The Cold-Hearted Grand Duke Obsesses Over Me After My Death - Chapter 78

Chapter 78. Blessing Ritual

It was a tiny piece of cute fabric trimmed with lace, so small it was hard to believe it could cover anything at all. As he stared intently at the underwear, his breathing grew rough.

Louid knelt on one knee in front of Emilia and pressed his lips over the underwear.

“Ahh, Louid.”

As he moved his head, a languid moan spilled from Emilia’s lips. When Louid applied pressure with his lips and moved his head, the underwear, thin enough to show the skin beneath, became soaked with saliva and love juices.

“Ah!”

With her legs spread, Emilia grabbed his hair and screamed as she closed her eyes. Louid paid no mind, greedily sucking over the underwear before pulling the soaked fabric down.

He slipped a finger into the wet opening to check the state of the inner walls, then curled his finger and stimulated the spot closest to the entrance. It was something he had once read in a book, and Emilia moaned and nearly fell backward. Louid quickly supported her waist and straightened up, holding Emilia’s hips firmly with both hands.

“W-what are you going to do?”

Lifted into the air, Emilia gasped and wrapped both arms around his neck. Even in her drunken state, her eyes trembled with unease.

“Like this.”

His erection, stiff and on the verge of bursting, thrust up and pushed into her from below.

“Ahh, ngh. Ahh.”

Louid began thrusting while standing, steadily supporting Emilia. Her small underwear was still caught around her ankles.

Feeling anxious at being held high, Emilia soon relaxed under Louid’s touch and let her body go limp. He supported her so firmly that it felt as if she were sitting comfortably on a chair.

Louid kissed Emilia’s lips and pushed himself in without pause. The elastic inner walls tightened fiercely around his penis. Feeling dizzy with pleasure, he continued moving his hips until Emilia, exhausted, dropped her head onto his shoulder.

“Ahh, Louid.”

When Emilia finally trembled her legs and let out a crying sound, his movements stopped. The fluid released from his penis, buried deep inside, soaked her inner walls and dripped down onto the floor.

“Hah….”

After one climax, vigor surged through Louid even more. He strode to the bed. This was only the beginning. Setting Emilia down, he made her kneel on the bed and lean forward.

That night, in the room of conception, the rough breathing of a man and a woman echoed throughout the night.

***

The next morning, Louid went to the Plumond administrative office, while Emilia went out to look around the town.

She wore a wide-brimmed hat and a light pink day dress.

In Plumond’s town center, rows of classical buildings about three stories tall stood side by side, with a square between them. At the center of the square was a magnificent fountain with water gushing powerfully.

All the buildings in Plumond were white, and in the gardens scattered throughout were lush green trees and colorful flowers.

Walking slowly through the town, she browsed a souvenir shop. Jamie and the escort knights did not enter the shop and instead stood guard outside.

The shop was filled with various handcrafted goods, and among them, a beautifully designed pocket watch caught her eye.

“Young lady, do you like this watch? It is a piece crafted with great care by a master. If you have a man you hold dear, he would be delighted to receive it as a gift.”

“It’s pretty. I like it.”

Emilia smiled as she looked at the watch in response to the shop owner’s words.

After buying the pocket watch and other crafts she liked, like a flowerpot for arranging flowers, Emilia sat at an outdoor table at a sunny cafe near the fountain. The weather was hot, but sitting in the shade under the awning felt cool.

“…?”

As she drank her tea, Emilia’s gaze stopped in one place. From the alleyway nestled between the buildings, she saw the back of a familiar-looking woman. It was a silver-haired woman.

‘No way. It can’t be. Why would the marquess’s daughter be here?’

It wasn’t as if there were only one or two silver-haired women in the Richert Empire.

Maybe because she was so conscious of Lina, everyone looked like Lina to her.

‘Come to think of it, I heard there’s a famous temple in Plumond.’

She remembered what Helen told her, that everyone who came to Plumond for the first time stopped by at least once.

With time still left before Louid returned from the administrative office, Emilia decided to go see the temple on the hill.

