The Cold-Hearted Grand Duke Obsesses Over Me After My Death - Chapter 17

Episode 17. It Would Be Troublesome If You Died

As the knights looked on in surprise, Louid lightly lifted the collapsed Emilia into his arms. Her face sank into his broad chest.

“I’ll carry her, Your Highness.”

Alex jumped up in alarm and extended his arms.

“No, I will. All of you continue drinking.”

“Yes!”

Holding Emilia in his arms, Louid strode out of the banquet hall. The knights’ banquet would go on through the night anyway, and he had long since passed the time he usually left.

‘On the way out, it’s better if I carry her myself.’

He excused himself inwardly, telling himself it was so as not to disturb the knights’ banquet.

“Oh my, Your Highness the Grand Duchess!”

Helen, who had been lingering near the banquet hall entrance, rushed over in alarm.

Louid, without stopping, strode quickly toward the eastern annex. Going up to the third-floor bedroom, he carefully laid Emilia on the bed.

“Your Highness, please wake up. Your Highness.”

As Helen fussed and shook Emilia’s body, his brow creased briefly.

“She’s very drunk. Change her clothes and let her rest comfortably.”

Louid quietly ordered Helen.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

For a while, he looked down at Emilia with a strange expression, then left the bedroom as firmly as he had entered.

***

“Ugh… my head hurts.”

The next morning, opening her eyes, Emilia forced her heavy eyelids up and looked around.

This isn’t the banquet hall. What happened?

Everything after she had drunk the wine last night had been completely cut off from her memory.

Who knew something could taste so delicious?

It had been her first time drinking wine, and its sweet yet bitter flavor had perfectly suited her taste.

And what else had happened?

No matter how hard she tried, she could not remember how she had returned to the annex.

“Your Highness, please drink some tea. It’s good for hangovers.”

Right then, Helen came in carrying tea.

“Yes, thank you.”

“Why did you push yourself so hard when your body is so frail?”

“Really… why did I do that…”

Emilia muttered with a puzzled expression.

How many glasses had she drunk…

She had never imagined she liked alcohol so much that it felt like she had dreamed it.

“Helen, where is the wine produced?”

“The wine traded to the Grand Duke’s castle comes from the Dalton Mountains in the south. The taste is quite unique, isn’t it?”

“Yes, sweet, bitter, and a little sour too. It had such a mysterious taste.”

She had never tried other wines, but the one she drank yesterday had been truly special.

“That’s right. That’s why it’s expensive and popular.”

“Where is Dalton located from here?”

“It’s at the very southern end, so even if you travel quickly by carriage from the castle, it would take about twenty days. Maybe even longer.”

“Twenty days? I see…”

Emilia sighed softly and asked again.

“Did the Commander carry me yesterday too?”

Naturally, Emilia assumed Alex had carried her.

“No, His Highness the Grand Duke himself carried you.”

“What? The Grand Duke?”

Emilia cried out in surprise.

‘Louid carried me…?’

“I-I didn’t do anything wrong, did I?”

“No, he laid you on the bed and told me to take good care of you.”

“……”

Ah, how embarrassing. He must think I’m a drunkard. Mortified, Emilia clutched her head with both hands.

“Shall I bring breakfast?”

“No, I don’t feel like it. More than that, I want to wash.”

Perhaps because she had slept while drunk, sweating heavily, her body felt sticky and uncomfortable.

“Yes, I’ll prepare the bathwater, Your Highness.”

Helen left the room to instruct the maids to prepare the bath.

After her bath, Emilia sat before the desk with her hangover still lingering. She wanted to draw before she forgot the scene of the banquet.

After sketching the banquet, she also drew several dresses. They were all splendid and elegant.

“Your Highness, what would you like for lunch? Shall I bring it to your room?”

As lunchtime approached, Helen entered and asked.

“No, my stomach feels unwell. I’d better not eat,” Emilia answered weakly.

“Yes, then please let me know if you need anything.”

“All right.”

“Thank you for the meal, Mark.”

A few days later, Emilia finished her lunch in the first-floor dining hall of the main castle and stepped out with a cheerful face.

At that moment, Louid, having completed his morning work, left his office to eat.

As he headed toward the central staircase to go up to the third floor, he saw Emilia’s back just below the railing. The place she had come from was the first-floor dining hall.

