Countess of Nottingham

Chapter 2

The country where Lia found herself—Odin—was situated in the northwest of the continent known as Yamei; climatically, it fell within the subarctic zone.

Unfortunately, while the local customs of dress and architectural styles bore a striking resemblance to medieval Europe, she had never even heard of the nations that existed in this era. Fortunately, however, although the original Amelia was gone, she had left behind all her memories. The original owner of this body was an impoverished noblewoman with a tragic background and an awkward social standing—someone who had likely rarely stepped foot outside her own chambers—yet she was a noble nonetheless. She had received the education befitting a noble lady; in fact, due to a lack of social engagements, she had read even more widely than other young noblewomen.

This allowed Lia to form a fairly accurate assessment of her current situation.

She could not get a divorce; Lia was well aware of this. Not only was such an act f*******n by the religion widely practiced among the local populace, but her mother—the very woman who had sold her own daughter—would never willingly relinquish her claim to those five thousand gold coins.

The only person with both the ability and the potential to help her was her guardian. Following her father's death, that responsibility had legally fallen upon the King—her cousin, Richard. This was the very avenue Ruby had once used in an attempt to help her escape the marriage: sending a handwritten letter to the King via the Bishop of Nottinghamshire, pleading for his intervention.

The outcome was obvious: they had failed.

Now, she was the lawful wife of the Lord of Nottingham. Yet this was not the end; or rather, for a noblewoman, marriage marked the true beginning of life. Just like the world Leah knew, women on the continent of Yamei had—for the vast majority of history—been mere appendages to men, and this remained true today. Although tradition dictated that Nottingham could not divorce her, he could do a great many things to his wife—his subordinate. He could shun, neglect, or humiliate her; worse still, he could beat her.

A fiefdom was essentially a miniature kingdom; within its borders, the lord’s authority was absolute. No one dared to defy or question it, and even the king rarely had the right to interfere—let alone his wife.

Yet, this was not the only reason Leah sought to curry favor with her husband.

This era—which was wretched for everyone, but particularly so for wives—came with a law that was even more detrimental to women: even if Nottingham were to die, Leah, as his wife, would not inherit his entire estate.

Indeed, should Nottingham die within five years of their marriage, she would not receive so much as a scrap of his vast territory; she would merely be allotted a share of gold or silver coins before returning to her family home with her dowry—though given that her dowry consisted of nothing but those five thousand gold coins, she might well end up out of pocket.

Even if their marriage lasted longer than five years, Leah would only be entitled to one-third of the land held in Nottingham’s name upon his death. And for a solitary widow, with Nottingham’s vassals and neighbors eyeing her assets like hungry wolves, holding onto that property would be an incredibly daunting challenge.

Of course, there was a solution to all this—if she were to bear a child, even a daughter. In the Kingdom of Odin, daughters could inherit their fathers' titles in the absence of a son—provided they weren't as unlucky as Lia had been at birth.

Thus, Lia drafted a comprehensive plan on a large sheet of parchment, outlining her strategy for the task of childbearing.

Of course, one might ask why she didn't simply run away. Given Nottingham’s immense wealth, wouldn't it be better to swipe some gold, silver, and jewels from his castle, sell them off, and live the comfortable, self-sufficient life of a wealthy middle-class woman?

But let’s be real: no matter how unfamiliar the names of these kingdoms might seem, the fact remains that this is the medieval era—the so-called Dark Ages. Stone castles, towering arrow-slits, barbaric customs, and appalling sanitary conditions—all of these elements made the nature of her environment painfully clear to Lia.

In an age where human flesh might well be considered less valuable than pork, being a noblewoman without a title or dowry might not be the worst fate—but being a penniless young wife on the run? That would be an absolute nightmare. She could fall victim to any number of tragedies that befell women of the time, and that’s not to mention the "royal family member" label hanging over her head. Don't mistake that status for something prestigious, impressive, or dazzling; in an era where nobles held near-absolute power within their own domains, the royal family was essentially just a "great lord" whose territory was a tiny bit larger than everyone else's. Yet, within that slightly larger territory, she didn't own so much as a single plot of land to call her own. Talk about a miserable situation, right?

So, no matter how much she resisted the idea, a careful assessment led her to the only viable conclusion: latch onto Nottingham and try her best to have a child. If she could just outlive her husband, she’d successfully "beat the game"! However, none of this was as simple as she had imagined. While bearing children was both a responsibility and an obligation for a wife, looking at the reflection in the mirror—a young noblewoman with skin far too pale—she had to admit that giving birth to a healthy child would be a significant challenge for her in her current state.

Consequently, the first plan she set in motion wasn't about taming her husband, but about getting into shape.

