Chapter 58
You'll Be Dead Soon Too
Bolonico smiled lightly at the confusion mixed in Yuan's face.
"No need to be surprised, sister-in-law. I've heard a lot of praise for you from that Mansion. They say you're quite clever."
"Praise?"
"Since the Emperor has little interest in state affairs, Bolonico is burdened. And since Bolonico is burdened, I gather talented people to help with various tasks. Most of the agenda items submitted to the Council of Ministers must pass through Bolonico to be approved."
Someone in the Mansion had been in contact with this prince.
'Praise for me?'
Had they only praised me?
Suddenly, Klaud's voice echoed in her mind.
'Don't trust anything sent from the Imperial Palace.'
Looking at the beautiful prince's face, filled with the conviction that he could do whatever he pleased with anything within his reach, Yuan wondered if the reason Klaud remained wary and didn't open his heart to some people in the Mansion was because of this strange prince.
"How about it? Escaping that dreadful Mansion and fleeing to Bolonico?"
"Thank you for the offer, Your Highness."
Yuan straightened her trembling legs with effort and composed herself.
She softened her expression as much as possible to avoid appearing hostile to him.
"I'm content to live as I am."
With those words, Yuan bowed very politely, placed the bouquet of wildflowers she had brought on the gravestones of the late Emperor and Empress, and fled the cemetery as if running away.
She felt the stinging gaze reaching the back of her head.
It was very, very unsettling.
The carriage, which was quickly returning to Central Rockenhardt, stopped midway on a forest path just outside the Marquess territory.
A figure appeared in the driver's seat of the inexplicably stopped carriage, and a masked, fat assailant suddenly leaned into the carriage.
Yuan, who was about to scream, quickly frowned upon recognizing the face of the assailant who had thrown off the mask.
"Yuan!"
It was her uncle.
Her uncle, whose face was covered in sweat as if he had been quite hot inside the mask, leaned his upper body towards her with anxious eyes.
"Did you meet Prince Bolonico? Huh? Did you meet him?"
"How do you know that?"
"I saw you, so I know!"
Her uncle huffed and puffed on his own, then glanced out the window before pulling down all the curtains.
Yuan, who had been too surprised to even scream, suddenly thought of Mazarin and jumped up.
"Sit down."
"What did you do to the coachman?"
"The feeble coachman and useless guards are belatedly realizing the carriage has been stolen and are running after us. If you listen to me properly, I'll return you safely with no trouble."
Yuan sighed in relief, sat as far away from her uncle as possible, and crossed her arms.
Seeing the dissatisfaction and wariness swirling in her eyes, the Count wiped his soaked face with a handkerchief.
"Listen to me carefully, Yuan. You'll die if you stay in that Mansion."
Yuan rolled her eyes as if to say, "Not again," and turned her head away. The Count put the handkerchief in his pocket and clenched his fists tightly on his knees.
"There are people chasing us, so I won't be long-winded. Prince Bolonico is clearly targeting our family."
"'Our' family? I'm no longer part of that family. Pellieresse affairs are now Pellieresse's responsibility."
"You're having a nosebleed, Yuan."
Yuan, who had been quietly agitated, quickly pressed a handkerchief to her nose. As he said, warm blood filled the handkerchief.
Her uncle's face hardened.
"Since when has this been happening?"
"Should I get a diagnosis? You wouldn't know how to properly diagnose it anyway."
"How impertinent!"
Her uncle, who seemed about to hit her, ruffled his slicked-back hair as if he had encountered an unexpected variable.
"This is just adding insult to injury. Now that I look closely, it's true. You've been taking care of yourself, so you look polished on the outside, but you have dark circles under your eyes and a pale face. This isn't the first time you've had a sudden nosebleed like that, is it?"
"Everyone gets a nosebleed sometimes when they're tired."
"I've never seen you have a nosebleed like that even when you were more tired and sick."
Did you torment me every day knowing I was tired and sick?
Yuan expressed her resentment with her eyes and pressed the handkerchief more firmly to her nose, which wouldn't stop bleeding easily.
Yuan was the one with the nosebleed, but her uncle looked as pale as if he had shed all the blood himself, and he repeatedly rubbed his face roughly.
"That terrible family curse has manifested in you too, Yuan. And you still say you're not a Pellieresse?"
In the moment Yuan paused, Geret Pellieze raised his voice.
"Have you forgotten why your sister died? Let's say it's true that the Imperial Family said she died because her lifespan was short. If she died because her lifespan was short, there's a reason for that. That damned genetic disease! Your sister slowly died with the same face, the same symptoms as you. You were close to her, so you know better than anyone."
