Chapter 100
“It’s finally over…….”
My throat felt tightly clogged, and my voice wouldn’t properly come out of my mouth.
All the restrictions that had suppressed my freedom of action were gone. Now I could leave for anywhere I wanted, whenever I wished.
I couldn’t tell whether I should be happy about this fact, or sad.
So absorbed was I in the thought that the contract had ended that I failed to quickly notice the condition of Grand Duke Rupellen standing beside me.
Only after quite some time, when an odd feeling crept over me and I turned my head, did I see an extremely pale face.
“Grand Duke……? Are you feeling unwell?”
Beads of sweat dotted his forehead, and his complexion was so pale it looked almost like a blank sheet of paper.
When he forced a smile and opened his mouth, a severely hoarse voice spilled out.
“Gianna, congratulations on the end of the contract—”
Before he could finish his sentence, Grand Duke Rupellen slowly collapsed to the side.
I hurriedly stretched out my arms and caught his body.
“G-Grand Duke! Please wake up!”
A sharp scream, almost like a shriek, burst from my lips.
The Grand Duke himself had vaguely sensed for several days now that his condition wasn’t normal.
Sometimes his heart would race wildly on its own; other times, heat would surge through his entire body, only to be followed by violent chills as if cold water had been poured over him.
Grand Duke Rupellen believed all those symptoms were nothing more than the desperate struggle of his inner self, unwilling to let Gianna go.
Even when his body grew heavy like cotton soaked full of water, he thought that was only natural.
That is, until his vision gradually blurred and Gianna’s figure disappeared from his sight.
I wanted to be remembered with a smiling face.
That was why he tried so hard to smile and offer his congratulations properly.
But why was his vision suddenly blurring?
Why was Gianna, who had been standing perfectly fine, now lying sideways in his field of view?
He couldn’t understand any of it.
Suddenly, a deep sense of bitterness welled up from the depths of his heart.
Why are you smiling so brightly, as if you have the whole world?
Gianna had rejected the world the Grand Duke had promised to place directly into her hands, choosing instead the world she herself desired.
And in the world she chose, there seemed to be no place for Grand Duke Rupellen.
From the very beginning… did you never wish to stand by my side at all?
From the moment he first met Gianna until now, memories unfolded before his eyes like a single continuous film.
Her brightly smiling face as she caught an octopus and held it out to him.
Her confident figure as she stepped forward and attacked a dragon.
The way she laughed cheerfully while peeling shrimp shells for him, her face made even more beautiful by the reflection of the campfire.
Her dignity as she remained composed even before the Emperor.
And her wide, radiant smile as she cut into a birthday cake one day late.
Only then did the Grand Duke realize that he was collapsing.
Don’t go…….
He reached out his hand toward Gianna, who was smiling brightly in front of him.
But the moment his hand brushed against the hem of her clothes, she wiped that radiant smile clean from her face and took on a cold expression.
Then she turned away mercilessly.
Don’t go…….
The Grand Duke called out to Gianna once more.
But the response he received was cold and unyielding.
The contract is over, isn’t it?
In a panic, the Grand Duke dug into his pockets and poured out everything he had in front of Gianna.
Jewels, gold coins, and valuables spilled out in heaps, but Gianna rejected even those.
Why would I take this?
This is all… all I can give you…….
That’s enough. I’ve already received as much as I deserve.
W-Wait! I’ll give you more!
Suddenly, he felt as though he had returned to being a twelve-year-old child.
In his hands was a basket of apples, and the person standing before him looked strangely like the apple vendor from back then.
I believe one should always pay an appropriate price for what they receive.
The apple vendor standing before him placed the gold coins and jewels back into his hands and said:
There is no such thing as loyalty without compensation. And I have no desire to pledge loyalty to you.
As the apple vendor turned away and walked off, that departing figure overlapped with Gianna’s.
The world began to spin.
He tried to reach out and grab her, but his body wouldn’t move.
Even his mouth wouldn’t open, as if it had been sealed shut. It felt as though his body had turned into a stone statue.
Struggling desperately, forcing strength into his immobile body, the Grand Duke flailed helplessly—
and then lost consciousness once again.
The celebration for the completion of the Grand Duke’s residence descended into utter chaos when Grand Duke Rupellen collapsed unconscious.
His knights rushed over in a panic and carried him to the bedroom.
To enter a newly built grand residence—into a brand-new bedroom—like this for the first time…….
It was absurd, but at the moment, reviving the Grand Duke took precedence over everything else.
To make matters worse, Elliot was absent as well. That meant there was absolutely no one who could fill the Grand Duke’s role.
Naturally, that position fell to me—Gianna Hertin.
At my command, the knights brought in renowned physicians, pharmacists, and herbalists from all over. But not a single one of them could determine the cause of the Grand Duke’s condition.
“Should we summon a healing mage?” Chef Norman asked me, his face full of concern.
Among the staff of the Grand Duke’s residence, he was the most trustworthy person.
With the Grand Duke unconscious, he was also one of the few elders of the household whose opinion I could rely on.
“Would there even be a healing mage who isn’t affiliated with the Magic Academy?”
“Probably not. Healing magic itself is extremely rare.”
“……Then let’s not call a mage.”
With the head of the Magic Academy being extremely suspicious, summoning an academy-affiliated mage would have been tantamount to suicide.
Instead, I chose to contact Arines through the communication crystal.
“……Why won’t you pick up? This is urgent.”
After several attempts, Arines finally answered.
—……What is it? We’re busy.
His hair was completely disheveled, his clothes rumpled.
And judging by the background, he seemed to be in the Mage Tower rather than the royal palace.
It irritated me somewhat… but it was actually a relief. Right now, what I needed wasn’t Arines—it was the Master of the Mage Tower.
“Arines. Is the Mage Tower Master with you?”
—He is, but… hmm. Just a moment.
After some rustling noises and a brief adjustment of the screen, the Mage Tower Master appeared beyond the crystal.
—Lady Gianna. I was told you were looking for me.
“I know you’re extremely busy with your romantic ventures, but please hear my request. Something has happened that only you can handle, Tower Master.”
Seeing the urgency on my face, Rio’s expression stiffened slightly.
—What exactly has happened……?
“The Grand Duke collapsed unconscious. No one has been able to determine the cause.”
After taking a brief breath, I continued.
“If my suspicion is correct… I believe he’s been afflicted by black magic.”
—Black magic?
As expected, anger immediately flared across his face.
—Show me.
I angled the crystal so that the Grand Duke’s face was clearly visible and briefly explained the circumstances surrounding his collapse.
After a moment, the Mage Tower Master responded in a voice tinged with coldness.
—If he remains unconscious for an extended period in this condition, the likelihood of black magic is quite high. Black magic absorbs the target’s life force, so it appears the Grand Duke has had a significant amount of his vitality drained.
“Ha… I told him so many times to be careful…….”
Pressing a throbbing temple, I shook my head.
For several days now, I had seen Grand Duke Rupellen absentmindedly fiddling with Karun’s ring and Arnolf’s ring in turn.
I’d already been worried because he had been overusing the contract quill—but now my fears had come true.
His body had already reached its limit, and it must have been damaged from failing to withstand the power of the rings. And on top of that, the shock of our contract ending must have dealt him an even heavier blow.
The sharp, stinging sensation I’d felt at the moment the contract ended came vividly back to me.
Had the Grand Duke’s body been so broken that even that level of shock was too much to bear?
Moreover, he had barely slept for quite some time under the pretense of fending off assassins. No matter how much of a Sword Master he was, there was no way he could endure that.
“Isn’t there any way?”
I asked again, my voice filled with desperation.
