The Cold-Hearted Grand Duke Obsesses Over Me After My Death - Chapter 37

Episode 37. The One Who Will Be Emperor

His train of thought stopped for a moment. He was confused, wondering if something had happened to Emilia again. He didn’t want to care, but his consciousness naturally drifted that way. Louid hurried to rush out of the bedroom, but stopped at the door.

‘Ah! I told them to prepare a new bedroom. Could it be ready already?’

He remembered the order he had given on the day of the annex fire.

Quietly, he opened the connecting door to the adjoining room. Emilia was asleep on the bed. He stood still at the door.

He was the one who had ordered her moved to another room, and yet he felt oddly disappointed.

‘This isn’t right. I must not give her even a piece of my heart.’

Louid doubted himself. After a moment, he quietly closed the door and returned to his bedroom.

***

“Your Highness, are you going to the greenhouse again today?”

The next morning, Helen, who brought her breakfast, asked.

“Yes, I plan to.”

“Then I’ll have your art supplies and tea prepared in the greenhouse.”

“All right, thank you.”

After eating and dressing simply, Emilia headed for the greenhouse.

‘Oh right, I should check how the monster egg is doing.’

She had visited the small greenhouse several times, and the egg was always the same. Turning her steps, Emilia went to the small greenhouse.

“You’ve come, Your Highness.”

“Thank you for your hard work.”

By now, the guard readily let her in. Emilia entered alone, as if used to it.

“Huh?”

Moments later, her body froze like ice. She was so shocked she couldn’t even make a sound. A pair of slitted red eyes was staring at her.

‘What is that…?’

Not a crocodile. It had small wings, two legs, and a long tail. Its body was covered in red scales, with tiny horns on its head. On top of the shattered shell lay a newborn creature staring straight at her.

“Ah, baby?”

In a frightened voice, Emilia spoke to the monster hatchling.

“Kki… kki…”

The wrinkled little body made small noises at her.

“Your Highness, it’s dangerous. Please come out.”

Hearing the hatchling’s sounds, the guard hurriedly ran inside.

“…All right.”

Emilia wanted to look longer, but thought she would be a nuisance if she stayed, so she stepped outside. On the way back, those red eyes lingered in her mind.

They were as intense as the red eyes she had seen when she first met Louid.

***

The next day, Emilia visited the small greenhouse again to see the hatchling. Someone must have cleaned it, for the slimy fluid covering its body was gone. Still, being a monster, it wasn’t exactly a pretty sight.

“Kki… kki…”

When it saw her, it waddled over to the bars.

“You’re already walking?”

“Kki, kki.”

The monster whined at her continuously.

‘Is it hungry…?’

Looking around, she saw a bottle of milk. Emilia picked it up and held it inside the bars.

The creature bit down on the bottle and began sucking noisily.

‘Wow…’

The suction was no joke. Emilia felt like her arm might be pulled through the bars.

“You’re fearless.”

Just then, a deep, heavy voice came from above her.

“Louid?”

Louid was standing behind her. She hadn’t noticed when he arrived. It was the first time she had seen him in days.

“It’s a Red Wyvern. Dangerous.”

Louid pulled out the empty bottle the creature had finished. She likely wouldn’t have been able to do it herself. The hatchling smacked its lips, as if wanting more.

“Didn’t you know this is a restricted area?”

Louid scolded with an angry face.

He had, in fact, been told by Aaron and the guards that Emilia was entering the small greenhouse. Though he had allowed it when the guards asked, he hadn’t expected her to visit so often.

“I knew. But I wanted to see a monster so badly.”

Emilia shrank at his expression for a moment, but answered confidently.

“Ha…”

At her words, Louid’s face showed disbelief. Emilia quickly changed the subject.

“It’s only the size of a chick. Is it dangerous already?”

Standing beside him, she looked at the hatchling and asked.

Louid, arms crossed and expressionless, answered, “It seems bigger than a chick.”

“Then a mother turkey?”

Louid laughed. It seemed to be the first time she had seen him smile. Perhaps it was out of exasperation, but even that smile was strikingly handsome.

“I want to come see it every day.”

“It’s dangerous.”

“Only while it’s a baby. It’s still just a hatchling.”

“…Then only for a short while. It grows fast.”

Seeing her stubbornness, Louid relented with a defeated look.

“Yes, I understand. Thank you.”

Emilia answered with a bright smile. Louid stared at her intently, then suddenly turned his head sharply toward the cage. The two stood there awkwardly, silently watching the hatchling.

