I Became The Wife Of The Cursed Grand Duke Chapter 115

What the hell? 

 

No way, is she leaving her mom like this?

‘No, not yet, please!’

That was when Evelyn clutched her chest, her heart racing with anxiety.

Zzzzzz!

An eerie sensation washed over her as a large crack opened above her head.

“Huh? Sis, look out!”

Evelyn’s head snapped up at Marcella’s scream.

A huge chunk of rock was falling toward them.

Evelyn instinctively wrapped her arms around Marcella and rolled with her.

Boom!

 

They narrowly avoided being crushed by the rock.

 

“Marcella! Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

 

Marcella nodded, her face pale with terror.

But the trouble was only beginning.

Koo-koo-koo-koo!

Marcella’s cozy little hideout began to shrink.

The momentum was terrifying, as if an invisible force was pressing down on it.

“Hmph, I’m scared.”

Evelyn scooped the sobbing, clinging Marcella into her arms and ran toward the only exit she knew.

But the wide path they’d climbed up had collapsed from the crack they’d seen earlier.

“Ha, what are we going to do?”

Evelyn stamped her foot in frustration.

“Oh, wait, sis!”

Stumbling out of Evelyn’s arms, Marcella hurried to Helene’s coffin.

Then she ran back to the cave entrance, clutching something in her hand.

Evelyn stared in horror at the object in Marcella’s tiny hands.

“What is that… No, how could you possibly have that?”

“I don’t know! It’s the shiniest thing I own, and I just wanted to give it to you as a gift!”

“Oh my…”

A reddish, yo-yo-like artifact.

What Marcella handed her looked exactly like the artifact someone had placed inside the dungeon as bait to trick her.

And if Evelyn’s guess was correct, it was a dimensional stone capable of forcing open a gate.

But why was it in her mother’s hand?

 

‘Ines is the only one who can answer that.’

Even as Evelyn tried to think logically, the cave continued to close in on them from all sides.

Koo-koo-koo!

Helene’s coffin crumbled. Now it was their turn to be crushed.

“This is no time for this, sis. Hold on to my hand!”

Marcella’s tiny hand wrapped around Evelyn’s fingers, as if to encourage her courage.

“When I count, we’ll jump down together!”

The child’s voice, as clear as a jade bell, echoed through the cave.

“If you’re scared of the water, just trust me. I’ll save you, okay?”

 

Evelyn could see the fear in Marcella’s eyes, but also the determination to survive the crisis.

As soon as Evelyn noticed it, her eyes filled with tears, blurring her vision.

“Sweetheart, I want you to think that what happened today was just a nightmare. If anyone ever puts you in danger again, I’ll be there to save you. Do you understand?”

 

Evelyn could hear her mother’s voice echoing in her head, soothing her as she had cried in fear all night after Erze had nearly drowned her.

 

Evelyn opened her mouth without thinking.

“Mommy…”

Marcella looked at her in bewilderment.

How puzzled she must have been to hear Evelyn call her “mom” out of the blue.

 

But Evelyn didn’t let that stop her from saying what she needed to say.

“I’ll protect you this time. Give me a chance to protect you for once.”

“…”

“And in the next life, I want you to be my daughter. I’ll love you more than my mom ever loved me. I’ll raise you to be a happy daughter, always smiling…”

Her voice shook as she fought back tears.

“I’ll sing you lullabies at night and bake you a delicious cake for your birthday. I mean it, I really… will.”

 

Tears rolled down her cheeks.

 

Marcella looked at Evelyn and shook her head, but then her furrowed brow relaxed, and she smiled.

“Okay, I’ll count now!”

Evelyn couldn’t fully understand what Marcella was saying, but she took it to mean that the child wanted them to be brave together.

 

Okay, that was enough.

Evelyn pulled Marcella into a tight embrace and channeled as much power as she could to create a shield.

Marcella stared at the opalescent orb in wonder for a moment, then called out in a small but strong voice.

“One, two, three!”

Boom!

The cave completely collapsed.

A tangle of shadows began to fall toward the dark lake.

Feng Deng-!

Enveloped in white light, the two were submerged in the rushing water that engulfed their bodies.

Just like when they had fallen into the pool of blood, their minds blurred, and their bodies sank lower and lower.

 

* * * 

 

Evelyn’s mind jolted awake from its heavy, sinking haze.

The water, cold enough to make her heart stop, was gone, replaced by a cozy warmth.

‘Where am I?’

‘How much time has passed?’

 

‘Where is the artifact my mom handed me?’

