I Became The Wife Of The Cursed Grand Duke Chapter 106

The eastern outbuilding, a short distance from the Great Hall, where the wedding banquet would be in full swing.

 

Evelyn climbed the steep hill with some trepidation.

 

It was cold enough that her nose and the tips of her ears were reddening quickly, despite the fluffy coat of pure white fur she wore.

 

Glancing down at her, Kalian draped his own cloak over her shivering shoulders and spoke of Dante as if to calm her anxiety.

 

“My sources say he gained access by posing as an imperial servant. The Lindberghs’ roots are in the north, so they shouldn’t have been attacked by the Veil.”

 

Dante had secretly requested contact with Evelyn, and Kalian had disguised him as a guest of honor at the wedding.

 

The meeting place was chosen because the outbuildings were off-limits to outsiders.

 

“Lord Dante wishes to speak with you alone.”

 

“Alone…?”

 

Evelyn’s eyes flickered uneasily, and Kalian nodded obliquely, as if she had nothing to worry about.

 

Evelyn’s eyes fluttered uneasily, and Kalian nodded obliquely, as if to say, “Don’t worry.” He followed her gaze and felt the rustling of the birch trees through the white snow.

 

“Don’t worry about your safety, we’re surrounded by knights. Just make sure you have a weapon in case of emergency, and a shield if you can.”

 

Evelyn nodded, her face frightened. Kalian put his arm around her shoulders.

 

“I’ll keep quiet behind you.”

 

With his trustworthy words, Evelyn quickened her pace.

 

Soon enough, Dante, neatly dressed in his tailcoat, was waiting for her in the outbuilding’s attached anteroom.

 

His rather vacant-looking green eyes wandered through the snowy air before settling on her.

 

“…….”

 

Dante stared at her wordlessly for a moment before he spoke.

 

“You look so much like Marcella.”

 

It was a low, old voice.

 

No wonder he found something familiar in her, the only one who remembered his mother’s past.

 

Evelyn, too, was looking for a reflection of her mother in Dante’s face.

 

Feeling a strange kinship with him, Evelyn let her guard down and approached him.

 

“It’s nice to meet you, Evelyn. I heard that Marcella… has already passed away.”

 

As he said it, Dante’s eyes took on a depth that wasn’t quite the same as sadness. Or perhaps impatience.

 

“That’s strange. I thought you came to me to mourn your daughter’s death and to explain what happened…”

 

“It’s strange,” Dante quickly added, puzzled by the somewhat unexpected appearance.

 

He looked like a man being chased by something.

 

“The time allowed for me is not long, so I will speak simply. You, my child, must flee this place with your grandfather at once.”

 

“……?”

 

What in the world does he mean by telling a bride who just got married today to run away immediately?

 

“Uh, I can’t do that.”

 

As she backed away in fear, Dante gestured for her to calm down and lowered his voice.

 

“The women of the Lindbergh family are destined to regenerate someone, and the one with the largest vessel must sacrifice a hundred Primal Stones to the reanimated creature.”

 

The words were hard to understand at once. But one thing was clear: the biggest vessel he was talking about might be herself.

 

“You mean, that’s me?”

 

Dante nodded.

 

Evelyn stared at him, her eyes a mixture of horror and confusion.

 

“If I’m so important, I should be here, all the more so if the grand duke wants to send me to…”

 

“No, you shouldn’t trust anyone but me!”

 

Shaking his head, Dante took a deep breath to calm his raging emotions.

 

Then he rushed forward and grabbed Evelyn’s flailing hand.

 

“Listen, my dear,” he said, “in the past, Marcella has always been both threatened and protected by someone, simply because she was destined to bear a child who would become a vessel.”

 

“What does that mean…”

 

“It means that Marcella’s loss of memory and the birth of her child into the Lawrence family were all intended outcomes.”

 

Startled, Evelyn tried to pull her hand away, but the grip of the wrinkled hand was too strong.

 

Dante’s eyes narrowed.

 

“You are of use to both those who worship Babel and those who wish to extinguish it, for the grand duke has brought you here for a reason!”

 

Evelyn was confused.

 

What creature would borrow her body to resurrect, and why would those who wanted to destroy Babel need her?

 

‘That doesn’t mean I should trust him out of the blue.’

 

Dante spoke again, as if to answer her confusion.

