IBWMD 95

~Chapter 95~

…What sort of blatantly direct question was that?

I felt as though I were being interrogated.

And yet, it was strange.

Perhaps it was the atmosphere of the dark, confessional-like room.

“Elaine.”

Or perhaps it was the way his hand, so gentle and reassuring, brushed against mine.

“That man was…”

Before I realized it, the words slipped from my lips.

To be honest, there was a touch of resignation in me.

Fine. I hadn’t truly intended to hide it anyway.

Now I was on the verge of becoming the wretch who would ask an ailing man for a divorce.

I’m sorry, Beth. Your Young Lady has grown into a reckless human being.

“That man was…”

I was about to surrender everything and utter Karl’s name when—

Bang!

The door burst open without warning.

The dim, sacred air that had felt like a confessional shattered in an instant.

“Your Grace! Forgive me, but—”

Jeremy’s eyes met mine as he rushed in.

Then he turned to the Grand Duke and recoiled, immediately averting his gaze.

“Wait—why are you completely undressed…?”

“…”

“…”

Hold on.

So you weren’t shirtless for medical reasons?

I cast a suspicious glance at the Grand Duke, who promptly looked away as though nothing was amiss.

Then he turned his masked head toward Jeremy, radiating an unmistakable aura of displeasure.

“So.”

“…”

“What on earth was so urgent that you barged in without permission, Jeremy?”

But Jeremy stood firm.

He had good reason.

“Your Grace, it’s the temple…”

Flinch.

My hand jerked involuntarily. The temple?

Could those wretches…?

Surely they hadn’t ignored my warning and reported the skewer-shop owner.

As I clenched my fists in anxiety, Jeremy spoke again, his face tight with unease.

“The central temple has announced it will dispatch the Holy Knights.”

“Head maid, what color should the drapes be?”

“How should we prepare the banquet? Do you think the temple will seize on any excuse to find fault…?”

Since that moment, the Grand Duke’s manor had been abuzz with disorder.

And naturally so.

It had been years since new Holy Knights were last sent here.

“They’re dispatching the Holy Knights?”

“That’s what they say.”

“To think they didn’t even send them when you first arrived, and now, suddenly?”

Beth, who had been dressing me in yet another gown, was clearly just as bewildered.

“I know.”

“Wait a second. Those bastards. Young Lady, you even encountered monsters when you first came here. If they were going to send Holy Knights, they should have done it then under the guise of escorting you…”

Beth’s confusion quickly transformed into anger.

I couldn’t blame her. I was just as unsettled.

Why now, of all times?

It wasn’t the height of winter, when the southern advance of monsters was at its worst, nor was it near the New Year’s festival.

As Beth had said, if they were going to dispatch knights, that would have been the perfect time.

And now, with the temple already under suspicion, this move hardly seems innocent.

The manor was in a state of emergency, and my mind was spinning.

No, there was something else plaguing my thoughts even more.

Your Grace.

Right after Jeremy had rushed into the Grand Duke’s chambers with the news of the dispatch—

“Since the subject came up, the locals I was working with… they discovered traces of the temple’s involvement at that secret location.”

“Traces of the temple?”

I hadn’t hesitated to speak of my suspicions about the temple.

Karl—who he was, what he meant to me—none of that was the immediate issue.

“The dragon’s remains have vanished. And not only that…”

I told him everything, even the parts I had intended to soften or delay.

They were clearly plotting something. It was all conjecture, yes, but…

I couldn’t worry about whether or not the Grand Duke believed me.

At the very least, he needed to know and prepare.

When I finished speaking in a torrent, the Grand Duke nodded.

Then he gave me a few answers in return.

“When the lake thaws, the remains dissolve with it.”

“Unless a mage with very specific skills intervenes, not even a fragment could be retrieved.”

But what truly unsettled me was not that explanation.

“And to add, the monster hunter who revealed that location to you is safe.”

The words struck like lightning.

I nearly stopped breathing.

