Ficorpio
Chapter 1
I had not been a bride at the Sterling Estate for long.
My husband, Ethan Sterling, had gentle eyes and an even gentler manner. His fingertips carried the faint scent of sandalwood. Every morning, he arranged my hair himself and chose the pin I would wear, then fastened each tiny button of my dress with meticulous care.
Yet night after night, I dreamed of a coast shrouded in mist, caught somewhere between the sea and a graveyard. A woman in white always stood there, beckoning to me. Her voice was as ethereal as ice water.
“Claire, you never had a name…”
Then I discovered the truth behind my mother-in-law’s medicine.
As I stood trembling, Ethan came up behind me and rested his hands lightly on my shoulders. His voice was tender, almost intimate, yet something about it chilled me.
“You’re shaking. You’re not afraid of me, are you?”
His fingers tightened ever so slightly.
“It’s all right. You simply haven’t adjusted yet. I’ll teach you. Slowly.”
It was my thirteenth day as a bride at the Sterling Estate in the Riverlands.
Ever since my arrival, the same dream had haunted me.
White mist drifted between the sea and a graveyard. The Woman in White stood within it, one pale hand raised, beckoning me closer.
Her voice pierced straight through me.
“Claire, you never had a name…”
I jolted awake.
The mattress beside me was already cold.
Ethan had risen this early?
He had stayed with me until well past midnight. I could still remember his fingers lingering in my hair, winding the strands around them again and again…
The door creaked open.
Eleanor Sterling entered carrying a bowl of dark brown medicine. Her expression was severe.
“Claire, this will calm your nerves and restore your strength. Drink it, and perhaps you’ll soon provide the Sterling family with an heir.”
I shook my head and backed away.
“I’m not ill. I won’t drink it.”
“How dare you defy your elder!”
She stepped forward and seized my chin. With her other hand, she pressed the bowl toward my lips. The bitter fumes caught in my throat, making me recoil.
I twisted away, struggling against her grip. My elbow struck the bowl.
It overturned.
Black liquid splashed across the bed curtains.
“Claire Sterling, you are far too disobedient!”
Eleanor raised her hand to strike me.
Before the slap could land, a warm hand closed around Eleanor’s wrist.
I hadn’t heard Ethan Sterling approach. He stood in the doorway, shielding me behind him. His voice was calm, but left no room for argument.
“Mother, Claire doesn’t want to drink it. Then she doesn’t have to.”
Eleanor’s face shifted from green to white. She shot me a furious glare before turning on her heel and sweeping out of the room.
Ethan sat down on the edge of the bed and gently wiped the bitter medicine from my neck with his fingertip. His voice softened.
“Your dress is stained. I’ll help you change.”
Chapter 2
He undid the first button at my collar. I reached to do it myself, but he caught my wrist.
“It’s all right. I like helping Claire dress.”
He eased the medicine-stained dress from my shoulders. My heart raced, but his fingers never lingered. Only after he had slipped a newly made moon-white silk gown over my head did I finally let out a breath.
“Ethan,” I said softly, “I’ve been cooped up in this estate for too long. I want to go outside for a walk.”
His fingers paused. Then he smiled and took my hand.
“Anywhere is fine, as long as you let me come with you.”
Clearbrook Town’s stone-paved streets were dressed in ribbons and lanterns. A sweet scent of locust blossoms drifted on the breeze, spilling past the silk merchants and jewelry shops that lined the road.
Ethan Sterling held my hand as we wandered from the jeweler to a cloth shop. He picked up a roll of pale-blue brocade embroidered with a subtle pattern.
“This fabric is soft. It’ll flatter your complexion, Claire.”
The old shopkeeper smiled as he looked me over. “The Sterling family’s new bride this generation is a lovely one. Even prettier than the woman from twenty years ago—”
Ethan lifted his eyes and gave him a cool glance.
The shopkeeper immediately lowered his head and fell silent.
Inside a pastry shop, Ethan picked up a packet of locust blossom cakes and held it out to me. “You loved these when you were little. Do you still like them?”
I was about to nod when I froze.
“How do you know that? I’ve never told you.”
He brushed a finger over the tip of my nose, amusement glimmering in his eyes. “You’ve forgotten? You were the one who told me.”
I searched through my memories, but I couldn’t find the slightest trace of that conversation.
“Ethan, don’t you still have business at the bank?” I tried to ease my hand from his. “I can look around by myself. I’ll go back when I’m done.”
“You’ve only just arrived here. I’m worried you’ll get lost.” He refused to let go.
“It isn’t far from the estate. How could I possibly get lost?”
He was silent for two seconds. Then his voice lowered, carrying the faintest hint of hurt.
“Just think of it as me being reluctant to leave you. Let me keep you company a little longer, all right?”
In the end, I couldn’t bring myself to refuse him. His gentleness had always made him impossible to resist.
By the time we returned, the sky had begun to dim. We had barely stepped onto the Sterling Estate grounds when the butler hurried out to meet us.
“Mr. Sterling, Mrs. Sterling, the second son has returned.”
Chapter 3
Ethan’s expression stiffened for the briefest moment. Still holding my hand, he quickened his pace toward the drawing room.
A man sat in one of the high-backed chairs inside. His features were strikingly similar to Ethan’s, enough that the resemblance was unmistakable. But the moment he saw me, the smile in his eyes vanished. He shot to his feet.
“Ethan, she’s—”
“She’s Claire Sterling, your sister-in-law,” Ethan cut in before he could finish. Then he turned to me. “Claire, this is my younger brother, Julian. He’s just returned from overseas.”
Julian’s voice came fast and tense. “How could you get married? You know what our family—”
“Enough!”
Ethan’s interruption was sudden. A rare, icy severity hardened his face. But in the next instant, his expression eased again.
“Julian, you’ve had a long journey. Go get some rest.”
Julian kept his eyes on me, clearly wanting to say more. In the end, he said nothing. He turned and left the drawing room.
Ethan tightened his grip around my wrist, the warmth of his fingertips brushing my skin.
“Claire, don’t read too much into it. Julian spent too long abroad, so he has some issues with traditional marriage customs.”
He reached up and tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear before adding, “Julian brought back quite a few things from overseas. Go choose a few for yourself. Have the rest distributed among the other households.”
The moment I stepped into the side room, I heard several maids gathered around a pile of gifts, exclaiming over them.
“These foreign contraptions are so strange. Does anyone know how they work?”
I walked over and picked up a brass device fitted with a glass lens. Without thinking, I flicked the switch on its side. A bright, delicate melody suddenly filled the room.
The maids gasped.
“Young Mrs. Sterling knows how to use it! How remarkable!”
I froze.
I had never seen the device before. How could I possibly have known what to do?
“You’re so fortunate, Mrs. Sterling. Mr. Sterling thinks of you in everything. He even lets you choose your gifts before anyone else.” The maids chattered around me, their voices full of envy.
But how could anyone call me fortunate?
My father had been an ordinary farmer in Willowmere Village. The first time Ethan came to the village to purchase land, I had been climbing a tree to pick fruit. I lost my footing and fell right in front of him, my skirt torn and my dignity in ruins.
He took off his coat and wrapped it around me.
“You should be more careful the next time you climb a tree,” he said gently.
When I returned home, I learned that Ethan Sterling, the eldest son of the Sterling family, intended to marry me.
On our wedding night, candlelight glowed in his smiling eyes as he patiently removed the bridal crown from my hair.
“Claire,” he said, “I’ll treat you well from now on.”
After dinner, I went for a walk alone in the courtyard.