on, Sara...” Jeanette pleaded, reaching out her hand to grab the other girl.
“Jeanette, you shouldn’t trouble poor Sara any longer.” Claus’s voice echoed nearby all of the sudden.
“Lord Claus!” Jeanette exclaimed. When did he get here?
“Eeek!!! Lord Claus!!!” Sara sprang into the air. “I’m so sorry!!! I was going to leave sooner, but I overstayed my welcome!!! I’m leaving immediately!!!” The maid raced out of the room at light speed.
“Wait, Sara,” Claus spoke up, stopping her in her tracks. “Thank you for your consideration. Your assessment was correct,” he told her with a mischievous smirk.
Sara’s eyes widened.
“Oh, I knew it...! All right! Milady, break a leg!” Sara gave Jeanette a thumbs-up before dashing out of the room.
“Sara! Ah, she’s gone...” Jeanette murmured.
Break a leg? Are we going to be fighting? she pondered. There were still question marks filling up her mind.
“Um, Lord Claus,” she said, looking at him with sincerity. “Unfortunately, I couldn’t get Sara to explain anything to me. So could you do it instead? As your wife, I don’t want to do anything shameful!”
“Heh... This just proves that you really don’t know anything, hm?” Claus asked, pressing his hand to his mouth to hide his laughter.
“I-I’m aware of my own ignorance! But I’m a quick learner, so I’ll give it my all and do my best not to get in your way!”
“Pfft... Ha ha!”
The more Jeanette insisted, the funnier Claus found this situation.
“Goodness...” he said, wiping a tear of laughter from his eye. “While I was under house arrest at the palace, I thought I should’ve just dragged you over to my bedroom when I had the chance. But I retract that sentiment. Now that I got to see you like this, and knowing how I’ll get to see you soon, I’m really glad I held back.”
Claus was smiling at her. Even so, there was a certain glint in his eyes. It made Jeanette shiver.
Huh? What is this? Somehow, I feel like a mouse about to be eaten up by a cat...
“Jeanette.” Claus approached her and placed one of his knees on the bed. The mattress creaked under his weight, and Jeanette reflexively backed up.
“Y-Yes? What is it?”
“Do you truly want to know?” he asked, his violet eyes boring into her.
Jeanette’s own reflection gazed back at her in those eyes, and she realized she looked a little frightened. No! I can’t be so timid! After inwardly cheering herself on, she nodded cheerfully.
“Yes! Of course I do!”
“I see.” Claus smiled happily. “Then I’ll teach you all about it. Don’t worry, we have plenty of time...” he said, and then gently touched her.
Most likely, only Jeanette herself still had no idea what kind of fate awaited her from there.