With questions swirling in her mind, Evelyn took a small breath and opened her eyes.

The gold-plated ceiling and ornate paintings above immediately came into view, a testament to the owner’s lavish taste.

 

She couldn’t feel anything in her hands that could be called an artifact.

‘Was it all just an illusion…?’

It was then that a familiar voice pierced her ears like water rushing into her head.

“Evelyn, are you okay? Are you awake?”

A gruff man’s cheek rubbed roughly against the back of her cold hand.

“Kuck! Kuck!”

Evelyn was about to reply when a violent cough erupted.

Her vocal cords were dry and sticky, and she was in no condition to speak.

She couldn’t open her mouth without feeling nauseous, as if she might vomit at any moment.

‘What the hell is wrong with my body?’

She swallowed dryly and turned her head to the left, catching sight of Kalian’s lean face.

“Wait.”

Letting go of her hand, he stood and poured water into a teacup he’d prepared for her.

Then he lifted Evelyn’s upper body so she was leaning against him and carefully raised the cup to her lips.

“Ha…”

After quenching her thirst, her mind became a little clearer.

But her thoughts were still jumbled.

The sadness of being separated from her mom outweighed the relief of being alive and the joy of being reunited with Kalian.

In a way, it was as if her mother’s death had finally become real.

Her eyes watered.

The image of her mother’s pale face sinking into the water pierced deep into her heart.

 

Evelyn gazed dreamily at the opulent surroundings, her vision blurry with tears.

“Where am I…?”

 

A low sigh came from behind her as she spoke in a voice that seemed ready to fade at any moment.

“The imperial palace. His Majesty the Emperor has sent reinforcements.”

Evelyn suddenly understood the magnificence of the scene before her.

She gazed in wonder at the unfamiliar palace, then turned to face Kalian.

“And what about the Grand Duchy? Are the people safe?”

If her guess was correct, Kalian would have followed as soon as he realized she was gone.

He must have sensed Evelyn’s concern, because he gave her a dry smile.

“You have nothing to worry about, my dear. The knights’ first priority is the people and their duties, no matter how much it concerns me.”

That meant the knights would defend the North with all their might.

Evelyn sighed in relief and felt the thick pillow supporting her back.

He helped her lean back into the bed more comfortably, then sat down in the chair and made eye contact.

The man’s face was pale, and his eyes were bloodshot, as if he hadn’t slept in days.

He’d probably used up a lot of energy rescuing her.

“Please explain what happened. I’m…”

Evelyn hesitated, unsure where to begin and where to end, before finally speaking again.

“Believe it or not, I met my mom’s childhood.”

Evelyn carefully recounted the sighting of Helene’s coffin and the sudden collapse of the cave.

 

Throughout the story, Kalian watched her with an unreadable expression.

Finally, Evelyn finished, and the two of them stared at each other in silence.

It was Kalian who broke the silence.

“I found you on a floor deep in the dungeon.”

“Floors, if you say so.”

 

His eyes flickered as they roamed over every inch of Evelyn’s face.

“Yes, very deep in the dungeon. You were lying somewhere you could never have gotten out on your own, and…”

His normally stoic face trembled, betraying his emotions.

“Perhaps what you saw was not an illusion.”

 

‘Not an illusion? What the hell.’

Evelyn’s brow furrowed, and Kalian held something in front of her eyes as if to explain.

 

“This, this, this…”

 

In his large palm lay a reddish artifact.

Evelyn’s eyes widened, and Kalian spoke.

“I found this in your hand. Perhaps where you’ve been is the border between reality and fantasy.”

Evelyn sucked in a breath at that.

“Is that possible?”

Traveling back in time—what could be more bizarre and impossible?

But traveling to her mom’s childhood was something she had never imagined herself doing.

 

Her head spun. Evelyn put a hand to her forehead, feeling sweat bead on her skin.

 

‘Calm down, calm down.’

There were so many questions she wanted to ask him, but she began with the most pressing ones.

“What about the artifact’s contractor? Was it set up?”

“It’s set, but it’s a complicated formula. It’ll take me a while to figure it out.”

“And did you ever find the assassin who harmed my grandfather?”

He answered with silence.

Evelyn looked a little hurt, and he gave her a wry smile, as if it was too soon to be disappointed.

“The artifact is a dimensional stone that forces a path and opens a dimensional rift in an area of the contractor’s choosing.”

As she had suspected. The color returned to her pale face, and he continued.

“This means that someone deliberately opened the gate, not only to slander me but to endanger the North. This gives me the opportunity to prove that Babel has an ally, but only if…”