Chapter 68

Maybe she got hurt. Please tell me she’s not dead.

His heart that had been pounding loudly started tightening. It couldn’t be. She was the woman he needed to be safely by his side without any worries. He couldn’t lose her again.

Then he saw her silver hair hidden behind the bushes. Her hair was messy and her eyes were swollen, but she wasn’t hurt. He sighed and spread his arms out, without any doubt that she would come and hug him.

Her pale blue eyes, which were shaking dangerously, met his and made him nervous. He couldn’t quite put a finger on it, but she wasn’t as relieved as he was. Like…….

But Kathleen stood up and approached him. Alexis thought he had just misunderstood and hugged her with crushing force. He vowed hundreds of times that he would never lose her again.

***

Kathleen was carried by Alexis and mounted on the horse. He seemed to think that Kathleen was shivering because she spent the night outside in thin clothes.

“Go to a bath as soon as we get back to the Duchy. You’ll feel better once you soak in hot water.”

He hugged her warmly from behind and the words he said were full of worry and unbelievably friendly.

If she hadn’t known, she would have thought that he was the savior who came to rescue her from danger.

Kathleen forced herself to nod her head.

She soon arrived with him at the duke’s residence. After Alexis got her off the horse, draped a coak on her shoulders, supported her and led her into the main building.

The servants who saw the ducal couple return in a mess rushed towards them.

“Oh my God, Madam. What is this…”

“Take the Duchess. She must be in shock, so prepare hot water, thick clothes and blankets.”

“Yes, Master!”

The maids began to move in perfect order. Kathleen turned away from Alexis, supported by Emily who ran to her side.

“Kathleen.”

Her footsteps stopped at the sound of his earnest voice. Then he approached and took both her hands.

“I want to be by your side, but the situation in the Imperial Palace hasn’t been sorted out yet, so I have to go out again right away after changing.”

“…….Yes. Alright.”

“I’ll be back soon.”

He lightly kissed her forehead and hurriedly ran up the stairs. Kathleen and Emily headed up the stairs opposite him.

“Madam, why is your ear like this?”

Emily asked, who was helping her out of the clothes stained with dirt and blood while the water was warming up.

“It must have been torn when the earring fell off.”

“It must have hurt a lot, but before it gets infected, I’ll call Dr. Cavel as soon as possible.”

“More than that, Emily, this.”

Kathleen held out one of her earrings that she had been carrying. The joints were broken, but the decoration was still intact.

“The earrings the Duke gave me. Do you know which designer it is?”

“Well. The owner told me to deliver it to Madam, so I brought it as it is, so I’m not sure.”

“……I see.”

The denial of wishing it wasn’t and the certainty that it couldn’t be, went back and forth alternately. Once she wrapped the earrings in a cloth and put them in a jewelry box, she took a dip in the warm water to erase her thoughts, but it was no use. Her body constantly trembled and she felt dizzy.

After taking a bath, Kathleen, who had her torn earlobe treated by Dr. Cavel, sent all the maids away including Emily. She waited until the sun went down then left her bedroom.

‘My powers are gone again.’

They showed no signs of weakening, but as soon as she arrived at the duke’s residence, she was unable to make even the smallest ice crystals again. Kathleen recalled that she had previously managed to create a little ice in the garden so she headed towards the garden.

She wandered through the serene garden and tried to summon her ice crystals but failed several times. But she continued, Kathleen did not give up.

When she reached the maze garden, she felt a faint chill in her hands, and as soon as she took a few steps towards the greenhouse, it vanished in an instant.

She went back into the maze garden, and a very thin layer of ice formed on her palms. But as soon as she came out and headed towards the greenhouse it disappeared again.

‘There’s a clue in the greenhouse.’

As she opened the domed greenhouse’s door and entered, a faint light shone from the wall. She remembered Alexis coming here with Luci before. Kathleen’s face hardened as she approached, wondering if they had gotten a night light and placed it there.

‘This……….’

Kathleen touched the gleaming stone with her trembling hands. The ones on the walls were different in size, color, and pattern, but they felt familiar.

There were some patterns similar to the earrings she had worn since he gave them to her as a gift, and some had the same color as the magic stone embedded in the carriage.

‘They were all magic stones.’

He surrounded her with magic stones. To prevent her from using her powers.

The facts that she had been trying to ignore turned into certainty, and came to stab her.

Alexis Walten made her powerless. Without noticing, he had her tied up so that she could not use the only ability she had.

