The Substitute Bride Is Adored by the Clumsy Margrave

Chapter 13

Jean and Clarisse left for the royal capital the following week.

‘It’s the absolute worst… the absolute worst…’

There were two carriages for this trip. The first carriage carried Jean and Clarisse, and the second carriage carried Mary and some of Jean’s assistants, but there were no servants.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been to the royal capital; I’m excited.”

That was Marius’s downgraded version… or rather, Sid.

‘When we came here, Lord Marius was a gentleman and sat next to the coachman for the entire journey… Well, I suppose it’s okay now since Lady Clarisse, the fiancée of the Margrave, is riding in another carriage.’

Furthermore, to Mary’s surprise, the Margrave did not have a fixed attendant; he had been educated as a knight his entire life, so he took care of everything himself. In that regard, he and Clarisse seem to be on the same page, but that’s not the point right now!

‘Oh no… for the next two days… this person will be right in front of me…’

“Nice to meet you again, Clarisse’s maid.”

“I’ll just ride next to the coachman.”

“Don’t say such depressing things~! It’s a long ride, and we’ll have plenty of time to talk! So stay here and keep me company.”

‘Whoa! This man…..’

Meanwhile, time passed slowly inside the carriage with Jean and Clarisse, as it always does when the two of them are together. 

Jean had been trying to make up for the two weeks he needed to spend in the capital by handing over administrative duties to Marius and hurriedly taking care of some urgent work, so he hadn’t had much time to relax with Clarisse in the last few days. 

He was glad that he could sit across from her and share some quality time. He wouldn’t have been able to spend an entire day away from her, if it wasn’t for this.

Because of his large size, Jean had made the carriage larger than usual. Still, he sat with his legs tucked in as far as possible to keep them out of the way, but eventually, Clarisse, sitting across from him, smiled warmly and said,

“Jean-sama, you can ease up on your legs if you want.”

“… excuse me.”

“Did you often go to the royal capital, Jean-sama?”

‘Clarisse asked me a question…!’

Clarisse is a very reserved person and rarely asks Jean any questions. If he were to ask her a question, she would give him a quick, sincere answer. On top of that, Jean wasn’t very good at initiating conversations, so he almost never talked about himself. He was thrilled that Clarisse had asked him about it.

“No, I’ve never lived in the capital. I grew up in a remote town and stayed there all my life since my father was originally from there. So I only ever went to the capital to visit my aunt’s house or to run errands.”

Thinking about it, this was probably the first time he had ever talked about his parents. Even the servants at the mansion knew the story, and it wasn’t a secret, so he didn’t feel the need to tell her. 

‘I wondered if Clarisse had been holding back her desire to ask. I’ll tell her as much as she wants any time she asks.’

“Is that so?”

“It was the current King who appointed me as a Margrave, but my father was a local nobleman himself. I’ve always thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea to establish myself as a knight.”

“…”

“Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever told you, my parents died in an unfortunate carriage accident eight years ago, and I have no siblings.”

It was comforting to see her violet eyes narrow painfully. Jean didn’t like to receive half-hearted consolations and was grateful that Clarisse was not the kind of woman to show flattering pity.

“Shortly after, I was appointed by the king as the Margrave of this area, so I was too busy to mourn.”

Jean thought back to those chaotic days. It wasn’t that he wasn’t sad, but there was a thought that kept him inspired: the thought that his parents would be proud of him for receiving a noble title when he was just a little over 20 years old, and that the King himself took an interest in him and made him a Margrave – even if it was only for one generation. 

He later heard that it was a coincidence that the King had appointed him as a Margrave. Regardless, the state of affairs with the neighboring countries at that time was worse than it is now, so no one came forward to take this position.

After becoming a Margrave, his milk-brother Sid and his cousin Marius remained by his side, and the knights, who were his colleagues, followed him even after he became their superior.

“You must have been very talented, Jean-sama… When was your last successful battle?”

“Oh, it was last year. There have always been frequent petty conflicts with neighboring countries along the border, and those of us on the frontier knew that one day it would turn into a major battle.”

So as soon as Jean was appointed as the Margrave, he immediately began to make detailed preparations. He strengthened the fortress, prepared the knights for any surprise attack, and devised a plan to minimize casualties in any case. 

If necessary, he himself would stand on the front line to boost the spirits of the knights and soldiers, but at the same time, as the commander, he had to consider the safety of his people. After several battles in the field, he had finally won the battle, and the peace treaty was signed last year after seven years of negotiating. Jean simply believed that the King’s recognition was based on all the work he had done for him since he became a Margrave.

‘Oh no, I’ve been talking way too much…’

If Sid had been in the same carriage, he would have been disgusted as this was not something to talk about with to a noblewoman, but when Jean looked at Clarisse, he saw a spark of admiration in her beautiful violet eyes, and she did not seem to be disgusted by what he had said at all. 

There are many moments when Jean feels the kindness of her nature. The fact that Clarisse was so attuned to Jean’s feelings in this way made him want to treat her well.

He gazed at Clarisse’s beautiful face.

He had thought she was beautiful from the first time he saw her. Of course, her face was beautiful, but it was her intelligence, kindness, and honesty that made her attractive multiple times over. It was hard to believe that the Farenheit family had treated her so poorly. Now, even he knows that the servants of the Gutenberg family worship her and that Sid and Marius think very highly of her.

‘But then again, there are people in every world who can’t understand the value of gems, even if they lived next to a diamond mine.’