The Cold-Hearted Grand Duke Obsesses Over Me After My Death - Chapter 12

Episode 12. Where Is He?

Bright spring sunlight streamed in through the curtains covering the window. The chirping of an unknown bird could also be heard.

Emilia was sleeping soundly. The sheet was fluffy as if it had just been washed, and the room was warm. As if the fireplace hadn’t gone out all night.

‘I can’t. I need to conserve firewood.’

Emilia’s eyes flew open. Her blue eyes were still full of sleep, but she felt refreshed, perhaps because she had slept in for the first time in a while. Even the pain from the crash seemed to have disappeared.

‘Where is this? Ah!’

What she had thought was the tower in her dream was actually the bedroom in the Grand Duke’s manor.

‘Then where is he?’

Emilia turned her head back and forth, searching for Louid. But he was nowhere to be seen, neither beside the bed nor on the sofa.

Did he go to the next room? Or to the imperial palace?

There was no clue to tell her where he had gone.

“Mmm, it’s stuffy…”

Yesterday, she had thought it was just warm, but now the room felt very hot. On top of that, she was tightly wrapped in the blanket, hugging her pillow. No matter how hard she struggled, she couldn’t free herself.

When she looked at the fireplace, it was still blazing. She gave up trying to escape and just lay there.

Knock, knock.

“Your Highness, are you awake?”

While she was groaning in sweat, Lucy came in with tea.

“Lucy, help me out of this.”

“Oh my, Your Highness. What happened here? Hoho.”

Lucy laughed as she approached and unwrapped the twisted blanket.

“I must’ve rolled around in my sleep. Where is His Highness the Grand Duke?”

Emilia immediately asked about Louid’s whereabouts. Even if he hadn’t come to the bedroom, she wouldn’t have known, but she had seen with her own eyes that he had been there last night, so she was curious about where he had gone.

“His Highness has gone to the north for a monster hunt.”

“A monster hunt? He went alone?”

She hadn’t heard anything about that. It was unbelievable that he would go far away the day after their wedding without saying a word to her.

“Yes, that’s correct.”

Lucy gave her a sympathetic look.

“Did he leave any message for me?”

“He said for Your Highness to stay here at the manor until he returns.”

“I see,” Emilia replied with a downcast expression.

Just wait, without even knowing when he’d return?

She hadn’t even received a clear answer about the divorce, and now she had no idea when she’d see him again.

This is really too much.

Emilia glared at the inner door connecting to Louid’s room. But staring at it wouldn’t bring him back, so she soon gave up.

***

Later that afternoon, Lucy brought some unwelcome news.

“Your Highness, Duke Berthe has arrived.”

“…Really?”

The duke came all the way here? Emilia’s face twisted. She thought she had escaped, but she was seeing him again in less than a day. The wound on her forehead, which had seemed healed, suddenly throbbed. She slowly rose and headed for the parlor.

“Emilia.”

Duke Berthe was sitting in the seat of honor on the parlor sofa. His face looked even more deeply wrinkled than it had just yesterday.

“Welcome, Your Grace.”

Emilia approached the sofa and greeted him with a stiff face. She had been told he was her grandfather, but she felt no warmth at all.

“Sit.”

The duke pointed to the sofa opposite him. It looked as if the roles of host and guest were reversed.

“…Yes.”

“I came because I have something to ask you.”

“Yes.”

“Have all your memories returned?”

The duke first asked whether her memory had fully come back.

“Yes.”

Aside from the few days lost due to the accident, all her memories had returned the moment she saw Louid at the wedding.

“Did you spend the night with His Highness the Grand Duke?”

“…Yes.”

Emilia answered quietly with her gaze lowered at the duke’s rude question.

Although it wasn’t truly a wedding night as a married couple, since Louid had submitted the sheet to the temple as evidence, she figured she could say they had spent the night together.

“I see, that’s good. But I heard His Highness went on a monster hunt?”

“…Yes.”

Somehow the duke already knew that Louid had gone north.

“Then why are you still here?”

The duke’s voice suddenly rose.

“…Pardon?”

Emilia’s voice trembled with surprise. She glanced toward the closed door, worried the servants outside might hear.

“H-His Highness the Grand Duke told me to wait here.”

“And you’re just going to sit here and wait?”

“……”

Emilia couldn’t understand the duke’s words and simply stared at his face. Her face was full of fear. What could she do if her husband left before she even woke up?

