28 - The Bride of the Great Lord is a Warrior from Hell
Grand Duke's Bride is a Warrior from Hell 28
Reikart delivered a polite farewell and left the dining room.
Alisha, still reeling from the shock of not being able to go hunting now that she lived at the Tessen Estate, barely registered his words.
It wasn't until after drinking two cups of tea that she realized Reikart had said something unexpected.
'Make sure to lock your door before you sleep.'
It was a very random thing to say.
"He says the strangest things."
Baroness Langse, Connie, chuckled in agreement at Alisha's murmur.
"Indeed. He's such a stifled man. Very stifled."
As she spoke with a smile, a hint of anger seemed to seep from Connie's face.
Alisha couldn't understand why she was suddenly upset.
"Is that so..."
"It is! It's such a relief that you're so sincere, my Lady."
Alisha didn't quite understand Connie's words, but she brushed it off with a smile.
In any case, she would be staying at the Tessen Estate from today onward.
It was a time when darkness had settled deeply.
Unlike the outside, the Grand Duke's study was brightly lit.
The study, illuminated by vibrant Oil Lamps everywhere, was filled only with the sound of a quill pen.
The hand that was dipping the quill into the inkwell paused.
Reikart put down the quill and felt around the edge of the desk with his hand.
The quill, haphazardly stuck in the pen holder, couldn't bear its own weight and slipped out, rolling across the desk.
Thump.
The heavy chair was pushed back and fell over with a crash!
The slender candlestick, fixed to the edge of the desk to illuminate the large surface, teetered precariously.
As if hit by a strong wind, the candlelight seemed to shrink as if it would go out, then brightened again.
Reikart's hand, gripping the desk, tightened.
He strained, his bones protruding, but he couldn't hold on for long.
The elegant candlestick swayed again.
His solid body collided with the desk, which was carved with elegant designs.
Soon after, Reikart, who had barely been holding on, collapsed to the side.
Thud!
Reikart struggled to see the flickering candlelight.
His vision blurred instantly, and countless afterimages clouded his sight.
He exhaled a hot breath and contorted his eyes.
His mind went blank, and he was engulfed in a sensation of burning all over.
His throat was parched, as if it were on fire.
In contrast to the heat, as if he had been thrown into a pit of fire, his body grew cold.
Reikart, breathing heavily, clenched his fist.
His body convulsed as a sharp knife seemed to stab into the back of his head.
His clenched hand slowly unfurled, trembling.
Thin, sharp pains descended on his fingertips and toes.
Along with the pain of something gnawing at his empty mind, an unpleasant buzzing sound echoed.
The sound, directly reaching inside his head, was more annoying than anything and made him uncomfortable.
The moments of pain were always equally terrible.
But this time, it was particularly sudden.
It wasn't time yet.
The pain inflicted when the second Lua moon rose always came whenever it pleased.
But Lua hadn't risen yet.
Reikart trembled, his shoulders shaking from the scorching heat and contradictory cold that slammed into his entire body, and forced out a breath.
"Your Highness!"
Henrik called out from beyond the door.
He must have heard the sound of the fall and rushed over.
"...Get... away!"
Reikart barely managed to speak with a parched, cracked voice.
His throat was so dry that it felt like it would bleed.
He thought that if he said one more word in his fading consciousness, he would vomit blood.
He felt pathetic and miserable.
Each time, he was crushed by the pain, crawling on the floor, groaning in agony, and often contemplating death.
"Your Highness, please call me if you need me."
Henrik called out from outside the door, his voice full of concern.
"Everyone, get back...!"
Reikart forced himself to rise amidst the pain.
He drew the sleek dagger he wore at his waist and plunged it into his arm.
A surge of pain momentarily overwhelmed his trembling wrist.
When he pulled out the knife, instead of seeing blood pouring out, he saw the wound slowly healing.
He wasn't at all surprised by the unrealistic situation where the knife only caused a slight sting.
A body that repaired itself was commonplace for him.
Reikart used the dagger as a cane and stood up.
He needed to get back to his bedroom while he still had some sense of mind.
For some reason, the pain was returning particularly quickly this time.
To Reikart, intoxicated by pain, the distance from the study to his room felt impossibly far.
Unbeknownst to him, he kept muttering the worst curses he could think of.
Henrik or anyone else would have made a fuss if they had seen him, but Reikart stabbed the back of his hand twice with the dagger in the hallway in front of his bedroom.
The long hallway was irritating.
Anger flared at the burning pain in his throat.
In that pain, Reikart cursed and cursed again, without aiming at anyone.
Entering the bedroom, he threw his pain-wracked body onto the bed.
Reikart simply curled up, cursing, and endured the pain.
"...Damn it..."
Some of the previous Grand Dukes of Tessen had summoned all the doctors in the world to find a medicine to suppress their pain.
No medicine was effective during this time.
Neither poison nor tonic worked.
No matter how many pills he swallowed, it was just a waste of food.
Some recited prayers.
Some changed the prayers into curses and screamed.
Some smashed everything around them and injured themselves throughout the painful period.
But that method didn't last long.
Most of the time, the pain was too great to even have the strength to move.
