The Cold-Hearted Grand Duke Obsesses Over Me After My Death - Chapter 47

Episode 47. Her Temptation (1)

[Emilia, it’s been several months since your marriage, and yet there’s still no news of a pregnancy?

Your grandfather has been waiting eagerly, so I hope to hear some good news soon. It’s shameful that even His Majesty the Emperor must be disappointed. I’ll send you a medicine that helps you conceive more easily, so take it diligently.

If there’s still no good news, I’ll bring the family physician myself and visit the Grand Duke’s castle to take measures.]

‘This is basically a threat.’

At first glance, the letter from Duke Berthe seemed full of concern, like a loving grandfather worrying about his granddaughter. But in truth, it was an order to get pregnant quickly, or he would personally come to the Grand Duke’s castle and “take action.” Emilia had been glad not to see him for some time, but even being this far away, she could feel his watchful eyes on her, and it made her shiver.

“Your Highness, His Grace the Duke also sent this along with the letter.”

Helen was holding something in her hand. What she showed were several small bottles filled with round pills. There was also a note describing how to take them, but Emilia didn’t bother to read it.

“Helen, could you throw those away for me?”

Her voice trembled as she spoke.

When she had gotten married, the Duke had already given her a “supplement” that supposedly helped with fertility. Now he was sending more; it was truly obsessive.

“…Pardon? Are you sure, Your Highness?”

Helen looked at her in surprise.

“They’re probably just vitamins, but I can’t swallow pills well. I’ve gotten a lot healthier lately, so Grandfather must have sent them without realizing that.”

Emilia forced a bitter smile. There was no one—not Helen, nor anyone else—to whom she could confide her true circumstances.

“Yes, understood.”

After Helen left, Emilia bit her lip and began pacing the room. Her steps grew faster, and her expression turned anxious.

‘The Duke said he’d bring a physician? Does he plan to examine me? To see if I’m even capable of conceiving?’

Louid, who had once said they should have an heir soon, hadn’t come to her bedroom in quite some time. And she, content with her life in the castle, hadn’t urged him to. The little bird that had once been trapped was now basking in the comfort of freedom, forgetting her original goal of breaking free from the Duke’s grasp.

‘I really don’t want to see him….’

The thought of Duke Berthe coming to the castle filled her with dread.

Emilia knew that Louid wasn’t physically drawn to her. Despite talking about producing an heir, they’d only shared a bed a few times since their marriage, barely enough for conception to even be possible.

Louid was busy from dawn until night, and she too had been preoccupied with her clothing designs and other work, so she hadn’t paid much attention. But now, she was the one growing desperate.

‘I’ll have to seduce him!’

At that very moment, Louid was showing the medicine Duke Berthe had sent to the court physician. Before delivering it to Emilia, he had discreetly taken a sample from the bottles.

“Take a look at this and tell me what kind of medicine it is.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

The physician examined the pills, sniffed them, then crushed one carefully before observing it closely.

After a moment, he said, “This medicine does increase the likelihood of pregnancy, but its effect is minimal, and it severely damages a woman’s body. Continued use could cause death within a few years. It’s no longer prescribed these days.”

“…I see.”

After the physician left, Louid’s expression hardened. Though Emilia didn’t know it, all mail arriving at the Grand Duke’s castle was reviewed by him first, and he had already read Duke Berthe’s letter before it reached her.

Was he planning to use his granddaughter only as a tool to bear a child, and then discard her?

Louid wondered whether Emilia would obediently follow the Duke’s orders. All he had to do was see what she did with the medicine. Just then, he heard a servant’s voice from outside.

“Your Highness, the Grand Duchess’s lady-in-waiting requests an audience.”

“Let her in.”

With his permission, Helen entered the office, holding something in her hands.

“Your Highness, the Grand Duchess asked that these medicines be thrown away.”

“What medicine?”

Louid immediately guessed what it was but pretended not to know.

“They’re tonics sent by Duke Berthe. Her Highness said she’s already healthy and asked that they be discarded.”

“Do as she said.”

“Yes, understood.”

Helen left after giving her report. Although she was Emilia’s personal maid, she was also a maid belonging to the Grand Duke’s household, so she reported any important matters directly to him.

‘Well done, Emilia. I’m looking forward to tonight.’

Louid’s lips curved into a mischievous smile. He had long since changed his original plan of making her pregnant quickly and then distancing himself from her. Though he had refrained from sleeping with her often to avoid becoming too attached, his insomnia and headaches made it impossible to stay away.

