CH 155

After meeting with the emperor, Ludwig headed to the room where the Marquis of Edinburgh was being treated.

He heard that the surgery had gone well and that he would recover within a few days. But when he got to the front of the room, Ludwig found the nurses running around in haste.

Through the crack in the door, he could see the back of the doctor examining the patient.

It didn’t look good.

He called one of the servants and asked.

Ludwig: “What happened? Didn’t the treatment go well?”

“T-that’s what I heard. But the Marquis’s fever rose a while ago… I-I’m not sure. All I know is the Marquis is in bad shape.”

Anyone could see that. Ludwig was about to answer back with irritation but held his tongue. 

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Instead of getting mad at the servant, he returned to the drawing room in the same building. He wasn’t stupid enough to interfere with a doctor who was busy caring for the patient to satisfy his curiosity.

His lieutenant asked.

“Your Grace, will you wait here until the Marquis comes to his senses?”

Ludwig: “We don’t know when he’ll wake up. I’m going to talk to the doctor, then go back.”

Fortunately (or unfortunately), he didn’t have to wait long.

Bang–!

Without a knock, the door swung open. How rude. Before Ludwig could comment, the servant spoke first.

“Y-Your Grace!”

Ludwig: “What?”

“The Marquis opened his eyes. By the way, he’s not in good condition… I–I think you should go see him anyway!”

If his condition was serious, they should have called another doctor. Why did they come here for Ludwig instead? Ludwig, puzzled, soon realized why.

The Marquis had called for him to leave his last will.

As soon as he realized that, he went out without a word.

The hallways were full of people running around. Some personnel even left the room altogether. It looked like they were trying to call someone else from the outside.

Marquis: “G-Grand Duke…”

The smell of blood and a faint voice greeted him as he entered the hospital room.

Ludwig: “Marquis.”

Ludwig stood by the bed. He could feel the energy of death.

Throughout his life, he witnessed countless dying creatures.

Although his medical knowledge was non-existent, his foreboding that one’s chance of survival was slim never failed.

Marquis: “I have something to tell you…”

Ludwig: “What is it?”

He didn’t even pretend to be sad. Looking at the unchanging expression on his face, Simon Edinburgh burst into laughter.

Marquis: “I pride myself on knowing anything about my daughter. I had complete control over her when I raised her…”

If he was talking about his daughter, it was Keira and Zeke’s birth mother.

Ludwig could only think of one reason someone on the verge of death was talking about his daughter out of the blue.

Marquis: “So I can assure you. My daughter couldn’t have flirted with another man without me finding out… K-Keira… She’s your biological daughter. If you don’t believe me… Someday, you will shed tears of blood.”

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At that moment, Ludwig felt strange. It felt like he’d heard the same thing in the past.

Ludwig: “Again, say it again.”

Marquis “You have to believe me…. Otherwise, one day… you will surely, surely regret it.”

As soon as he finished speaking, his eyelids fluttered closed. And that was it.

‘He’s dead.’

Although they were connected because he married her daughter, they didn’t have a close relationship.

Maybe that’s why Ludwig felt sorry rather than sad.

He prayed to the goddess for the dead for a while, then gestured to the doctor.

“Your Grace?”

Ludwig: “Check him.”

“Yes?”

He let out a quick breath and gulped. Leaving the confused doctor behind, he turned and stood up.

‘Shed tears of blood…’

Had he ever said the same thing before?

Of course, there were countless times when he claimed the innocence of his own daughter and Keira. However, it was the first time the Marquis had spoken so strongly, even mentioning tears of blood. 

But why did he have a sense of deja vu? It’s too uncomfortable to just dismiss it as a feeling.

Just when he was anxiously pondering about it…

Burst–!

“Grandfather!”

The door to the hospital room burst open, and a familiar person ran in–it was Keira. 

She briefly glanced at the atmosphere in the room and turned pale as if she had guessed the situation.

Ludwig grabbed Keira’s shoulder as she approached the bed, and she turned to him.

Keira: “Your Grace?”

Ludwig: “Don’t look. It is already too late.”

“…!”

Keira quickly understood the meaning of his words. Her body staggered for a moment, probably in shock.

Keira muttered, rubbing her forehead as if her head hurt.