A little later, after getting out of the carriage, Emilia looked up at the mysterious and magnificent temple with eyes full of awe. Sharp spires stretched toward the sky, and tall marble pillars supported the building.

“Wow…!”

Her eyes widened at the colorful murals painted along the temple walls. On the temple walls, said to have been built thousands of years ago, were various gods worshiped in the Richert Empire. It seemed like a temple with high historical value.

“Your Highness the Grand Duchess, welcome. It’s an honor that you have visited.”

When she stepped into the temple entrance, an elderly priest greeted her respectfully.

“Nice to meet you.”

“Please follow me, Your Highness.”

The priest showed Emilia around the inside of the temple.

“After the tour, I would like to conduct a ritual to give a blessing to Your Highness. Will you permit it?”

After some time, when the tour ended, the priest asked her politely.

“Do so.”

Emilia answered after hesitating for a moment. He was a priest, and her escort knights were following behind her, and in a temple crowded with people, it didn’t seem likely he would harm the Grand Duchess.

“To receive the blessing, Your Highness, you must enter alone.”

“…Wait here.”

At the priest’s words, she hesitated briefly, then spoke to Jamie and the knights who were following.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Jamie and the knights stayed there, and Emilia followed the priest. The priest brought her to a sharp tower behind the temple.

“Isn’t this a tower?”

Emilia looked up at the top of the tower with a puzzled expression. She thought she would go into the temple.

“Yes, that’s correct. A holy relic of the god is kept at the top of this tower. It is not a dangerous place, so please do not worry.”

After explaining, the priest turned and continued climbing the dim spiral staircase toward the top of the tower.

In the sunlight leaking in through the tower’s small window slits, dull and gloomy dust motes showed themselves. It seemed not many people visited the tower.

“Huff, huff.”

The climb to the top was long. Emilia went up the stairs, breathing hard. The priest climbed quickly ahead of her as if he wasn’t tired at all.

When they reached the top, there was an old door. When the priest turned the doorknob, a creaking, rusted sound echoed. The priest opened the door and went inside.

“Come in, Your Highness.”

The priest’s voice rang in her ears like tinnitus.

In an instant, she felt dizzy and short of breath.

‘No. I don’t want to go in.’

For some reason, she didn’t want to go into the tower. As if the tower was choking her, both her mind and body rejected stepping through the door. The tower was a place of fear for her.

“Please come in, Your Highness.”

The priest’s voice was heard once again.

“…Alright.”

Emilia had no choice but to enter the room where the priest’s voice was coming from. As soon as she went inside, the priest closed the door from within.

Just as the priest said, inside the room, various holy relics were displayed with dust piled on them.

Among them, the priest brought a holy relic shaped like a round bead, then held it up high in both hands in front of her. Then he continued chanting an incomprehensible spell.

As the chant began, Emilia’s body started trembling.

The priest was chanting a spell to make the soul leave the Grand Duchess’s body. If the spell succeeded, it was black magic that would slowly kill the target with no outward sign.

He was the master of Lina’s birth mother. Lina’s birth mother grew up in the temple-affiliated orphanage and became his disciple.

A few days ago, he received a secret letter from Lina, the daughter of his disciple.

It asked him to perform a ritual that would make the Grand Duchess’s soul leave her body when she came to tour the temple. Of course, it came with an offer of a large reward.

Ever since Lina’s birth mother became the Marquess of Carrion’s mistress, he had carried out harmful spells at the request of the Marquess of Carrion and accumulated great wealth.

If the payment was sufficient, there was no reason to refuse this offer either.

‘Ah, my head hurts.’

It felt like someone kept pulling at her body. Emilia’s face turned as white as paper.

“St-stop. Stop now.”

Emilia clutched her head, which felt like it was going to crack, and barely forced out the words while gasping for breath.

Even at her trembling cry, the priest’s spell didn’t end.

‘Something’s wrong…! What kind of blessing is this!’

Emilia wanted to run out of the room, but her feet wouldn’t lift, as if they were stuck to the floor.