56
===
Count Domenico stopped breathing. Cesare added with a smile.
“Just a joke, Count.”
However, the undisguised murderous intent flickered in his blood-red eyes. Or rather, he deliberately revealed it.
Count Domenico recalled what had happened last night.
He had attended Archduke Erzeht's wedding yesterday and enjoyed the banquet until late. Just as he was about to return home, pleasantly drunk, a problem arose. The carriage that should have been waiting for him was gone.
As the Count looked around, a black carriage stopped in front of him. A giant knight stepped out of the carriage bearing the Grand Ducal family crest.
The man, whose face was half-covered in burn scars, looked down at Count Domenico with an expressionless face and said,
“I will escort you.”
The Count swallowed hard. His large physique and deep voice made him intimidating just by his presence.
“I’ll go on my own.”
“Please get in.”
He offered a weak resistance, but the knight immediately ignored him and opened the carriage door. The Count, feeling as though he would be forcibly shoved inside if he didn't comply, quietly got into the military vehicle.
The carriage set off in silence. The Count felt as though he was sobering up completely. He glanced at the knight sitting next to him.
The Grand Duke's knight stared straight ahead without a word. The Count endured the silence that pricked his skin like thorns, anxiously waiting to arrive at his mansion.
And when he finally arrived at his mansion, he hurriedly tried to get out of the carriage with a greeting.
“Thank you. Then I’ll be going now…”
“Count.”
The knight, with hands as large as platters, handed him a sealed envelope.
“His Highness the Grand Duke asked me to deliver this to you.”
Count Domenico, who had barely gotten out of the carriage, watched the military vehicle disappear into the distance, then slowly opened the envelope with trembling hands. A thick stack of paper slid out. As Count Domenico turned over each page, his eyes shook violently.
The documents contained a detailed account of how Cesare had dealt with Marquess Menegin and his son-in-law. The Count stopped breathing when he saw the sentence stating that Marquess Menegin had plucked out his remaining eye with his own hand.
Even if Marquess Menegin had committed a crime, this was crossing the line. If he was guilty, he should have been put on trial and made to pay for his sins.
But to eliminate political rivals in such a cruel way… As the Speaker of the Senate, who was supposed to mediate between the nobility and the Imperial Family, Count Domenico could not condone it.
He stayed up all night and rushed to the Erzeht Grand Duke Residence as soon as dawn broke. But when he actually sat face to face with Cesare, all the words he had wanted to say were stuck in his throat. Count Domenico muttered in a subdued voice.
“…What do you want?”
Why else would he show him information that could be used as the Grand Duke's weakness? It was proof that he could easily take his life.
He had never shown much interest in politics, so it was impossible to guess why he was suddenly eliminating his political rivals. What on earth was the Grand Duke thinking?
While Count Domenico was busy making all sorts of guesses in his head, Cesare silently gestured towards the table.
Another document was placed there. Instinctively sensing that it was related to him, Count Domenico tried to maintain his composure and began to read the document. However, his face grew paler as he turned the pages.
It contained a neatly organized record of Count Domenico's communication with Kalpen, enough to put him on the Guillotine.
The Count had committed an act against his conscience only once in his life. He had become a spy for Kalpen in order to save his wife, who had been suffering from a long illness.
As the war dragged on, Kalpen sought to incite internal strife by bribing the nobles of the Empire. Kalpen's side approached Count Domenico first, informing him that they had a medicine that could cure the Countess. It was a medicine that had been secretly passed down only in the Kalpen royal family.
Unable to ignore his only hope, Count Domenico eventually became a spy for Kalpen, for the sake of his beloved wife.
The Count stared blankly at the paper containing his actions. Cesare calmly drank the tea brought by the servant and said,
“You probably already know why I spared your life.”
King Kalpen, grieving over the death of his beloved youngest son on the battlefield, wanted Cesare to suffer the same pain. He plotted to frame a noblewoman whom the Grand Duke cherished and have her executed. He tried to encourage the nobles of Traon to carry out the plan, and Count Domenico was among them.
After receiving the order from King Kalpen, Count Domenico refused after much deliberation. Although he had been doing things he should not have done, he could not harm an innocent young woman.
The Kalpen medicine that his wife had been taking was also becoming less and less effective, which made it a little easier to decide to refuse. He was thinking of finding a skilled pharmacist in the Empire.
The Count refused the King's order and quit spying. He was prepared to pay the price, but fortunately, Cesare won a great victory and relations with Kalpen were severed.
