The Cold-Hearted Grand Duke Obsesses Over Me After My Death - Chapter 79

Chapter 79. Fire of the Gods

At that time, Louid was meeting Baron Lanston. Baron Lanston was an official affiliated with the imperial palace and was in charge of managing Plumond, an imperial direct territory under the emperor.

“Your Highness the Grand Duke, thank you for coming all the way to Plumond in person.”

“I came on His Majesty’s orders. Are there any difficulties?”

“A flood occurred a year ago and the dam collapsed. Fortunately, there were no casualties, but we need to rebuild the dam.”

“A year has passed, and you still haven’t rebuilt the dam?” Louid asked with a surprised expression.

“This is a small city, and the budget approval was delayed.”

“I see. There could be another flood, so it must be rebuilt quickly. I’ll make sure the dam construction costs are allocated and sent soon.”

“Yes, thank you very much, Your Highness.”

“Tomorrow, I’ll take a look at the site where the dam will be built.”

“Yes, we’ll be waiting, Your Highness.”

After discussing various issues concerning Plumond with the baron, Louid stood up.

***

“Ugh. St-stop.”

As the priest’s chant continued, Emilia’s breathing grew rapid, and her vision blurred.

Then, at the moment it felt like she would die from the agony, the priest’s chant suddenly stopped and her mind cleared. Her labored breathing eased, and the headache vanished.

“…?”

“Emilia!”

Louid’s voice came from outside the door like salvation.

“Your Highness the Grand Duke, you’ve arrived?”

The priest who had been tormenting her until just moments ago greeted Louid politely, as if nothing had happened, when he opened the door.

“Louid!”

Her body, which had been suffering, felt completely fine. Emilia looked back and forth between Louid and the priest with a confused expression.

“I heard you went up alone, so I came.”

Louid had just arrived at the temple and, upon hearing from Jamie that Emilia had followed the priest up the tower alone, ran up the stairs.

Jamie had secretly followed the two of them to the base of the tower, but because Emilia had ordered him to wait, he couldn’t go up and remained there.

“Yes, I asked Her Highness the Grand Duchess to follow me alone because I wanted to give her a blessing. The ritual has just finished.”

“What kind of blessing did you give her?” Louid asked with sharp eyes.

“The Richert imperial family lacks heirs, so I prayed that Her Highness would be blessed with many children. The god has granted the blessing, and Her Highness will bear many children in the future,” said the priest with a joyful expression, bowing his head.

“….”

“….”

At the priest’s words about a blessing of fertility, neither of them could say anything.

“I’ll tidy up here and then leave, so would you go down first?” said the priest calmly.

“Do so.”

After the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess went down the tower, cold sweat streamed down the priest’s forehead.

“That was close.”

Holding the bead-shaped holy relic in his hand, the priest muttered bitterly.

The curse he’d cast was one where the cursed person’s soul would leave their body and they would die a few days later. But before the spell could be completed, he heard footsteps outside the door. So he hurriedly stopped the chant.

“How did it go?”

The next day, Lina and the priest met at a secret location they had agreed upon in advance. It was an old warehouse deep in the forest.

“It failed because His Highness the Grand Duke suddenly came in just as it was about to succeed.”

“Is that so?”

Lina’s brow furrowed deeply.

“There was nothing to be done. You worked hard. And this is your payment.”

“Thank you.”

When he received the heavy pouch of gold coins, the priest’s mouth fell open. He hadn’t expected to receive payment since the curse had failed.

***

“Emilia, I need to go look at the place where the dam collapsed. Let’s have lunch together. And there’s a place here where fire rises from the ground. It would be good to go see it together.”

The next day, as Louid prepared to go out, he said to her.

“Oh my, really? Alright.”

After Louid went to look around the collapsed dam, Emilia was sitting in a tea house, drinking tea. When Louid returned, they planned to have lunch together at a nearby restaurant.

“It’s good to see you again, Your Highness the Grand Duchess.”

A woman approached and greeted her politely. It was Lina. It seemed it hadn’t been a mistake to think the silver-haired woman she saw in the alleyway the day before was Lina.

“Lady Carrion, what brings you here?” Emilia asked with a stiff expression. Seeing Lina made her feel unpleasant for some reason. She tried to act calm, but her voice shook.

“I heard the scenery here is beautiful, so I came to travel for a change of mood. I didn’t expect to meet Your Highness the Grand Duchess here. But where is His Highness the Grand Duke?” Lina asked as she looked around.

