The Cold-Hearted Grand Duke Obsesses Over Me After My Death - Chapter 123

Chapter 123. Confusion (2)

Emilia went to the prince’s palace long before the appointed time. No one was in the prince’s palace. Since it was originally a place with few servants or guards, she didn’t find it strange.

While Louid was dealing with the chaos at the main gate, she walked along the wall of the rear garden of the prince’s palace and reminisced about her memories with him. It was the place where she first met him.

The bird grave he had made was still there. She recalled hearing that he used to be a child who searched for bluebirds.

‘May you meet your bluebird.’

Standing before the small grave he must have made in his childhood, Emilia silently wished for his childhood dream to come true.

“The escape route is that way.”

Standing before the wall, she remembered the first time she met Louid. He told her to escape and showed her the way out.

Did he hate me that much?

How much must he have hated her to show her the escape route? What he wanted was probably for her to push that wall and disappear from his world. Thinking back, she became certain of what Louid had wanted from the very beginning.

A bitter smile appeared on her lips. It was late, but now she would finally grant his wish.

Was it around here?

She placed her hand on the wall where Louid had overlapped his hand with hers and helped her push before, and slowly brushed over it. It felt as if she could sense his presence.

Are the three horses still there?

Emilia, who was about to push the wall and go out, turned back with a faint, bitter smile. The forest was already shrouded in deep darkness. There was no need to check whether the horses were still there right now.

Returning to the first-floor lobby, she quietly gazed at the portrait of Louid as a child hanging on the wall. His confident and solemn expression looked exactly like him now, and a smile naturally formed on her lips.

“…?”

At that moment, the sound of footsteps echoed through the long corridor. A smile appeared on her face.

Even though she was planning to leave, she couldn’t help feeling glad to see him. She liked him enough to bring tears to her eyes. Turning toward the sound, Emilia called the name she had longed for all day.

“Louid?”

“Your Highness.”

At the unexpected voice, Emilia’s body froze.

“…Lina? You haven’t left the palace yet?”

The person who appeared in the corridor was Lina. Emilia looked at her with a puzzled expression.

“Yes.”

“…?”

There was something strange about Lina’s tone. Since becoming a lady-in-waiting, she had occasionally expressed dissatisfaction to Helen, but she had never been openly disrespectful. Yet now, her tone was off, and her gaze was fixed sharply on Emilia.

“You… why….”

“Today is the last day I have to play the role of a lady-in-wiating that doesn’t suit me.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You’re asking because you don’t know? How stupid. Today will be the last day you breathe.”

In Lina’s hand was an unfamiliar basket. It was a fairly large outing basket.

“What is that? Ahh!”

As Lina lifted the lid of the basket, Emilia saw something suddenly leap out and screamed, stumbling backward.

“You’re asking because you don’t know? You shameless thing. It’s not enough that you took my husband-to-be; you even took his love. I won’t forgive you.”

“…What?”

She couldn’t understand what Lina meant by saying she took her husband-to-be.

“If you hadn’t appeared, the position of Grand Duchess would have been mine. The position of Crown Princess, the position of Empress, all of them were supposed to be mine, but you took everything.”

Lina shouted as if it were unfair. Louid had never been engaged to Lina, so Emilia couldn’t understand what she was talking about.

“You were the one who tried to kill me?”

Listening to Lina’s inconsistent claims, the answer to the question that had long lingered in her mind came to Emilia. The culprit behind all the incidents that had happened to her was Lina.

“Now you finally understand? You’re really slow.”

Lina glared at her with a contemptuous expression.

Emilia recalled the suspicious incidents from the past. Falling down the stairs, the carriage accident, the kidnapping, and more.

Among them, the only times Lina had been nearby were when she fell down the underground stairs at the Grand Duke’s castle and when they were on the ship. Could it be….

“Were you the one who had the arrow shot in the gorge as well?”

“Yes, that’s right. You’re persistent. You just wouldn’t die no matter what. I’ve never seen someone as stubborn as you,” said Lina through gritted teeth.

Emilia pressed a hand to her chest. Her heart pounded violently. The one who should be trembling with rage was her. Louid had nearly died because of that poisoned arrow, and to think it was all Lina’s doing sent chills down her entire body.

In the blink of an eye, Lina dropped the basket. The lid flew fully open, and several long, grotesque snakes poured out.

“Go on. Bite her.”

Lina shouted as she lashed at the snakes. The venomous snakes flicked their tongues and began slithering toward Emilia. Before she could react, a cold sensation brushed past her leg. It was the snake’s tongue.

“Ahh! Stay away. Ahh…!”

Emilia screamed as she reflexively reached toward the ground. At that moment, the snakes suddenly changed direction.

“Ahh, what? Why are you coming this way?”

While Emilia stood frozen, the snakes that had crawled to the other side attacked Lina.

“Get away. Stay back.”

Lina thrashed as she swung her whip, then collapsed to the floor. The snakes latched onto her legs.

