Chapter 75

“You’re very thorough.”

“Haha, not really.”

As if the chilling look I saw earlier had been an illusion, Edwin laughed lightly.

“And Eli is here now, isn’t she. If anything were to happen to me, Eli would rule Lombard as duchess.”

“What? Don’t dump something that scary on me. If anything happens to you, Ed, I’m grabbing some decent territory in the south that very day and living comfortably.”

“…”

Edwin’s lower lip jutted out slightly.

He looked genuinely disappointed that I’d leave Lombard without hesitation.

It might be disrespectful to say, but he looked like a big black shepherd sulking at its owner, turning its eyes away while pretending not to hear.

That image made me laugh without meaning to.

“If you don’t want me to leave, then don’t get hurt, don’t die, and live a long time. Problem solved, right?”

“But still…”

“You don’t trust me?”

“If a tall and handsome man like the Sun God Leto shows up, it feels like you’d leave without regret.”

How long are you going to hold a grudge over that.

Thinking that his grudge was long enough to spin thread and weave cloth with, I clicked my tongue inwardly. Then it suddenly hit me that what Edwin said wasn’t entirely impossible.

‘We don’t actually have a reason to hold on to each other.’

Of course, the Pope wouldn’t allow a divorce, but if we ignored family honor, affairs or separation were entirely possible.

And I wasn’t exactly in a position where I had to care about Lombard’s honor.

‘It’d be different if there were a child.’

My thoughts naturally drifted elsewhere.

And the moment I reached the obvious conclusion of who would have to give birth to that child—

“I-It’s hot!”

My cheeks felt like they were on fire.

Even if I’d never had experience with romantic relationships because I was buried in work, it wasn’t like I was completely ignorant about how babies were made.

I’d never once imagined Edwin and me doing th-that kind of thing.

“N-No, it’s not hot, I think I’m just sleepy. I should go to bed.”

“Then I’ll escort you to your bedroom.”

“No! You must be tired too, Ed. It’s better to have someone else do it. Sir Gareth! Are you outside?!”

Thankfully, he seemed to be nearby.

Gareth entered the sitting room with a bewildered look.

Edwin strongly insisted that, for the sake of the duchess’s dignity, he should carry me himself rather than leave it to a knight. But I’d never had any dignity to begin with.

I appreciated his concern, but being held by him right now would be far more troubling.

“My lord is glaring at me like he wants to kill me.”

“Must be your imagination.”

“Well, if the lady who is far smarter than me thinks so…”

Having outsourced all thinking, Gareth lifted me with ease.

I really hoped my shattered ankle would heal quickly.

* * *

Meanwhile, left alone, Edwin stared uselessly at the door before slumping onto the sofa.

He retraced his words, wondering if he’d said something wrong, but nothing stood out. In the end, a familiar unease began gnawing at his mind.

‘Is she avoiding me again.’

According to Gareth’s report, Elicia had asked about Lombard’s elite guard today.

It wasn’t hard to guess the reason.

Anyone would want to avoid meeting again the men who, blinded by desire, handed an innocent woman over to the duchess.

‘Thinking back…’

Edwin lowered his gaze.

Losing the left arm that once wore the ring was the beginning of every disaster.

‘My lord, are you alright?!’

‘The monsters took your arm…!’

Lombard suffered large scale earthquakes on a regular basis.

The cause was certain special type monsters that burrowed underground, creating fractures in the crust.

The empire’s greatest engineers devised ways for the Northern Wall to withstand earthquakes, but there were limits. Regular inspections and repairs were unavoidable.

That day was no different.

Edwin deployed immediately after receiving reports of an earthquake, but the damage was far worse than expected. Nearly half of the Northern Wall collapsed.

Like his father before him, Edwin had no choice but to stake everything to protect Lombard.

The fierce battle lasted over twenty days.

Unable to eat properly, wash, or sleep, his stamina steadily reached its limit.

Edwin grew afraid. Not of death itself.

‘I’m afraid I’ll lose Elze because I can’t stop the monsters…’

The thought of Elze watching anxiously from the foot of the mountain drove him onward even as he was pushed to his limit.

He ultimately lost one arm to a monster’s ambush, but Edwin survived.

The contingency plans he’d prepared before inheriting the title proved effective. Reinforcements were dispatched from both the Holy City and the Capital, and neighboring territories surrounded the mountains to protect civilian areas.

While holy knights drove the monsters back completely, engineers began rebuilding the Northern Wall.

Only after seeing all this did Edwin finally relax.

The wound where his left arm had been torn away was already infected, and the excessive blood loss combined with his ruined body brought him down.

He hovered between life and death for days before waking.

The moment he regained consciousness, he asked about Elze’s safety.

By then, everything was already over.

Truly everything…

“I was so naive back then.”

He believed that if he became a strong ruler and upheld faith, his subordinates’ loyalty would last forever.

The truth he uncovered later was devastating.

His chief aide, Cedric, was Elicia’s secret lover. Completely enchanted by her, he willingly offered his lord’s severed arm.

He even used the family seal to mobilize elite troops.

He dragged Elze, the innocent and unknowing Elze, beneath the duchess’s feet and had her killed brutally.

After that, Edwin completely lost his mind.

He killed everyone involved. More painfully than Elze had suffered, savoring their screams as they begged for death while he butchered his enemies day after day.

Even with one arm lost, Edwin remained the strongest knight on the continent. No one could stop him.

The Lombard River ran red with blood.

But even after all his revenge, it wasn’t enough.

Consumed by inescapable guilt, Edwin cried out Elze’s name until he finally began to think of ways to bring her back.

He violated the Holy Church’s taboo.

And so he walked into the Northern Wall of his own accord.

“…Haa.”

Thinking of the elite troops of this life who had rebelled after falling into his trap, Edwin lifted his gaze.

How much time had passed. The dim light of dawn was breaking.

‘Get a grip. She’s by my side now.’

Under the same sky, she was sleeping soundly, dreaming of a new Lombard without a care in the world.

Then all he could do now was what was within his reach.

* * *

“Oh my goodness, what is this?!”

“Do you like it.”

Edwin pointed proudly at the mysterious structure set up in the middle of the garden.

If he had to describe it, it looked like a very small one person carriage with the roof and frame removed, leaving only a seat and base. It was an odd shape.

While I blinked in a daze, Edwin carried me outside with an eager expression.

“I heard you planned to inspect Bellamare’s streets today.”

“That’s true, but…”

“I prepared this hoping it would help Eli, even a little, given your ankle.”

Today I was supposed to meet Gibson and continue the discussion we couldn’t finish yesterday.

I excitedly agreed when someone suggested we inspect nearby areas as well.

I was so excited that I woke up at ten in the morning, practically the crack of dawn for me.

“Did you make this yourself, Ed?”

“I did borrow a craftsman’s hands for the detailed parts.”

“Really?!”

“Would you like to sit?”

Edwin carefully seated me into the carriage.

Then he placed my ankle on a cushioned support and secured it so it wouldn’t move.

“It’s smaller than a normal carriage so it can enter narrow alleys, and the wheels are lower so you can speak comfortably with the people.”

“…”

Edwin explained enthusiastically, but none of it reached my ears.

Faced with consideration I’d never even imagined, something inside my chest trembled silently.