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Chapter 31
The More I Think About It, the More Stunned I Am
Was Ricardo’s unbelievable story really just nonsense? No, I can’t agree with that. Even Frida, who didn’t go through it herself, feels her anger rising just thinking about it. Just recalling it is enough to make her tremble with rage. She can’t even imagine how much worse the shock must have been for the boy Daniel.
“Laura… Oh! You know, right? The Lord’s mother was the daughter of our mercenary captain, Massimo.”
“Yes. She was your first love, right, Ricardo?”
“Haha, yes. That’s right. It’s a little embarrassing.”
Daniel’s mother, Laura, had known from the beginning why the Duchess (the Crown Princess) was being strangely kind to Daniel.
“What kind of people are the Weitzen family? Tricking a child is nothing to them—it’s as easy as breathing.”
The previous Duke, Bruno Richard, was unlike his ambitious wife Marguerite. He suffered all his life from her ambitions and never had a single peaceful day, even on his deathbed.
“Noblemen care about etiquette and tradition, but ignore their own households. Even when the Duchess was sweet-talking and fooling little Daniel, the Duke said nothing. So Laura had to protect Daniel all by herself.”
When Daniel turned ten, Laura sent him away to her father Massimo’s mercenary band.
“Laura couldn’t take it anymore. She heard the Duchess brainwashing Daniel every day—saying if a bastard wants to be recognized as part of the family, he must be ready to die for Leopold, who would be the next Duke. What a cruel woman.”
Marguerite planned to make Daniel a knight and use him as a shield for her own son, Leopold. She wanted Daniel at the front of a future war for the throne.
Laura realized Daniel would never survive that way, so she forced her crying, unwilling son out of the castle. As a child, Daniel hated his mother for it and missed the ducal estate desperately. He wandered the empire with the mercenaries for three years. Then, when the Duke fell ill, Daniel visited and everything changed. That winter, it all started when Daniel gave medicine to the sick Leopold.
“Lots of people join mercenary bands—many are rough and vulgar. Someone must have told Daniel that echinacea helps with fever and coughs.”
It was the cough medicine that finally revealed the true face of the Duchess. When Marguerite found out that Daniel had given Leopold echinacea, she exploded with anger. Ricardo still wiped his brow just thinking about it.
“It was chaos—like nothing you could imagine.”
“Why? It was just cough medicine.”
Ricardo picked up a stone and threw it away, lost in thought before continuing.
“Not many people know this, but echinacea does more than treat coughs.”
“What else does it do?”
“Later, I found out… The women who followed the mercenary band said it causes infertility if you drink it regularly.”
“Oh my god.”
When Marguerite learned her son, the future Duke, had drunk a possible infertility potion, she went wild. She was sure Daniel did it on purpose and screamed that she’d kill him. The only one who could stop her was the bedridden Duke, who was useless at that point.
“Laura begged for forgiveness, saying her son didn’t know any better, but Marguerite had no intention of forgiving. She even built a scaffold to hang Daniel.”
But the one who died on that scaffold was Laura, not Daniel.
“To save her son, Laura had no choice but to give up her own life.”
Ricardo went silent, looking so sad that Frida couldn’t ask more. She was curious about what happened after, but decided not to speak. She already knew some of the story, as did most people in the empire. The Duke died after a long illness. The year he died, the Richard and Weitzen families joined forces in a rebellion for the throne, led by the genius swordsman Daniel Richard—just nineteen at the time.
‘So, in the end, the Crown Princess’s plan worked.’
Frida couldn’t bring herself to ask Ricardo how it came to that. As she got up, Ricardo hesitated, then finally spoke.
“Later, the Lord confessed. He knew what echinacea was. He gave it out of jealousy. He wanted to live in the castle too, but couldn’t. He thought maybe, if Leopold couldn’t have children, someone would come for him instead…”
Ricardo’s voice was moist with emotion.
“He blames himself for his mother’s death, even now. But he was only thirteen. He didn’t really know what he was doing.”
