The Cold-Hearted Grand Duke Obsesses Over Me After My Death - Chapter 3

Episode 3. Political Marriage

“M-marriage?” Shocked by the unexpected words, Emilia stammered.

“With the Crown Prince’s passing, the next in line for the throne is Grand Duke Louid Richert. I proposed your marriage to His Majesty the Emperor not long ago. Naturally, His Majesty gave his consent. I told him I had been unable to present my granddaughter due to her illness, so you need only sit quietly beside me,” said the Duke with a smug expression.

William, Emperor of the Richert Empire, was now 55 years old and had a ten-year-old son, born late in his life. That son died in a horseback riding accident a month ago. The Empress had passed away a few years earlier from illness, and after her death, the Emperor’s health had deteriorated rapidly. As it stood, the Emperor’s half-brother, Grand Duke Louid, was the sole heir to the throne.

‘Marriage? So suddenly?’

Emilia’s eyes trembled as if rocked by an earthquake. She had been locked away in the tower from the age of two until twenty. Not once had she ever imagined she would become the Grand Duchess. She wasn’t even sure she could manage daily life like other noblewomen.

“I know nothing about noble society. And I know even less about imperial etiquette,” Emilia said cautiously, watching the Duke’s expression.

“I know.”

Duke Berthe let out a sigh. The wrinkles on his forehead deepened.

His sharp gaze swept over Emilia once more. Eighteen years ago, he was the one who had ordered Simon to lock her in the tower. He’d made it clear he didn’t care if she starved to death. Naturally, she would have been given little food. That’s why she was so pitifully thin.

He had also instructed that she not receive any education befitting a noble’s daughter. He even doubted whether she could read. But it had been his doing, so there was nothing he could say. Even so, now her very existence was necessary.

After years of childlessness, the Emperor finally had an heir ten years ago, who was declared Crown Prince at birth. But the boy had suddenly died just a month ago.

Immediately after the Crown Prince’s funeral, the Duke had urgently asked Simon to confirm whether his granddaughter was still alive.

‘I never thought I would come to need that child.’

While the Duke was lost in thought and silent, Emilia was also busy with many thoughts of her own. She had occasionally heard about Grand Duke Louid from Simon.

‘Do I have to marry someone I’ve never even seen before?’

“My lady, the Richert Empire has won again in this battle. His Highness Grand Duke Louid defeated all the enemies.”

“Really? He must be an amazing person.”

“Indeed. Such an admirable man, and yet the Duke…”

Simon trailed off, so she didn’t know the details, but from what she had gathered, Grand Duke Louid was the current Emperor William V’s half-brother and a valiant man who returned victorious from every battle.

‘If I could just see such an admirable person once…’

Before she knew it, Emilia had come to admire the one known as Grand Duke Louid. But it was merely the pure admiration of a young girl. She had never imagined she would actually marry him.

‘That kind of man is marrying me? Why?’

No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t understand. Still, the idea that she might escape this place made her feel she had to do whatever it took.

It wasn’t that she had never thought of escaping the tower before. But she had no education, no skills, and nothing to her name, so she had half given up. Now, hearing this, she realized that marriage could be a way out.

“Will His Highness the Grand Duke like me?” Emilia cautiously asked Duke Berthe to confirm.

“There’s no need to worry about that. You just need to please His Majesty the Emperor,” replied the Duke coldly.

“What if I don’t marry him?”

She knew she couldn’t refuse, since it was the Duke’s command, but she asked out of curiosity.

“You’ll be locked back in the tower. You’re a disgrace to our family.”

As expected, the answer was just what she feared. She didn’t know why he called her a disgrace, but according to Simon, her mother had been a wandering dancer. The Duke had opposed the marriage, but her father had run off and married her anyway.

When she fell silent, the Duke clicked his tongue and spoke, “You’re far too thin. There’s not much time until the wedding, but I’ll assign you a tutor. Learn the basics at least. And put on some weight.”

“Yes, understood.” Giving up on further conversation, Emilia replied quietly.

“Take her away.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

When the Duke gave the order after finishing what he had to say, Simon, who had been waiting by the door, responded.

After bowing her head in greeting to the Duke, Emilia let out a quiet sigh of relief and followed Simon outside. She had the strange sensation of her scalp tingling, as if the Duke were still staring daggers at her.

Walking down the hallway, Simon glanced around and spoke in a low voice, “Well done.”

“Really? Did I do well?”

Emilia wasn’t sure if agreeing to the Duke’s words had truly been the right decision.

“You must leave this place first. Staying here any longer would be dangerous.”

Simon spoke again in a low voice. Emilia looked at him in surprise.

Wasn’t Simon Duke Berthe’s loyal servant? Why was he speaking as if he were on her side? Today, he felt strangely unfamiliar.

“Thank you, Simon.”

Tears welled up in Emilia’s eyes as she looked at him. Without a word, Simon continued down the hallway, and Emilia followed after him with firmer steps than before.

