The Cold-Hearted Grand Duke Obsesses Over Me After My Death - Chapter 1

Episode 1. Her Death

Today as well, Emilia lay sleeping like an angel, her long blonde hair cascading down to her waist. Louid looked at the woman sleeping beside him with a gentle gaze.

He quietly brushed back the hair scattered across Emilia’s forehead. Then he pressed a soft kiss to her exposed forehead.

He wanted to see her open her eyes. He wanted her to look at him with those pale blue eyes that seemed to hold sapphire light, clear like the sky.

Outside, it was still early dawn before sunrise. He should let her sleep a little longer, but he couldn’t resist the urge and reached out to shake her. When she still didn’t wake, he grew more and more anxious.

“Emilia?”

No matter how many times he tried to wake her, she didn’t get up.

“Emilia?”

Louid called out to her in an increasingly louder voice.

“Emilia?”

Louid opened his eyes and looked around. It was his bedroom. He reached out to find Emilia, who had been lying beside him just moments ago. But she wasn’t there. The wide bed was empty, and the pristine white sheets were smooth, as if no one had ever lain on them.

‘It seems I had another dream.’

Letting out a quiet sigh, he turned his body and lay stretched out on the bed. Then he buried his nose in the sheets. He inhaled deeply, but the familiar scent of wildflowers wasn’t there.

Emilia’s scent was gone. His red eyes, which had been hazy like a dream, gradually deepened like a blazing sun.

“Criminal Kyle Berthe and Emilia Richert are to be exiled to Peric Island.”

His own voice, cold and merciless like ice, rang in his mind like thunder.

“Ugh.”

Nausea surged, and a splitting headache struck him. He shot upright, running a hand roughly through his hair with a pained expression. His slightly long black hair fell in disarray over his sculpted face like scattered grains.

Louid looked down at the bracelet on his right wrist. As he remembered, it had been a ring Emilia always wore, but while dealing with the late Emperor’s funeral and the trial, he hadn’t even realized the ring had been placed on his little finger. After exiling Emilia, he had discovered it by chance. Throwing it away felt unsettling, so he had hung it on a bracelet and wore it on his wrist.

‘I should ask about the ring as well….’

Unconsciously, he was adding another reason to see Emilia.

Louid himself had sentenced Emilia, who had been his wife, to exile. The Duke of Berthe, Emilia’s grandfather, died suddenly on the way to exile with her, and Emilia was left alone, imprisoned on Peric Island. It was a notorious place where no criminal had ever escaped, and most died of illness after being confined for three months.

“Your Majesty, are you awake?”

The chamberlain, with graying hair and a slightly hunched back, entered carrying a tray with a teacup.

“Adam, you’re still not sleeping.”

His low, pleasant voice echoed softly in the dark bedroom. The chief chamberlain was doing tasks a servant could do, and from early dawn at that. Moreover, he was someone who seemed to know instinctively whether the Emperor was asleep or awake.

“It’s because I’m old. Tea and medicine for your headache.”

Answering lightly to the Emperor’s question, the chamberlain set the tray down on the bedside table.

“Mm.”

He had no appetite, but his throat was dry. Lifting the teacup, Louid took a sip of the tea, which had cooled to just the right temperature. One of his eyebrows lifted slightly.

‘It’s the tea Emilia likes.’

That sly man had brought Emilia’s favorite biscuits last night, and today he had brought the sweet tea she liked.

“Shall I call the physician, Your Majesty?” asked the chamberlain, watching his furrowed expression. He knew the Emperor’s headaches were worsening by the day.

“No.”

Louid cut him off after swallowing the tea he had been holding in his mouth.

“Lady Carrion is said to be in critical condition.”

The chamberlain reported as if it were a passing remark.

“….”

Even at news about a leading candidate for Empress, the young Emperor’s expression did not change.

Lina, the only daughter of the Marquess of Carrion, had been under treatment after being bitten by a venomous snake two months ago. It was said she was injured while saving him, but he himself remembered nothing.

“You must take Lady Lina as Empress.”

“That’s right. Didn’t the young lady risk her life to save Your Majesty?”

Nobles, including the Marquess of Carrion, Lina’s father, were urging him to make her Empress, but Louid had no such intention. Rather, once Lina woke, he planned to investigate the truth of that day.