“Gasp.”

Emilia stood there without even making a sound. She wanted to run, but her feet wouldn’t move. The snakes that bit Lina seemed terrified of something and fled to a corner without even looking at Emilia.

‘Is it because of this ring?’

As she raised her hand and looked at her mother’s ring, the sound of heels echoed, and a middle-aged woman with brown hair appeared. She didn’t look like a palace servant, and her face was unfamiliar.

“Gasp, Lina?”

The woman bent down when she saw Lina collapsed on the floor. She was Lina’s birth mother, Della.

“What is the meaning of this? You dared to harm my daughter. Wake up, Lina.”

She shook her forcefully, but Lina didn’t regain consciousness.

Della and Lina’s role was to keep Emilia in the prince’s palace until Ian arrived. Releasing the venomous snakes had not been discussed in advance with the marquess or Ian. But Lina, unwilling to let Emilia take the position of Empress, pressured Della into killing her here. Ian’s warning to keep Emilia alive meant nothing to the two of them.

“Who are you?”

“I am Lina’s birth mother.”

Della straightened her back and glared at Emilia as she answered. Her eyes were filled with resentment.

Lina’s birth mother? Then she wasn’t the marchioness daughter? Now that she thought about it, Lina and the woman didn’t look exactly alike, but there was a resemblance in their overall impression.

“I didn’t do this. Lina tried to kill me.”

Emilia stepped closer to Della and explained, trying to clear the misunderstanding.

“She needs to receive treatment quickly….”

“Die.”

At that moment, a pillar of fire burst from Della’s hand. Emilia instinctively thrust both hands forward and took a defensive stance. Then the force of the flames weakened.

“What is this? Who are you?” Della shouted with a shocked expression. Her sharp gaze examined the hand Emilia had extended.

That is….

“Why are you wearing Marie’s ring?”

Emilia’s body stiffened. Marie was the name of her biological mother.

“You know my mother?”

“Mother? Then are you Marie’s daughter?”

“That’s right. I was told my mother’s name is Marie.”

Della’s vicious gaze sharpened even further.

Her eyes burned with jealousy. Consumed by long-standing resentment, she had no intention of saving her daughter. Even though Lina lay unconscious right in front of her, Della’s gaze remained fixed only on Emilia.

“Marie’s daughter… how convenient.”

Della looked at her as if she would kill her. Emilia’s heart pounded violently once more.

“How do you know my mother?”

“So you were the one who interfered when Lina tried to nurture the divine fire. And you have Marie’s ring,” Della said, gesturing with her chin toward the ring on Emilia’s hand.

Marie and Della were orphans who grew up in a monastery belonging to the temple. The two had studied black magic under the same master. Their master was the priest who had lured Emilia into the tower during the inspection in Plumond.

Marie became an orphan after her parents and relatives all died from an epidemic, and Della was a child abandoned in front of the monastery as a newborn.

Della envied Marie, who had a bright personality and beautiful appearance. Marie wore a mysterious ring on her finger.

“What kind of ring is that?”

“Ah, this? It’s a ring passed down through my family. They say it’s made from blue dragon scales. My father said our ancestors were blue dragons. Maybe that’s why this ring can block fire.”

Marie revealed the secret of the ring to Della, who was her closest friend.

“Really? That’s a fascinating ring.”

Greedy by nature, Della planned to steal the ring when Marie let her guard down. But one day, Marie disappeared. She left behind a letter saying she didn’t want to learn black magic that harmed people and vanished without a trace. Rumor had it that she disappeared after a group of traveling performers came to the village.

‘So that’s where you went… you married to Duke Berthe’s son?’

Recalling the past, Della’s face flushed with jealousy. She herself had become the marquess’s mistress through every trick imaginable, yet Marie married the young duke. Jealousy boiled within her.

“Now it will finally become mine.”

Her specialty was creating fire through black magic, while the ring Emilia inherited blocked fire. Even that irritated her.

Muttering incomprehensible words, Della raised her hand. Flames rose from her fingertips.

“Gasp.”

The blazing fire surged right in front of her face. Emilia extended her hands forward and used all her strength to block it. Small flames could be stopped with the ring alone, but a large blaze required effort.

“So you were the black mage. You were the one who cast black magic so the suspects couldn’t speak.”

When the flames subsided, Emilia shouted.

“That’s right. You’re clever, just like Marie. Since you harmed my daughter, I can’t let you live either.”

At her words, Emilia’s gaze turned toward Lina, who lay collapsed on the floor. Lina remained motionless with her eyes closed.

“I’m not the one who harmed her. Lina was bitten by the snakes. If she receives treatment quickly, she might still live.”

“Nonsense. At a time like this, why would I waste it?”

Della’s attention was entirely focused on the ring rather than her dying daughter. Meeting Marie’s daughter by chance like this was the only opportunity to take the blue dragon’s ring.

“Ahh!”