The Cold-Hearted Grand Duke Obsesses Over Me After My Death - Chapter 143

Chapter 143. Revenge (3)

“The Emperor of the Empire will wipe us all out.”

“I heard he’s never spared an enemy soldier.”

The soldiers of the Kingdom of Billiot froze in fear at Louid’s mere presence. They lost their will to fight before even engaging.

“Gasp.”

Ian’s face turned pale as he looked down below the walls. Seeing with his own eyes the power of the war demon he had only heard about, he finally understood why other nations feared Louid so much.

“Charge!”

Louid’s thunderous shout echoed across the field.

Waaah—

At the Emperor’s command, the imperial army surged forward without hesitation. They smashed the gates with siege weapons and blocked the kingdom army’s arrows with large shields. The imperial army was made up of well-trained elite soldiers.

“Archers! Fire!”

Meanwhile, despite the commander’s orders, the kingdom army faltered and failed to shoot properly. Though they had sufficient food and weapons, they lacked training.

“Gasp. The enemy is launching stones.”

A desperate shout rang out from somewhere. As they hesitated, the imperial army began hurling massive stones with catapults. The stones struck the walls and gates with every shot. On top of that, flaming arrows rained down. The kingdom soldiers who had been firing arrows flattened themselves against the walls, unable to even think of counterattacking.

“Ha….”

Ian watched everything from the highest point of the wall. Sighs kept escaping his lips.

“Your Highness, the gates have been breached.”

After the imperial army’s one-sided assault, the gates were broken through.

Waaah—

Like a raging flood, the imperial army poured through the gates, clashing violently with the kingdom army. Louid was among them.

“Aaagh.”

“Ghk.”

Everywhere he passed, countless bodies piled up. The kingdom soldiers fled in panic while the imperial army pursued them.

After fighting fiercely all day, both armies rested at night. Even in war, battles did not continue for twenty-four hours straight. At night, they rested in their camps, then fought again from dawn until sunset the next day.

As the standoff continued.

In the dead of night, when most soldiers were exhausted and asleep, a fire of unknown origin broke out in the Billiot kingdom army’s food warehouse. The ones who set the fire were the imperial knights led by Alex.

Louid had been a master of warfare since his teenage years, seasoned on the battlefield, while Ian, though decent with a sword, had grown up comfortably and lacked real combat experience. Even when he participated in war, he had only stayed in camps near the battlefield out of obligation.

“Your Highness, the food warehouse is on fire. We’ve also lost many troops, so we must retreat.”

The kingdom army’s commander rushed to Ian with a desperate expression.

“We can’t retreat like this.”

But Ian, unable to grasp reality, clung to his pride.

“It would be best to retreat for now and wait for another opportunity. Otherwise, I will arrange a ceasefire. It’s winter, and the soldiers could suffer frostbite. Without food, we cannot continue fighting.”

The commander patiently tried to persuade him. It was frustrating to have to explain everything to a prince who understood nothing.

“There is no next time. No one on the continent can defeat Louid.”

But Ian remained unmoved.

Now is the chance, while his mind is unstable.

Even though Louid had regained his memories, he could not yet be considered fully sane.

The fact that he held the former Crown Princess’s funeral with a doll and invaded in the middle of winter was proof of it. He was undoubtedly insane.

“But for now, it would be best to retreat….”

“Fine. I’ll fight and win.”

As the commander continued to persuade him, Ian ended up saying something he should never have said.

On the western continent, where the Richert Empire and the Kingdom of Billiot were located, there had long been a tradition of war. One person from each side would step forward to fight, and the side that won would claim victory in the war. The reason Louid had won every battle he fought was also because he stepped forward as the representative and won.

“Your Highness, it would be better to refrain from that….”

As the commander tried to stop him, Ian’s determination only burned stronger.

“Do not stop me. This is the perfect opportunity to defeat the Emperor of the Richert Empire.”

When night fell, the fighting between both sides stopped, and the imperial soldiers ate and rested. But the kingdom soldiers had no food and quenched their hunger with stream water. They all sat with gloomy expressions, having lost the will to fight.

***

“Emperor of the Richert Empire, come and duel me one-on-one.”

At dawn the next day, Ian climbed to the top of the wall and shouted toward the imperial camp. Then a well-built man emerged from the largest tent.

“I accept, Prince.”

Louid curled one corner of his lips into a crooked smile. Everything was a situation he had led. On the first day of battle, he could have taken the castle. But if the King of Billiot surrendered too quickly, Ian might be spared. He did not want that. So he deliberately dragged things out.