Keira: “My god, even while the Count k*lled himself…”

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Ludwig: “The Count committed s*icide?”

Ludwig’s voice rose at the words that couldn’t be ignored.

Ludwig: “Are you talking about Count Weinberg?”

Keira: “Yes, I just found him. He bit his tongue in the cell.”

Ludwig: “Haa…”

Two people who bared their teeth when they ran into each other as mortal enemies died on the same day. It wasn’t ironic at all.

Ludwig: “I didn’t expect him to rush in with the idea of dying together…”

Keira: “But there’s something a little strange about it.”

Ludwig: “What do you mean?”

Keira: “Let’s talk about it somewhere else.”

Keira said so and shook his hand off her shoulder.

As she approached the bed, the nurse who noticed her presence looked back at her.

“Y-Your Ladyship.”

“…”

She looked worried she might be punished for failing to prevent his death.

Instead of scolding her, Keira quietly said.

Keira: “Take care of the body and send him back to the marquisate.”

“Yes? Y-yes, I will.”

She stared at his pale face and tightly closed eyes. Soon, a white cloth covered his pale face.

She prayed for the dead in her head. It was the bare minimum.

The funeral was held immediately. The Marquis of Edinburgh’s final resting place was at the cemetery where the remains of the nobles were buried. 

Because it was her grandfather’s funeral, Keira had no choice but to attend.

Ding, ding, ding–.

The bell rang to pray for the dead, and the coffin slowly descended.

Soon, people sprinkled flowers and soil over it. It was a ceremony to see the dead off for the last time.

Throughout the funeral, the atmosphere was rigid, not solemn, probably because the cause of death was not through battle or natural death.

Zeke muttered.

Zeke: “The atmosphere in the capital is terrible these days.”

Keira: “Because two high-ranking nobles have died.”

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One was murdered, and the other committed s*icide. The former was even stabbed in front of many people, so they couldn’t help but be shocked.

Zeke was also trying to act resolutely, but if one looked closely at his expression, they could quickly notice it was acting.

His grandfather was stabbed to death, but it was rather strange that he didn’t care.

After looking around for a moment, he continued.

Zeke: “By the way, it seems that no one from the Weinberg family came to pay their condolences?”

Keira: “How can they show their face? A person called the deputy head of their family had sent a letter.”

Zeke: “Did you read it?”

Keira: “No.”

A relative with a name Keira had never heard of was acting as the head of the household.

There was another reason why Cosette did not play that role– she was detained in her home for the crime of meeting a criminal without permission.

She made all sorts of excuses–she didn’t know it was impossible without permission to meet her uncle and that the guards didn’t stop her. It didn’t work.

Of course, since she was a very close relative to Count Weinberg, she would not have been able to avoid being questioned even if it had not happened.

Zeke: “Noonim, it’s your turn.”

Keira: “Okay.”

Keira tossed the lily, then scooped up the soil with the shovel and sprinkled it over the coffin.

Zeke was next. After he did the same, he returned to Keira’s side.

Zeke: “Noonim, I may be overthinking, but.”

Keira: “What is it?”

Zeke: “The fact that the woman had visited the Count before he committed s*icide. Shouldn’t they look at it as murder rather than s*idice?”

Keira: “It wasn’t that such an idea didn’t didn’t pass the investigators’ minds, but they ignored it. All I could do was bite my tongue. He didn’t have any signs of poisoning.”

Zeke: “Hmm… Maybe she verbally persuaded him to commit s*icide?”

It seemed the younger sibling had similar thoughts to his older sister.

Zeke: “It’s common sense that it’s impossible to visit a criminal without permission, right? There’s no way she didn’t know that.”

Keira: “I think so, too.”

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Zeke: “There must have been a reason to kill him, even if it would raise suspicion.”

Why would she kill an ally? There were a few possibilites.

Zeke: “She needed to shut his mouth.”

After looking around again, Zeke lowered his voice and said.

Zeke: “That’s what Noonim told me last time. About demons.”

Keira: “You thought she killed him for fear of revealing anything related to demons?”

Zeke: “Isn’t that right?”

Keira: “That’s the most likely situation.”

Keira’s eyes darkened.