The Cold-Hearted Grand Duke Obsesses Over Me After My Death - Side Story 6

“Emilia!”

He cupped one hand around his mouth and shouted toward the top of the tower. A blonde woman leaned her head out of the small window and looked down. Her eyes widened.

“Louid, when did you get here?”

Emilia smiled brightly. The tip of Louid’s nose stung. Even though they hadn’t seen each other for only a few days, longing surged up inside him.

“Just now.”

A light breeze brushed past his face. The fragrance of wildflowers spread all around, as if someone had scattered petals in the air.

“I’ll come up.”

“Yes.”

Louid ran up to the top in one breath. They had been married for years, but whenever he ran toward the one he loved, his heart always grew impatient.

Reaching the top, he pulled Emilia into a tight embrace. She carried the wildflower scent he loved.

“I missed you.”

No, it had only been a few days apart.

“Me too.”

Emilia held back a smile and said the words he liked.

“Everything here is just as it was.”

Emilia showed him the room as she spoke.

“I see.”

Louid looked around the room. From his reaction, it didn’t seem like his first time there.

“Have you been here before?”

Emilia’s eyes widened.

“I came here looking for you. Thinking of you, I fell asleep on that bed.”

Louid pointed to the small bed in one corner of the room.

“Really?”

Emilia looked up at him in surprise, as if asking why he hadn’t told her until now.

“A long time ago, I stood over there.”

With the corner of his lips raised, Louid pointed below the tower from the window.

When he had visited the ducal residence with his brother William, there was a girl on top of the tower scattering flowers. He hadn’t known it then, but that girl had been Emilia.

“Really?”

Emilia’s eyes widened again.

“It was like flower snow back then. White, pink, and yellow mixed together. It was the first time I’d ever seen something so beautiful.”

Louid answered with a face filled with nostalgia. Just like today, the wind had been strong that day as well.

When William, who had been deceived by the Duke of Berthe, said he must have seen an illusion, if he had asked for a deeper investigation back then, could he have saved that girl?

The small blonde child dropping petals from the tower window.

If he had known then that she wasn’t an illusion but real, Emilia would have been rescued much earlier. And through an investigation, Damian, who was imprisoned in another tower, would have been rescued as well.

If that had happened, he could have become her savior. He had suffered for a long time with guilt over not being able to save Emilia sooner.

“I waited for that boy for a long time. The reason I could endure loneliness for so many years was because of him.”

After seating him on the bed, Emilia spoke with sincerity.

“I’ve done many things wrong.”

Back then, when he married her, and even until recently, he had done many wrongs to Emilia.

Emilia gently wrapped her arms around his neck.

“No. You’re the one who saved me.”

If not for Louid, she might have remained trapped in the tower forever and died in loneliness. Even if their marriage had happened because of the Duke of Berthe’s greed for power, thanks to Louid, both she and Damian were able to escape the cruel chains of fate.

“You’re the one who saved me.”

Louid’s face was filled with emotion. He had suffered under guilt for so long, yet she called him her savior despite everything. She was the angel heaven had sent to him.

“Thank you. I love you.”

“I love you.”

Their bodies drew closer. Warm breaths mingled, and Louid’s hand cupped Emilia’s cheek. Their lips met quietly. It was a kiss filled with long years of longing and love.

After parting briefly, their lips met again. Unlike before, it was a rough, intense kiss. Long rays of sunlight streamed in through the small window. The two shared a kiss for a long time, mixing their heated breaths.

The past had been long, but there was still much of the future left. From now on, he would treat her even better. Better tomorrow than today, and better the day after tomorrow than tomorrow. Louid once again vowed to devote his life to making Emilia and their children happy.

***

“My legs hurt. Mom, carry me.”

After coming down from the tower, the two went to the playground where the children were playing.

“Elea. You shouldn’t trouble your mother.”

Gerard, who resembled Louid, tended to be quiet. But whenever Elea asked Emilia to carry her, he would scold her and stop her.

“Mom is mine.”

“She’s mine too.”

The children were arguing over who got to have their mother. The twins got along like soulmates, but at times like this, it made her wonder what kind of relationship they had in a past life.

“That’s not how it works. Your mother belongs to your father.”

Louid, who had been listening quietly, stepped in to mediate.

“I only need Mom.”

“Me too.”

Even at his words, the children didn’t back down and continued to insist on their claim over their mother.

“Mom loves all three of you. All three of you belong to Mom.”

“Waa!”

“Wow!”

At Emilia’s words, the children clapped their small hands and laughed as if she had given the correct answer.

“Mom’s the best, right?”

“Yes.”

At her words, the twins answered at the same time.

“Gerard, when your father isn’t here, you have to protect your mother and your younger sibling well. Understood?”

Thinking that at three years old he was old enough to understand, Louid continued to drill it into him.

“Yes, I understand.”

Gerard clenched his small fist tightly. The child’s red eyes shone with determination.

“Alright, then shall we go on the swing?”

“Yes.”

As the children climbed onto the swing, Louid and Emilia quietly met each other’s eyes. Emilia smiled as if she fully agreed with his thoughts.

Seeing the swing reminded her of something. As Emilia pushed the children on the swing, she asked him.

“Why did you do that back then in the forest?”

“What do you mean? Ah!”

She was talking about the day her shoe came off while riding the swing in the Grand Duke’s forest. There had been many strange things about Louid’s behavior that day.

In his hand, he had been holding the shoe that flew off into the forest. And his hair had been slightly disheveled, and his expression had been very angry.

“You said you wished a prince would appear. That made me angry,” Louid answered with a sullen expression.

“When will a prince like that ever appear for me? That kind of day will probably never come.”

Only then did she recall the words she had said back then.

“Ah, I see.”

Louid’s sulking expression was cute.

“I just said it without thinking. My situation wasn’t like that of an ordinary noble lady.”

She didn’t mention that she had only had one shoe at the time. Saying something like that would only hurt him more.

“I understand now.”

Louid nodded. At the time, he thought Emilia had grown up in comfort. He never imagined she had been imprisoned. She must have desperately needed a prince to save her.

I should have been that prince for you.

Instead of saving Emilia, I only hurt her more, so I was truly sorry.

“I still have that shoe.”

“Really?”

“I’ll show you when we get back to the palace.”

Louid smiled faintly. At the sight, Emilia felt her heart pounding.

How long will he keep looking that handsome? Probably until the end of my life.

“Sit. I’ll push you.”

As the children ran toward Jamie and Deo, Louid told Emilia to sit on the swing.

“Yes, please.”

Emilia sat on the swing with a delighted expression.

“Haha, this is fun.”

When Louid pushed the swing high, Emilia let out a joyful scream. Because she had been confined during childhood, she had never experienced even simple pleasures like this.

Her long blonde hair scattered in the wind and brushed against Louid’s face. He stood beside the swing, watching her enjoy herself, then moved behind her and pushed the swing again.

Emilia’s shoe flew off, tracing a curved arc through the air.

“Please pick it up.”

She had taken it off on purpose so it would land not far away.

“Haha.”

Louid quickly picked up the shoe from the sand and brushed off the dust. As he knelt to put the shoe back on her foot—

“I love you.”

Emilia whispered her love to him in a small voice. Louid kept his head lowered for a while and didn’t get up. His shoulders trembled slightly.

“What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”

Emilia leaned forward and lowered her head.