Chapter 5

Then Die

Still, there’s a saying — a thief never goes around calling himself a thief.

Likewise, you should never trust someone who asks you to trust them.

Warning signals.

Bright, blaring red lights shook her mind.

“If I can’t trust the one who’s responsible for my health, then who can I trust?”

The sweet aroma of black tea clouded her thoughts.

There shouldn’t have been any alcohol in it, yet a strange, heady atmosphere seeped deep into her body through her nose.

Even if someone leaked this information outside, it wouldn’t necessarily warrant a full twenty-year sentence.

Surely, many servants in the mansion already knew several of the Grand Duke’s secrets.

And yet, the house functioned without any visible cracks.

Because dead men couldn’t be put on trial.

And the dead couldn’t speak.

“Trust, I believe, is a two-way street. And I want to trust you, Doctor.”

The air, once taut, loosened again.

Her neatly folded hands trembled slightly, and she clasped them tighter to hide it.

“I hope you can trust me too.”

The Grand Duke extended his hand.

He even removed his gloves, reaching out to a mere servant — his personal physician — to initiate a handshake first.

Riche knew it was rude, but she couldn’t bring herself to take his hand immediately.

She stared quietly at his right hand.

It was a hand covered with scars, so rough it seemed to belie his noble birth and high status.

Slowly, she placed her hand in his.

The calluses on his knuckles were rough and deeply embedded.

It was a hand far tougher and coarser than she had expected.

“…… Yes. I trust you.”

The man, with a kind voice but cold eyes, was urging her to drink something she ought not to.

Urging her to prove herself.

Stripping away all the layers and leaving only the core — forcing her to prove her worth.

The current pulling her along, led by the Grand Duke, was something she could not resist.

Riche grabbed the teacup.

Once too hot to touch, the cup had cooled to a lukewarm temperature.

The tea still smelled fragrant, but the moment she took a sip, only a flat, bitter taste lingered stubbornly on her tongue.

The feeling of the cooled tea sliding down her throat was far from pleasant.

The Grand Duke’s gaze never wavered.

From start to finish, he watched her.

Clink.

Just like the Grand Duke, Riche tried to set the teacup down without making a sound — but in the end, she failed.

As an odd silence lingered in the air, the Grand Duke lightly flicked the fingers of the hand resting on the armrest.

At his signal, a maid standing in the corner like a candelabrum approached.

“Bring what’s on the desk in the office.”

A short while later, the maid returned to the reception room with a few sheets of paper.

However, the Grand Duke barely glanced at them before placing them at the edge of the table.

“You’re quite young but already have a lot of experience.”

Only then did she realize that what he had asked for was her résumé.

Before he could fire another question, Riche straightened her back firmly.

“You started studying medicine at a young age?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

She was actually relieved that the topic had changed.

It was a subject she had rehearsed hundreds of times.

“In Suissein, even if you’re young, there are no particular restrictions on studies as long as you pass the exams.”

Riche Solion’s official birthplace, according to her documents: Suissein.

One of the few remaining neutral countries on the continent, neither siding with Sobek nor Atlantia.

Except for a slightly distinct accent, its common language wasn’t much different from that of either major power.

Of course, because of that slight accent, she had endured brutal training from Atlantia’s intelligence service.

Still, it seemed she had succeeded.

The fact that she was sitting here now proved it.

“You worked at the largest private hospital in Suissein and wrote a thesis on trauma and insomnia in the meantime.”

“Yes.”

In truth, she was far removed from anything like academic papers.

She was simply a former military doctor.

The only time she had clung to pen and book with real effort had been when she studied for her medical license.

After that, everything she learned was through facing fresh wounds and pain on the battlefield.

The battlefield was a place where all the beliefs and values she had accumulated in life were instantly shattered.

A desolate wasteland.

There, she had to rebuild everything from scratch.

It happened whether she willed it or not.

Those who refused to adapt had long since died.

And if not, they were soon to follow.

“In Sobek, it might sound unfamiliar, but in Suissein, there are active efforts to systematically study human psychology and mental health as a science.”

It wasn’t because Sobek’s scientific or technological standards were lacking.

