CH 1

Grand Duchess Trovica is weak.

If you were a resident of Ronta, chances were that you’ve probably heard of it at least once.

The only grand duchess of the empire is weak, while the duke’s worries were skyrocketing.

“Cough, cough!”

“Oh goodness, Grand Duchess! I’ve told you that you have to drink the water slowly!”

My body is so weak that I can’t even say anything to the maid who dares to cause a ruckus.

After my marriage with the Grand Duke, my body, which was still weak, was always causing problems, and the only people I could rely on in this spacious mansion were the maids.

“Ugh, this heat is seriously too much. Your Highness, you can’t just have a glass of water for the whole day. What would you like to eat?”

“I can, I can eat…”

“Sure.”

Annie, her personal maid, whispered something to the other maid and giggled.

Soon after that, I heard the sound of another maid carrying a tray she had brought in from outside into the bedroom.

No, no way!

Adrienne cried out desperately in her heart, but she couldn’t make a sound.

The reason being the fact that she was a noble among nobles who was not in any position to lose her face over food.

Annie, who knew this, comforted her while giving her a sweet smile.

“I worked really hard to make it, but Your Highness doesn’t even have the strength to lift her spoon, what are we going to do?”

“Even if it’s just plain soup, as long as you bring it…”

“That’s not possible, Grand Duchess. You threw up all over the clothes and blankets that you were wearing last time. Do you know how hard it was for the people in the laundry room?”

But, that’s your job.

I didn’t even change my clothes, which were meant to be changed twice a day, for over a week.

Furthermore, the only reason I couldn’t keep the soup down in the first place was because it was ridiculously salty and mixed in with something grainy, like sand that made my tongue tingle.

Besides, as Annie said, Adrienne was now in a state of overexertion just by holding the spoon for such a long time.

The maid who was supposed to feed her and wipe her mouth merely stood with her arms crossed and looked at her with an expression that told her to hurry up and eat quicker, but she was so nervous that she couldn’t chew the food properly.

“Grand Duchess—”

Less than a minute after the maid took the tray away, the Duke’s aide, Jimsker, came in after a knock.

Adrienne’s face lit up immediately.

“Your Highness, this is a gift from the Grand Duke.”

“Th-This is?”

The servants who followed him then brought in several gift boxes to the bedroom

But compared to gifts, Adrienne wanted to see her husband’s face even more.

They had already been married for two years.

Her husband who had taken the title of the Emperor’s secretary, was called up to take care of the east, west, north and south borders, taking care of both small and large affairs on behalf of the Emperor, so they were not able to enjoy their time as newlyweds.

Adrienne was proud of him, but at the same time, she was also lonely.

“He has returned to the capital, but had to enter the palace immediately at the Emperor’s command…”

Jimsker, who was familiar with the couple’s situation, said with an awkward expression.

“The house…cough. Can he not even stop by for a minute?”

“But there is also a meeting right after his audience with the Emperor is over…”

Jimsker took a slow look at Adrienne who was young and beautiful, but was extremely ill.

The Grand Duchess sat, leaning against the head of the bed in pajamas, which by aristocratic standards, was ‘akin to wearing nothing at all’.

The mistress of this mansion, who should be dressed elegantly and greet him in the parlour of the Grand Duke, which was as luxurious as the Imperial Palace.

The illness was so severe that it was impossible for her to carry out such etiquette.

“I will try to persuade him to stay in the capital for a day or so before we leave again.”

Jimsker had a sad expression on his face as he told her.

“Cough. I beg of you, Sir Jimsker.”

Adrienne quickly covered her mouth with a handkerchief.

As the cold air entered the room, she suddenly started coughing.

Shortly after that, Jimsker left the bedroom, as if he was driven out by the butlers and maids.

Fearing that Adrienne would say something nonsensical, the servants hastily showed him out.

The Grand Duke’s residence suddenly became busy.

The reason being that the Grand Duke, Novian Trovica, who had gone to inspect the northern estates, was about to come back.

[ / / / ]

“Hey, I didn’t mean to wake you up.”

“When did you arrive? I asked you to wake me up if you ever came back…”

“I haven’t been here for a while.”

Novian returned to the mansion at dawn.

Adrienne, who did not fall asleep until midnight, could not overcome her drowsiness and after a long time, finally fell into a deep sleep.

Novian’s friendly blue eyes stared at her.

As soon as Adrienne got up, he scooped her into his arms.

It was a nostalgic smell. The cigar he smokes. The scent of something that was freshly washed with rosemary soap.

“I missed you, Noah.”

“So did I.”

He hugged Adrienne as she embraced him, and whispered.

“I missed you too.”

“Thank you for the gift as well. So often, cough. You don’t have to.”

“I would pick the stars from the sky just to see you. If I don’t even give you presents, you might forget about me.”

Novian smiles sweetly.

“Ah…”

He had a rather sensitive and cold appearance, but when he smiled, he was so beautiful that the area around him started sparkling.

Adrienne looked at his face while she was in his spacious and firm arms.

They haven’t even finished the first night of their wedding yet two years had already passed.

However, she still had that affectionate feeling from when she was still young.

“The servants are all very worried about you. Are you taking all the medicine that Piretta sends you, and the ones that I send you?”

“O-Of course.”

It was very hard for her to swallow the drug every time.