A grandfather who didn’t care if his granddaughter died as long as she bore a child, and a granddaughter who despised her grandfather.

‘This should get interesting.’

Louid found the looming conflict between the two amusing.

That night, as usual, he entered Emilia’s bedroom past midnight.

***

“You’re here?”

As he had expected, Emilia was awake. The woman who usually slept soundly was waiting for a husband who might or might not come.

“Why aren’t you asleep yet?” Louid asked as if he didn’t know anything.

“I was waiting in case you came. Please, sit here.”

Emilia hesitated for a moment, then pointed toward a small table. Wine and snacks had been neatly set upon it.

She had waited, not knowing whether he would come or not. In a way, it was a reckless thing to do.

‘Planning to get me drunk and then do something?’

Louid pretended to give in and sat at the table.

“Have a drink.”

Emilia poured wine into his glass.

“Drink with me.”

Taking the bottle from her hand, Louid filled her glass in return.

“…All right.”

After hesitating briefly, Emilia lifted her glass to her lips only after watching Louid finish his drink.

‘I can’t get drunk first….’

Her plan was to get him drunk and then take the initiative. But this man… he was staring at her without looking away until she emptied her glass.

“Good.”

When she finished her drink, he even picked up a piece of food and fed her. Even after just one glass, her head started to spin and her vision blurred. With a dazed expression, Emilia refilled his glass, and he refilled hers in turn.

“Shall we toast?”

“Sure.”

Oh right. What should we toast to?

After thinking for a brief moment, Emilia shouted loudly, “To our future child!”

It was a subtle way of hinting that she wanted to spend the night with him.

“To that.”

Thankfully, he played along. After a few more rounds of drinks, Louid said something, his voice blurred by the haze of alcohol. But Emilia couldn’t make out his words clearly.

“Huh? What did you say?”

Contrary to her plan, she got drunk before Louid did and leaned closer to him, her face flushed.

“I said, give me some too.”

“Huh…?”

“With your lips.”

When she reached for a fork to pick up a grape, he jerked his chin toward her lips. In a daze, Emilia bit down on a grape and brought it toward his mouth.

“Oh?”

Just as the grape was about to touch his lips, it slipped and fell. She had no choice but to take another grape. This time, she successfully brought it to his lips.

“Tastes good. Give me another.”

Another?

After repeating the act several times, her lips turned a deep reddish color. His lips were the same.

“Oh dear. Let me wipe that.”

Without realizing her own state, Emilia looked around for a cloth to wipe him, but couldn’t find a clean one.

“Wipe it with your lips.”

“…What?”

Oh, right. I was supposed to seduce him.

Remembering her forgotten purpose, she pulled her chair closer to Louid and kissed his lips. But he didn’t respond at all. Emilia pressed her lips harder against his tightly closed mouth, leaving marks with every kiss.

‘He told me to wipe it….’

Suddenly, she stood up and slipped off her sheer nightgown in one motion. Then she grabbed her breasts and rubbed them against his lips. Partly because of the heat from the alcohol, and partly because she was trying to tempt him.

‘How shameless.’

Louid smirked as if he had expected it. His large hands gripped her breasts, and he began sucking on her nipples.

“Ah….”

A tingling sensation shot through her body, and Emilia tilted her head back with a moan. Unlike his stiff demeanor earlier, Louid now devoured her breasts greedily.

“Even your breasts taste like wine.”

“Really?”

Even in her drunken state, Emilia tilted her head curiously and poured the remaining wine from her glass over her chest. It was something she would never have done sober, but now, she had nothing to hold her back.

“How about this?”

“I like it. Tastes good.”

Louid licked every drop of wine running down her chest, the corners of his lips curling slightly. Drunk, she was bold and adorable. She even stood up and poured the rest of the bottle over her chest.

Louid licked up the red wine that flowed down her white stomach, tracing every drop with his tongue, then buried his face between her legs. From that spot, clear fluid was already trickling out in thin lines.

“Seems we won’t need any oil.”

He had obtained oil that was said to prevent pain for women, but he had never used it. Emilia’s body was already wet enough, and as always, he was confident he could make her feel no pain. Louid licked her folds with his tongue, devouring her fluids greedily.

“Haa, mm… should we move to the bed?”

Finally freed from his mouth, Emilia stammered out her words. Even drunk, she hadn’t forgotten what she needed to do: she had to seduce him. She had to go through with it to the end. To reach for the stars, she first had to look at the sky, and tonight her only goal was one thing: to receive his seed.

“Here.”

Standing behind her, Louid whispered in a low, husky voice.