Was it a coincidence that she kept running into Lina so often? Emilia felt a creepy sensation.

“He has something to do nearby. Then take your time and enjoy your sightseeing.”

Emilia didn’t want to talk with Lina for long, so she brushed off Louid’s whereabouts vaguely.

“Yes, understood. I hope to see you again next time, Your Highness.”

After greeting Emilia politely, Lina walked away leisurely. Beside her, a man who looked like an escort knight followed.

“Your Highness, His Highness the Grand Duke sent word that he’ll be late because he’ll be having lunch with the officials. He told me to tell you to eat by yourself.”

Jamie approached Emilia, who had been watching Lina’s back as she moved farther away, and reported.

“Alright.”

Emilia ate alone at the restaurant she was supposed to go to with Louid.

“Sir Jamie, is there a place here where fire rises from the ground?”

“Yes, there is a place called the Fire of the Gods.”

“Let’s go there.”

“Yes, understood.”

Emilia set out to see the ‘Fire of the Gods’ that Louid had mentioned. There was time left, and Louid seemed like he would be late.

The Fire of the Gods was inside a large building. Emilia and the knights entered the building and walked down a long corridor.

When they reached the end of the corridor, just as Louid had said, in a wide open area there were several fire holes where flames rose up from the ground.

A viewing area had been set up a short distance away from the fire holes. When she lifted her head and looked up, she saw the roof was open, so there was no risk of suffocation.

Because she was dressed like a tourist, no one recognized that she was the Grand Duchess. Emilia, at ease, blended in with the other tourists and sat in the seats.

“Ahem, please pay attention. I’m John, the guide in charge of this place. First, I’d like to give you a warning. The temperature is very high, so you must not approach the fire, and please view it only from here. Then I’ll tell you the background and history of how the Fire of the Gods was discovered… gasp.”

While they were listening to the guide’s explanation, there was a bang, and flames sprayed up in all directions as if a volcano was erupting.

“Gasp.”

All the audience, including Emilia, ducked their heads. After a moment, when they looked up, they saw the guide who had been explaining the Fire of the Gods fleeing in utter panic.

Bang-! Bang-!

The fire surged up into the sky and exploded again.

“Aaah!”

“What do we do?”

“Waaah.”

The audience panicked, not knowing what to do, and there was a child crying in fright.

“Your Highness, please take cover.”

Jamie and the knights who had been standing beside the seats ran to her.

“I’m fine, evacuate the people first.”

“Evacuate the audience. I’ll escort the Grand Duchess.”

Though he was the youngest, Jamie, the captain of Emilia’s escort knights, gave the order. Their mission was to protect the Grand Duchess, so it was only natural to prioritize Emilia.

“Yes, understood.”

“Sir Jamie, wait a moment.”

As the knights ran toward the audience, Emilia held out the hand wearing the ring, her mother’s keepsake, toward the fire. It was to buy time for the audience to evacuate.

People were too busy evacuating to find it strange that a young woman was reaching her hand toward the fire. Jamie also didn’t suspect anything and waited for a moment as she told him to. Emilia put strength into her palm and fingertips and, risking everything, blocked the fire.

“Your Highness, I think you should leave now.”

“The entrance is locked! We can’t get out!”

As Jamie urged her, someone’s shout was heard.

‘What? The fire can explode, but why is the door locked? Was this aimed at me again?’

Emilia hurriedly turned around.

Using a crowd just to get rid of one person, whoever it was, was despicable beyond words.

“Sir Jamie, find the back door. Hurry!” Emilia shouted to Jamie.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

While she blocked the fire, Jamie and the knights went around looking for the door. Inside, choking smoke soon began to rise, and it became impossible to see.

“Come out this way! There’s a door!”

It seemed he found the back door, because Jamie’s voice was heard, and the frightened people began to escape in the direction of the voice.

But at that moment, as if the fire heard Jamie’s voice, the flames that were shooting up into the sky suddenly swung toward the direction people were escaping. Emilia ran toward the direction the flames were moving and held out her hand toward the fire.

Sweat poured down Emilia’s forehead like rain. She had practiced putting out fireplace fires, but this was her first time blocking such a huge fire, so it was extremely difficult. She gathered all her energy into her fingertips and kept forcing power into them without rest, and it felt like her arms were going to come off.

‘I can’t give up here…! Then a lot of people will get hurt!’

Emilia gritted her teeth and struggled desperately to block the fire. Then the flames began to die down little by little. After a while, when the fire returned to its original size before it exploded, Emilia collapsed, her strength spent.