25 - Valentina's Paradise
2-3. Too Beautiful to Die Like This
It was the gray puppy, now called by the same name as him, that found the missing Edered. The restless creature shot out like an arrow as soon as it was released, and began to run quickly along the wooden fence surrounding the backyard, the same path the two had walked together earlier. Valentina, gathering her skirts, ran after it frantically, and the maid and escort knights also ran in horror.
"Woof woof, woof woof woof! Grrr, whine, whine."
The puppy reached a hollow waterway under the fence, glanced up at Valentina, flattened its belly, and squeezed its body through. Valentina, who followed panting, realized that this was the place where Edered had stopped to talk for a while.
She bit her lip and muttered.
"So, you finally went into 'Valentina's Heaven,' is that it?"
He seemed to have been eyeing a place to enter while strolling here. Valentina, unable to squeeze through the dog hole, took the escort knights and Pepe to open the locked gate.
Inside the fence, a field of purple Mandrako flowers stretched to the cliff, and as the sun slowly sank into the sea below the cliff, the puppy raised its head and howled like a wolf.
"You've come. Ah, you found me. I knew it... Dominella, forgive me for not being able to rise and pay my respects because I don't have the strength. Uh, Val... Edered, you mutt, go away, don't come to me anymore... You crybaby, how are you going to live in this harsh world if you keep sniveling like this..."
Seeing Edered, who had turned the entire castle upside down, lying leisurely buried in a pile of flowers, Valentina felt all her strength drain away. But seeing him waving his arm leisurely without even getting up, an uncontrollable rage surged up.
"What on earth are you doing here? I told you this place is strictly forbidden!"
"Oh my goodness, there's someone who committed such a big... sin! We should quickly make him kneel and cut off his... head."
His brazen response left the people who had come speechless. He chuckled and continued in a whispering voice.
"Indeed... 'Valentina's Heaven' is much more beautiful than I... imagined. I'm glad I came... It's much better to see it once than to hear about it a hundred times."
"Ah, so you secretly came out here alone?"
"Not at all, I came out here alone proudly. It's not like the generous... Duke Edered has locked me in the top... of a tower, and it's not like my legs are broken, is it?"
'That cheeky bastard! He's really determined to go all the way.'
Ricardo, who was standing behind, clenched his fist tightly. He knew it from the first time he saw him. That damn bastard must have a natural talent for irritating people. Even now, he's saying, 'You abandoned me, so you guys suffer a little too.'
Someone like that should be grabbed by the collar, dragged up, and beaten to teach him some manners. It's infuriating. Valentina's voice also gradually rises.
"You must have known we were looking for you, didn't you?"
"What... ability do I have to know that? You speak as if I've entrusted a witch's Crystal ball... Of course, if I had a Crystal ball, I wouldn't have been so stupid as to come to Florida on my own feet."
"You have a talent for long-windedness. You'd be better off becoming a jester than a squire."
"I suppose so. Then I might be able to live as long as your... jester."
"With so many thorns embedded in your words, how would you even get a job as a jester?"
"If you just say the word, I can remove the... thorns embedded in my words in the blink of an eye. Terra Petronia's specialty... Herring is a fish that's half flesh and half thorns, and I can fully demonstrate my skills in removing thorns that I've honed there... Especially since such a beautiful liege is making a special request."
Oh really, he's so annoyingly sarcastic. The vassals were about to explode with anger.
"By the way, could you please sit down and... talk? Actually, it's a little difficult for me to raise my voice..."
Ricardo, who could no longer bear it, rebuked loudly.
"What is this rude behavior! You have the energy to talk, but not the energy to get up! Get up from your seat immediately!"
"Lord Ricardo, how can I dare to beat you in rudeness, when you add comments to every word of your liege... If this were Terra Petronia, they would have started by hanging you upside down on the wall. Oh, right, this isn't Petronia..."
"You, you... what rude trickery!"
"Are you forgetful? I said earlier that I don't have the strength to... get up. Do you think I'm lying here sick... and joking around?"
"...Wh-what?"
"You forgot Dominella's order to send someone to me, and you also forgot what you just said, and you're pouring out insults like 'mouthing off' to the liege's guest, and you don't even have the basic common sense that that's rude? And you've been... safe until now, oh, Duke Valentina must be very generous..."
Edered's voice is almost fading away, but the barrage is like a waterfall, and the sharpness is like a whip. Ricardo was trembling with his hands as if he would kill him at any moment, but Valentina, on the contrary, felt relieved.
"But Duke Valentina, why were you looking for me? Did my... uncle order you to drag me away as soon as he arrived? That can't be. He'll be too busy catching up intimately after a long time..."
"......"
"Could it be... that he hasn't arrived yet...? You must be busy preparing to receive him, but you've dropped everything... and come to find me, so did you receive a message that he'll arrive later?"
"I don't have a Crystal ball, but your insight is worthy of being called clairvoyance. That's right. Duke Edgar seems to be arriving in a few days."
"Ah..."
The strength drains out of Edered's voice. On the other hand, Valentina's voice begins to become more and more agitated.
"Don't you think we'd be worried if you left without saying anything? If you're going out! Couldn't you at least tell me you're leaving!"
"Ah, you were worried, about me!"
He continued in a voice full of sarcasm.
"Of course, I also tried my best to tell Dominella that I was going for a walk, because I thought she might be worried. But the servants who were supposed to be sent didn't come, and the only vassals in the room were the Mouse Baron, the Spider Lord, and the Fly Soldiers, whose names I don't even know... and teaching them human language is quite difficult..."
"......?"
Valentina frowned and bent over more and more. The content of the words is becoming more and more scathing, but the voice is getting lower and lower, as if it's sinking into the ground.
"That said, I can't just wander around the castle looking for you without knowing where you are... Dominella! Your Majesty, Duke Valentina! If I had called out your name loudly and searched for you, what would have happened to the disgrace that would have befallen your esteemed Highness? Besides, if my uncle had caught me, I would have been stabbed and sent straight to the afterlife..."
"Stop. I understand. It's my fault that I didn't send a servant. I apologize. So stop talking and try to sit up..."
Valentina stopped him. Something seemed wrong with his condition. Now Edered's eyes were almost closed and he was not responding.
"Edered! What's wrong, are you sick?"
"......"
"Everyone, support Gongzi. We'll take him to his room."
But the moment Ricardo tried to support him, Edered, with his eyes closed, uttered in a low voice.
"Don't touch me, Lord Ricardo."
"It's Duke Valentina's order, Gongzi."
"Don't... touch..."
"Grrr, grrr, kyang!"
The puppy blocked him, bared its teeth, and began to whine, pulling on the sleeve of its lying-down former owner. At that moment, something popped out from between the folds of his clothes.
"What's this?"
What fell to the ground was a common dining dagger. The blade was stained with red blood. She hurriedly looked at the ground and saw a dark stain spreading on the dirt floor where he had been lying.
"What is this stain? E...dered?"
Valentina supported him and forcibly sat him up, then widened her eyes. She thought she smelled a strange bloody smell, but now she saw that his hands and forearms, which were covered in dirt, were also stained with blood. She hadn't noticed because he was wearing a black silk coat. She hurriedly lifted the hem of his coat and revealed that his white underwear was dyed bright red.
"Duke Edered! Come to your senses! Open your eyes! Edered!"
There was no answer, instead his body slumped into her arms. Valentina's vision turned white.