Now that King Kalpen was dead, he thought his past would be quietly buried. He had vowed to dedicate the rest of his life to Traon, but…
Count Domenico, who had been silent for a long time, staring down at the documents, slowly opened his mouth.
“Do you want my cooperation?”
At his words, Cesare smiled pleasantly. He laughed softly as if he had heard a very interesting story, and Count Domenico was momentarily distracted, forgetting even the situation. The Grand Duke was that fascinating.
Cesare said with a smile in his voice.
“Now that I have a new mistress, I need a dog to guard the house, don’t I?”
It was an insulting remark, but Count Domenico could not offer any rebuttal. Cesare had given him a choice.
To die as a human, or to survive as a dog.
Cesare continued leisurely to the Count, who had stiffened.
“The Grand Duchess will be unveiling a new medicine soon.”
“…!”
Count Domenico's eyes widened at the word medicine. Cesare rested his chin on one hand and stared at the Count's face.
“It’s a great medicine. I have high expectations as well. But there’s one minor problem.”
“A minor problem…?”
“It’s a trivial problem compared to its efficacy, and it’s a shame to bury such a good medicine. So, how about you, as the Speaker of the Senate, protect the Grand Duchess?”
Cesare smiled, folding his long eyes.
“As a dog of the Erzeht Grand Duke Residence.”
He said he would be back soon, but it took Cesare longer than expected to return. Aileen ate breakfast alone, then glanced at the newspaper she had folded and placed far away.
She hesitated for a long time, but couldn't bring herself to unfold it again and got out of bed. She didn't want to be a lazy wife who lazed around in bed until midday on her first day of marriage.
But as soon as she got up, she stifled a scream and fell back onto the bed. She thought her body was getting better, but it wasn't at all. The moment she got up, her whole body felt like it was splitting apart.
Aileen lay on the bed for a while, then called a servant for help and barely managed to get up. She limped to the bathroom and soaked in a bathtub full of hot water, finally feeling alive again.
As she lay in the warm water, all sorts of thoughts she had been putting off came rushing in. She decided not to think about the first night. The more she thought about it, the more embarrassed and ashamed she felt, and the more she wanted to run away to her brick house. Instead, she thought of other things.
“……”
Aileen looked at the wedding ring on the fourth finger of her left hand. She had felt something strange from Cesare several times. The changed him was unfamiliar in many ways, but she thought it was all because of the war, and even his own brother, Leone, did not know the exact reason for the change.
Aileen's question grew stronger every time she looked at the wedding ring. How did the wedding ring that existed only in her diary become a reality? She hadn't thought about it in detail at the wedding because she was swept away by the situation, but the more she thought about it, the stranger it seemed.
‘Should I ask Cesare?’
But given his personality, if he was going to tell her, he would have told her already, and even if she asked, she wouldn't get an answer. She worried alone, but couldn't come to a conclusion even by the time she finished her bath.
After getting dressed and struggling out of the bedroom, she found Michele waiting in the drawing room.
“Lady Michele!”
“Congratulations on your marriage.”
She smiled brightly and congratulated Aileen on her marriage, then shared good news.
“His Highness the Grand Duke has granted permission to open the laboratory.”
It was so wonderful that it felt like a wedding gift. Aileen was so happy that she forgot about the pain for a moment, and Michele was pleased, but did not forget her duty.
“However, it is difficult to use the previous location. We are planning to build a new one within the Grand Duke's Residence, so how about visiting the laboratory sometime today?”
She said that she would have someone move the items from the laboratory, but advised her to take care of any important items herself.
She had to go there anyway to ask the innkeeper to sell the medicine, so she might as well go. It would also be nice to go to the laboratory and take a painkiller.
“Where is His Highness the Grand Duke?”
“He had an urgent matter and went to the Imperial Palace.”
Cesare had originally planned to go with her, but sent Michele instead. She had been expecting to spend the day together, so she felt a little lonely, but she swallowed it well without showing it.
So Aileen went to the inn with Michele. Originally, it would have ended as a peaceful outing, if they hadn't met someone unexpected.
Michele frowned deeply when she spotted a man loitering in front of the inn. She hid Aileen behind her and called out to the man.
“Count Domenico?”
The man flinched at Michele's voice and hurriedly turned around. He flinched when he saw Michele, and then was utterly shocked when he spotted Aileen.
Count Domenico asked back in a dazed voice.
“Why is the Grand Duchess here…?”
