Chapter 70
“Your Majesty!”
“Just shut that mouth, Baron.”
Matteo snapped irritably, gripping Eliana’s neck.
Until he had entered the room, Matteo had been smiling with a sense of satisfying anticipation.
But now his face was twisted like a demon’s.
“Ugh…huff.”
Gasping for air, Eliana struggled, kicking relentlessly, exposing her pale thighs, until she finally landed a kick to Matteo’s side.
“Argh!”
Matteo grasped his pierced side and let out a low scream.
The sudden commotion lit up the secluded palace room. The palace, shrouded in darkness, seemed to wake abruptly to the screams.
“Your Majesty, you must get out of here.”
If it were discovered that the Emperor had sneaked into the Duchess’s room without the Grand Duke being present, it would be far from a simple incident.
Once the noble faction learned of it, not only would it bring humiliation, but the delicate balance of power between the noble faction and the Emperor’s faction would instantly tip.
Only then did Matteo realize what he had done in succumbing to a momentary desire.
“If you don’t want your husband to die, shut up.”
“Ugh…”
Eliana, screaming and looking for a way to escape, grabbed the terrace window and glared at Matteo.
“There’s nothing strange about it. Every man who married a femme fatale ended up dead, so no one would find it odd if Grand Duke Kryber died.”
“That’s absurd.”
“If Gredy dies, it’ll be because of the femme fatale’s curse. The gamblers who bet on this will go wild.”
Eliana’s complexion turned pale at Gredy’s words.
Matteo, far from appearing as someone who tried to assault her, calmly threatened Eliana. She looked at him with terrified eyes.
“Your Majesty!”
Amid the noisy footsteps, Bliss urged Matteo.
“Damn it!”
Looking at Eliana’s tearful, blue-glowing eyes in the dark, Matteo spat a rough curse. Frustrated at waiting, Bliss grabbed his collar.
Matteo glared at Eliana in the darkness, clutching his side, and moved quickly. Blood dripped wherever he passed.
Boom!
Lightning struck, followed by thunder crashing to the ground.
“No… don’t come.”
Her deceased ex-husband approached her along the trail of red blood, smiling, wielding a whip.
No one could have anticipated the convulsion that came from such a shocking situation.
Eliana, left alone in the empty room, fainted.
Rodin stared at her collapsed form.
“Eliana.”
He quietly called her name, a small twitch on his lips.
Slowly, he lifted her body as if cradling something precious. Her small, lively form fit perfectly in his arms.
Unconcerned with the chaos outside, Rodin remained calm.
He laid unconscious Eliana onto the white bed.
“Not long now… just wait a little longer.”
Rodin brushed her forehead gently.
“Attack! The Majesty is under attack!”
At the commotion outside, Rodin’s eyebrows twitched. Glancing at the firmly shut door, he vanished into the shadows.
The palace instantly lit up as bright as day.
Boom!
It was still far from morning.
The moon and stars had hidden their faces that night. It rained.
Truth had been washed away by the rain, replaced by lies.
It was the beginning of a night where no one could be trusted.
Plop.
Raindrops collected on the leaves fell under their own weight. The rain, which seemed endless, gradually ceased as the world turned a pale white.
Water streamed relentlessly from soaked clothes. Each step caused a squelching sound in the leather boots.
“Still asleep, I wonder.”
Gredy, entering the palace, hid behind a large tree. The early dawn was chaotic around the palace.
“What’s going on?”
Servants were laying dry straw on the rain-soaked dirt paths.
After observing for a moment, Gredy surveyed the surroundings and skillfully climbed a wall. He moved slowly, perhaps tired from searching the Orante Forest for Rosella all night.
Finally arriving at the terrace of the room where Eliana was sleeping, he carefully opened the door.
“I should’ve told her to lock the door when she’s alone.”
Gredy clicked his tongue at how easily the terrace door opened.
Inside, he stopped in his tracks. A chilling atmosphere greeted him, unlike any room the Duchess would normally occupy.
“Eliana?”
Gredy cautiously called her name, scanning the room.
The first thing he noticed was the bulging shape on the bed. His steps quickened.
Panting softly, Eliana slept with her mouth slightly open. Next to her, Rodin held her tightly, wrapped in the blanket.
“…What are you two doing?”
Gredy’s fists shook, his voice low and husky, unlike the boiling anger within him.
The scraping sound of his voice made Rodin wake first.
“Ah…”
Rodin looked around blankly as he opened his eyes, but Gredy’s gaze did not leave Eliana.
“Get up. Now.”
Gredy lost patience and yanked the blanket covering Eliana. It fell to the floor.
Eliana was a mess.
The first thing that caught Gredy’s eye was the torn hem exposing her thighs. Her upper body, with one shoulder bare, bore the traces of the previous night.
Shivering from the sudden chill, Eliana finally opened her eyes.
Her blue eyes, wandering aimlessly, focused on Gredy.
“Care to offer an excuse?”
Gredy’s voice was harsh.
He roughly brushed his face, his shoulders heaving with heavy breaths. Perhaps to calm his anger, his breathing was rough.
“…Gredy?”
“I… can’t understand you at all.”
He rubbed his forehead tiredly and turned his body.
Even while wandering through the pitch-black darkness, he had secretly returned to the palace, worried about leaving Eliana alone. Had he known he would witness this scene, he would have sworn never to return.
After spending the night with Eliana, Gredy thought: even if the femme fatale’s curse was true, he would not regret holding her.
Kissing the body of someone who had endured baseless rumors and malicious insults, Gredy despised himself.
And he admitted it: Eliana was someone he could not help but love.
That night, his pounding heart celebrated the one it had finally found.
Truth and lies no longer mattered.
What mattered to him was the tomorrow he would spend with Eliana.
Gredy steeled his broken heart. His throat kept tightening, making speech difficult. Even this was something he had never experienced.
“You lured me, claiming you’d prove yourself, just to call your lover here?”
“It’s not that, Grand Duke.”
“Shut up! I’m talking to my wife, not you.”
Rodin swallowed his words hastily. The atmosphere was at its most hostile.
Eliana, having just woken, couldn’t comprehend the situation. But she sensed Gredy doubted her and Rodin again.
Her eyes trembled with unease.
“That’s not it… that’s not it…”
She grabbed her head, her mind foggy with a splitting headache.
She couldn’t fully remember what had happened last night, only vaguely recalling hiding under the bed from Marquis Neumann wielding a whip.
And once again, her hiding spot was discovered.
“Gredy…”
Eliana’s sad plea made Gredy chuckle bitterly.
He trusted the sincerity in her eyes.
“Don’t call my name. It creeps me out.”
Gredy’s black eyes revealed no emotion.
He turned his gaze from Eliana to Rodin.
“Do you know why I entrusted her to you?”
“Grand Duke, Your Highness.”
“Because I calculated that at least you wouldn’t harm her. At least your gaze toward her was sincere.”
“…”
“And yet I never imagined you two would cozy up together.”
Betrayal of trust left Gredy detached rather than angry. Lowering his head toward the floor, he suddenly leapt over the terrace railing.
Eliana, flustered and speechless, ran barefoot onto the terrace, but Gredy’s traces were already gone.
“Don’t worry. When he returns, I’ll explain everything, Eliana.”
Rodin brought a gown from somewhere and draped it over her shoulders.
“…I’m no longer your Eliana, Rodin.”
“Pardon?”
“I’m no longer your Eliana. So don’t call me that recklessly.”
