The Cold-Hearted Grand Duke Obsesses Over Me After My Death - Chapter 112

Chapter. 112 He’s in Danger (1)

“Louid!”

At the familiar voice, Emilia hurried toward Louid, then suddenly stopped.

I told myself I wouldn’t do this….

I decided to keep my distance from him, yet my body moved on its own.

“You’re here?”

Emilia forced herself to speak calmly.

But Louid didn’t notice her hesitation. Just hearing her speak gently after being cold these past few days made the resentment in his heart melt away like snow. His face brightened for the first time in a while.

Ian saw it. Emilia’s delighted gaze, the way she walked quickly as if running toward a lover.

Ian’s face, which had been frozen stiff, twitched. He slowly turned his head. Emilia was looking up at the Crown Prince with a bright expression. He drew in a deep breath until his chest swelled, clenching his jaw to suppress his anger.

“Greetings, Your Highness the Crown Prince.”

He bowed his head to the Crown Prince. Perhaps because Emilia was present, it felt more humiliating than usual.

“So the prince is here as well.”

Louid shot him a displeased look.

Of course, there was nothing wrong with the prince’s etiquette. Since the monastery was within the capital, it wasn’t a place a hostage like him couldn’t visit. The problem was that he was here in the same place as Emilia.

“He said he wanted to see the monastery.”

Since Ian kept his mouth shut, Emilia explained instead.

“The Prince has been a great help.”

“What kind of help?”

At her added words, one of Louid’s eyebrows lifted slightly.

“It’s nothing. I simply offered a bit of advice since it was Her Highness’s first time handling official duties.”

Ian broke his silence and explained as if it were nothing.

“…I see. Thank you.”

Although Louid said thanks, the expressions of the two men facing each other remained stiff.

“I thought you wouldn’t come today.”

When Emilia changed the subject, Louid’s expression softened slightly as he looked at her.

“My work finished early.”

“Really?”

Emilia looked at him in surprise, and Louid slightly lifted and lowered his shoulders, hiding his embarrassment.

Her reaction wasn’t unreasonable. He had been so busy lately that he hadn’t been able to pay much attention to her.

“Greetings, Your Highness the Crown Prince.”

“Oh my, Your Highness the Crown Prince has come as well.”

Though he wanted to talk with Emilia more, he was soon surrounded by the noblewomen in the hall. And with the continuing schedule of the charity event, it was late at night before he was finally alone with Emilia in the carriage.

“I heard a large amount of donations was gathered today.”

“That’s such a relief. I thought I was going to die from nervousness when I gave the speech.”

Emilia joked lightly. She had looked tired just moments ago, but at the mention of the large donations, her expression brightened immediately.

“You’ll get used to it if you keep doing it. You did well.”

Louid looked at her with a pleased expression.

“Are you hungry? It’s late, but shall we eat together?”

“No, I’m not hungry.”

After arriving on the third floor of the Crown Prince’s palace, the two stood in front of their adjoining rooms and spoke. In truth, he wasn’t hungry either since they had eaten lightly at the charity event, but he was just looking for an excuse to stay with Emilia.

“Alright. Then I’ll come to the bedroom later.”

At his words, Emilia’s body stiffened.

“I’m not feeling well today. I’m very tired.”

“Still? I see. Then there’s nothing we can do. Go to bed first.”

“Yes, thank you.”

“….”

Louid stood there silently for a while, watching Emilia’s back as she disappeared inside her room.

It doesn’t feel like something to be thanked for….

Something felt off, but he couldn’t figure out what it was.

After that day, Emilia’s condition didn’t improve. But what was strange was that she continued her daily life as if nothing was wrong, tended to the plants in the imperial greenhouse, and didn’t even receive an examination from the royal physician.

“I’m not feeling well.”

“Alright.

And so, when Emilia said she still wasn’t feeling well and refused intimacy at night, Louid had nothing to say.

He had no choice but to open the connecting door past midnight and go to the adjoining bedroom. He held onto a faint hope that she might still be awake, but Emilia was fast asleep, completely unaware of the world.

‘It feels like we’ve gone back to the early days of our marriage.’

Lying beside Emilia, Louid recalled how he used to slip in late at night like a stray cat and fall asleep next to her. Then he looked at her, resting on his arm, and let out a sigh.

Emilia didn’t know it, but she was his headache medicine and his cure for insomnia. But his insomnia was returning. It was clearly insomnia caused by dissatisfaction.

***

A few days later.

“Your Highness, Duke Berthe has come to see you.”

At Helen’s report, Emilia frowned. It was something she had expected, but she wasn’t pleased.

The duke came to the imperial palace almost every day except on weekends, so if he wanted to, he could come to the Crown Prince’s palace at any time.

‘I preferred when we were at the manor.’

At the manor, visits had to be announced in advance, and since Louid was there, the duke couldn’t come recklessly. But now that they were in the imperial palace, he would likely come frequently.