I had never expected the Grand Duke to tell me that.

Still… I’m relieved he’s safe.

But then why hasn’t he appeared?

How could he leave me to worry like this?

He could at least send word that he’s alive and well.

When I see him, I’ll hit him for this.

And just as I thought my emotions couldn’t be more tangled…

“And.”

The Grand Duke’s next, utterly unexpected words delivered the final blow.

“No matter what your relationship with that monster hunter was, our marriage remains valid.”

“What?!”

He tightened his grip on my hand as he said it, startling a hiccup out of me.

No matter what my relationship was?

So he did know everything!

And yet he still claims our marriage stands?

Not even seizing this as an opportunity to rid himself of a bride sent from the capital?

I was utterly blindsided. And then…

“The Emperor’s marriage contract stipulates we must sign at the upcoming ceremony.”

“The ceremony?!”

“Yes. Our wedding.”

Wedding. Wedding. Wedding.

The word echoed in my head like a relentless drumbeat.

And then my mouth, completely beyond my control, blurted out—

“Your Grace, have you completely forgotten the letter you sent me?”

“Letter? Which…”

“I hate the Emperor.”

“…Ah.”

“I also hate the bride he sent me…”

You said it yourself!

“I retract that.”

“What sort of man contradicts himself? Is that even manly?”

“Would you like to check for yourself? I wouldn’t mind showing you, if it’s you.”

“…”

“Would you prefer the ceremony to be held in the capital, or in Saint Portus style?”

For the second time in my life—after Karl—I was left completely speechless.

I was so dazed by the conversation that I didn’t even resist when the physician came in and I was ushered out.

I never got the chance to bring up divorce or negotiation.

Since then, I’d been in a bit of a daze.

I no longer even know what’s happening anymore.

Usually, I was the eye of the storm.

It was my first time being so helplessly swept along, and I had no idea how to respond.

Whenever I let my guard down, Karl and the Grand Duke’s words would alternate in my mind like blows to the head.

If I can even call the Grand Duke’s words a proposal, that is.

But Karl proposed first.

And now I’m told he’s safe.

Does that mean I’m cheating on my very-much-alive fiancé—no, my boyfriend?

But I was technically married to the Grand Duke first.

So who exactly am I cheating on?

What kind of absurd soap opera is this?

At the same time, I couldn’t understand what had made the Grand Duke so fixated on me.

This was the man who had written that he hated me, only to completely change his attitude upon meeting me.

Surely he’s not going to claim he fell in love at first sight.

Or was it because I had tended to him while he was sick and even healed him?

The heroine in the original story was a saintly healer too.

Perhaps his type was the nurturing kind.

In that case, he should’ve just courted a medic.

I was so consumed by these thoughts that I couldn’t even properly dwell on the temple’s suspicious activities.

Beth, who was still busy draping fabrics over me, spoke in a troubled voice.

“You know… maybe the temple’s announcement is the reason your wedding was moved up.”

“Huh? You think the dispatch pushed it forward?”

“His Grace is still bedridden, after all.”

“…”

“If it comes to it, you might have to greet the Holy Knights as the Grand Duchess…”

“Gasp.”

That was entirely plausible!

This is all unbearably overwhelming.

There was only one thing I could hope for now.

Please, let it be someone I know who’s sent here.

I wasn’t asking for much. Just someone I could at least communicate with.

Anyone but that fanatical, bespectacled gorilla.

And ideally, someone not overly loyal to the temple, though that might be asking too much…

“Oh.”

Once again, it was Beth who broke through my tangled thoughts.

She froze, glancing out the window.

“What is that…?”

I followed her gaze and froze as well.

“Your Grace?”

From the Grand Duchess’s chambers, the windows overlooked both the garden and the training grounds.

And there, limping across the empty yard, was the Grand Duke.

He was clutching his head as if in pain, his posture so precarious it seemed he might collapse at any moment.

I couldn’t help but wonder if the man was secretly harboring the “tragic, terminally ill” archetype as well.