The Cold-Hearted Grand Duke Obsesses Over Me After My Death - Chapter 41

Episode 41. The Bird That Lost Its Mother

“Of course. Louid and I were inseparable since childhood. Hahaha.”

Asher laughed loudly. He seemed to be a cheerful man who laughed easily.

“I see. What was Louid like as a child? I imagine he must’ve been cute.”

“Him, cute? Ah… is it because you even find monsters cute?”

Asher frowned as if he’d just heard something outrageous.

“Louid liked unusual things since he was little.”

“What kind of unusual things?”

“One day, while out practicing hunting in the forest, he brought back an egg he’d never seen before and insisted on hatching it and raising it. The mother was dead, leaving only the egg behind.”

“Oh my, really?”

Levi had also been an egg that lost its mother…. Louid too had lost his mother when he was young, so maybe he saw himself in that orphaned egg and wanted to take care of it. Thinking that way, Emilia suddenly understood why young Louid had brought it back.

“He got permission from His Majesty, but not long after it hatched, the chick died.”

“Oh dear.”

“He cried for a month. He may look stern, but he has a very tender heart.”

“He does seem that way.”

Louid crying? Emilia couldn’t even picture such a scene.

“Enough with the pointless stories.”

Louid, who had been silently listening to their conversation, finally spoke.

Seeing him look a little embarrassed, Emilia let out a small laugh inside.

All through the meal, Emilia kept talking with Asher and drinking more wine.

The alcohol gradually made her vision blur and her head spin. Just as she reached for her glass again, a large hand took it away.

“Huh?”

Louid held her glass and downed the wine in one go.

“Ah, wait, that was mine….”

She looked back and forth between Louid and the empty glass, muttering with regret.

“Stop drinking. That’s your second bottle. Do you want to collapse again?” Louid said with a stern expression.

“That time I was weak. I’m healthy now,” Emilia grumbled, looking straight at him.

“You’re still weak. You’re overestimating yourself.”

Asher watched the bickering pair with surprise. Weren’t these two supposed to be sworn enemies? Yet looking at them now, they seemed more like lovers quarreling. They themselves didn’t seem to realize it.

“Emilia, you’re drunk. Let’s go.”

A moment later, Louid helped the slurring Emilia to her feet. She followed him reluctantly, her eyes still lingering longingly on the wine left behind.

“We’ll be leaving first. Take your time with your meal.”

“Don’t worry about me. Just take her back.”

Asher watched Emilia being led out by Louid with a warm gaze.

***

The next morning, Emilia was at the training ground holding a wooden sword, receiving training from Jamie.

She practiced the same drills every day, but she couldn’t tell if her skills had improved or stayed the same.

Jamie only taught diligently, keeping his mouth shut without a single word of praise due to his taciturn nature.

She wanted to gauge her own level somehow. But she couldn’t even think of sparring with the knights, as they were far too strong.

Clap, clap, clap.

“Well done, Your Highness.”

Just then, a sacrificial lamb appeared. Asher strolled into the training ground clapping his hands.

“Welcome, Count. Would you like to spar with me?”

Asher waved both hands to the side with a troubled look, refusing, “Hahaha, spar? I’m a scholar to the bone, Your Highness.”

“But you’re still a nobleman’s son, aren’t you? Noble children learn swordsmanship from a young age, don’t they?”

“I was a bit unusual. I despised martial training. From childhood, I had a talent for foreign languages and negotiation instead. Hahaha. Even when His Highness the Grand Duke became a Sword Master, I wasn’t jealous at all.”

Asher was not a Sword Master like Louid, but his swordsmanship was enough to rival him.

But he didn’t feel the need to reveal that to Emilia.

“Count, don’t tell me… are you afraid of me?”

Regardless, Emilia lifted her blue eyes and stared at him.

“N-no, of course not. Haha,” Asher stammered and laughed awkwardly.

“Then pick up a sword, Count.”

With a solemn expression, Emilia drew her real sword, which she had never once used. It was a masterpiece crafted by a famous imperial artisan, a gift from Louid not long ago.

