YED Chapter 71

Her vision was blurry. Everything was dark and hazy, and she wanted to see more clearly and vividly.

Kaela strained her eyes with effort. Her body felt limp and powerless, like a heavy, waterlogged cloth, but she still needed to see properly. As she kept her eyes open, the dark view gradually became clearer.

The familiar canopy of the Grand Duke’s four-poster bed, the drawn curtains, the light from the dimly lit fireplace, the scent of well-dried wood.

Kaela stared blankly at the scene before her, without thinking. At the end of that scene sat a man by the bed, staring intently at her.

‘Ah, again.’

He appears again. Kaela closed her eyes, which she had barely managed to keep open. She closed them, then opened them again.

The fireplace light cast shadows on his handsome face, while on the opposite side, the pale dawn light coming through the window fought for space with the fireplace light, occupying half of his face.

His clear purple eyes, without a hint of black, stared at her without blinking.

Even when she closed her eyes and opened them again, he was still there. The man who had left the biggest mark on her entire life sat there like an apparition.

“Kaela.”

He rarely called her name before, but now he does it so well. He called her by name, not title, affectionately and intimately.

“Can you hear my voice?”

His cautious voice was almost a whisper. Why was he being so careful? She was just Kaela. She wasn’t worth being treated so carefully. She was really nothing to that man.

“Can you see me? Do you recognize who I am?”

Why wouldn’t she know? Kaela was rather puzzled that he would ask such a question.

“Yes.”

Although she hadn’t answered, he seemed to know exactly what she had said.

“That’s good. I’m relieved.”

Peon nodded slightly. Whether in relief or self-affirmation, he nodded several times.

“That’s enough.”

What was enough? Kaela just looked at Peon, not understanding what he meant.

“I’m sorry.”

He apologized, unable to look at her.

“I’m really sorry, Kaela.”

What was he sorry for? She couldn’t understand, but even keeping her eyes open was too much of a struggle. Her eyelids were too heavy. Kaela fell back into sleep before she knew it.

When she opened her eyes again, she felt her eyelids were much lighter. But the man who had been by the bed was gone.

“It’s been 25 days. Nearly a month. Thank goodness.”

Instead, there was Darinka, and maids in tears upon seeing her awake.

This was still Lusenford. The third time. She hadn’t properly died. Why should she live a life without any hope? Or how should she live it? She didn’t have the strength for that.

“Many flowers have bloomed, Your Highness. There are many pretty flowers here too, and so many flowers I’ve never seen before.”

Marie, sniffling, promised to show her all those flowers. It was Marie’s way of asking her not to have any wrong thoughts.

“Don’t worry about anything, Your Highness. There’s nothing to be concerned about. Nothing at all.”

The bold-natured Denise spoke exaggeratedly, telling her what had happened in the meantime.

“The Grand Duke, he suddenly snapped, I tell you. I was so terrified I could barely stand, my legs were shaking so much.”

The butler was apparently dealt with in a ‘way too terrifying to speak of’ and sent away to die. Denise shuddered, saying she got goosebumps just thinking about it.

“The people here will probably curse, saying the loyal butler was dealt with because of the Grand Duchess.”

“Oh, Your Highness, please don’t say such things. How dare anyone curse you? They’re all cursing that dead man. Well, you see, the Grand Duke confiscated all his assets and emptied out the house he lived in. My goodness, I hear the money from that is enough to repair the Fueten fortress and then some!”

The Fueten fortress repairs weren’t the only thing. The news that they could even finish the ongoing kitchen renovations in the castle with the latest technology had already swept through the castle long ago.

No one paid attention anymore to the sinner who had emphasized frugality while urgently filling only his own belly. Rolf Anderson had literally become a shameful name.

“He was always nagging to save this and that for the military fund, save water, save candles, but goodness, they found five wax candles in his house. They even found a jewelry box.”

That was considered extremely wealthy in Lusenford. Denise shook her head while brushing Kaela’s hair and carefully applying fragrant oil to the ends.