 

“This is no safe zone, and there’s only one reason the grand duke wants to keep you tethered to his side, and that’s because you’re the one who’s going to make Babel…. curb!”

 

There was a whirring, wind-cutting sound.

 

A bright red blood splattered across the blindingly white snowfield and her body.

 

Beep─!

 

At the same time, her vision became blurry and her ears became deafened by unexplained tinnitus.

 

‘What the hell happened?’

 

She pursed her lips to voice the question in her mind, but no voice came out.

 

“…….”

 

In the deafening silence, the world moved in slow motion.

 

Knights leapt from every direction, and even as the floor grew closer and closer to her vision, her consciousness remained a blur.

 

Evelyn, sprawled on the floor, stared at her bloodied hand, then raised her gaze.

 

On the floor, she could see Dante’s bloodshot pupils, his eyes glazed over.

 

Blood was gushing like a fountain from his neck, where a sharp axe blade had been embedded.

 

“Oh my god…!”

 

Evelyn reached out with a shaky hand, and immediately released a healing blast. But the near-instantaneous blood loss made it difficult to use the power.

 

“No, you can’t die like this, there’s still so much more I want to hear…”

 

Evelyn shook her head frantically, as if in denial of the unbelievable.

 

“Please, open your eyes, please!”

 

Her heart pounded as if it would stop at any moment.

 

She was mad at herself for not being able to prevent her maternal grandfather’s death right in front of her eyes.

 

“Do something. Think about what you can do…!’

 

Evelyn curled her cold hands into fists and bit her tongue as hard as she could to keep herself together.

 

A pure white light burst from her palm as hot blood trickled from between her lips.

 

But healing powers don’t work on the dead.

 

Panicked enough to forget that simple fact, she raised the cold dagger at her thigh and tried to slice off my finger.

 

She remembered that her blood had the power to regenerate.

 

“Evelyn!”

 

She would have cut off her finger and spilled blood into Dante’s mouth if a shadowy figure from the distance hadn’t snatched the knife away.

 

It was a damned shitty move, knowing it was already useless.

 

“Wake up!”

 

A voice boomed through her muffled hearing, snapping her back to reality. The five senses that had been shattered snapped back into place.

 

“Kal, Grandpa…”

 

“Shhh, it’s okay, it’s okay now.”

 

He leaned in close and pulled Evelyn into a hug.

 

As the familiar scent and warmth surrounded her, she gasped for air and tears welled up in her eyes like a bursting dike.

 

“My grandfather…”

 

She couldn’t speak, all she could think to say was, “Please let him live.”

 

“Evelyn.”

 

Evelyn’s hands trembled as she tried to identify Dante’s body, and he grabbed her chin. It was then that something burst into her mouth.

 

“Wake up and look at me.”

 

He pushed his finger into Evelyn’s open mouth. He checked her scarred tongue, his brow furrowed fiercely as if to wake her up.

 

“Black magic. I’ve never seen anything so powerful.”

 

Evelyn’s eyes clouded over. In her daze, she couldn’t understand his words.

 

She had been given life again, to right the wrongs of the past.

 

But if she can’t prevent anyone from dying, even if she has to watch someone she cares about die in front of her eyes because of her…

 

‘What the hell did I get a second chance at life for?’

 

Kalian stared at her intently, his expression unreadable.

 

“No one here noticed, not me, not anyone else, so it’s, like, an act of God. Not your fault.”

 

Her eyes lit up briefly, and he gave her one more brainwashing reality check.

 

“Just remember this: you’re alive now and you’re going to be safe, so put what happened earlier out of your head.”

 

Evelyn’s head was spinning.

 

The moments of knowing her mom was dead and not being able to do anything about it flashed through her mind, and the endless self-loathing and helplessness consumed her.

 

‘Was Kalian really trying to use me?’

 

Of course he was, and it didn’t matter.

 

‘If the High Priest’s purpose is to resurrect Babel…’

 

Kalian’s goal of destroying Babel and her goal of avenging the Temple were now completely aligned.

 

But she was curious.

 

 

‘And what was he going to say at the end?’

 

It was just as she was leaving Dante’s chilling body behind that she was carried out of the compound in Kalian’s arms.

 

*Rumbling, bang-!*

 

Lightning struck the rainy sky, a flash of light followed by an unearthly roar.