Chapter 145
Marquis of Werner (1)
The preparations done to head for Marquis Werner had gone steadily.
In the matter of the Duke, packing up was rather easy for the servants due to his frequent participation in the war. For the Duchess, however, it was a tad bit different.
The news that the Duchess would be leaving home for several days to a cold country had thrown the whole Duchy into a state of emergency.
It was clear that long-term travels would be difficult for their weak Madame. And there was a severe storm as well. The concern of the servants had been rather extreme.
“What shall I prepare first?”
“What if you feel cold when you are leaving then?”
“If you ever feel tired during your journey in a rattling carriage.”
“Fur! I’ll put an order for the warmest coat to place in the carriage!”
“What about food then? What else? We need to prepare many healthy dishes so that they won’t harm your health. It’s already hard to travel long distances.”
Once they were worried, they couldn’t calm down that easily. The Duke could have survived even if he was flung on a remote island, but his wife was completely different.
She had a frail body. She was someone that could cough at the slightest cold wind that leaked through.
If there were to be a single chill smeared across her smiling face—that thought alone felt like their fingertips were gradually freezing, blue.
She was fixed with more and more luggage under the care of the servants. The number of carriages eventually increased successively and in the end, in addition to the carriage that would be transporting the couple, there were a total of five carriages which had already been prepared.
One of those carriages was full with items that were personally prepared by the Duke himself. It was truly needless to say that most of them were specifically arranged for the Duchess.
At long last, the much awaited day of departure. And Molitia had to feel exceedingly embarrassed.
“Do I really have to wear more over there?”
“Of course, Madame. Marquis Werner’s territory is widely known for its frostiness. I’m sure you’ll definitely shiver.”
“No matter how…”
Molitia exclaimed right at the end of her words. Nevertheless, this was just too much. Her body was already being wrapped around tightly. Plus, her indoor clothes had long been invisible under those many layers of other coats.
Frankly speaking, her appearance was that of a child swaddled in a sack. Plus, she just couldn’t believe that she was going to wear even more over there. It was crystal clear that if she were to put even more on, her already stiff arms would never move at all.
“Madame, can I please add one more of these? I’m just so worried.”
It was simply hard for Molitia to just ignore their worried eyes. Eventually, they were only able to go outside after she heaved a series of sighs, in addition to donning another one more piece of clothing.
The carriage that was carrying those two began moving smoothly. It was a rather large procession that had been accompanied by many attendants, so the people naturally drew their attention to it.
“Molitia, feel free to tell me if you’re cold—even if you’re not feeling alright as well.”
“Well…”
Molitia slowly glanced at him. Thanks to the unidentifiable layers of clothings, she couldn’t even feel if it was cold or rather, if the carriage was even moving.
And it wasn’t just her clothes. The carriage was completely different from before. There was a thick layer of animal fur wrapping the chair, the backrest and even the foot rest itself.
The wheels of the carriage seemed to have gotten extra thick to boot. The interior turned out to be so heavy that the carriage’s wheels naturally needed to be hard as well.
“That might not happen, though.”
Molitia’s words shortly became true. She had to shed some of her top layer clothes that she had already worn. It was all due to the fact that she couldn’t bear the heat within the carriage at all.
On top of that, bearing in mind her body’s condition, the carriage made some regular stops on the way. The couple were only allowed to enter the properly built tents on frozen ground after they had been thoroughly heated up.
All of those actions were being considerate of her, who was rather vulnerable at times. Once Molitia had stabilized herself on the solid ground, she started moving busily towards her next destination.
By the time darkness began imbuing the sky, the carriage had already arrived at the scheduled county’s estate. After renting an inn for some of them to catch their own breaths slowly, the couple then headed straight to the Lord’s mansion.