“Do not provoke His Highness Grand Duke Louid.”

Once they stepped outside the main estate, Simon spoke again in a hushed tone. It was the first time they had ever exchanged so many words.

“…May I ask why?”

Emilia also lowered her voice, glancing around as she spoke.

“His Highness the Grand Duke is the most skilled warrior on the continent. Unlike His Majesty the Emperor, who is gentle, the Grand Duke is brave and fearsome.”

Simon wore an expression that suggested he was hiding something. Whenever the topic of Grand Duke Louid came up, he always seemed to dodge the question with a troubled look.

“And?”

There had to be another reason.

“There is no other reason. I only meant that he is a rough man, so you should be careful.”

As expected, Simon withheld the core of the matter.

“…Is that so? All right.”

Though still suspicious, Emilia gave a small nod in agreement, knowing he wouldn’t answer even if she pressed further.

“I will now guide you to the room where you will stay from today.”

“Not going back to the tower?”

At Simon’s words, her eyes widened. Now that she thought about it, the direction they were walking in was completely opposite from the tower where she had been confined.

“Yes, that’s right. Starting today, you’ll be staying in the western annex.”

“Then what about my belongings?”

She didn’t have anything particularly special, but the princess doll her father had bought her and the jewelry box with the ring left by her mother were her most precious treasures.

“I’ll bring them to you.”

“All right.”

Relieved, Emilia quietly followed Simon.

***

“This is my room?”

Arriving on the second floor of the western annex, Emilia looked around the spacious bedroom in surprise. It was incomparably larger than the tower attic she had spent the past eighteen years in.

“Yes, that’s correct. Starting today, you will stay here,” Simon replied with a smile.

He pointed to the bell-pull beside the bed and added, “Then please rest. If you pull this cord, a maid will come.”

“All right.”

Once Simon left, Emilia sat on the large bed. It looked big enough to comfortably sleep three adults.

Slowly, she turned her gaze and looked around the room. Elegant furniture, an antique mirror, a display cabinet rimmed with gold, and a fireplace crackling with fire—it looked exactly like the bedroom of a princess from a fairy tale. It was a completely different world from the tower she had lived in.

‘This kind of place existed so close to the tower?’

She rose from the bed and approached the arched window draped with white, luxurious curtains. Pulling the curtain slightly aside, she saw the tower where she had stayed, shrouded in the darkness. Though she had lived there just a short time ago, from the outside, it looked desolate and eerie. It wouldn’t have been hard to believe a monster lived there.

‘No one would have imagined a person lived in that place.’

It made sense why no one had come. Likely because Duke Berthe had forbidden access.

‘Should I run away now?’

Suddenly, the word ‘escape,’ something she had never been able to even consider, crossed Emilia’s mind. As a child, she hadn’t been tall enough to reach the window, and after she grew, the height was too daunting to attempt an escape. Simon never abused her, but he was a loyal servant of the Duke, not someone who would risk helping her escape.

‘It’s fine. There’s nothing to fear. Whatever happens, it’s better than being locked in that tower. I’ll leave the estate first, then run away.’

But she had nothing with her and knew nothing about the outside world. If she ran now, she would surely be caught quickly. Even if it meant marrying the fearsome Grand Duke Louid, it was better to first escape the Duke’s grip. So, for now, she decided to obey Duke Berthe’s orders.

‘I can get divorced after the marriage.’

Just because she had been confined in a tower didn’t mean she was ignorant. Simon had brought her every book she requested, and aside from the time she spent drawing or making doll clothes, she read all day long. She knew that in the Richert Empire, divorce wasn’t particularly difficult. If she could persuade her future husband, it would be possible.

‘How should I persuade the Grand Duke? Will he willingly agree to a divorce?’

***

Grand Duke Louid Richert had come to the capital a month ago to attend the Crown Prince’s funeral and hadn’t returned to his estate since, staying instead in the imperial palace. The Emperor, devastated by the loss of his only son, wanted him nearby for a while.

He was thirty years younger than the Emperor and the son of the former emperor’s second empress. He served as Supreme Commander of the Richert Empire’s army. He was the continent’s only sword master and had expanded the empire’s territory through countless victories.

“Your Highness, His Majesty requests your presence at dinner.”

As the winter sun that had warmed the cold air began to set in the western sky, Chamberlain Adam came to fetch him while he was reviewing a pile of documents on his desk.

“Mm, let’s go.”

He set the documents aside and rose from his seat, striding confidently toward the banquet hall. To him, his elder brother was like a father and a spiritual pillar.

It had been the Emperor who sent him information whenever nobles of the imperial faction, including Duke Berthe, plotted assassination attempts. It was also the Emperor who sent him to the north for his safety. Because of that, Louid never disobeyed the Emperor’s commands.

‘Why is His Majesty asking to see me now?’

Even at that moment, he had not once considered the possibility of marriage.