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Chapter 60
As soon as the sun rose, Davit went to the Grand Duchess’s bedroom.
However, he was stopped at the door. Katarina, standing guard before the closed door, glared at him with sharp, piercing eyes.
“You may not enter.”
“Has she fallen ill?”
“She is very tired. Let her rest without disturbance. She has spent the past three days nursing Your Highness.”
Katarina’s response came with a cold, pointed hostility that cut through the words like an ice spike.
Davit sighed bitterly. It was understandable that the maid’s attitude had changed.
Three days ago, Kiril had informed the Grand Duchess overnight of Davit’s previous misdeeds.
All of this was his fault—his thoughtless troublemaking.
The Grand Duchess had personally ridden to the Yorka royal palace to persuade the crown prince and save him.
Since then, she had diligently cared for him day and night for three days in his bedroom.
Though unintentionally, he had clearly caused harm to the Grand Duchess and was now indebted to her.
Davit swallowed a sigh, feeling ashamed. Seeing that Katarina was uneasy, he remained still, though she even cleared her throat to signal her discomfort.
“Your Highness, if you have business, I will convey it after Lady Alisa coughs.”
“I came to apologize.”
“…….”
“Don’t relay it. I’ll come again to apologize once the Grand Duchess wakes.”
“Understood. Please proceed.”
Perhaps because of his words about apologizing, Katarina’s once stern expression softened slightly.
As he turned to leave, Davit paused. An unresolved question flickered through his mind.
“Sir Katarina, I heard you went to Yorka to fetch me with the Grand Duchess.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“There was a Dvorcan girl being assaulted by garrison soldiers. She seemed like a runaway slave. Do you know what became of her?”
“Lady Alisa sent someone to pay her master, and she arranged a maid’s position for her in a distant town.”
“……I see.”
All the cleanup had been handled by the Grand Duchess.
Though relieved about the girl, his heart felt heavier.
He was the ruler of Dvorca. Whatever happened, the responsibility was his. Yet the resolution fell to the Grand Duchess.
Davit sighed. How could a man who could not even protect a single family member or a persecuted citizen shoulder the fate of Dvorca?
Did he truly have the right to be its ruler?
The woman who had captured him day by day had only left him indebted, without him giving anything in return.
It felt as though he were standing barefoot on countless needles.
Then, click—the sound of the door opening startled him. Davit looked toward the door.
The Grand Duchess emerged in a negligée, swaying slightly. Davit rushed to support her by grabbing her wrist.
“Thwack.”
She coldly pushed his hand away. Davit was momentarily embarrassed but quickly accepted it—such a reaction was natural. His foolish actions had put his wife in a difficult position.
“Lady Alisa, why are you out? Go back and rest.”
Katarina also tried to support her, but the Grand Duchess merely gestured for her to step back.
“I heard the voice of my husband.”
Her silver-gray eyes, tinged with fatigue, gazed at Davit. He lowered his head like a prisoner awaiting judgment.
“I truly… apol—”
The apology was immediately cut off.
“I don’t want to see your face for the time being.”
“……What?”
Startled by this thunderous statement, Davit raised his head. His heart sank, and his eyes trembled.
“If someone doesn’t trust me, I have nothing to say to them. So don’t come looking for me.”
She spun on her heel, reopened the door, and returned to her bedroom.
Davit stood dumbfounded, staring at the closed door. Only the cold air lingered where she had disappeared.
“Your Highness, if you require justification for the expenditure, dismiss this loyal servant. You are my only lord.”
Sir Kiril pounded his chest with his fist and bent one knee.
Though he had initially been reluctant when Davit requested his help, Kiril changed his stance once he received confirmation that the woman brought from Fadon Island was not a lover.
Recalling Kiril’s resolute expression, Davit knocked on the door of Treasurer Moreno’s office.
When he stated his name, the door swung open, and Moreno himself appeared, as strict as ever.
“What brings you here, Your Highness?”
The surprise of the master receiving a direct visit was evident beneath his usual stern expression.
“I need to discuss something related to my personal budget.”
“……Please come in.”
They sat across from each other at the desk.
Before the servant could bring tea, Davit began.
“I intend to use 200,000 Reble.”
According to what Kiril had learned early that morning, this was the price for a house in the safest part of the Blansk midwest district.
Davit calmly explained his reasoning. He wanted to provide a residence for Sir Kiril, his only loyal retainer brought from Fadon Island. Being of marriageable age, Kiril would need a home for the future spouse he would eventually marry.