"No. My sister and I are different."
"What's different about a genetic disease?!"
Her uncle shouted as if frustrated.
He roughly grabbed the collar of his black clothes, as if his throat was parched, and shouted.
"I didn't come here to say this today, but I'm going to put an end to watching you any longer. First, you have to live to do anything! Damn, one more thing to worry about."
Her uncle struck his chest and spoke to Yuan's frozen face.
From afar, the voices of the Black Manor guards and Mazarin, who were chasing after her to find her, could be heard.
"The Pellieresse Mansion is the only place that can prolong your life even a little. This uncle is the only one who knows this disease better than anyone! Have you forgotten all the research we did together to save your sister? Remarkable achievements in treating many other diseases came out of that research. How valuable is that?"
Her uncle whispered quickly.
"This is the last warning I'll give you nicely. Come back. As promised last time, if you come back, your words will be prioritized over your cousin's or aunt's. The treatment will be different from before. It means I recognize you as a full partner!"
"I'm not going to die."
"I sincerely hope so too. But if, by any chance, that damned genetic disease that killed your sister has manifested in you too—."
—Knock, knock, knock!
As the voices of people grew closer, someone urgently knocked on the carriage door from outside.
Her uncle quickly pulled on the mask. From the black cloth with holes, only his black eyes glared at her and warned.
"You'll be dead soon too."
After her uncle left, the guards and Mazarin, who had been diligently chasing after the carriage, appeared.
Mazarin, with a pale face, looked inside the open carriage and sighed in relief upon finding Yuan.
"I only left for a moment, thinking the mistress would be out late, and this happened—. Mistress, are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere? Where did the people who took the carriage go? I must inform Marquis Lev's family immediately."
"……."
"Mistress? Why does your face look like that? You seem to have had a severe nosebleed—."
"They said they mistook it for my master's carriage, so I hope they went back without making a big deal out of it, Mazarin."
"Ah. Yes, I understand."
Mazarin observed Yuan's unusual demeanor and closed the carriage door without complaint.
The voices of people inspecting the carriage brushed past Yuan's ears, and soon the carriage began to move very slowly.
'That terrible family curse has manifested in you too, Yuan. And you still say you're not a Pellieresse?'
'Have you forgotten why your sister died? Let's say it's true that the Imperial Family said she died because her lifespan was short. If she died because her lifespan was short, there's a reason for that. That damned genetic disease! Your sister slowly died with the same face, the same symptoms as you. You were close to her, so you know better than anyone.'
Yuan clenched her teeth and replayed her uncle's words, unable to bear the violently churning stomach.
"Ugh—!!"
"Mistress!"
The carriage door, which had been running lightly, burst open, causing a commotion in the small procession.
Her stomach, which had been churning since morning due to the carriage sickness and Bolonico, completely turned over as her mind became uneasy.
There was nothing to throw up, so only sour water came up.
Yuan roughly wiped her dirty face with a wet handkerchief.
Standing in the middle of the forest where spring had arrived, she barely managed to keep her balance with her spinning vision.
Yuan answered Mazarin's worried voice, who was patting her back, with a pale face.
"I'm fine."
She was not fine at all.
'You'll be dead soon too.'
Her uncle's voice lingered in her ears like a curse, unable to flow out.
"Not yet?"
As the servants were gradually becoming anxious about the mistress not returning until just before sunset.
Klaud's expression darkened as he suddenly looked for Yuan's whereabouts.
Lancelot had visited, and Gustav, the butler, who was examining the shiny cover of the latest version of <Academy Medical Thesis Collection> in his hand, reassured Klaud by saying that he would send out guards to meet her, saying that everything would be alright.
Klaud lightly carried the thick book, which was clearly new, as if it were a sandwich, and strolled around the west Annex like someone on a picnic.
The red outer wall, which had been cleaned of old stains, shone so brightly in the sunset that you could see the silhouettes of people if you looked closely.
It was also the result of the servants constantly wiping it whenever they passed by.
The vines that wrapped around the outer walls like human blood vessels had already taken over half of the Annex as their territory.
The fresh and huge cotyledons swayed easily even in a small breeze.
Klaud, who was killing time by casually touching the leaves that asserted their presence by making a clattering sound every time they hit the wall, frowned at the encroaching darkness.
The next day.
Early in the morning, while Yuan was out following the procession to fetch water, Eddie Lev burst into the Mansion.