Frida nodded silently, agreeing with him. As her thoughts faded, the golden flame of an oil lamp flickered on the floor. Daniel, now a grown man of twenty-eight, stood close, his blood-red eyes shining in the firelight. The light from the dying lamp briefly lit the darkness around them. Frida, stunned by Daniel’s imposing figure, reached for something to steady herself. The cold wall behind her was surprisingly comforting.
Before she could recover, Daniel lowered his shoulders and reached over her head, trapping her.
“It must have been Ricardo. Dominic isn’t that foolish.”
His voice was colder than the wall at Frida’s back. Instinct told her that if she admitted it, it would be the end for Ricardo.
Frida shook her head fiercely.
“N-no, absolutely not. I just overheard it. I heard it from some people passing by… I didn’t see their faces, only their voices…”
She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head so hard she felt dizzy and her legs gave out. She grabbed Daniel’s jacket to keep from falling.
“Ah!”
Daniel, strong as a tree, didn’t move at all. As Frida’s head bumped into his chest, he caught her shoulders.
“It’s better if you keep your eyes closed.”
“Huh? Oh!”
He lifted Frida up and strode quickly down the corridor. She opened her eyes in surprise but shut them again as she faced total darkness. The sound of the oil lamp rolling away echoed behind them. Frida gripped Daniel’s clothes tightly.
“D-duke…”
“If you want to get out of here quickly, keep your mouth shut and stay still.”
He seemed furious, but Frida felt sure he wouldn’t abandon her in the dark. Relieved, she pressed her forehead to his chest. Despite his cold voice, his embrace was warm, and the darkness didn’t feel so frightening. But Daniel walked so fast that Frida felt dizzy and queasy, as if flying through the air. She curled up tighter in his arms.
Soon she heard a door open. They had arrived much faster than last time. As the sunlight touched her eyelids, Frida quickly covered her eyes. She heard the door slam shut, and Daniel set her down.
She slowly lowered her hands and saw her husband, standing with his back to the spring sunshine.
“Thank you, Your Grace. And…”
His eyes were still red.
“About what I said earlier…”
“I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”
Daniel’s voice was hard and dry. He was already turning away.
“You know the way to Marian Hall. Please don’t be late. I’m leaving now.”
“But, Your Grace!”
What, was he just going to leave her to go back alone? Frida rushed to block his path, holding her skirt tightly. She didn’t care if his eyes were red—how could she find her way alone through that dark tunnel with no lamp?
She’d forgotten Ricardo’s warning:
“If you see the Lord’s eyes turning red, just shut your mouth and run.”
Especially the “shut your mouth” part.
“How am I supposed to get back through the tunnel alone, with no lamp?”
“If you want, you can. But I was telling you to take the bright, wide road. The path is over there.”
Daniel pointed to the forest path—Frida knew that path too.
‘If I could have used that way, why would I have needed your help through the dark tunnel?’
Frida crossed her arms and looked up at Daniel, imitating his usual confident pose.
“You know I didn’t ask for your help because I didn’t know the way…”
“I’ll tell Sir Rosibalt myself.”
Daniel’s voice was even colder now.
“Inside Muenheim Castle, only I, the lord, have the right to restrict your actions. If anyone else tries to keep you locked in, I’ll punish them.”
“You don’t have to go that far…”
“And I warn you too.”
His eyes were a burning red, but Frida could see a strange sadness there. She stepped back in shock.
“Never repeat what Ricardo told you to anyone else. Especially not to Sir Rosibalt.”
A bright, blood-red light filled Daniel’s eyes.
“If you don’t want to see someone you love die mysteriously, remember that.”
Daniel bowed politely but frighteningly.
“Take care, and finish your work.”
Frida couldn’t bear to look back as her husband walked coldly past her. Only then did Ricardo’s warning hit her like a bolt of lightning:
“If you hesitate and look him in the eye when they’re fully red… you’ll experience hell itself.”