Kathleen collapsed beneath the beautiful shining lights.

***

A few days later, news broke that the Empress had been imprisoned in the West Tower for assassinating the emperor. They said that the imperialists and escort knights who took part in the incident had been executed.

In the middle of the capital city of Meyer, and even inside the Imperial Palace, there was an atmosphere in which everyone held their breath and lowered their heads. It was no exception in the Duke of Walten’s residence, a collateral imperial family.

“Madam, I went out for a while yesterday and heard a rumor.”

Emily, who returned from carrying the running Luci, and handed him to the other maid, said anxiously.

“They said Count Hopewell disappeared suddenly. He didn’t go down to his estate, but he was gone without a trace. Could it be that he was involved in the assassination case?”

“Well. It’s something we don’t know yet.”

But Kathleen could tell intuitively. Even in her past life, Hopewell killed Walten and took the Duchy, and in this life he was clearly associated with the Empress.

He likely supported the military in an inconspicuous way.

“Madam, a person has come from the Imperial Palace.”

A commotion was heard outside the door, and another maid ran into the bedroom urgently and said.

“The master sent him, but the Crown Prince was injured and said that he stayed in the Imperial Palace longer.”

“His Highness?”

“Yes. All of the imperial doctors have been executed, so it will take longer to heal. Fortunately, he wasn’t seriously hurt, so he told you not to worry.”

She remembered that day when Alexis’ sword and clothes were all soaked in blood. The Crown Prince would not have accepted the Empress’ request, and Alexis would have helped Peter, so it was not difficult to deduce that a fierce battle had taken place in the Imperial Palace.

“It would be nice if I could call a priest.”

She thought to herself that it would have been a great help if Joseph was here too, so she muttered to herself. She was worried about Peter, who must have been shocked because she knew Peter’s personality who didn’t like conflicts.

“Yes. It would be nice if we could send that priest to heal His Highness.”

Emily said casually, tidying up the toys cluttered on the floor.

“What do you mean?”

A priest with healing powers was rare. Even in Delafos, the closest temple to Meyer, the only priests who could use healing power were Joseph and the High Priest. But, the Duke of Walten sending a priest?

“The person who came to visit from the countryside last time. No matter how much I think about it, he seemed like a priest. Right, Beth? You said he treated you.”

“That’s right. At that time, I cut my hand while helping to plant seedlings in the garden. He came out of the back door of the main building and saw me and treated me.”

Kathleen couldn’t understand what Emily and the maid were saying.

“Who came from the countryside? Have we ever had guests come to the duke’s residence?”

It was impossible that she, the hostess, would not know that a guest had come to the duke’s residence. Kathleen had never invited anyone, but she was not aware that anyone had come either.

Moreover, unless the Duke of Walten ordered to keep it silent, there was no way she would not know that a priest with healing powers came.

Is Alexis hiding another secret from me other than the Magic Stones?

Please. Kathleen thought, wishing that it wasn’t. Emily’s words stabbed her in the chest relentlessly.

“I don’t know because he didn’t say his name. Master called him and they talked for a while, and then he left.”

“What did that person look like?”

Her heart ached as if it had been wounded, so she could only ask that.

“Did he say where he came from?”

“I don’t know. I never met him. Beth, do you remember anything?”

The other maid tilted her head and retraced her memories.

“I couldn’t see his face well because his robe was hung low, but he had brown hair. His eyes were green. I asked if he was from a temple, and he said no. Oh, he said he came from a village called something, but I can’t remember.”

It was Joseph. Kathleen was sure.

The heart that she was forcibly appeasing, telling it to listen to Alexis first when he returns, shattered. She could barely put the teacup she was holding on the table as she felt that she would drop it on the floor.

“…… That person, after talking with the Duke, he just went back? He came to see the Duke, right?”

“Perhaps? He seemed like a wandering apprentice priest, but since the master donated a lot, he came to ask for personal support and was rejected. After he left, he came back and knocked on the back door of the main building for a long time, but the master said not to open it.”

Alexis Walten has not changed. He was as cold and arrogant as ever. The only difference was that he smiled in front of her and brutally hid his lies from behind.

– I trust you now, I will not try to harm him, nor will I stop him from meeting you.

He lied so brazenly and whispered sweet words because he had already driven Joseph away so that he could not meet her.

‘I shouldn’t have trusted him.’

How easy it must have been to win over the woman who had loved him from the beginning.

Kathleen gnawed her teeth at her wretched misery.

***