Chapter 548: Back in Chemois

It was the peak of winter. There wasn’t much to do except sit around and gossip.

In the past, Henry had brushed it off as nothing more than frivolous talk rather than a legitimate way to move information, but this winter, his opinion would change.

The moment Irene heard that she was also mentioned in the letter from the King, she could only imagine what it was about.

As they made it over the plateau that led to the Chemoian side of the mountains, relieved to see that time hadn’t passed so quickly that the snow was starting to melt, anxieties grew ever so slightly.

"Do you think he figured it out?" Irene would ask.

The ’it’ she referred to was their marriage behind closed doors.

It wasn’t as if they tried to hide it all that much, but for a duke to go around without the King’s approval could be seen as a slight. Henry was a vassal and had to take serious steps to gain his permission when talking about marriage.

There had to be a good reason for choosing her, and that reason couldn’t simply be love.

They had one more camp before they would be able to stay in an inn and then make it all the way back to the Duke’s Tower.

The two of them sat by a fire against a massive tree and shared dinner as they had done the entire journey.

"I can’t promise that he didn’t," Henry admitted. "All I can assure you is that there isn’t a reason why he shouldn’t approve of you as my choice. If we’re being honest, my upbringing wasn’t anything of note while yours was. Your family should have taken it badly when a peasant dared to ask for their daughter’s hand, but they didn’t. I can never face someone as only the Duke, but everything that led up to that title. That is the reality of my life now. If they are supposed to judge you the same way they do me, you’re the perfect fit for the Duchess."

He placed the pot they shared in the snow and leaned towards his wife, reaching for her chin with the hand lacking a glove while he ate. He angled her face towards his.

Henry could see her stress in the way her eyebrows were lowered, and her jaw was tense.

"Whatever the King could say doesn’t change anything," he insisted.

"I can only think of our secrecy surrounding our marriage ruining everything you’ve worked for," Irene admitted.

"Does it matter to you if I have this title?" he asked. "While I would like to keep it, I will give it up if there’s even a hint of someone trying to separate us because of it."

"It doesn’t matter to me," she admitted. "But it wouldn’t take away the guilt if it was ruined for you. You nearly broke yourself for the King. Your life has been put on the line multiple times because you had to overcome your background. You’ve sacrificed more than enough. I’ve seen the scars on your body..."

"Scars that you have just as many," Henry reminded her. "You had to prove a woman could become a knight the same way I proved that a peasant could. I would hate for both of our achievements to be taken away, but at the end of the day it isn’t the title that matters. It’s what the people think of me. I would like to see how they would handle the King frivolously removing my title because I decided to marry one of the most notable noble girls in the duchy."

Irene only sighed.

He cracked a smile at that.

"You may not know it, but your reputation is far wider than you could ever expect," he insisted.

"If all it does is show girls they are just as capable as boys, I’m fine with that," she persisted, then picked up the spoon to take a bite.

"Or perhaps there are people surprised that such a wild boy could grow up to be such a beautiful woman," he joked.

Irene nearly choked on her food and jokingly punched his shoulder just below his armor.

"Then I suppose it’s lucky you somehow got to me first," she responded. "I had such a long line of people trying to capture my attention."

The last part was sarcastic.

"Something you’re unwilling to accept is the truth," he retorted.

They had finished their meal, and Henry decided to start cleaning up their camp as he filled the pot with snow and scrubbed it out, only to put more snow in and melt something for all of them to drink.

"It doesn’t matter to me," she insisted. "I never thought there was anyone around me who was all that attractive."

She helped him by cleaning up the spoons and putting away the spices they had used to season their meal.

"Maybe it was just your mind protecting you until a southern peasant put a change in your plans," Henry responded, grinning at how much this entire situation benefited him.

"You are far too happy about this," she said as she sealed up her pack.

"What am I supposed to do?" he asked. "I have the most charming wife in the entire world."

"You’re relentless even when our bed is the ground and a strong wind could take down the tent against this tree," she responded.

"I won’t touch you, but I won’t stop talking."

She tried to glare at him, but it quickly turned into a smile that she badly tried to hide.

"Your persistence at least helped distract me for a few moments," she relented.

"Good." He kissed her cheek. "Are you ready to return to the Duke’s Tower?"

"One step at a time," she insisted. "Shall we get ready for bed?"

He nodded.

After the two of them brushed their teeth with salt, they were able to finally get into their blanket rolls.

While their feet were cold because of the ever-present snow, their hands and sides closest to one another remained warm as they slept with their fingers interlaced.