The Cold-Hearted Grand Duke Obsesses Over Me After My Death - Chapter 113

Chapter. 113 He’s in Danger (2)

“What do you mean?”

Emilia’s body froze. She thought she must have misunderstood. But what he said next was even more shocking.

“My real name is Damian Berthe.”

“…Berthe?”

Emilia thought she had misheard again.

How? No way….

Could there be another Berthe family in the empire? Maybe. There could be distant relatives.

“We’re twins born on the same day. It seems Your Highness is my younger sister.”

Damian removed the pendant necklace from around his neck and showed it to her. Emilia snatched it and opened the locket. Inside was a portrait of a small child whose hair color and eye color matched her own.

“…Where did you get this?”

“Simon gave it to me.”

“Simon?”

“I secretly sent someone to the ducal estate to learn more, but I couldn’t meet Simon.”

“I heard Simon isn’t well and went away to recuperate.”

“I see.”

She already had many things she wanted to ask Simon once he returned.

“How did you find out we’re twins?”

Their faces resembled each other, and the matching pendants already gave some credibility to his words, but she wanted to be certain.

“My birthday is January 25. I’m the same age as Your Highness. I thought it was strange, and recently I learned that Duke Berthe is Your Highness’s grandfather.”

“I see.”

Emilia’s voice trembled. Her eyes began to moisten.

“Do you know anything about our parents?”

“I heard our father was Dennis Berthe, the young duke, and our mother was a commoner named Marie. She was a dancer. After marrying, she gave birth to me and passed away, and our father died in battle against the Kingdom of Billiot.”

The explanation matched what she knew. Emilia closed her eyes for a moment and then opened them. More than anything, Damian’s face looked just like hers. It would be stranger to say they weren’t blood-related.

“I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you, Damian.”

The tears she had been holding back spilled from her eyes.

“It’s alright. I didn’t recognize you either.”

Tears also fell from Damian’s eyes. The two of them held hands and cried silently for a while.

“How have you been all this time? And why did you change your name?”

After collecting herself a little, Emilia asked. Had the duke tormented his grandson too? Why would he do that?

There were so many things she wanted to ask.

“I was locked in a tower at the ducal estate since I was young. I changed my name to avoid the duke’s pursuit. He believes I’m dead.”

Damian glanced behind him and spoke in a low voice. He told her that Simon had helped him escape and made a new identity for him.

So that was the tower….

On the day she left the tower, she had seen another tower outside the window. Damian had been imprisoned there.

“I was locked in a tower too. Damian, let’s speak casually when it’s just us.”

She couldn’t be sure whether he was the older twin, but since they were twins, she wanted to speak comfortably.

“Alright, Emilia.”

Damian agreed to her suggestion.

“Why did the duke lock us in the tower?”

“I looked into it, and it seems that in the empire, when twins are born, they’re believed to be cursed. So they either kill one or abandon both. But it seems our father didn’t abandon us, and since he had to go to war, we were sent to the ducal estate.”

“Ah!”

So that’s why we were locked up. Because we were twins. Because we were seen as cursed.

Only now did everything feel like it was finally making sense. At first, she thought the duke locked her up because he hated her birth mother. But to think it was because they were twins. At some point, Louid once told her about the constellation of twins and said that in the empire, twins were considered cursed. And he also said he didn’t believe in such things.

But she couldn’t tell Louid this. It might become a burden to him, and because of her, he could end up being harmed.

‘I should leave once the founding festival is over.’

With this, her resolve to leave Louid’s side became even firmer.

“Is there anything I can help you with?”

After calming down, the two spoke seriously. She could lay everything bare only to Damian.

“It would be good if you could get contraceptives for me.”

“Contraceptives?”

Damian’s blue eyes widened. He thought Emilia was living happily as the Crown Princess, yet she was asking for contraceptives. At her unexpected words, his expression darkened.

“I’m going to leave soon.”

Emilia calmly explained the reason she had to leave the imperial palace. That their grandfather, Duke Berthe, was the Crown Prince’s enemy, and that she had heard rumors he had been trying to kill him for a long time.

“Duke Berthe did something like that to His Highness the Crown Prince?”

Damian’s face was filled with shock.

“Yes. I’m not qualified to bear his heir. I shouldn’t stay by his side either.”

“Alright. I understand.”

Damian agreed with her.

“Let’s go live far away. We’ll grow grapes and make wine.”

“Okay.”

“Take this with you. It’s my deposit certificate.”

Emilia quietly stood up, took out a deposit certificate from the desk drawer on one side of the sitting room, and brought it over. Then she wrote a letter of authorization on a sheet of paper and handed it to Damian.

In the Richert Empire, if the signatures on the deposit certificate and the authorization letter matched, the funds could be withdrawn without the account holder present. And since Roe was a pseudonym anyway, she would need an authorization letter even if she tried to withdraw it herself.

“Use this money to buy a house and a farm. And if you can’t find a suitable place, find somewhere I can stay for now. The sooner, the better.”

“Alright.”

Something’s off….

