Chapter 127
#127. Portrait of the Previous Grand Ducal Couple (1)
"Just a moment, Edwin."
Olivia hurriedly stopped Edwin. Right in front of them was 'home.'
Moreover, it was a mystical place that maintained spring in the Valley of Senua, which was like winter. A place where the Magic stone necklace sparkled as if resonating.
"If we go in here a little, there's a really amazing place. Even in this cold weather,"
"Olivia."
A desperate voice called out to Olivia over her persuasive words. Olivia involuntarily shut her mouth.
"...It was too dangerous here. You didn't forget that we agreed to return if it was dangerous, right? Especially after fall—"
Edwin paused for a moment, then forced a smile.
"...Just slipping is reason enough to return to the castle and receive treatment."
"I didn't slip!"
Treatment! She recalled the excessive prescriptions she had received at the Grand Duke's Residence in The Empire. The time she had to rest, even being banned from reading books.
Olivia asserted that she was not hurt at all and that the place was not as dangerous as he thought.
"I didn't slip, but when I reached out to grab the necklace, a strange wind suddenly pulled me as if—"
"Aha."
Olivia blinked. For some reason, Edwin's eyes, which were looking at her, darkened for a moment.
"We promised that dangerous things are not allowed."
"......"
"This place is really dangerous."
Oh, this is a problem. It seems I misspoke.
It was the time when the sun was at its highest.
While still on horseback, Dian glanced back. Perhaps it was because of the atmosphere, but the temperature seemed much lower only where the carriage was.
"...Really, I was so surprised. How much more would His Highness be?"
"It's only natural that he'd be more surprised. Anyway, if the Lady fell not just because she slipped but because of a suspicious force, he might oppose going even more."
"Still..."
Dian pursed her lips for a moment at Bethany's reply. She was quite disappointed. In her faint memories, did she really go all the way to where the old man was? Are there more people inside?
"What if His Highness really forbids me from entering the Valley of Senua again?"
"Well. Let's think about that later. It seems like there's something more urgent?"
Dian's brow furrowed slightly at Bethany's nonchalant words as she looked ahead.
Engraved on the carriage blocking the castle gate was the Madeleine Dukedom's crest.
As if proving it, three tall men stood in front of the carriage. The Knights, who had been guarding the castle gate like an iron wall, looked at Dian with very welcoming faces.
Silver hair that sparkled as coldly as the Lady's. Beneath it, indifferent amethyst eyes.
Dian slowly stopped her horse. She discarded the courtesy of dismounting in the face of one of the only two Dukes in The Empire. Despite the provocative treatment, the Duke slowly opened his mouth.
"...I've come to see Olivia."
It was a nonchalant voice, as if talking about someone else. I was almost embarrassed that I was nervous about what he would say.
"Do you really think I received Madeleine's protection?"
Dian remembered every word the Lady had said in the garden that night.
It might have been neglect, not protection, or even incitement. So this is what the Duke, who never issued a correction in the newspaper during all those scandals, looked like.
It was fortunate. He resembled Jade Madeleine, whom I disliked. So Dian smiled brightly and said kindly.
"I regret to inform you, but I advise you to return, Duke. Lady Madeleine knows this is her second visit, doesn't she?"
She wasn't good at being sarcastic, but she had learned from Howard and Winster.
"The Grand Duchy of Vikander forbids any visits from the Madeleine Dukedom."
Winster's words, which she had thought were spiteful, flowed smoothly from her mouth. The Duke, who could have been offended, stared at Dian and repeated the same words.
"I've come to see Olivia. ...It's a matter of the Madeleine Dukedom."
"Please move aside. Seeing as you've come so urgently after not visiting all this time, you must at least need to make a good impression on the Lady."
This time, it seemed to have worked a little. Leaving aside the expressionless Duke, the faces of his two sons next to him clouded over.
Soon, Jade Madeleine instructed the coachman to move the carriage. Conrad Madeleine, who looked at the castle with regret, said something to the Duke, and the Duke seemed to follow him.
The moment Dian saw that series of actions, she immediately understood why Winster was so cold to Jade Madeleine.
Those belated appearances,
Those words that invoked the name 'Madeleine' as if they were family now.
It was so absurd and made her feel like she had bugs in her stomach, so bubbling that she couldn't stand it.
Olivia's room in the Ducal Palace.
Olivia lowered her head. If she counted the number of people who had entered the room, her face would feel like it would explode.
Even though she only fidgeted for a moment, she felt a firm warmth caressing her.
This was so intense and intimate that it should never be felt in a situation where she was receiving treatment. It was as if Edwin was embracing Olivia.
Inside the carriage, she felt sorry and apologetic for Edwin, who was trembling as if trying to calm down while hugging her. At the same time, she reflected a lot as she watched Edwin cling to her as if she was his salvation.
But this was not it.
Not only was he holding her as if she were a patient, but he was also having her examined while holding her in his arms.
Even with the doctor, Bethany, Dian, Brock, and the maids present...!
With a voice that wouldn't come out due to embarrassment, Olivia barely said.
"...Please, Edwin. Can you put me down?"
The glaring eyes quickly drooped. Her cheeks, which were dyed like apples due to embarrassment, were exceptionally pretty, but Edwin pretended not to notice and examined the doctor's diagnosis.
The doctor, who checked Olivia's joints here and there, nodded with a friendly smile.