“The Grand Duke is disposing of it all to use for the fortress repairs, and the knights are very happy about it. I honestly don’t understand why they’re so pleased. Sir Wilberk said it was a wise decision, that the fortress costs a lot, but I’m much happier that the kitchen renovations are cleanly finished. How do you like this fragrance? I tried something new.”

“…Why did you do that? You should have used what was already there.”

“The Grand Duke specifically instructed us. He said to replace all the items Your Highness uses with things even more expensive and better than the latest fashion in Crania. He says we don’t need to worry about finances at all now. That butler must have embezzled quite a bit.”

Lusenford has always been a poor place. Is Peon trying to make up for it financially because he feels sorry? There’s no need for that.

“So this time, I changed the fragrant oil. It’s not that expensive, Your Highness. It’s only about 200 dinars even if we order them all. Please try using it. This one too, ah, here’s another one. How is it?”

That was Denise’s way of asking, like Marie. It was also a hope that if Her Highness kept seeing new things, she might find them interesting and forget about bad thoughts.

Of course, everyone had their own way of caring, so not everyone was like that.

“You almost crossed the river of death, but the Grand Duke pulled you back.”

Darinka said gruffly as she threw the windows wide open. Slightly cool but rather warm air entered the bedroom, and the stale air went out.

“It’s a miracle.”

The Grand Duke didn’t hesitate to obtain medicine said to be in the realm of evil dragon and fed it to the Grand Duchess. Thanks to that, the Grand Duchess barely regained consciousness.

The Grand Duke silently nodded at the fact that there could be fatal side effects from the poison. After all, the fact that the Grand Duchess had opened her eyes was very important to him.

Fortunately, no side effects had been seen yet, but Darinka couldn’t forget the Grand Duke’s stoic face mixed with self-blame and pain as he heard those words.

“You’re speaking well now, so you should be able to take walks outside soon.”

Whether it was Darinka’s instruction or not, Kaela hardly had any time alone. She was always surrounded by maids, and the head maid, Lady Silenster, also came regularly to report on various castle matters and tell interesting stories.

But even when Kaela could barely get up from her bed and take a few steps, Peon didn’t come to visit.

****

The report on the attempted poisoning of the Grand Duchess of Lusenford, submitted by Sir Isidore Dakiten, was sent up to the Emperor. The Emperor snatched the report very irritably and read it meticulously, not missing a single word, his eyes wide open.

“Such insolence…!”

He didn’t forget to constantly express his anger while reading.

“A place that knows nothing of manners and laws! I should go there and strictly reestablish the law!”

“Your Majesty, please calm down.”

“Calm down? How dare they do this to my niece! How dare they ignore the words of a royal bloodline recognized by our late Emperor! What is Hyperion doing!”

The servants, knights, and doctor anxiously watched the Emperor, worried about his blood pressure rising or him collapsing while holding the back of his neck.

These days, the Emperor was noticeably aging and showing signs of weakness due to declining physical strength. At the same time, he hated to admit that he wasn’t as healthy as when he was young. This made him tend to overexert himself.

“Did they punish them properly?”

The target of the Emperor’s outpouring of anger kept changing.

The entire Lusenford was first denounced as a den of lawless bandits who knew no manners, then Peon was criticized as incompetent and uneducated for failing to properly teach and set an example for the ignorant, and later even Kaela was scolded for being frustrating in showing mercy and sparing the head maid’s life.

“You should set a proper example in such cases! You should kill them decisively, how frustrating. Being kind isn’t always the best policy.”

“They say they couldn’t taint the beginning of a marriage arranged by Your Majesty with blood.”

Isidore answered cautiously. At this, the Emperor grunted and calmed his anger. Did Kaela leave such an answer in the records knowing the Emperor would react this way?

“How can a man who can’t even protect his own wife hope to protect the borders…”

The Emperor was so agitated that Isidore Dakiten couldn’t even mention the dire situation in Lusenford. It was then that the Soleil Palace, where the Emperor was staying, became noisy.

“Why is it so loud again?”

The Emperor barked with a voice hoarse from all his shouting.

“We apologize, Your Majesty. Knights from Lusenford have arrived with a war report and items to present to Your Majesty.”

“War? Ah, yes. The barbarians invaded, didn’t they?”

It seems people from Lusenford have come to report on what happened afterwards.