“What if he never comes back?”

The duke’s fury did not subside.

“He’ll return. He has to see His Majesty the Emperor and handle state affairs…”

Smack—

A sharp sound rang out, and her vision flashed as if lightning had struck. One cheek burned like it had been branded. Before she could even understand what had happened, Emilia covered her cheek with her hand.

“Foolish girl. Go to the Grand Duke’s castle immediately.”

The duke glared at her with a murderous expression.

“……”

She couldn’t say anything.

Go to the Grand Duke’s castle? Louid told her to stay at the manor. Was it really okay to go there on her own?

“How are you going to have an heir while being apart from the Grand Duke?”

Seeing she gave no response, the duke clicked his tongue in frustration. His hand was about to rise again.

“Yes, I understand. I’ll go as soon as I’m ready.”

Rather than seeing the duke again, it seemed better to go far away where he wasn’t.

“I’ve already made preparations. The carriage and knights are ready, so depart within a few days.”

“Yes, I understand.”

He already prepared everything? She was so shocked she could hardly breathe, but she had no choice but to obey.

“And take this medicine daily to strengthen your body. A healthy mother bears a healthy heir.”

The duke held out a vial filled with round pills.

“Yes, I understand.”

***

“Safe travels, Your Highness.”

A few days later, Emilia boarded the carriage with the manor staff seeing her off.

“Kevin, I’m going to the Grand Duke’s castle.”

“Suddenly, Your Highness?”

“I want to see His Highness the Grand Duke.”

When Kevin looked puzzled at her sudden decision, Emilia explained it away by saying she missed Louid.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Seeing her swollen face, Kevin assumed she had cried because she missed the Grand Duke, so he didn’t object. He only quietly sent a messenger ahead to the castle.

A maid who had been waiting in front of the carriage boarded with her. She was sent by Duke Berthe to accompany Emilia to the castle.

“Your Highness, I will go with you.”

Lucy insisted she had to go with her.

“No, Lucy. You don’t need to come.”

There would be servants at the Grand Duke’s castle, and Emilia already had a maid with her, so she decided not to take Lucy.

The carriage soon departed, followed by knights from the duke’s house who were explained as being sent out of concern for his granddaughter.

“Goodbye.”

As the carriage passed through the gates of the Grand Duke’s manor, Emilia said farewell to the place where she had briefly stayed. If she divorced Louid and moved elsewhere, she might never return. Even though it had been a short stay, the manor had felt like home to her for the first time.

‘I’ll miss it.’

She gazed at the receding scenery of the manor with a bittersweet smile. The sky was blue, and fresh green shoots were sprouting in the vast fields. The carriage sped through the plains.

“We’ve arrived at the inn, Your Highness.”

That evening, the carriage arrived at an inn. Emilia was helped up to the second floor by the maid.

I should’ve brought Lucy.

She realized it had been a mistake not to bring Lucy. Traveling a long distance by carriage was extremely tiring. Even a healthy person would have found it difficult, but her injured body wasn’t fully recovered, so she continued to suffer from nausea and headaches. The maid sent by Duke Berthe was with her, but she wasn’t as comfortable as Lucy.

After enduring motion sickness in the swaying carriage during the day and resting her weary body at inns each night, the carriage finally entered the capital of the Grand Duchy ten days later.

“It’s beautiful.”

Emilia admired the snowy landscape of the north she was seeing for the first time. Outside the carriage window, the scenery was filled with snow-covered mountains. Though she had suffered greatly, the beautiful view felt like a reward.

March in the north was different from the south, where the duke’s house was. The south was probably fully in spring by now, but in the Grand Duchy, it was still a frozen winter.

‘Will he be there?’

Nearly fifteen days had passed since Louid left the Grand Duke’s manor. He had traveled by horseback, so he would have arrived in the north much faster than the carriage. There was a chance he had returned to the Grand Duke’s castle after finishing the hunt early.

“We’ll soon arrive at the castle, Your Highness.”

A knight riding alongside the carriage approached the window and shouted. Emilia nodded in acknowledgment.

‘So that’s the Grand Duke’s castle!’

She could see grand buildings rising above the vast land, appearing even larger than the imperial palace. The sunset dyed the sky red above them.

The carriage passed through the castle gates and continued on until it reached the main building. After a moment, the carriage door opened from the outside with a clatter.