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Chapter 49
“Anyway, if I die, I’ll go to hell. I’ll be living in the heat forever, so I want to truly enjoy the coolness while I’m still alive.”
What kind of nonsense is this? Davit was exasperated. Whether she went to heaven or hell, why was she deciding that herself?
She didn’t even know yet. She had never seen heaven or hell.
“Don’t talk nonsense. I’ll go down with you. If you don’t move, I’ll stay right here too.”
Davit grabbed her wrist firmly. The Grand Duchess’s face twisted slightly. Was she in pain? Davit loosened his grip slightly.
She smiled weakly and dropped her head.
The rain had become heavier, pounding mercilessly on her entire body.
Davit looked at her blankly. Unlike himself, fully dressed in a jacket, the Grand Duchess looked so defenseless in her thin clothes.
Her lips moved slightly. It seemed she wanted to say something. Davit leaned in, careful not to miss her words over the sound of the rain.
“…Did you see how the children at the manor ran straight to the annex as soon as it started raining?”
“Yes.”
“From about five or six years old to seventeen. They’re very cute. You like children too, don’t you? I’ve seen you watching them happily during walks.”
Couldn’t we have this conversation inside?
Davit wanted to take her wrist immediately and lead her inside. He bit his lip to restrain himself. He didn’t want to force her.
“Yes, I do.”
“Until the middle of the war, I didn’t think much at all. The war broke out, and my family’s income was thriving. I even thought it was a good opportunity.”
“…Is that so?”
“I heard rumors about distributing the occupied Dvorka territories to the royals and nobles, so I got involved in politics. I wanted a piece of land in the colonies, considering how much money I had contributed to the war.”
“So the land you got is Blansk?”
“Actually, I wanted the neighboring city of Lodis, but that went to Iason, the Crown Prince’s son. Blansk was what I ended up with.”
“…I see.”
Davit listened carefully to her words, hoping to find the source of this madness in her seemingly disjointed story.
“Anyway, I thought of the war only as a way to make money. Kill enemy soldiers, take land—just a simple game of conquest. I was truly a naïve young lady from a ducal family who knew nothing.”
“If you don’t know much, that’s understandable…”
In fact, Davit also didn’t know much about war. He had never been on a battlefield.
But he did understand how treacherous a journey of escape could be, having fled to Padon Island holding his younger sister’s hand to avoid the horrors of war.
“After taking office here, I walked around the village. On a hill, there was a place called the Tent Village. I had never seen anything like it. People living in tents made of rags. How could someone live like that?”
“…?”
“I saw children in the tent village. Their bodies were like sticks, their stomachs bloated, wearing clothes made from flour sacks with just armholes cut out. On rainy days, they drank the water that collected in the tents just to fill their hungry stomachs.”
“…I see.”
Davit’s mind pictured the tragic scene. Children struggling desperately to survive amidst the scars of war. He closed his eyes tightly.
The Grand Duchess continued with a bitter smile.
“It wasn’t just enemy soldiers who were defeated in the war. The ones who suffered most horribly were children about my age. Embarrassingly, I knew nothing. None of the military strategy books or history texts I read contained anything about this.”
Her voice was calm, without pitch or emotion. Yet her eyes were red beneath.
Davit adjusted his grip on her wrist. Did she always stand in the rain with guilt like this, thinking these thoughts?
“I realized after a long time that I’m actually living a second life.”
“A second life?”
“About ten years ago, I nearly died. I survived purely thanks to someone’s kindness.”
“…Who saved you?”
“I owe my life to a Dvorka girl. She must have been about five or six. She took me home after I was injured while hunting and cared for me sincerely. Thanks to her, my life was extended, while my family was selling bombs that sent children that young to their deaths.”
“…Did you ever meet her again?”
“As soon as I thought of her, I rode out alone to find her. But her home was gone, completely burned down.”
The Grand Duchess lowered her gaze.
Her lips had turned blue, trembling slightly. The healthy color of her face faded, and the sparkle in her eyes dulled.
Davit knew he couldn’t let it go. He bent down, placing his arms behind her back and under her legs.
“Are you going to carry me again?”
“Yes.”
Davit lifted her effortlessly.
Her breath caught as her body was lifted.
“I can’t win against your strength anyway. I’ll stay like this.”
This time, she didn’t resist—just sighed deeply.
They descended the stairs to her bedroom. Four attendants were waiting.
They too seemed wary of the thunder and stormy weather, looking uneasy.
“Prepare the bathwater.”
Davit commanded the maids.
“Yes…!”
He carried the Grand Duchess into the room, seated her on the sofa, and placed firewood in the fireplace. He poured oil from a nearby shelf and lit it with a match.
Returning to the sofa, he observed her. Her body still trembled. He couldn’t leave her wet clothes unattended while preparing the bath.
“You pretended to be healthy, and this is how it looks?”
“I’ll be fine by tomorrow.”
“You need to be fine today.”
Davit pulled the lever with a dismissive air.
A maid entered.