"There's nothing wrong. Rather, she's very healthy."
Only after hearing the doctor's confirmation did Olivia deliberately follow the doctor's words and say to Edwin.
"Very, healthy, you say?"
"Yes. That's right."
"That's a relief."
"Rather, it seems like it was His Highness who was surprised. Should we check if you need a diagnosis?"
Unless you don't want to.
As if he knew just by the frowning face, the doctor immediately changed his words. The doctor, whose eyebrows were completely white, added a word, "He wasn't like this when he was young," while saying, "Oh dear."
That appearance somehow resembled Jerun. The words came out before she thought.
"Ah, I..."
"Yes. Lady. Is there anything else you need to check?"
"Is there anywhere else that hurts, Liv?"
The doctor and Edwin spoke almost simultaneously. Olivia tried to avoid Edwin's gaze and said.
"It's not my story, but I saw someone who hasn't woken up for a long time, someone who's been sleeping continuously... How can they wake up?"
She felt Edwin's eyes narrowing as he looked at her.
"How long has that patient been asleep, Lady?"
Oops. She didn't hear that. Olivia cautiously guessed.
"About, five years...?"
Hmm. The doctor's eyes, which had been cautious, flashed for a moment.
"It's difficult to say without seeing the patient, so I'd have to see them to know. Five years. If they've endured for five years with a patient who hasn't woken up, the attending physician's skills must be amazing?"
"It's not a doctor, but a Healer, I heard."
The doctor's eyes widened at Olivia's answer.
There was no one called a Healer between a magician and a doctor. Was it a herbalist or a vague term? The doctor's eyes sparkled.
"A Healer? What exactly does a Healer do, Lady?"
"That's..."
"Enough."
A cold voice cut off the conversation. Edwin shrugged with a forced smile.
"It's best to stop here today. Olivia. No matter how fine you are, my Lady needs rest now, right?"
The doctor nodded with a regretful face. No matter how curious he was about the Lady's story, the Grand Duke was right. Soon, in the room where everyone had left like a receding tide, Olivia looked at Edwin.
"You only look at me after everyone's gone, Liv? I'm disappointed?"
As the doctor said, he was better than before, but there was still a pale aura on his smiling face.
The way he intentionally avoided talking about the Valley of Senua, the hand that clung to her as if he was begging inside the carriage. Even that trembling breath.
"I'll definitely come again. With dessert for tea time."
She remembered the last words she had said to Jerun.
"Jerun called Edwin a royal descendant. He called me a disciple."
Olivia's eyes sparkled as she got straight to the point. Edwin raised one eyebrow. His Lady always had a gentle smile, but at times like this, she moved more fiercely than anyone else.
"He knew something more. Edwin. I can go again right now. Let's rest for just one day and go together tomorrow. Okay?"
"I said that dangerous things are absolutely not allowed. It seems that the Valley of Senua was too dangerous for Olivia."
"I wasn't hurt. Maybe that power led me. The Magic stone sparkled just now, so if we go there, the secret might really be solved."
If she could only explain how the Magic stone sparkled, Edwin would be much more interested in her words. But Olivia couldn't say anything at Edwin's next words.
"...I value Olivia more than any secret, beyond comparison."
She was speechless. Edwin's face, saying just one sentence, was exactly the same as before, filled with terror. Olivia couldn't say anything.
Because she knew how important the mine and the secret related to Lowell were to Edwin. That's why it was even more so.
Edwin smiled bitterly for a moment, then shrugged.
"...So I hope you never set foot in the valley again, Liv."
A firm recommendation. Olivia met Edwin, who was leaning in as if to be embraced, and whispered in his ear.
"Today, I won't talk about the valley anymore. Instead, shall we do something else?"
"First of all, I need to feel at ease now. I want to keep savoring the fact that Liv is by my side."
The sound reaching Olivia's ear was hazily soaked. Olivia, who had been blankly embraced by a drowsiness that somehow strangely captivated people, pushed Edwin away with a suddenly weakened touch.
"Haven't we been together enough since earlier?"
You didn't let go of me even when everyone was there!
Olivia, who seemed to have just remembered, spoke rapidly with a reddened face.
Edwin, who had been pushed away obediently, chuckled. And in an instant, he brought his face to Olivia's face.
"Liv."
Olivia's eyes widened at the sweet voice that seemed to resonate in her ears. A distance so close that their noses touched, their breaths intertwined, and their fluttering lips seemed to pull each other in.
In that short distance, red eyes curved seductively.
"I'm always hungry for you."
The arms that were embracing Olivia as if lifting her up were firm. The sensations felt through the dress and shirt were sensitively heightened.
"Even if we're together all day, I wonder if it'll barely be relieved. I was so terrified earlier that I need to be with you for three days this time."
Edwin smelled good. That's why she was hazily dizzy.
Olivia only swallowed. Edwin, who had been chuckling softly at the sound of her Adam's apple moving, lightly kissed Olivia's lips.
"My Lady. What about you?"
"I..."
Olivia's eyelashes fluttered. Edwin unknowingly leaned towards Olivia. It was when Olivia's red lips were slowly parting under the sweet scent.
"...I think we should see the portrait of the previous Grand Duke, Your Highness?"
After a long time, Edwin asked back as if he couldn't believe it.
"...Not me,"
"......"
"...My father's portrait?"