“Then I’ll go now.”

Unable to bear the awkwardness, Emilia turned away first.

“mm.”

Louid only nodded without looking at her. Emilia thought she must come again tomorrow to see the creature and left reluctantly.

***

“Your Highness, Countess Bruce and Countess Muller have come to visit.”

Two days later. Two middle-aged noblewomen visited the Grand Duke’s castle. Emilia met them in the parlor.

“Please have some tea.”

Holding the teapot, she personally poured tea for the ladies.

“Thank you.”

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

“I heard your estates are not far from the Grand Duchy.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Still, since the Grand Duchy is so vast, it took several days by carriage to get here.”

The two ladies answered.

“Your Highness, this is a wedding gift.”

“Congratulations on your marriage, Your Highness.”

“Thank you.”

The two each presented the gifts they had prepared.

“What brings you to the Grand Duchy?”

“We came to pay our respects to Your Highness. Hohoho.”

At Countess Muller’s words, Emilia deliberately put on a skeptical expression.

“Since we came, we also heard there’s a famous boutique here, so we came to have dresses made as well,” Countess Bruce said, watching her closely.

“Do you mean Madame Bella?”

Emilia, who had been indifferent, brightened at the mention of the boutique. The most famous boutique in the Grand Duchy was, of course, Madame Bella’s.

“Yes, I saw a wonderful dress in this month’s Madame Bella catalog.”

“Really?”

“I brought it with me. Please take a look, Your Highness.”

Countess Muller opened the catalog and held it out.

‘This is…?’

Emilia’s eyes shook.

“Do you like this dress?”

“Yes, I’ve never seen such a wonderful design before. The neckline is elegant and the colors are exquisite, don’t you think?”

What Countess Muller pointed at with her finger was the light green patterned dress Emilia had designed.

“I was also so surprised when I saw the catalog. Look here. Isn’t the lavender pattern so beautiful? After seeing this, I couldn’t sleep for days.”

What Countess Bruce showed was also a dress Emilia had designed, a light purple one.

“I think I’ll order a wedding dress from Madame Bella when my daughter marries.”

‘A wedding dress?’

I should design wedding dresses too. In Emilia’s mind, the image of a beautiful wedding dress already began to form.

“How much does a dress like this cost?”

“Not less than ten thousand gold a piece.”

Ten thousand gold? A house in the central district costs one hundred thousand gold…

‘My goodness.’

“Yes, it truly is beautiful. Hm.”

Her heart pounded, but she forced herself to speak calmly.

“Wouldn’t you also like to use Madame Bella’s boutique, Your Highness?”

“I already do.”

“As expected, Your Highness has such excellent taste. Hoho.”

Emilia drank tea and happily chatted with the two ladies. They knew much, and she heard many stories about the Imperial Palace.

“They say His Majesty values His Highness the Grand Duke greatly and will soon appoint him Crown Prince.”

“Really?”

Unlike when talking about dresses, Emilia’s face darkened.

“Of course. Your grandfather is His Majesty’s uncle. It won’t take long.”

Seeing her shadowed face, Countess Bruce spoke, misunderstanding her expression.

“I see…”

“We’ll see you at the Imperial Palace soon, Your Highness. Hohoho.”

“……”

After drinking tea and eating snacks, Countess Bruce and Countess Muller said they would visit again and stood up.

“Goodbye.”

“See you next time, Your Highness.”

After the two left, Emilia gave a bitter smile.

“I had forgotten…”

Louid was the one who would become the next Emperor. After divorcing her, he would become another woman’s man.

‘I already knew this, so why does it feel so empty?’

Somehow, one side of her chest kept aching.

After dinner, Emilia was drawing when she turned off all the lamps in her bedroom and gazed at the fireplace. She remembered staring blankly at the fire in the dark tower. Not that she wanted to return there.

Opening the fireplace cover, Emilia stretched out her right hand and focused her strength. The fire shrank as if about to go out. When she withdrew her hand, the flames revived. She kept practicing, growing and shrinking the flames. She didn’t know what kind of ability it was, but it didn’t seem bad to practice.

After training in controlling the fire for a while, she went to bed early. Louid seemed so busy with territorial affairs that she hadn’t seen his face lately.

‘He won’t come tonight either.’

Lying in bed, Emilia recalled Louid she had seen during the day. Since moving to her new bedroom, he hadn’t come.

After she fell asleep, the connecting door opened quietly.