Ian had to be killed by his own hand.

And in the most brutal way possible.

Waaah—

As Louid responded, the soldiers on both sides let out a roar that pierced the sky. The previously dejected kingdom soldiers looked at Ian with hopeful expressions.

The winter morning sun shone over the field. A biting cold that seemed to freeze one’s bones swept past the two men standing face to face with swords drawn. In the silence where not even a single insect moved, the soldiers stared at them.

Ian made the first move. Louid casually deflected the strike and thrust his sword straight toward Ian. The speed of his attack was extremely fast.

“Ghk.”

Faced with Louid’s threatening attack, Ian let out a rough breath. It was his first time crossing swords with Louid, and the massive man attacked with lightning speed, making it terrifying to the point he could barely breathe. But Louid’s expression was relaxed.

“They call it a great empire, yet no one noticed even when the Crown Prince was killed.”

Ian provoked him, his nerves on edge.

“What do you mean by that?”

Louid’s expression turned fierce. He stopped moving and glared straight at Ian.

“You’ve never wondered why the Crown Prince died?”

“Was it your doing?”

Ian had ordered his subordinate to put poison into the feed of the horse the Crown Prince rode. That day, while practicing riding, the Crown Prince lost his life in a fall.

To kill a mere ten-year-old child.

Louid ground his teeth. At the time, he had been in the north and could not protect the Crown Prince.

“If it weren’t the Crown Prince, I wouldn’t have gone that far. Isn’t that the fate of royal blood?”

Ian sneered with a twisted smile. The reason he brought up the Crown Prince was to provoke Louid, hiding his own fear and trying to throw Louid’s mind into disorder.

“Demon,” Louid said, glaring at him fiercely.

“Does saying that ease your conscience? Who’s the real demon? The one who killed Emilia.”

“….”

So it worked. Louid was shaken. His red eyes twitched slightly as if convulsing, and the veins at his temples bulged.

“Do you know what this is?”

Taking it further, Ian pulled out a sheet of paper from inside his clothes and waved it. It was a portrait of Emilia. It had been hastily commissioned by Duke Berthe from a painter to show the late Emperor when he decided to make her the Grand Duchess. Lina had secretly taken it and given it to him, but he hadn’t expected to use it like this.

Emilia.

Pressing his lips tightly together, Louid stared silently at the portrait. Just the fact that Ian possessed a portrait he did not have shocked him.

“The woman you killed. And she loved me.”

“….”

At Ian’s taunting words, Louid’s jaw tightened.

At that moment, Ian tossed the portrait aside. Louid’s gaze naturally followed it.

“…?”

As Louid moved to pick up the portrait, he was struck. Red blood spurted from his left shoulder. It was the same place where he had once been hit by a poisoned arrow in the canyon. Ever since their mounted spear duel, Ian had been targeting that spot alone.

Waaah—

As the Emperor was wounded, a cheer erupted from the kingdom army. The side of the imperial army fell silent.

“Get up. Louid.”

Emilia’s voice reached Louid’s ears as he knelt. He staggered to his feet.

Clang— clang—

Ian’s attacks continued, and though Louid had slowed slightly, he swung his sword without hesitation. Strength gradually drained from Ian’s body.

“A monster. That’s why you killed your wife. The monster who killed Emilia.”

The whites of Louid’s eyes were bloodshot. Even as blood streamed down his body, he continued attacking Ian without pause.

“Tenacious bastard,” Ian muttered.

He had survived Serot poison, and even injured, his skill was overwhelming. Ian was attacking with all his strength, yet Louid still had room to spare.

“Emilia stayed for you, and because of you, she lost her life.”

At Ian’s words, Louid flinched and stopped his attack.

‘You should’ve followed me. Then you could’ve lived. I wouldn’t have let you die.’

With the repeated mentions of Emilia, his focus drifted.

In that moment, Ian’s sword swept past Louid’s wrist. The ring hanging from his bracelet fell onto the ground. It was Emilia’s ring.

Louid picked up the ring with his bloodied hand. At that instant, Ian’s sword drove deep into his side.

“….”

Louid did not move, his head lowered. He didn’t even groan. He simply remained there, kneeling, head bowed as if frozen.

Waaah—

“The prince has won!”

The soldiers of the Kingdom of Billiot shouted in triumph, their cheers echoing against the walls.

“You mustn’t die. Get up. Louid.”

None of the surrounding noise reached Louid’s ears. The only thing he could hear was Emilia’s voice.