Jamie, who had been listening expressionlessly beside them, quietly drew his own sword and handed it to Asher.

“Hey, what are you doing? You can’t just give me a real sword.”

Asher muttered under his breath with a flustered look. Jamie only stared back as if to say, “What else, then?”

Asher had no choice but to take Jamie’s sword and face the Grand Duchess.

“Your Highness, please go easy. I truly, really don’t know how to use a sword.”

Beads of sweat as large as raindrops broke out on his forehead.

“Yes, I understand. I’ll watch myself.”

The knights in the training ground gathered around with curious expressions. Emilia raised her sword high.

Their blades clashed in midair. After a few brief exchanges, Asher went tumbling hard into the dirt.

“Ah, I’ve lost, Your Highness.”

The Count, who had rolled on the ground, couldn’t even get up as he declared his surrender.

“Oh my, really? Am I that good?”

Emilia’s clear laughter rang out and echoed through the castle.

Louid, returning from his outing, was walking toward the library as he listened to Eddie’s report.

“What’s the Grand Duchess doing there right now?”

He stopped dead, staring toward the entrance of the training ground. Inside, he saw Asher and Emilia crossing swords with each other.

“Her Highness seems to be sparring at the moment.”

Eddie, with his arms crossed, watched the two with an intrigued expression.

“Do you think I asked because I didn’t know that? I’m asking what the Grand Duchess is doing sparring with Count Asher right now.”

Louid’s gaze was icy as he looked at the training ground.

“Ah! Her Highness is showing a swordsmanship I’ve never seen before. Just now, the Count fell from Her Highness’s strike. The Count has been defeated by Her Highness.”

Eddie calmly narrated the sparring.

“Ha… that fraud.”

That man was using the same tricks here that he’d used to charm women in the capital.

Louid glared at Asher, then, with a stiff expression, turned away and strode to his office. Eddie hurried after him.

Asher was drenched in sweat, having to deal with Emilia’s swordsmanship that had only just reached the basics.

He couldn’t win against the Grand Duchess, but he couldn’t make it look like he was holding back either. It was a no-win situation.

A novice wielding not a wooden sword but a real one in a spar… was she fearless? And perhaps because she was excited to be sparring, she didn’t even follow what she had learned, swinging her sword wildly.

Beads of sweat formed densely on Asher’s forehead.

“Count, you must’ve had a hard time. Hoho. Let’s end it here for today.”

“Yes, you’re truly skilled, Your Highness. I’ve never seen swordsmanship like yours in my life. To do so well in such a short time, you must have real talent.”

“It’s all thanks to Sir Jamie,” said Emilia with a proud smile.

“So you’ve been learning from Sir Jamie. You’ve chosen a fine teacher.”

“Yes, the daily training is tough, but I think Sir Jamie’s been teaching me well.”

‘He must’ve suffered.’

Asher sent a sympathetic look toward Jamie. Jamie only shrugged, keeping his expression blank.

***

“Your Highness, it seems the time has come to have portraits made of you and Her Highness.”

Philip, the butler, spoke to the Grand Duke, who had just returned from his outing.

“….”

In the Empire, when a Grand Duke of the imperial family married, several portraits of the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess had to be made and sent to the imperial palace. Like the portraits of past Emperors and Empresses, some were displayed in the main palace hallways, while others were stored in the Grand Duke’s castle gallery.

“…There’s no need for that yet.”

Louid spoke coldly, his expression grim. Standing by the window, his gaze was still turned toward the training ground.

“Then, when should we arrange for it?”

“I’ll say when the time comes.”

“…Yes, understood.”

Philip left the office with a puzzled look. The Grand Duke’s mood didn’t seem good today. It seemed he would have to bring up the portrait matter again another time.

When the butler left, Louid set down the papers he had been reading and leaned deeply back in his chair. The scene of Asher and Emilia’s sparring replayed in his mind.

Though they had only just met, the two already seemed close. The image of Emilia smiling brightly at Asher after the sparring ended kept disturbing his thoughts.

That night, just before Emilia went to sleep, the bedroom door suddenly burst open.