The Cold-Hearted Grand Duke Obsesses Over Me After My Death - Chapter 29

Episode 30. Flower Man

Emilia supported herself with both knees pressed against Louid’s sides.

But when she just lowered herself, she kept missing the right spot. Reaching down with her hand, she fumbled to find his shaft, grasped it firmly, and set the tip against her hole. Then she slowly lowered herself again.

The tip went in, but she was too afraid to go further and only wiggled her hips a little.

“……?”

Because she had inserted only a little, what she had managed to put in slipped out. To try again, she repeated the same action.

“Ha…”

Louid, lying on the bed watching her, sighed as though exasperated.

“Be braver.”

“That’s not easy.”

Her thighs felt like they would burst from the strain of pressing so hard. Emilia planted both hands on Louid’s stomach and bent her upper body forward. She meant to push it in further, but whether from fear or hesitation, it didn’t work.

“Ah.”

At that moment, Louid suddenly lifted his hips. His thick shaft thrust mercilessly into her. Emilia felt her stomach fill completely and held her breath.

“You’re doing well. You have to breathe.”

Louid began slowly thrusting upward from below.

“Hhh.”

Emilia felt as though her insides were being pierced. But instead of stopping him, she bent lower and placed her hands on his chest.

“Good. Stay just like that.”

Deciding he couldn’t leave it up to her, Louid didn’t stop now but moved his hips quickly. His shaft, slick with her juices, pumped rapidly between her legs.

“Ahh, ahh. Louid.”

Emilia didn’t even realize she was calling his name as moans spilled from her lips. Awkward though she was, she was already more accustomed than the night before, and it hurt less.

“Ahh.”

Louid’s large hands gripped her buttocks tightly.

“I’ll go faster.”

He spoke as though warning her, then began driving into her hard.

“Y-You’re already fast. Ahh, ahhh.”

Her mind went blank, unable to think any further. Enduring Louid’s fierce thrusts, Emilia lowered her head more and more. At last, when her cheek rested against his chest, she felt strangely at ease.

‘I feel like this has happened before.’

His wide, firm chest didn’t feel unfamiliar. It was as if she had once lain with her face against it.

‘Then it wasn’t just a dream when I touched him?’

Louid had said she had touched him before, and though she hadn’t believed it, now she felt as though it might really have happened.

“Hhh, ahh. Louid.”

Even as confusion filled her, his storm-like thrusts continued. Louid, unable to resist the tight pressure of her inner walls, finally released his desire.

“Ahh, mm.”

Exhausted, Emilia collapsed flat on his body. With his shaft still buried inside her, Louid gently stroked her back.

“Did… we succeed?” Emilia asked in a faint voice.

“Seems like it.”

“Ha, thank goodness.”

“…Emilia?”

Her body went limp.

‘Damn, she fainted.’

Looking down at his chest, Louid gave a wry smile.

They had only just started, and already she fainted. He thought she had grown healthier, but her stamina was miserable.

“Emilia, this won’t do.”

“…What do you mean?”

To his surprise, she answered faintly, not fully unconscious.

“Do you have any enemies, or anyone who hates you?”

“No.”

Even in her fading consciousness, Emilia answered clearly. She knew no one besides Simon, and there was no one who could bear her a grudge.

“I can’t do this often. So come only every few days.”

Leaving that selfish final remark, Emilia sank into deep sleep.

“……”

‘We’ve only done it once, and she’s already telling me not to come often?’

Louid stared at Emilia with a bewildered expression, then lay back with her on top of him, breathing heavily.

***

The next morning.

Louid was thinking about the carriage accident.

If she has no enemies, then it must have been Duke Berthe’s scheme. Incredible. To stage something like this when his granddaughter might have died? Power must be that precious.

He believed the accident had been a ploy by Duke Berthe to draw his sympathy and make him devote his attention to Emilia.

‘It won’t hurt to be careful, so I’ll strengthen her guard.’

Even if it was a scheme, he had to strengthen Emilia’s security.

And yet, telling me not to come often?

His long fingers tapped the desk rhythmically.

He didn’t like Emilia, yet he couldn’t understand why her words bothered him so much.

“Ha…”

Without her at his side, he strangely felt empty.

‘Nonsense.’

