Chapter 17: Chapter 19

The owner of this thin voice was clearly Hestine.

I held my breath reflexively.

Then, I focused on the conversation I could hear through the crack in the open door.

“I’m…”

Hestine’s voice was trembling softly. It was like she was anxious and didn’t know what to do.

Berkian stood next to her as usual.

I thought it was really terrible. Now that I think about it, the two rich men of Duke Valkyr have never left Hestine’s side.

It’s like they are watching her.

Hestine could have been burdened by those two rich men, buts he showed no signs of discomfort at all.

Is it because they’re family?

It’s not so strange that Hestine is willing to do it because it’s the Valkyr family who treated her with all their heart.

“What should I do? My heart hurts so much.”

“Hestine.”

“I’m so lacking, that the village…….”

As Hestine confessed, she buried her face in Berkian’s arms.

Berkian only quietly patted Hestine on the back.

However, Berkian’s expression was colder than usual.

He was not a friendly person to others, but at least he acted affectionately to Hestine.

“You have to eat your heart out. You won’t be able to save everyone in the future.”

“Brother……”

“And this was an inevitable sacrifice. Don’t you agree?”

An inevitable sacrifice?

I couldn’t help but frown at the words.

He was talking as if he had intentionally abandoned Rohen.

Only then did Hestine get out of Berkian’s arms and wipe away her tears.

“I’m sorry… seeing that little kid broke my heart…….”

“As expected, you’re so nice.”

It was only after Hestine stopped crying that Berkian’s expression relaxed.

He stroked Hestine’s head and said;

“You just need to endure this time. With this sacrifice, people will know. How frightening a disaster is.”

Hestine nodded at Berkian’s cold and mean words.

“Yes… You’re right. But I can’t believe this was where Adelia-nim lived. I didn’t expect that.”

Hestine said in a tone that she was sorry and didn’t know what to do.

Then Berkian frowned and pressed.

“Do you still use honorifics to her? This is rather a good thing.”

We are able to teach that vicious woman the pain of loss.

“You can think of it as revenge for what she’s been doing to you.”

“But … Adelia-nim is….”

Hestine bowed his head at Berkian’s relentless words.

Berkian suppressed his irritation and clicked his tongue briefly.

“Didn’t I just tell you before? You should no longer use honorifics for that woman. you are a saint So, keep your authority.”

“Brother.”

“You’re not going to throw away your hard-earned power, are you?”

At Berkian’s stern voice, Hestine eventually responded as if she accepted it.

“Yes… I understand, brother.”

“Yeah. You’re a really good kid.”

When Berkian heard the definite answer, he erased his stern expression and smiled satisfactorily.

Squeak.

“Who is it?”

As the door opened, Berkian shouted at the sound of the hinge.

But no one answered his call.

Berkian looked around the room for a while and then closed the door.

Hiding in a narrow space between the wall, I let out the breath by lowering my hands that covered my mouth.

What the hell is he talking about?

In a different sense than when I saw Rohen’s disastrous situation, my heart began to beat violently.

It was a clear anger.

How dare you… How dare you make Rohen a scapegoat of power.

My tightly clenched fists trembled softly.

The fact that I had lost something precious to them made me unbearable.

First, I need to get out of here before I get caught…

It was almost instinctive behavior.

I hurriedly entered an empty room.

My heart was hot.

It was hard to tell if this was because of anger or something else.

“Ugh…”

But soon I realized that this was not just a feeling of anger.

I hurriedly untied my dress because of the burning sensation in my chest

It turned red.

In addition, there seemed to be a faint light coming out of it.

It was painful enough to make my head blank.

It hurts so much!

I didn’t know how to deal with the unknown pain.

Should I call the Grand Duke or turn to Cardinal Eustaf for help? Can they make this pain go away?

I walked to bed almost as if I was crawling.

At that moment, a blue lightning struck.

Lying in bed in cold sweat, I watched the white light flashing out of the window.

And soon, darkness came.

Someone constantly called me.

Who makes so much noise?

Don’t bother me. I’m so tired. I just want to sleep.

But the one who constantly called my name didn’t seem to know the word renunciation.

Yeah. I think it’s better to get up now.

A voice that was distinctly different from the voices I had ever heard woke me up.

I think I’ve heard this voice before…

Soon after, I was forced out of my dream.

“Adelia!”

“Gasp!”

I sprang up my upper body.

My whole body was soaked with fatigue as if I had died and survived.

As I turned my head blankly, the face of Grand Duke Hamilton caught my eye.

“What in the world is this?”

“That’s what I have to say. First, we have to get out of here. I’ll carry you on my back.”