“Send the physician.”

He turned his head toward the window as if annoyed and gave the order. He had something to ask Lina when she woke, so it would be troublesome if she died now.

“Yes, understood.”

The chamberlain bowed respectfully as he answered.

“I’ll go to Peric Island.”

“You mean the place where Her Highness the former Crown Princess is? When do you plan to go?”

The chamberlain’s drooping eyes widened as he lifted his head. He didn’t hide that he had been hoping the Emperor would seek out the former Crown Princess. If not for the unfortunate incident that happened two months ago, she would have become the Empress of the Richert Empire.

“Today. Right now.”

Louid said firmly. Investigating what happened that day was important, but more than anything, he wanted to see Emilia right away. She had been his consort until two months ago, and even now she appeared in his dreams every night. Meanwhile, the questions about that night remained unresolved, and his headaches were growing worse by the day.

She was the granddaughter of the enemy who had tormented him for years, and as far as he remembered, they had never been close. Even so, his thirst for her grew stronger with each passing day.

She was even the woman who had assassinated his brother, the late Emperor, and tried to kill him. But something felt off about letting her die like this. The only way to resolve that unease was to meet her in person.

‘What is wrong with me?’

He held his breath for a moment. Just the thought of seeing Emilia made his heart pound violently, as if he were about to meet a lover he had longed for.

“Yes, understood. I’ll make the preparations.”

“While I’m gone, entrust state affairs to Duke Asher Dalton.”

Louid gave the order calmly. Asher was his closest friend since childhood, and whenever Louid left the imperial palace, he handled urgent state affairs in his place. Louid had recently granted Asher, who had been a count, the title of duke. Peric Island was a place that took at least ten days even at full speed on horseback, and part of the journey required taking a ship.

“Yes, I’ll relay that.”

After the chamberlain left, Louid trudged over to the window and looked outside. The sky, just beginning to brighten, was filled with dark clouds as if rain would soon fall.

He tried to recall his missing memories. Especially what happened that day. But no matter how hard he tried, nothing came to mind. Shaking his head as if in resignation, he went to the dressing room to change his clothes.

Wearing his usual black uniform, he stopped and stared at something. On one side of the wardrobe hung a formal outfit Emilia had made for him.

“You only wear black clothes, so I tried making this.”

Her pale face, smiling shyly as she said she designed and made it herself, came to mind.

No. Stop thinking about it.

Louid clenched his fist and shut his eyes tightly. Then he suddenly opened them and stared fixedly at the clothes Emilia had made.

‘Even if someone is seriously injured, it’s not common to lose their memories.’

From about a month before the incident, along with everything that had supposedly happened to Emilia after their marriage, it was as if those memories had been completely erased. He couldn’t recall anything. It was truly strange.

‘Could it be black magic?’

Black magic….

Why didn’t I think of that?

Bang. Bang.

Just as that thought crossed his mind, the bedroom door shook violently.

“Your Majesty!”

Before he could grant permission, the bedroom door burst open and Alex, the commander of the imperial knights, rushed in. It was something that would only happen in the event of war or a truly urgent situation.

“Alex.”

Since the time he was the Second Prince, Alex had served as his guard, and whenever there was a need to go outside, he would always come to report after preparing for departure. But today, Alex’s pale face and tear-filled eyes were far from a simple departure report. A bad feeling crept over him.

“Is the departure ready?” Louid asked, grabbing the longsword he would wear at his waist.

“Your Majesty, I’ve been told that Her Highness the former Crown Princess has passed away.”

“…?”

Before Alex could even finish his report, the dull sound of a sword hitting the floor rang out heavily. Louid’s sturdy body froze as if turned to ice, unable to move.

“Say that again. What did you say happened to Emilia?”

Louid, who had stood motionless as if his breath had been cut off, spoke in a low voice. His heart pounded violently. The eyes glaring at Alex darkened like blood. It was a deep, blazing red, as if multiple suns had fused into one.

“They say Her Highness Emilia Richert, the former Crown Princess, threw herself from the tower of Peric Island prison. Your Majesty.”

Alex lowered his head with a grief-stricken expression as he reported once more.