I couldn’t even do a single thing on my own, so I had turned to the maids for help. In the end, I, the mistress of this huge mansion, looked at him and…

“Even though I always tell you, you don’t need to worry about anything.”

“…But I can’t just lie here like this forever.”

The position of the Grand Duchess was a position comparable to that of the Imperial Princess. As the wife of someone like Novian, it was he duty to participate in social gatherings, big or small, and socialise with the empress and princess.

“Well anyways, everyone in the Empire knows that you have a weak body.”

“People are more forgiving than you think, Adrienne.” Novian whispered, stroking her face with his long, delicate hands.

“Are they really?”

Even the maids, who are supposed to serve me as their master right now, treat me like a useless person.

If you were to leave tomorrow, they would raise their lowered heads and spout all sorts of sarcastic remarks about me, the Grand Duchess.

I have no choice but to rely on them, who were all sent by the Emperor himself, so I can’t even say anything…

‘The people outside the mansion couldn’t possibly be so kind and forgiving of me.’

Over the past two years in which her health was deteriorating, she had become endlessly pessimistic and lethargic.

Although she was weak in the past, there was still no problem with her walking or writing.

Although she got tired easily, she often danced at the ball.

Seeing her depressed expression, Novian was silent for a moment before opening his mouth.

“If anyone bothers you, no matter who they are, I’ll decapitate them.” He whispered lowly.

Adrienne’s body stiffened at his cold voice.

After releasing the cold tension in the air, she nestled herself back into her husband’s arms and closed her eyes quietly.

‘I wish I could somehow do something to help you.’

I can’t do my part because of my weak body, I can’t even win the hearts of the people here in the mansion…

Her status as the Grand Duchess was grand, but in reality, her weak mentality was worsened with her weak body.

Compared to the love he gave her, he received too little from her.

Other couples would make love passionately after they had been separated for a long time, but they couldn’t do anything without the help of others since she couldn’t even get up or sit down by herself.

Anyhow, it was very miserable.

Novian would give her a warm hug, give her anything that he thought would suit her, even if he was called to various places to act on behalf of the emperor, if he found a good medication, he would send it to her at any cost.

The perfect husband.

Novian Trovica was that sort of man.

So she couldn’t say anything.

How could she say that she was being bullied by the maids, who were far below in status to her, whose only job to do at home is to lie down, eat, and sleep?

It is a disgrace, for the aristocracy that looks down on people, especially the commoners.

What would happen if Novian knew she was such an insignificant person?

What if he witnessed it with his own eyes?

As he had told her, the heads of the maids and butlers would be cut off, and at the same time, Adrienne’s last strand of pride which she had so carefully hidden, would also be cut off.

‘Let’s start with the body.’

Her weakened mentality was the result of her emaciated body.

Once she regains her health, takes care of the household chores he entrusts her with, and gets her assigned tasks from Novian, who had taken over her share of the work…

Just thinking about it made Adrienne feel a little better.

The pleasant voice of Novian filled her ears up until she closed her eyes to sleep.

He was singing a familiar lullaby.

Three baby ducklings. The lullaby that the children of her hometown, East Piretta, grew up listening to.

“I don’t want to sleep…”

He would no longer be there when morning came.

Several months could pass by before they met again.

Without him, no one would be her companion.

[ / / / ]

The servants of the Grand Duke Trovica’s residence trembled as they ran through the vast mansion.

“Hurry! Find the doctor!”

“Heavens!”

“Contact the Piretta Duchy!”

Grand Duchess Adrienne, who had been living like a ghost in her bedroom on the second floor, was in critical condition.

Unlike before, the severe seizures showed no signs of stopping. Even the faces of the maids who had been neglecting her the whole time turned deathly pale with fright, almost confining the doctor who was sleeping into her bedroom.

“Your Highness…!”

It had been two months since the Grand Duke had left the mansion.

On a night when the early winter was fast approaching and the first snow had already piled up to their knees.

“No…vian…”

“Quickly, check her pulse!”

The Grand Duchess’ maid, Annie, began to push the doctor into the room.

The Grand Duchess was already half way out of bed.

“Cough!”

Large droplets of blood spilled onto the carpet.

The servants who had gathered together, screamed.

The trembling doctor quickly took the medicine from his pocket and handed it to Annie.

“Quickly, make sure she swallows it!”

Annie and the other maids grabbed Adrienne’s blood-stained body and gave her a huge pill.

The maid almost spilled the water out of her mouth whilst holding on to Adrienne, who couldn’t swallow it properly because the medicine was too big.

Cough, cough. Cough!

Adrienne, who was struggling with the pain as if she was drowning, inhaled air desperately with her whole body, as if surfacing for air.

Those who thought that her seizures had started again held onto her tightly, as if they were pulling Adrienne deeper into the sea to drown.

‘This is so frustrating…!’

She wanted to get rid of all these people’s hands!

‘Just let me go! I want to stop drowning in all this water!’

Adrienne struggled for a while, but like a lie, she finally broke free.

‘Ah, finally…!’

But Adrienne could no longer move anymore.

She opened her eyes and couldn’t see anything, she listened carefully but could not hear any noises.

I didn’t have anything in my head, like an empty white box.

“Save me…!”

Save me, save me. Save me!

When she opened her mouth, no sound came out of it. Then, when she thought about the white box which was not in her head, but her, Adrienne vaguely realised it.

‘I’ died.