“……Tell her to come tomorrow at around three in the afternoon.”
He managed to answer calmly.
Just like usual, as if he was not shaken at all.
Theodore quietly bowed his head.
“And call the physician.”
“……Pardon?”
“I think I might be going insane.”
Did you only realize that now?
Edwin looked like he wanted to say exactly that.
Perhaps he valued his life too much, because he kept his mouth firmly shut.
“Or maybe there’s something wrong with my body.”
But he could not hold back this time and added a rebuttal.
“You were perfectly fine at your last regular checkup. They said that because of the progress of your monsterization, your recovery ability is now comparable to that of a monster, or perhaps even greater……”
“Enough. Call him if I tell you to.”
“……Yes.”
A brief silence followed.
During that time, Ludville stared at the butler and tried several times to say something, only to close his lips again.
Theodore had never seen him hesitate to speak before, so he was secretly surprised and asked curiously,
“Is there something you wish to tell me?”
“……Was there any sign that the duchess had learned black magic?”
“What?!”
“No. Forget it.”
Ludville pressed a hand to his forehead and let out a deep sigh.
Then, with an irritated wave of his hand, he shooed both of his subordinates away as if they were insects.
“Both of you, get out.”
After the door closed, the butler and the aide, who had been kicked out into the hallway of the study, exchanged bewildered looks.
****
The following afternoon.
The time for Odely to arrive was slowly approaching.
The vassals sat around a long table, exchanging their opinions with one another.
Ludville sat there with an unconcerned expression, but his fingertips tapped against the desk like the second hand of a clock.
Seeing Ludville like that, Edwin had the rude thought that, whatever other illness he might have, he had definitely developed some sort of emotional instability.
“Your Grace, this is an official document from the Imperial Palace.”
The minister carefully placed a document bearing a gold seal on Ludville’s desk.
A thick envelope, filled with formal language written according to ceremonial protocol.
[In accordance with the 47th Annual Imperial Military Strategy Conference, we respectfully request that Your Grace assume the position of chairman for this conference…….]
He did not even read the next line before beginning to fold the document.
“……Your Grace?”
One side, then the other.
As the wings of a paper airplane gradually took shape, the minister’s face grew paler and paler.
After neatly creasing the center line, Ludville opened the window.
Whoosh—
Then the paper airplane bearing the Imperial crest flew beyond the castle walls on the wind.
“Your Grace! Even so, how could you throw away an Imperial document, especially a request for you to serve as chairman?!”
Without even reacting, Ludville answered expressionlessly,
“Not a chairman. More like a substitute for empty ceremony.”
“You know perfectly well that empty ceremony is the very essence of the Imperial Palace!”
“Annoying.”
“…….”
“Don’t drag things like this to me and make them a nuisance.”
The minister could say no more. Sweating nervously, he hurriedly opened the door and left.
He had clearly gone to retrieve the paper airplane.
Watching him leave, Edwin muttered with admiration in his voice,
“You’re being rather gentle today, Your Grace.”
By recent standards, this was probably his mildest reaction in months.
At least he had not immediately thrown the document into the fireplace to use as kindling.
“Perhaps it’s because the Grand Duchess is staying at the castle.”
The moment he casually said that, Ludville’s gaze, which had been directed indifferently out the window, turned toward him.
“Who said she was the Grand Duchess?”
“Huh? Wasn’t that what you two were planning?”
Isn’t that why the two of you arranged to meet?
Edwin asked back with an even more bewildered expression.
Ludville stared silently at him before replying in a voice as cold as the northern winter.
“It hasn’t been decided yet.”
It was a firm statement.
In truth, even though none of them dared say it aloud, all the vassals shared the same question.
He still hasn’t decided?
Even though he hasn’t thrown her out after keeping her at the castle for the full fifteen days?
‘……Then why is he keeping her by his side?’
‘Why hasn’t he sent her back to Cardell, reported to the Imperial Palace that the missing duchess has been found, or even assigned guards to watch her?’
‘Wasn’t he preparing to take her as his Grand Duchess……?’
But the vassals remained silent.
In any case, everything would be decided after today.
Whether the duchess was accepted or sent back to Cardell.
Most of them had grown sick and tired of being tormented by the “blue-eyed women,” so they were not particularly enthusiastic about the matter of a Grand Duchess.
Still, there were certainly some who held a little hope.
They had noticed how peaceful the Grand Duke’s castle had been during the fifteen days Odely had stayed there, and they hoped Ludville would accept Odely as his Grand Duchess so that those peaceful days could continue.
Please, just forget about those blue eyes and everything else.
But in the restless North, perhaps hoping for peace was simply too much to ask.
Bang!
The meeting room door was thrown open.
The minister who had run off to retrieve the paper airplane rushed inside, breathing heavily.
He had completely forgotten about the paper airplane.
“Your Grace, an urgent report. An epidemic has broken out in the port city of Bellader.”
The air in the room froze in an instant.
****
Odely held the newly prepared contract against her chest.
‘Will he accept it this time……?’
She gathered her slightly nervous thoughts and headed toward the reception room, where they had agreed to meet.
She was a little early, but she planned to arrive ahead of time and wait.
Then it happened.
She spotted someone across the corridor.
It was Rian, the minister.
He was running frantically with a stack of documents in his arms, as though something urgent had happened.
Odely stopped walking.
‘Did something happen?’
Sensing that something was wrong, Odely naturally followed him.
She silenced her footsteps and kept a steady distance so that she would not enter his field of vision.
He was heading toward the meeting room.
And through the gap in the door that the minister had failed to close completely, his urgent voice could be heard.
“Your Grace, an urgent report. An epidemic has broken out in the port city of Bellader.”
Odely held her breath.
Then she pressed her ear close to the door and focused on their conversation.
“The disease is spreading far too quickly. There have already been deaths.”
“What is the range of the outbreak?”
“We have reports that symptoms are spreading mainly around the port and commercial district. One ship is currently under quarantine, and the number of infected people in the city is still being determined.”
“What about the cause?”
“It has not been clearly identified yet. However, it appears completely different from previous cases.”
Ludville turned his gaze toward the map on the table.
Bellader.
The key city at the far western edge of the North, where maritime trade was concentrated.
And a location far too ‘efficient’ for an outbreak to occur.
With his brows furrowed, Ludville silently scanned the hastily prepared report.
After a moment, he spoke firmly.
“Seal it off.”
“……Your Grace?”
“Quarantine the entire city and establish a blockade. Kill anyone found to be infected immediately. Do not let the uninfected leave either. No exceptions.”
The atmosphere inside the meeting room instantly grew heavy.
“But with the cause of the disease still unknown……”
“And what happens if the disease spreads while we wait?”
Ludville cut him off coldly.
It was a key city where trade was concentrated.
Naturally, the amount of contact between people there would be incomparable to anywhere else.
They had to stop the spread before it caused even greater damage.
“If we still cannot stop the spread after that……”
Ludville’s gaze fixed on the map.
“Then burn the entire city.”
Ludville’s violet eyes shone coldly.
His expression was as emotionless as if sorting out rotten potatoes were the most natural thing in the world.
As though anything else was nothing more than unnecessary sentimentality.
Comments (0)