Rather, the people of Sobek, who ruled the continent’s largest territory, simply tended to blame most issues on weak willpower or feeble spirits, leaving such studies underdeveloped.

Riche felt she understood now what the Grand Duke was truly interested in.

And, perhaps, how she might grow closer to him.

Suppressing her rising excitement, she looked at him again.

“By now, you must realize why I went out of my way to hire Doctor Solion among countless other physicians.”

A faint, curved smile tugged at the Grand Duke’s lips.

Riche sharpened her focus.

Her instincts screamed that the conversation was about to become very delicate and important.

“In truth, I suffer from severe insomnia. Even when I manage to fall asleep, nightmares keep me restless.”

To avoid showing any reaction, she gripped her teacup tightly.

He was a man in a position where he couldn’t even afford to fall sick freely.

It was both pitiful and — oddly enough — relatable.

Though not to the same degree, she too battled nightmares that came back whenever she let her guard down.

It was a pain only those who had experienced it firsthand could understand.

“Since when has this been happening?”

“Around a year ago, I suppose.”

“I’ve grown somewhat used to it. Developed my own coping methods.

But now that the Führer has found out about my condition, it’s caused a bit of a problem.”

The Grand Duke referred to the leader of the Republic casually, calling him ‘the Führer’ without hesitation.

But the real shock came next.

“Our great leader wishes to marry me off to a princess from the Principality of Felten.”

She almost spat out the tea she had been sipping.

The Principality of Felten.

A traditional ally of Atlantia — and one of the few remaining monarchies in this era.

For them to arrange a political marriage with Sobek, their former adversary…

Riche’s reaction must have been visible, but the Grand Duke seemed to interpret it differently.

“You’ve got that look — wondering why we still have political marriages in an age where cars roll down every street and missiles are launched into space.”

“People are often mistaken. The era where people marry purely for love hasn’t been around that long, you know.”

She didn’t know how to respond and felt troubled.

“It’s still just talk for now.”

Her head throbbed.

“If I go through with this marriage in my current state, it would only end in scandal — accused of fraud, a public disgrace.”

In the span of a single day, too much had happened.

An overwhelming flood of information poured down on her.

Even through the headache, the part of her mind honed by relentless training kept diligently storing away every scrap of information he gave.

It was almost terrifying.

“You seem alright.”

“…Pardon?”

If Riche were just an ordinary physician, she should have been thrilled at the Grand Duke’s high praise.

But she couldn’t be.

“When Kian first told me about you, I wasn’t entirely convinced. But seeing you myself — you’re better than I expected.”

“Thank you for thinking so highly of me.”

“Your eyes earlier — they were eyes that are too familiar with death.”

His blade-sharp gaze pierced straight through her blue eyes.

“You have the same eyes as me.”

He stabbed like a spear.

He dug like a spade, scooping into her depths, searching.

As if trying to expose her true self.

“When you grow too numb from seeing death over and over, you eventually lose the ability to recognize when your own death is coming.”

Maybe he was starting to doubt her.

A chill crawled up her spine, tightening around her throat.

Even the sound of swallowing felt like it would give her away.

She couldn’t discern his intent from his words alone, but instinct screamed.

This was dangerous.

The bud of unease swelled until it was about to burst.

“Be careful. Otherwise, you’ll die.”

The man offered a lethal warning in a gentle voice.

Just then, a cool breeze from beyond the terrace ruffled his black hair.

It was as if even the wind bent to his will.

For the first time, a strange light stirred in his eyes.

Those gray eyes, burned down to ash, caught the sunlight and shimmered with a faint violet hue.

Like a blue flame burning at its ignition point.

What was he trying to burn inside there?

Just meeting his gaze made her feel like she was being scorched.

Riche barely managed to swallow.

“…I will remember that.”

When the Grand Duke rose from the sofa, Riche stood up along with him.

It seemed that was the end of it.

But the man extended his hand again.

An unspoken pressure urged her to take it.

She gripped his rough, calloused hand once more.

And across the back of her hand, the Grand Duke pressed a brief kiss.

To be continued in the next chapter▶