Moreno, twirling his thin mustache, listened silently before twisting his lips into a smile.
Davit’s face hardened at the clear ridicule.
“Sir, do you not take me seriously?”
“Your Highness, as a retainer of the Lasantia Ducal House, may this humble old man offer a word?”
Though he humbly lowered himself with words and erased any trace of a smile from his face, Moreno’s tone was full of disdain.
Davit held back. He had to. To prevent his underage sister from being sold to Count Bogdan by the Queen, he had no choice.
“Speak plainly if you have something to say to me.”
“Are you aware of the obligations that come with marriage?”
“Are you asking because you think I don’t know?”
“Yes. From my observation, it seems you do not.”
“…….”
“All the servants in this castle know. Since arriving in Blansk, you have never once shared a room with Lady Alisa.”
“Why do you pry into the private matters of a married couple?”
Davit demanded, his voice authoritative.
The part that stung he hid. As Moreno said, Davit had not held the Grand Duchess for even a single day.
At first, he had been reluctant to hold a woman.
But as he grew closer to her, his feelings gradually changed. In recent days, he had even wandered the night like a pubescent boy, driven by curiosity.
He wanted to understand the Grand Duchess more, to know her deepest, most private self.
Perhaps it was after learning that she visited the cemetery every night to place chrysanthemums. Or maybe when he found out she had been injured by vengeful Dvorcans wielding knives.
Her speech was playful and kind despite its casual tone. She carried herself confidently without arrogance, showing kindness to those below her.
Even her own mother had abandoned her, yet she had nurtured her homeland, Blansk, into a respectable city, enduring the scorn of its citizens with composure.
Her grandeur was reserved for the wedding day.
She was a simple woman, genuinely delighted even by a humble ribbon gift.
It was only recently that Davit realized beneath her seemingly tough exterior was a tender, vulnerable core.
Under a dark, stormy sky, she had wavered like a small boat in a tempest.
Soaked by rain, she spoke of wanting divine punishment. Even submerged in a hot bath, she confessed her past with remorse.
Listening to her softly recounted story through the mist, Davit was filled with an inexplicable thrill. To truly know someone was an overwhelming experience.
Seeing her wet, his thirst inevitably grew.
Her once-overlooked crimson lips, slender figure, and smooth skin now magnetically drew his gaze.
It had been that day. Each time he met the Grand Duchess’s eyes, an uncontrollable dizziness overcame him, like looking down from a towering cliff.
He felt he might one day fall into an endlessly deep mire, unable to escape.
She was dangerously captivating.
This time, he had deeply disappointed her. There were urgent circumstances, but the consequences of his foolish actions could not be avoided.
Blushing with shame, Davit could not help but redden.
Treasurer Moreno, noticing his flushed face, smiled coldly once more.
“If Your Highness is embarrassed, let us address another matter first.”
“…….”
“Do you know how much the horse you rode to Yorka a few days ago cost?”
He recalled the horse dying, coughing up blood. Feeling pity, he bit his lips, unable to count the cost aloud.
Moreno continued his relentless questioning.
“When you add in the treatment costs for the soldiers and governor’s knights you subdued, it easily exceeds 100,000 Reble. Ah, of course, you would not need to know the amount. Our lady herself covered all expenses.”
‘Our lady’ referred to the Grand Duchess.
The title carried a deep affection. Given his age, Moreno had likely been a retainer long before the Grand Duchess’s birth, so addressing her as “lady” came naturally.
Then Moreno unexpectedly brought up another topic.
“Your Highness, have you never wondered why Fadon Island has remained intact until now?”
“……Because Levantea’s invasion war ended on the mainland?”
The last mainland territory of Dvorca was the northwestern port city of Vedef.
Levantea had occupied Vedef, then remained quiet for some time. Rumors spread that after regrouping, they would invade Fadon Island. Yet, the entire island soon enjoyed a peace treaty.
Freed from the threat of invasion, the islanders sighed in relief.
“Your Highness, have you considered why our Levantea ended the war on the mainland?”
“……Was it not due to a shortage of supplies at the end of the war?”
“Not entirely incorrect. That issue was significant, as we are a landlocked nation with comparatively weak naval power. However, there was an even more decisive reason.”
“What reason?”
“The Privy Council voted on whether to invade Fadon Island, and it was a tie. Then our lady personally visited His Majesty the King to persuade him.”