As the meeting between the Crown Princess and the count’s aide dragged on, Lina headed toward the sitting room with tea and snacks. She intended to eavesdrop on what they were talking about.

“Lady Carrion, what are you doing there?”

At that moment, a voice she didn’t want to hear came from behind her.

Why is her voice so loud and rough?

“I was going to bring tea, tea.”

Startled by Helen’s thunderous voice, Lina stammered.

“I already brought tea earlier, and when Her Highness tells you to withdraw, you must not approach. You have to stay a hundred steps away from the door.”

Helen scolded her with a stern expression.

Was there such a rule? Since it was her first time working as a lady-in-waiting, she had no way to verify it on the spot.

“Then at least the snacks….”

“Put that down and come with me.”

“Alright.”

Ian had ordered her to record everything Emilia did, even who she met, the tea she drank, and their conversations, but it seemed impossible.

‘That damn prince. What kind of hardship is this!’

She resented the fact that he liked Emilia and was making her suffer like this. But since he held her weakness in his grasp, she couldn’t refuse.

***

“Ha….”

After Damian left, Emilia shut herself in the bedroom and stared out the window. The main palace where Louid was working came into view.

Another reason was added to why she shouldn’t stay by his side. Even if he didn’t hate twins, everyone in the world believed twins were cursed. Unless the world itself changed, her existence would only harm Louid.

“I’m sorry, Louid.”

Emilia whispered softly toward the main palace. Her eyes grew moist.

A few days later. Because the founding festival was just around the corner, the servants of the imperial palace were filled with excitement. Helen and Lucy were the same.

“What’s the founding festival like in the capital? I’ve only lived in the north, so I’ve never seen the festival here.”

At the grand ducal territory, they also held events and festivals to commemorate the founding day, but the festival held in the capital was on a much larger scale.

“It’s really fun, and there’s a lot to see. Especially since His Highness the Crown Prince takes part in the jousting tournament every year, and he looks really amazing.”

“I see. I’m looking forward to it. Her Highness will enjoy it too.”

“She will. There’s also a lot of delicious food. The streets are full of things to eat.”

The founding festival of the Richert Empire was held during the harvest season, so food was abundant, and it was a time when both nobles and commoners ate well.

“Oh my, that sounds delicious. Let’s try everything.”

“Alright.”

How vulgar. All they think about is food.

Standing to the side and listening to their conversation, Lina snorted with a bored expression. To her, the founding festival was nothing more than a time to dress in luxurious clothes and attend banquets to show off her beauty.

This time, no matter what, I’ll catch the Crown Prince’s eye.

By the way, what dress should I wear?

While thinking about the dress she would wear to the founding festival banquet, she ignored the ringing of the Crown Princess’s call bell.

***

The first day of the founding festival.

Emilia attended the founding festival event held at the Grand Temple together with Louid. Since it was a historic day commemorating the founding of the Richert Empire, the Emperor, Duke Berthe, and other nobles were also present.

That afternoon, a horseback riding competition for noblewomen was held. It was a competition for noble ladies and daughters of the empire. Emilia hadn’t registered in advance and instead had Helen sign her up on the spot.

Since she intended to diligently fulfill her duties while she was the Crown Princess, she decided to participate in the competition.

“Her Highness the Crown Princess is participating as well.”

Waaa— When the Crown Princess appeared in the arena riding a white horse, cheers and applause erupted.

Emilia cleared the obstacles with the skill she had used to ride across the fields of the grand ducal territory.

Zelda was an excellent horse. It lightly cleared even unfamiliar obstacles without difficulty.

When she finished the race, someone cheered loudly. It was Ian, sitting in the audience, who somehow knew she would participate.

Everyone looked back and forth between Emilia and Ian, whispering among themselves. When their eyes met, Emilia flinched and turned her head away as if she hadn’t seen him.

Her gaze searched for someone else. But Louid wasn’t visible among the spectators.

At that time, Louid was handling state affairs in the main palace.

“Your Highness, there is a schedule for the award ceremony of the noblewomen’s riding competition today.”

“Mm, I see.”

Since even Eddie, who was reporting, didn’t know Emilia was participating, Louid simply nodded and focused on his work.

“Next is the medal award ceremony.”

Huh? There’s an award ceremony too?

At the mention of an award ceremony, Emilia was startled. She had only participated to fulfill her duties, so receiving an award made her feel embarrassed.

To make matters worse, Louid appeared on the stage. His eyes widened when he spotted Emilia.

“Next, today’s winner, Her Highness the Crown Princess Emilia, please come up to the stage.”

Winner?

One of Louid’s dark brows lifted slightly. He placed the medal around Emilia’s neck and then even shook her hand. His large hand held hers firmly.

“Congratulations.”

“Thank you.”

The two held hands for quite a while, looking into each other’s eyes.

‘She won. Impressive.’

It was surprising enough that she participated in the competition with a weak body, but to win as well.

After the award ceremony, Louid was returning to the main palace with a pleased expression when he suddenly stopped and his face hardened. His expression turned serious. He realized that he smiled whenever he saw Emilia.

‘Since when did I… with Emilia?’

He turned his head and stared blankly at the path he had just walked.