‘What does she eat to remain so thin?’

Louid turned his steps and went down to the first floor.

When he entered the dining hall, the servant’s eyes widened. The Grand Duchess had just finished her meal and left, and it was rare for the Grand Duke to eat on the first floor, as he usually dined on the third.

“This way, Your Highness.”

The servant guided him to the seat the Grand Duchess had occupied.

“Will you dine, Your Highness?”

“Yes.”

Food was quickly laid out on the table. Louid tasted the freshly served hot potato soup.

“……”

After swallowing, Louid’s expression turned subtle.

“Your Highness, Her Highness also just ate and left.”

The head chef, Mark, came out from the kitchen with a bright face.

“I see…. Does she come to the dining hall often?”

“Yes, nearly every day. She hasn’t been feeling well for several days, and today she ate three bowls of potato soup.”

Three bowls in that frail body?

Louid slightly raised one eyebrow.

“Hmm… Is this the soup the Grand Duchess ate?”

“Yes, it is. It’s Her Highness’s favorite dish,” Mark replied with a proud expression.

“……”

Calling this a dish… isn’t it just plain soup? Louid finished the soup without a word.

“How is it, Your Highness?”

“Hmm… what is?”

Louid, who had been gazing out the window at Emilia, snapped back at the sudden question.

“The potato soup, Your Highness.”

“It’s good. I’ll dine with her at dinner tonight, so prepare accordingly. And pay attention to the Grand Duchess’s meals from now on. Make sure she eats things good for her health.”

“Yes, understood, Your Highness.”

For the first time since becoming the Grand Duke’s head chef, Mark received praise, and with a broad smile, he returned to the kitchen.

Louid recalled Emilia eating only potato dishes at the banquet. Though it was troublesome, he resolved to occasionally join her for dinner from now on. Even if it had been a forced marriage, it would be troublesome if she died from malnutrition.

Since she was full, Emilia thought to walk a little more.

Though the northern weather was bitterly cold, the castle was truly beautiful.

Even in spring, the tall mountains were covered in white snow, and the clouds spread over them looked like a mystical ice palace.

“Wait for me, Your Highness!”

From behind, Helen came running, panting.

“Did you eat lunch?”

“Ah, no. Not yet…”

“Go eat. I’ll walk by myself.”

Emilia sent Helen away and strolled slowly through the garden. The trees were still bare in the low temperature, but once the weather warmed, it would surely become a beautiful garden.

Under a large tree, she rolled up the piled snow. She made one big snowball and one small snowball to build a snowman. She found small twigs and stuck them in as eyes, nose, and mouth.

“Hahaha, so cute.”

Not wanting to be alone, she made one more snowman, slightly bigger, and placed it side by side.

In the southern Berthe estate, where the weather was warm, it hardly ever snowed. Here, however, she could even build snowmen, which delighted her.

Without knowing Louid was watching her, Emilia was lost in her own play.

From his office on the first floor, having eaten only soup, Louid stood by the window, secretly watching Emilia. Her pale cheeks had flushed red as she eagerly rolled the snow.

Knock, knock.

Eddie entered the office.

“This is the investigation into the Grand Duchess, Your Highness.”

“Mm.”

Louid read the documents Eddie handed him.

[Her biological mother was a wandering dancer, and her father severed ties with Duke Berthe. After her mother gave birth and died, and her father went to war with the Kingdom of Billiot, she was sent to her grandfather, Duke Berthe. She never left the Berthe estate until adulthood and never had a debutante ball.]

Never left the Berthe estate until adulthood?

Louid raised one eyebrow.

“Also look into how the Grand Duchess was raised in the Duke’s household.”

“Yes, understood.”

Her mother was a wandering dancer…

Duke Berthe was not the type of man to acknowledge such a woman as his daughter-in-law. It was easy to guess why he had cut ties with his son.

Louid let out a bitter laugh.

***

That afternoon, Emilia lay on her bed, feeling unwell. Looking out the window, she saw the sun setting. The sky was spread with a wide pink glow, and it was truly beautiful.

Even if I leave here one day, I will never forget this place.

It was the first place she had lived freely, not locked up. Even if she was unloved by her husband, she felt marrying Louid had been the right decision.

“Your Highness, His Highness has asked you to join him for dinner.”