IBWMD 82

~Chapter 82~

Again, I had a very chaotic dream.

“Goodbye, Elaine.”

Out of nowhere, that dragon-head Duke appeared and swallowed Reina whole as she said goodbye to me, then flew far away.

“Spit her out right now!”

I ran after him with all my strength, and something caught my foot.

“Karl?”

His face was soaked in poison and I couldn’t see it clearly—but I knew it was him.

My fingertips began to tremble.

“No…”

This isn’t what I wanted. I never meant for this…

I tried to use holy power—but it was like I was hollow inside. Nothing came out.

Never in my life had it felt so frustrating to have such a tiny amount of divine power.

“Come on. Come out.”

I desperately tried to squeeze out my power, but Karl began to fade away like dust.

No.
Please, don’t go.

My vision spun.

I closed my eyes as dizziness washed over me.

Light and dark flickered behind my eyelids as if day and night were flashing by.

Bright… then dark… bright again…

Then suddenly—

Rustle, rustle, rustle.

The sound of fluttering wings brushed around my ears.

Like hundreds of butterflies flapping at once.

But when I listened more closely—it was something else.

Calmer. Whiter…

Snow?

It sounded like heavy snowfall.

And as soon as I realized that, one side of my cheek stung like crazy. As if I had a mouthful of ice.

I opened my eyes—and everything was white.

“Ugh. So bright.”

As my eyes adjusted to the light, I saw the Partner’s Tower right in front of me.

“Why is that here?”

Still dazed, I slowly got up—and the tower glowed white.

The blue titanium inside should still be okay, right?

I squinted, staring up at the tower—

Flap, flap.

The area shook like someone had shaken a snow globe, and snowflakes poured down.

The ground shook.

Wait. The ground?

Am I… standing on a frozen lake?

I looked down and saw a familiar color.

That arrogant golden glow that had hovered over me many times like an illusion.

“……”

The eyes attached to a massive dragon head stared right at me—but I didn’t feel fear or surprise.

Instead—I got angry.

That same dragon-head Duke was the one who swallowed Reina in my dream.

The same one who interrupted me and Karl when we were about to kiss before.

“Hey. Dragon head.”

You’ve never helped me once, have you?

You’ve always just gotten in the way.

“Wait—are you complaining because I took the snow globe?”

“……”

“It’s not like I stole it! It was a gift! If you’ve got a problem, take it up with Karl—”

Wait…

“Is that why Karl got punished? Because he gave me your partner’s snow globe?”

“……”

“Fine! I’ll return it! Just cancel whatever you did!”

Punishment is for gods—not demons.

“Cancel it!”

Don’t hurt Karl!

I slammed my hand down onto the ice with that thought.

And then—

The dragon’s eyes narrowed into a smirk.

Hey… Did you just laugh at me?

“I’m being serious.”

If you put a curse on someone important to me—I won’t let it go.

Are you even listening?

Hey!

“……Lady!”

“I won’t forgi— Huh?”

The next moment, someone grabbed my shoulder.

I blinked my eyes open to see Beth, crying as she looked down at me.

I was unbelievably thirsty, dizzy, and weak.

Waking up to a strange ceiling… Wait, no—this is the Grand Duchess’s bedroom.

I stared blankly at the ceiling, then shifted my gaze.

“Lady! I thought you were going to die!”

Beth sobbed, holding on to me.

Over her shoulder, I saw Jeremy and some of the Grand Duchy soldiers standing at the door.

Jeremy.

Why are you the only one here?

Where’s Karl? Is Karl okay?

I wanted to ask—but my throat hurt too much, like I’d caught a cold.

As I frowned and met Jeremy’s eyes—

Something felt off.

Why is he looking at me like that?

His face was stiff—as tense as it was when we first met.

And now that I looked closer, the soldiers around him wore the same expression…

A bad feeling crawled up my spine.

“Grand Duchess… No, Lady Elaine.”

“……”

“Forgive me for asking, but…”

Jeremy hesitated, as if even he found this hard to say.

“Did the temple send you?”

“……”

“Not the Emperor—but the temple?”

A question I never expected dropped like a rock.

“Those ungrateful jerks!”

Beth, who was brushing my hair, clenched her fists and trembled with anger.

My hair was caught in her grip, so I gently patted her hand to calm her.

“Beth, if you keep this up, I’ll go bald.”

“How could they do this to you?!”

