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Chapter 14
“Your Grace!”
Ludiana hurried out of her room and called for Allen, but neither Allen nor Neil were anywhere to be seen.
I have to hurry…!
Ludiana lifted the hem of her skirt and quickened her pace. As she reached the second floor, Carlos caught her eye, standing leaned against the wall beside the study.
Why is he here…?
Seeing Carlos—who was supposed to be at the training grounds—standing on the second floor, Ludiana’s steps came to a halt.
Bathed in the setting sun that streamed between the Capital’s buildings, his golden hair glowed with a warm, soft radiance. Staring quietly at Carlos’s expressionless face, which she had never seen before, Ludiana ended up completely entranced.
It was a face so dazzlingly beautiful without any artificial embellishment that, for a moment, it felt as though someone had placed a finely painted masterpiece right before her eyes.
“Lady Ludiana?”
Noticing her presence, Carlos turned his gaze toward her and asked.
“Had you not gone to the training grounds?”
“Ah, I met the butler on my way.”
He must have heard about the urgent news.
“By the way, on what business have you come all the way here, Lady Ludiana?”
Pushing off from the wall, he took a step toward her. His storm-gray eyes, holding the light, shimmered subtly with a mysterious orange hue.
“Ah… I came to see His Grace.”
“Hmm.”
Carlos cast a brief glance at the firmly closed study door, then shook his golden hair as he answered.
“I do not think now is the right time. A problem has arisen in the territory.”
“It is the plague, is it not?”
“…Where did you hear that?”
The awkward smile lingering on Carlos’s face vanished. His gaze sharpened, and his voice dropped low. As his demeanor shifted in an instant like a wild beast wary of an enemy before its eyes, Ludiana unconsciously swallowed her breath.
“Jonas—no, my biological father—has a great deal of interest in the East.”
It was half-truth and half-lie. While it was true that Jonas, who ruled the Western forces, had his sights set on the East, he did not yet know about the plague.
Above all, there was no way he would have told such an important fact to Ludiana.
“Ah.”
“I can be of help.”
Unaware of the full truth, Carlos seemed completely persuaded as he hurriedly withdrew his sharp hostility. Holding her hands in fists stiffened by tension, Ludiana took a step toward Carlos.
“……!”
“You do not have to trust me. You may step inside together with me, so please, let me meet His Grace.”
Flustered, Carlos actually took a step back instead. But Ludiana stepped in even closer by the exact distance he had retreated.
“L-Lady Ludiana, wait a moment!”
Flustered, Carlos continued to step backward.
Thump!
“Agh!”
At that exact moment, the door to Allen’s study swung wide open, and the door panel slammed straight into the back of Carlos’s head. A dull impact sound—utterly unbelievable to be a collision with human bone—echoed throughout the entire hallway.
“Gasp…! Young Master Carlos!”
Utterly shocked, Ludiana hurried over to Carlos, who had fallen to the floor, and wrapped her hands around his hands as he clutched the back of his head.
“What in the world…! Carlos?!”
“Sir Carlos!”
Allen and Neil, who were behind the door, rushed out in surprise.
“How could you open the door so suddenly?!”
Uncharacteristically, Ludiana pressed them in a loud voice.
“Oh dear, I am truly sorry.”
Flustered, Allen approached Carlos, not knowing what to do.
“Carlos, are you alright?”
“…Yes.”
His ears flushing bright red, Carlos buried his face between his knees.
Neil instructed a maid to bring an ice pack.
Thanks to that, Carlos and Ludiana were now sitting on the sofa in the reception room beside Allen’s study.
“By the way, why were you standing in front of the study?”
Allen asked Ludiana carefully.
“Ah!”
Ludiana, who had completely forgotten about the plague while worrying about Carlos, clapped her hands together as she answered.
“The urgent news from the East—it is about the plague, is it not?!”
In her past life, after Roselyne passed away, adult Ludiana had her betrothal arranged immediately upon attending her debutante ball.
Ludiana’s fiance was merely a baron, insignificant compared to the Duke’s House of Nurnbern, but his family was a merchant house rising as an emerging power that dominated maritime trade at the time.
Franz Ponedo.
So-called rake Franz. Though unmarried despite being over thirty, he officially kept over a dozen mistresses.
Even so, he did not miss the prime opportunity to become the son-in-law of Nurnbern.
Jonas, who had absorbed Mjombeck’s business rights and dominated most of the overland trade, also planned to use Baron Ponedo to expand into maritime power.