“Show him to the drawing room.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Emilia received Duke Berthe in the drawing room of the Crown Prince’s palace.

“Your Highness, I came because there has been no news of a pregnancy yet.”

Perhaps because others were present, the duke spoke politely.

“It hasn’t even been a year since the marriage,” Emilia answered calmly, as she had expected his words.

“This medicine will help with pregnancy.”

Ignoring her response, the duke held out a new vial of medicine. It was already the third one.

“You already gave me medicine last time.”

“This one is far better than those.”

“…Alright.”

Letting out a sigh, Emilia accepted the vial the duke held out.

“Is there anything else wrong with your body? If there is, I can bring a renowned physician….”

“There isn’t.”

When Emilia cut him off, Duke Berthe frowned and glared at her. There was no physician more capable than the imperial palace’s royal physician, so bringing in another one likely meant he wanted to check whether she was pregnant.

“And your relationship as husband and wife is fine?”

“Yes.”

“Then why haven’t you conceived yet, Your Highness?”

The duke looked at her with a suspicious gaze. Though he used polite language, his eyes looked at her as if she were something contemptible.

“It will happen soon. Please don’t worry.”

She wished someone would tell the duke that excessive concern could be more harmful than indifference.

“Don’t just say soon. Make an effort to conceive an heir quickly. This is no time to be so complacent.”

Now the duke didn’t even bother to restrain himself and raised his voice.

“Why should I?”

When Emilia spoke back while looking straight at him, the duke stared at her in surprise. He must have expected her to obediently answer as usual, so her defiance caught him off guard.

“Do you really need to ask?”

The duke sighed as if frustrated.

“The Crown Prince is not of Berthe blood, is he? Think carefully about who should become Emperor.”

Lowering his voice, the duke spoke as if whispering.

“The master of the Richert Empire is not Berthe, but the imperial family of Richert.”

This time, Emilia also lowered her voice. Although only she and the duke were in the drawing room, there were maids and ladies-in-waiting outside who would rush in if she called.

“You’re being unreasonable. Think carefully about your roots.”

“….”

“Take the medicine I gave you this time diligently. Then I’ll be going.”

Having said what he needed to say, the duke hurriedly left the palace. It was to avoid running into Louid by any chance.

Although he saw Louid at meetings in the main palace, it was uncomfortable to encounter him in private. If Louid became Emperor, there was no way he would leave alone someone who had tried to assassinate him.

He might even take a new empress.

‘How frustrating.’

The duke clicked his tongue and glared back at the Crown Prince’s palace.

‘Why does he keep pushing for a pregnancy?’

It hadn’t been long since the marriage, and in a normal family, wouldn’t they wait patiently?

After the duke left, Emilia sat on the sofa in the drawing room, lost in deep thought.

Aside from the early days of the marriage, His Majesty also hadn’t said much about having a child, so the duke’s urgency was suspicious.

Why does it have to be so soon?

“He’s in danger.”

After a long while, Emilia murmured with a blank expression.

If she conceived a child, the duke intended to harm Louid.

‘The duke’s attempt to assassinate him hasn’t ended. It’s only been paused. If I have a child, Louid could die.’

After learning that the duke had tried to assassinate Louid, she had already resolved not to have a child out of conscience, but now the reason not to become pregnant was even clearer. The attempt had only been put on hold. With a vacant look, she pulled the bell cord installed beside the sofa.

“Did you call, Your Highness?”

“Could you throw this away?”

She had Helen dispose of the medicine given by Duke Berthe. And that act was all secretly reported to Louid.

***

“Your Highness, the aide to Count Dalton has come.”

The day after Duke Berthe’s visit, Lucian came to the Crown Prince’s palace.

Lucian?

Emilia’s face brightened as she was arranging flowers.

“Let him in.”

A moment later, Damian entered the sitting room.

“Your Highness, congratulations on becoming the Crown Princess.”

Damian approached Emilia and bowed politely in greeting. Now that he worked in the imperial palace as the count’s aide, it had become possible for him to meet her.

“Thank you, Lucian.”

“I have something important to tell you. Could you have the others leave?”

He glanced toward the maids.

“Everyone, step outside,” Emilia ordered the ladies-in-waiting.

Why is he asking them to leave?

Lina felt uneasy every time she saw Damian. It felt like he was watching her.

“Just in case, I’ll stay and attend to Your Highness—”

“Come with me, young lady.”

“Ah, no, I only—”

Lina, who had tried to remain in the sitting room, was grabbed by the arm and dragged out by Helen.

“They’ve all left. Now speak, Lucian.”

Emilia thought he had come to relay Count Asher’s message.

Damian, who had bowed his head toward her, covered his mouth with one hand and spoke in a very low voice.

“It seems that Your Highness and I have the same parents.”