Hmm. Déjà vu.

This scene felt really familiar.

It reminded me of when I first arrived here.

Only now, the situation was a little different…

“Who do they think they are, spying on you?!”

“Mmm.”

“You’re technically the Grand Duchess, but this is basically imprisonment!”

Yeah. That’s what happened.

Unlike before—when they just ignored or avoided me—now they were keeping me locked up and closely watched.

Ever since that day, when I was ambushed during an interrogation with Karl…

“Not the Emperor… but did the temple send you?”

It took me a few seconds to understand that bizarre question.

Jeremy saw me using holy power too.

That’s why he suspected I might be from the temple.

And unfortunately, relations between the temple and the Grand Duchy had been at their worst lately—and I’d been hiding my divine power.

From Jeremy’s perspective—especially after his recent clash with the temple—it was a reasonable suspicion.

…Even if I had truly helped Saint Portu’s people with good intentions.

It stung a little, but I could understand it.

For a moment, I could even see the pain on Jeremy’s face, like he hated that he had to say it.

I shook my head at him, trying to answer his question.

No.

I really was sent by the Emperor. I’d left the temple of my own free will.

That’s what I wanted to say—but my body still hurt too much to speak.

(Only later did I learn that I was suffering from divine fever, a side effect of using too much holy power.)

I already had very little power, but I’d pushed myself to the limit to cleanse Karl’s poison.

I’d never overused it before, so I didn’t even know there could be side effects like this.

While I couldn’t speak from the pain, Jeremy looked conflicted… then made a declaration:

“Lady Elaine will not be involved in any Saint Portu matters for the time being.”

“What?! After everything our Lady has done—!”

“I also ask that you refrain from leaving the Grand Duchess’s room.”

“Y-You bastard!”

Beth was so furious that she’s treated Jeremy like a mortal enemy ever since.

So… my plan to make Jeremy her future husband? Yeah, that’s definitely gone now. But whatever, not important.

“This is so unfair.”

“Mmm.”

“I know exactly how hard you’ve worked since you came here.”

“From their side… it’s understandable, honestly.”

“My lady!”

It’s not like I didn’t feel disappointed too.

All the trust I’d worked so hard to build was basically gone in an instant.

I tried to save Karl, and it came back to bite me.

Yes, I did it for Karl.

And even though being locked up like this was frustrating…

What really bothered me was something else:

I don’t know how Karl’s doing.

I haven’t seen him since that day.

Sure, there had been times before when he disappeared for days, but this time felt different.

It’s one thing to know he’ll come back. It’s another to not even be sure if he can come back.

I’m going crazy with worry.

This was completely different.

Karl wasn’t poisoned by something trivial—it was monster venom.

And the temple, which already hated the Grand Duchy, wouldn’t be eager to heal one of their own.

They’d either make a huge deal of it, or ask for an outrageous price.

Unless Karl is someone really important—like Grand Duke level…

Wait—if he is that important, it could be even worse.

The temple might try to use this for serious political leverage.

If the temple’s demands are too much, the Grand Duchy might refuse to negotiate altogether.

Which means… Karl might not get any treatment.

But whenever I stopped one of the patrolling soldiers in the hallway to ask about Karl, the only answers I got were cold and stiff:

“We cannot share that information.”

“He took in a huge amount of monster poison. He can’t be okay. If there’s even a chance he’s suffering—I could heal—”

“There is a direct order: You are not to interfere with internal affairs of the Grand Duchy.”

And so the cycle continued—over and over, with no answers.

Now that I think about it, this is really pissing me off.

I didn’t even want that much.

I just wanted to know—is Karl okay?

I had been trying to calm Beth down, but I ended up getting mad instead.

I stared at the tightly shut door and muttered darkly:

“Should I break out?”

“Break out? Who would dare lock you in—wait. Yeah, those jerks really did lock you in.”

“……”

“If you’re doing it, I’m all for it. What do we start with? Picking the lock?”

“Hold on. Let me think this through first.”

I had been planning to wait until the Duchy made an official decision about my status—but who knew how long that would take?

At the very least, I need to know what’s going on.

Whether Karl’s safe… whether he got proper treatment…

The problem was—

I have no way out.

Even though the guards seemed loose—they were actually very thorough.

Creak.

Just then, the door opened.

One of the Duchy’s maids walked in with her head deeply bowed.

I raised an eyebrow.