“They’ve probably brought something useless again.”

“Well, Your Majesty, they’ve brought an enormous gold nugget. It’s so heavy that four knights had to carry it on their shoulders.”

Gold? The Emperor’s eyes lit up. Isidore was surprised too. What gold had they brought?

“Tell them to bring it in at once.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Usually, the Emperor made envoys from the Grand Duke of Lusenford wait for a very long time before meeting them, or didn’t grant an audience at all and had someone else receive the report.

But gold was a different story. As soon as the Emperor gave permission, disciplined Lusenford knights entered through the wide-open doors, carrying poles on their shoulders.

Between the two long poles was a large, thick board, and on top of it sat an enormous gold nugget, impressive even at first glance.

Seeing such a large pure gold nugget for the first time, Isidore’s jaw dropped, and the Emperor unconsciously leaned forward with wide eyes.

“Eternal sun illuminating the Empire, may you enjoy long life and good health!”

Isidore flinched at the knights’ disciplined greeting. Though they were all knights, the Lusenford knights had a spirit that could only be gained through real combat experience.

Perhaps this was why the Emperor was wary of Lusenford knights, especially those trained by Peon. After all, the Emperor had been living comfortably in the rear while Peon struggled to defend the borders.

“Oh, yes.”

The previously lethargic Emperor was now fixated on the gold.

“I heard there was a war. But you’ve come earlier than expected.”

The inflexible Lusenford knights didn’t answer the Emperor’s words without permission.

“Report. Did you take this from the barbarians?”

The Emperor gestured dismissively but couldn’t take his eyes off the gold nugget. It was as big as a three or four-year-old boy.

“No, that’s not the case. The united tribes of Bainland, Volga, and Delgard invaded, but we repelled them at Fort Fueten.”

“Then where did this come from?”

For the people of Lusenford, constantly suffering from foreign invasions, the Emperor’s attitude was truly disheartening.

It was crucial for the Emperor to pay attention to the overall report on the invaders, but the Emperor pushed all that onto the Grand Duke and was only interested in the gold nugget. It had always been like this.

“The Grand Duke said he feels very apologetic for depending on His Majesty the Emperor, who always looks after us kindly.”

But now was the time to say exactly what Peon had put in their mouths. They had to.

“He also said that Lusenford must strive to stand on its own feet, even a little, to repay Your Majesty. As the environment is too harsh for farming, while searching mountains and caves, we discovered a gold vein. The Grand Duke attributes all of this to Your Majesty’s virtue, and has sent the largest gold nugget from the discovery to present to Your Majesty.”

“Is that so?”

The Emperor’s mouth stretched to his ears as he repeated the question.

“You discovered a gold mine?”

“Yes. The Grand Duke said he hopes to reduce the precious taxes Your Majesty sends us, even if only a little, with this gold mine. As the fortress and castle conditions are poor, we’ve decided to use all the gold mined from this vein to repair the castle and prepare for invasions.”

“That’s very good news, but I’ve never begrudged the support sent to Lusenford. We should continue to support you. How difficult it must be in the cold north?”

The Emperor, completely enthralled by the gold nugget, tossed aside Isidore’s report that he had been holding until just moments ago.

“It seems Hyperion is managing things properly in his own way. Wouldn’t you agree, Isidore?”

“Yes, they were doing their best in Lusenford. I was worried because the fortress conditions were poor, but this is fortunate.”

“Is it that bad?”

“Yes. They’re still using weapons from decades ago. The castle walls are on the verge of collapse. It’s such a harsh place, I was very worried, as was the Princess of Ostein.”

The Emperor clicked his tongue, while the Lusenford knights stood rigidly, not reacting to the unexpected concern shown by the Emperor’s inspector.

“Well, you should use it for repairs. Now that he’s even married, he should take good care of his domain, shouldn’t he? Kaela will have a hard time. A husband should take care of his wife. How difficult it must be for a girl who lived in a warm place to now live in such a cold place.”

The Emperor, his heart suddenly full, rested his chin on his hand and gazed contentedly at the gold nugget.

“There hasn’t been anything to be happy about, but Hyperion has made me happy.”