That was indeed the greatest result a daughter could bring him. Thus, a marriage forged purely out of the mutual interests of Franz and Jonas became the beginning of another tragedy in her life.
“This much allowance should be enough. Since you are an adult, my wife, manage things on your own.”
Even after marriage, Franz did not stop his womanizing. On the other hand, he gave Ludiana only a minimal allowance and controlled her so that she could not even engage in social activities as she pleased.
The only fortunate thing was that he was full of bravado.
Franz was extremely vain and loathed being looked down upon by others. Even in Kalatos, where noble titles were not strictly distinguished, he always harbored an inferiority complex over his title of ‘Baron.’
Because of that, to flaunt his wealth and intellectual capacity, he purchased all sorts of artwork, books, and ancient manuscripts that came up at auction houses without hesitation.
Though, of course, he lost interest in the items the moment he bought them.
At any rate, the Ponedo mansion was filled with such rare items, and Ludiana, in particular, loved reading. Learning ancient languages and reading ancient manuscripts had been one of her greatest hobbies back then.
In the process of reading through numerous ancient texts, she came to learn the cause and cure for the plague that had plagued the Empire for years and claimed countless lives.
The books contained records that matched the symptoms of the plague perfectly, even featuring illustrations of the tree that served as the key ingredient for the cure.
In fact, that tree matched the native tree of Bruno that Roselyne had shown her in her childhood. However, Ponedo did not believe Ludiana’s words, and in the end, Ludiana gave up speaking of it as well.
“What does a mere wife know?! Do not spread false rumors with such useless talk!”
Her self-esteem hitting rock bottom at the time, Ludiana lost even more confidence at Franz’s words and discussed the matter no further.
The disease that produced numerous victims eventually swallowed the entire Empire, but as with all plagues, it slowly subsided over time.
Without knowing either the cause or the cure, humanity had overcome the plague purely through tenacious survival strength.
And more than a year later, someone published a paper containing the cause and cure for that disease. That paper contained the records of the ancient text she had discovered, word for word, without a single error.
The guilt and frustration Ludiana felt at that moment were beyond words.
If I had not given up back then, would those who died still be alive today?
“I wish to fulfill the promise I made to you earlier. That plague is a disease known as ‘Valtis,’ which was prevalent during the ancient Arian era.”
The gazes of Neil, Allen, and Carlos in the room fixed upon Ludiana in an instant.
“Did you say the Arian era?”
“Yes. A great number of ancient manuscripts are kept at Nurnbern. And those manuscripts record details about the plague with great specificity.”
While it was true that various books were stored at Nurnbern, Ludiana had never once set foot in the archives there.
To think she would receive help in this manner from that terrible Franz Ponedo.
Ludiana tried her best to shake off the bitter feeling.
“May I know the titles of those books?”
“Yes, but the information is not contained within just a single book. May I borrow a pen and paper?”
“Are you saying you have read multiple volumes?”
For a mere thirteen-year-old girl to be able to read ancient Arian was shocking enough in itself, but to think she cross-referenced multiple books to find the cause of the plague?
“Records concerning Valtis exist in quite a few books. Among them, the ones containing detailed records are…”
As Ludiana looked around, Neil carefully handed over his paper and pen.
“Ah, thank you.”
Ludiana began writing down the titles of the books.
“……”
“With these books, you will be able to verify my words.”
After writing down the titles of roughly ten books, Ludiana handed the paper to Allen.
In Kalatos, the Arian language was not a mandatory educational subject.
Because it was an ancient language, few remaining texts existed, and above all, there was a strong perception that it was a language from a ‘barbaric era’ before civilization had properly developed.
Still, since the Capital is a place where all sorts of people gather to live, there must certainly be someone studying Arian.
Carlos, who had been applying the ice pack to the back of his head, looked at the note placed before Allen and spoke up.
“Did you… read all of these?”
“Yes.”
“Ha…”
With an expression of sheer disbelief, Carlos handed the paper to Allen.
“I do not mean to doubt Lady Ludiana, but as the matter is so grave, verification seems necessary.”
Allen answered in a solemn tone.
“Yes. Please take sufficient time to verify it thoroughly.”
She knew all too well that in such a grave matter, it was difficult to blindly trust the words of a young child. That was why she had intentionally brought up the name of Nurnbern repeatedly.
“Neil, look into these books immediately.”
“Yes, My Lord.”
After Neil left the room, it was Allen who broke the silence.
“If Lady Ludiana’s words prove to be true, the East will owe a great debt to Her Lady.”