“What? What does that mean?”

“The mansion is about to collapse.”

I had no choice but to be astonished by the explanation of the public.

“I’ll explain everything later. Get on my back.”

“Huh?”

I was forced to get on the back of the Grand Duke.

Actually, being carried by the Grand Duke is unavoidable since my body didn’t have any strength to move.

Even though I knew that, I couldn’t help feeling ashamed for some reason.

How old am I and I can’t believe I’m carried on his back…?

I was piggybacked by the Grand Duke and found numerous cracks in the walls of the mansion while trying to escape.

It was a mansion that was intact a while ago.

‘That’s not the only thing. It turned into an abandoned building that was left unattended for a long time.’

I could hardly even guess what happened.

Being carried by the Grand Duke, I was able to get out of the mansion safely.

“Your highness, Emily…”

It was the moment I was going to ask the Duke about Emily’s whereabouts.

The mansion, which had barely maintained its shape, began to collapse with a roar.

“Get away! If you make a mistake, you will be crushed by a rolling stone!”

In an instant the mansion collapsed.

I looked at the mansion, which had now become a pile of stones, with dismayed eyes.

“Lady!”

I hurried down from the Grand Duke’s back at the sound of the voice behind my back.

My legs are shaking.

But it wasn’t to the point where I couldn’t stand alone.

I tried hard to look at Emily pretending to be okay.

Emily was in the arms of Cardinal Eustaf.

“Lady! Heup…! I thought I was going to lose you too…. Huh!”

Emily burst into tears sadly.

Normally, crying would have soothed Emily, but now I couldn’t.

You thought you were going to lose me?

The shock came as if I had been hit on the head with a hammer.

Does she already know?

That the hometown where she was born and raised has already disappeared, and there is no one to wait for her.

Yeah. Emily was a brilliant kid, so she might have realized it unconsciously.

“Ha… How pathetic.”

I was so ashamed of myself for saying that everything would have been fine when she woke up.

I swallowed my saliva and slowly approached Emily.

Cardinal Eustaf put Emily down, struggling to escape from his arms.

Freely, Emily rushed to the width of my skirt like a lamb.

I stumbled for a moment, but I managed to balance and hug Emily.

“Sorry.”

“Hmm… I’m fine. So don’t make that expression. You’re going to stay with me forever!”

Emily left her whole weight to me.

I slowly opened my mouth, biting my lips hard.

“Of course. Of course. I will always be by your side.”

We hugged each other for a long time.

My body was extremely tired.

Knowing that I was struggling, the Grand Duke lifted Emily up as if he were picking up a carrot.

“Little girl, you’d better get in the carriage for a while.”

Emily’s face was filled with opposition.

The Grand Duke smiled and handed over Emily to Cardinal Eustaf.

“Can you stay with her?”

Cardinal Eustaf nodded at the request of the Grand Duke.

“Of course.”

“Lady!”

“Don’t worry. We just made a promise. I’ll be right there, so stay with the handsome priest for a moment.”

I mean Emily glanced at the cardinal Eustaf. Then she nodded as if he couldn’t help it.

I looked at Emily entering the carriage with cardinal Eustaf and turned to the Great Prince.

“What’s going on?”

When asked for an explanation, the Grand Duke opened his mouth with an expressionless face.

“A thunderbolt hit the mansion.”

“I saw that, too.”

Right before I lost my mind.

“And a strange phenomenon happened.”

strange phenomenon. It must have something to do with the mansion that looked like it had been neglected for 100 years.

After the lightning strike, cracks began to appear throughout the building. It was as if decades had passed in such a short time.”

“Time…”

There was one thing I could guess from hearing the explanation of the Grand Duke.

I thought of the strange phenomena that happened around me recently.

Everything had something to do with time.

What caused this strange phenomenon this time?

Obviously, I overheard Hestine’s and Berkian’s conversation, and I was angry and I was like….

“It will take a lot of work to restore the mansion.”

The Grand Duke’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts.

As he said, repairing the mansion was a problem. I had to build a new one altogether.

‘I’d rather move out.’

Living in a ruined village would not be good for Emily’s emotions.

“I don’t think I can keep my deal with your highness.”

“I see. I won’t be able to sleep here.”

I sighed.

I can’t believe it collapsed even before I could overcome the tragedy in the village and the shock of Hestine’s story.

“Oh, Adelia….”

“Hestine. No, I should call you Lady Valkyr now.”

“Please call me comfortably.”

Hestine lowered her head as if she had no face.

I looked down at Hestine like that and asked in a low voice.

“Do you have anything to say?”

“That! I was wondering if I could be of any help to Adelia.”