“Help her change. Wipe off the moisture and put on warm clothes.”
The maid hurried to fetch a towel.
The Grand Duchess frowned at Davit, displeased with his actions.
“Why are you doing this? The servants know I act like this whenever it rains.”
“If you knew, you should’ve stopped it. Telling them to leave it be doesn’t mean they should just stand by.”
Davit replied tersely without realizing it.
The maid returned with the towel. While she helped the Grand Duchess change, Davit waited outside.
The maid who fetched the bathwater came back.
“The bathwater is ready for both of you. Please come together.”
“…Both of us?”
Davit was momentarily confused. Who else was bathing besides the Grand Duchess?
Davit entered the bedroom again.
Since she wasn’t well, he planned to carry her to the bath.
The maid informed them that bathwater was ready for both.
“Let’s do it together,” the Grand Duchess suggested weakly.
“…What?”
Davit’s Adam’s apple moved up and down.
“We can do it in our robes. You got soaked in the rain, so let’s wash together in warm water.”
Only then did Davit realize that not just his jacket but even the shirt underneath was soaked.
He might also have been trembling slightly from the cold.
Male attendants came in and removed his jacket.
The Grand Duchess was helped to the bath first.
Wearing his robe, Davit entered the bath alone, bewildered at how things had come to this.
The Grand Duchess was sitting in the large tub.
Davit approached calmly and sat opposite her.
As his large frame entered, water overflowed.
His tense muscles relaxed in the warm water.
He looked at her; she was staring at him with clear, sharp eyes.
Was it the heat? His skin felt like it was warming from the neck down.
“You covered everything, but you’re still so embarrassed.”
“…Don’t tease me.”
Davit averted his gaze slightly.
She probably still thought of him as childish.
He took a small breath and looked back at her, just to check if her complexion had improved.
Fortunately, a faint blush returned to her cheeks. Her full lips had a slight tinge of red.
She smiled awkwardly at him.
“I act so melodramatic on rainy days. It’s really strange, isn’t it?”
“You know it’s strange.”
“I admit I’m crazy. Sitting on the rooftop railing to enjoy the rain. Lifting my head proudly under thunder and lightning. Shivering like a drowned rat, changing clothes, curling up in bed to endure the chill…”
“….”
Davit rested his face on one arm, listening to her.
“Ha ha, I felt like I was going to die. You realize how easily a person can die. But the next day, I’d be fine as if nothing happened. Maybe because I grew up eating well and never knowing hardships.”
“You shouldn’t do such crazy things if you know they’re dangerous.”
Even though his words sounded cold, she didn’t react strongly.
“…The child who saved me must be dead. Their house burned down. There’s no way to find them.”
She wiped the smile from her face.
Davit didn’t want to take away her faint hope.
“They might have escaped safely. Did you ask their name?”
“They didn’t tell me. I asked their parents, but they wouldn’t say. I don’t know why.”
“…I see.”
“At that time, I couldn’t speak Dvorkan. They might have distrusted me as a foreigner. Still, they treated my injuries with care. My bones weren’t broken, so I recovered quickly.”
“You’ll have a chance to repay them someday.”
“Strangely, when I see you, I think of that child.”
The Grand Duchess stared intently into Davit’s eyes. He looked away, afraid that maintaining eye contact might reveal his stirred emotions.
“Is that so?”
“Yes. That’s why I feel like I need to live even harder.”
“You already work day and night. How much harder do you need to work here?”
Davit was genuinely puzzled.
The Grand Duchess worked as if two people weren’t enough. She was Blansk’s administrative head, agriculture supervisor, construction supervisor, and trade supervisor.
She didn’t just receive reports from officials—she personally inspected important matters.
Fields, orchards, forges, workshops, quarries, schools, orphanages, construction sites big and small—she left nothing untouched.
“…I can’t bring back those who died in the war.”
She scooped water with her hands, letting it trickle between her fingers.
Finally, when her hands were empty, she sighed and submerged them again.
“Yes. Even the archangel Michael couldn’t do that.”
Davit replied rationally.
“Right. So I vowed that the second life I got thanks to the Dvorka girl would be used to restore what the Dvorka people had lost.”
“….”
“Because I survived thanks to the girl’s pure kindness, I want to make the surviving people want to live more… Ah!”
She pressed her left side and groaned.
Davit wondered if her ribs were injured when he held her on the rooftop railing. He leaned toward her immediately.
“Why?”
“Oh, every time it rains, the scar acts up a bit.”
“I heard it wasn’t deep… If it keeps hurting, doesn’t that mean it is?”
“No. It really isn’t deep.”
“I think I need to see it myself.”
Davit thought she was pretending to be strong. She didn’t need to do that in front of someone like him.
“Hmm, do you want me to show you the scar?”
The Grand Duchess narrowed her eyes.
“…Can I really see it?”
“Do you even know where my scar is?”
“On your left side.”
“I can show it if I take off my robe, but you won’t see just the scar. Are you sure you want to?”