Reikart only stabbed himself with a knife when necessary.
He resented his father, the late Emperor, who had passed down this bloodline, with all his soul, and regretted not assassinating him when he was alive.
He thought of the Emperor, who always doted on him as if he had committed a sin against him.
He writhed in pain, furious that the Emperor, who had no heir, had designated him as his successor.
He bit his lip, recalling how his brothers cherished him and how those who were not royalty looked down on him.
His lip tore and bled, but the wound quickly healed.
Should I just kill them all...?
He muttered the same mantra he always did during this time, unintelligibly.
One day passed as slowly as a year.
The thought of spending the next ten days in pain was daunting.
Yes, I should just kill them all.
Reikart groaned in pain, repeating the vow he would never carry out.
He hoped that the pain would subside and he could fall asleep from exhaustion.
Or he longed for the pain to get worse quickly so that he would pass out.
The man who vowed to kill everyone made sure that no one could come near him when he was in pain.
It was because he feared that he would harm innocent lives because his self-control would disappear when the pain was too severe.
It hurt, so he was angry, he resented everything in the world, and it was difficult to control himself in his rage.
It was a time when he wanted to cut everyone down with a sword just because they were people.
Reikart thrashed in pain, but he didn't allow anyone to come near him.
The agonizing time passed slowly, so slowly.
It rained from dawn.
It was a downpour.
It poured as if the sky had a hole in it.
The rain fell violently, as if Tessen was experiencing a rainy season.
Alisha woke up to the sound of rain accompanied by thunder and lightning.
The rainy morning was humid and cold.
She felt like she should tell them to turn on all the fireplaces in the house.
"It's cold."
Alisha drank the tea that Daisy brought her in quick succession.
As she grumbled about the cold, she suddenly remembered Reikart's words that she wouldn't be able to go for a walk.
She wondered if that was what he meant, but how could he have predicted such a downpour?
And Reikart had only told her to stay in the Tech House from tomorrow onward.
"My Lady."
The door to the dressing room opened, and Daisy came inside.
Daisy was carrying a large jewelry box in her arms.
Annie, who followed behind, was carrying bonnets with simple decorations.
Liz quickly set up raincoats and umbrellas that were similar in color to the bonnets.
Alisha was getting ready to go to Breguet House.
She had already put on the morning dress that she had decided on the night before.
Her hair was also done.
The three of them stopped Alisha as she was about to leave.
Daisy, Annie, and Liz acted as if the sky would fall if their Lady left the room without jewelry.
Alisha didn't dislike jewelry.
But on days like today, when the sky was dark and there were no special receptions, she felt like she didn't need to wear it.
When Alisha said that there was no one special to see today, the three of them looked serious and asked what she meant, since she would be seeing His Highness the Grand Duke.
"This one. This one. And this one."
Alisha picked out the ones that caught her eye from the jewelry box that Daisy opened.
They all seemed to have something to say, but she pretended not to notice.
Next, it was time to choose a bonnet.
Girls, it's raining outside.
Alisha didn't say that bonnets were for blocking sunlight.
She knew that if she said it, she would only see the three of them looking serious.
She roughly pointed to a dark-colored bonnet that seemed like it would block the rain well.
The right to choose the raincoat was shared by the three of them, not Alisha.
The three of them put the largest raincoat on Alisha.
They would even put an umbrella over her.
A little rain won't kill me!
Alisha grumbled inwardly and left the room.
The force of the downpour was even greater than the sound.
Despite the triple protection of the bonnet, raincoat, and umbrella, Alisha's cheeks were damp.
Annie and Liz tidied up the soaking wet umbrellas, and Daisy helped her take off the raincoat.
Connie helped Alisha untie her bonnet strings.
"My Lady."
Connie had come to greet her early in front of the entrance.
The woman with the cute impression carefully opened her lips as she took the rain-soaked bonnet.
"Has His Highness not woken up yet?"
"It seems you will have to go without seeing him today. His Highness is ill..."
Connie, who always handled her work and words so clearly, trailed off.
"The doctor?"
Alisha was surprised that Reikart Tessen could be sick.
He was a man who had been stabbed in the side by an enemy soldier and still went to battle the next day, earning him the nickname "Devil."
Once, he was ambushed and an arrow grazed his face, but later there wasn't a single mark, causing quite a stir.
"He has already been."
It was Henrik who answered.
"Is his condition serious?"
Connie, who had been unable to speak and hesitated, took the wet bonnet and stepped aside.
Henrik approached Alisha and said kindly.
"He is not doing well. He is asleep now. He is not used to being sick, so he doesn't allow anyone to be near him when he is ill. He becomes like a child when he is sick."
Henrik spoke indirectly, pretending to be criticizing his master.
The meaning was that it was impossible to have an audience with the Grand Duke today, and that since the Grand Duke was ill and in a bad mood, it would be difficult to have a meal here as well.
"Baron Langs must be having a hard time. He must be very sensitive when His Highness is ill."
"Don't even mention it. I am sorry that you came on such a bad day and we can't even offer you a cup of tea, Lady Alisha."
"You're not even giving me tea?"
Henrik lowered his face deeply at Alisha's words.
"I am sorry."