Yet, that plan came to an abrupt halt the moment her hands touched the castle gates; the butler, respectful yet stern, announced that the Count had f*******n Lia—the lady of the house—from leaving the premises.

That’s right: she was under house arrest.

As a young wife with a history of running away from her wedding, Lia dared not complain too much. After repeatedly assuring the butler that she merely wanted a stroll in the garden—only to be firmly refused—she temporarily abandoned the idea of ​​outdoor exercise.

*Tch.* Who says you have to go outside to work out? I can exercise indoors just fine—on the bed, on the carpet, you name it. You bunch of yokels who’ve never even heard of yoga!

After venting her frustration internally, Lia shifted to a different part of her strategy. She dispatched her only trusted confidante—her maid, Ruby—to infiltrate the household staff. Ruby was to mingle with the cooks, maids, and servants, aiming to uncover Nottingham’s likes and dislikes; after all, knowing both oneself and the enemy is the key to victory.

And more importantly, it would be ideal if Ruby could get her hands on a list of Nottingham’s mistresses.

Much like the European history Lia was familiar with, this was an era of monogamy. Unlike in ancient China, however, men could not take concubines; the only legally recognized relationship was that of husband and wife. While this offered a measure of protection for the wife, it also indirectly fostered the emergence of another role: the mistress.

In this era, lords keeping mistresses was as commonplace as noblewomen keeping pet dogs or kept women flaunting their wealth. To look no further than her own memories, Lia recalled that her nominal uncle had engaged in the sort of "open secret" affairs—known to all but spoken of by none—with a whole roster of castle maids. As for the peasant girls in his territory with whom he shared one-night stands or brief flings, they were simply too numerous to count.

Claiming that Nottingham had remained chaste and pure before marriage would be about as credible as claiming that a certain island belonged to the "Sesame-Cake Kingdom." Yet, given the total lack of emotional attachment between them, Lia had absolutely no interest in interfering with how many women Nottingham had slept with, was sleeping with, or would sleep with in the future. Her only concern was preventing him from getting some girl pregnant before they produced a legitimate heir.

Such occurrences were hardly rare; even past kings had fathered illegitimate children—some spoken of openly, others kept in the shadows; some acknowledged, others denied. Among the nobility, such affairs were as common as a light drizzle.

Under Odin’s laws, illegitimate children held no right to inherit their father’s estate. However, there were always exceptions. If a nobleman lacked a legitimate heir, his property would revert to the state or be carved up among his vassals and neighboring lords upon his death. To avoid this fate, some lords resorted to deception, passing off an illegitimate child as the heir born to their wife—a scheme not particularly difficult to pull off within the relatively insular confines of a castle.

Yet, few wives were ever willing to raise another woman's child as their own. Besides, the odds of raising an ungrateful wretch were incredibly high—a risk Lia absolutely did not want to take.

However, the feedback Ruby brought back after three days of mingling in the kitchen was dismal. Well, "dismal" might not be the right word; "non-existent" would be more accurate. As the personal maid of a noblewoman who was barely tolerated by her own family, Ruby trying to gather intelligence in a chaotic, rough-and-tumble place like the kitchen was akin to a remake of Tom Cruise’s breakout hit—*Mission: Impossible*.

After making countless rounds, Ruby returned teary-eyed, insisting that her mistress must under no circumstances abandon the plan to escape.

"Oh, My Lady, it’s absolutely terrifying," Ruby said, clutching her chest and trembling uncontrollably. "Do you know? He’s killed people. If you piled up the bones of his victims in the town square, the stack would be two stories high. He hangs people by the neck with hoods over their heads; he cuts out their tongues with his own hands and strings their bones into necklaces; he even eats the eyeballs of the living... God, it’s horrific. What would Madam say? What would Madam say? You simply must leave this place—and I will help you do it."

Madam?

Lia frowned. That "cheap" mother of hers—the one who had sold her off—could she really have been unaware of the notorious Earl of Nottingham’s vile reputation? Yet, she had still traded her daughter for five thousand gold coins. Leah shrugged. "I couldn't care less what she says about me. Besides, I can't leave this place, Ruby—I wouldn't even make it back alive to Red Keep, my uncle's estate. So, all I need you to do is figure out exactly what I must do to satisfy Nottingham."

Ruby blinked apologetically. "My lady, I... I don't know..."

"Perhaps I can help."

Leah turned in surprise to see that the bedroom door had been opened at some point; the maid Nottingham had assigned to her was standing there, holding a bucket of water. She looked a little timid, yet her gaze was steady as she looked at her mistress.

"Susie?"

"Yes, my lady." Susie walked slowly forward, fixing her eyes on Leah. With the steadfastness of a maid pledging loyalty to her mistress, she declared, "I know the Earl's preferences. I can help you."