He sprang from his chair, went quickly down the stairs, and stepped outside. The sky was clear without a cloud, and the wind blew a little strongly. It was an unusually fine day in the Grand Duchy

Ten years ago, the land had been nothing but barren, rough desert, with constant blizzards and floods from heavy rain. It had been uninhabitable.

That people live here now is a miracle.

Recalling the past, he walked around the castle. Suddenly, he found himself in front of the east annex, where Emilia lived.

Because it was a busy time for the servants, no one was around. Slowing his pace, he wandered leisurely around the annex.

***

“Your Highness, the flowers hung last time have dried. I’ll throw them out and bring fresh ones.”

Helen was about to discard the bundle of flowers hanging on the wall.

“No, leave them. I’ll make use of them.”

“Yes, understood.”

When Helen left, Emilia took the bundle and went to the window. Opening it, she plucked off the dried petals and scattered them outside.

“Simon, can you pick some flowers for me?”

“Yes, understood.”

Since childhood, whenever Simon brought her wildflowers, she would pluck the dried petals and scatter them outside. She believed that though her cries could not be heard, if she sent the petals, someone would come to the tower.

“But no one ever came.”

Now she no longer lived imprisoned, and in a year or two, she might be completely free. Yet seeing the dried petals reminded her of her childhood. Lost in thought, she let them fly.

‘What is this?’

Louid looked up at the sky. At such a quiet hour, white petals fell from above.

It wasn’t the season for snow.

Standing still, pink petals and yellow ones followed one after another, raining down.

‘I’ve seen this before, long ago.’

For a moment, Louid felt déjà vu and stopped. But the memory didn’t return clearly. He only vaguely remembered petals falling from the sky. Neither the place nor the time came back to him.

Since childhood, he had lived under the threat of poison. The late emperor told him to accept it as the fate of the imperial family. Constantly poisoned, his body grew resistant, but the toxins left him with memory loss. Especially before the age of fifteen, he remembered little.

‘Huh? That’s Louid.’

After scattering the flowers, Emilia looked down and was startled to see Louid standing there.

Of all people, why him?

His head and shoulders were covered in petals. Because he wore black, they stood out more clearly.

“He’s become a flower man. Haha.”

She knew she shouldn’t laugh, but it came out. Then her eyes met his.

“Gasp.”

Frightened, Emilia quickly ducked back inside. A few minutes later, when she peeked out, Louid was gone.

‘He should have stayed longer.’

He was the only one who had seen the petals she scattered. She regretted that he had vanished so quickly.

***

That night, Louid dreamed.

Footsteps drew near. Not just one. Dozens of people’s steps echoed busily.

“Search everywhere.”

“Yes!”

At the sound of intruders, Louid hurried to hide. He had left his sword by the bed, so he was unarmed. If time passed, they might find the hiding place beneath the floor.

The soldiers guarding the northern fortress had all been killed by assassins while protecting him. Alex and Aaron had gone in the morning to inspect a village raided by barbarians and weren’t in the castle.

“Here! He’s under here!”

Someone lifted the carpet over his hiding place and shouted.

“Gasp.”

His eyes flew open. His whole body was drenched in sweat. Nightmares were common, but for a while, he had neither dreamed nor suffered insomnia, so he thought he had recovered. Apparently not.

“Ugh.”

Louid clutched his head with his right hand. Pain pounded like a hammer blow. Rising from bed, he opened the nightstand drawer for medicine.

“Empty.”

Inside were only empty bottles. He hadn’t realized he had finished them, since he hadn’t needed them in a while.

He lay down again, but the pain only worsened. Before long, he jumped to his feet.

Minutes later, he arrived at the annex bedroom. Emilia was fast asleep, oblivious.

‘She sleeps so soundly…’

He gave a bitter smile and went to the sofa. Since Emilia had told him not to come often, he feared she would wake if he lay in her bed. He had come only because of the headache, so the sofa would suffice. Lying down, he soon fell asleep.

‘I’m thirsty.’

Perhaps because he had gone to bed earlier than usual, he awoke at dawn. Emilia poured water from the pitcher on the nightstand and drank.

“Mm?”

In the dim room, faintly lit by moonlight, she saw something. Someone was lying on the sofa.