Chapter 9 (Part 7)

“Ahh! Don’t come near! Don’t come near! Please… Stay away!”

“Your Holiness, wake up! It’s a dream.”

Aens shook Rybid’s body to wake him, and Rybid screamed.

“Your Holiness!”

Rybid screamed once more and sat up.

“It was a terrible nightmare.”

Rybid was plagued by terrible nightmares every day without fail.

Aens, with a worried heart, helped Rybid lean against the bed frame. He hadn’t slept properly, and dark circles formed under his eyes.

His once lustrous black hair had become dull. Aens was concerned about Rybid, who kept having nightmares.

While he seemed fine when asleep, he would suddenly scream and wake up. It appeared as if he had slept well, but in reality, he hadn’t.

“Are you alright, Your Holiness?”

“Aens…”

Rybid spoke, trembling with anxiety.

“The dream was too terrible.”

“You must return to the Holy Kingdom immediately!”

“I must take her with me. Then maybe I can escape this nightmare. She’s Rosaline’s daughter, after all.”

Rybid spoke to Aens, his eyebrows drooping.

“Aens… Please bring her to me. I beg you… I miss her so much.”

Plagued by relentless torment in his dreams, Rybid continued to show signs of anxiety. He had begun biting his nails, leaving his fingertips perpetually bleeding.

“Aens… Did you get the sleeping pills?”

“Yes.”

Aens handed the hard-to-find sleeping pills to Rybid.

“If I take this, I won’t have nightmares, right?”

“They say it knocks you out instantly.”

Aens poured water into a cup and handed it to Rybid along with the sleeping pills.

“If I endure a little longer, I can take her back to the Holy Kingdom… And this nightmare too…”

Rybid’s hands trembled once more.

“The charred corpse denied the existence of God while shedding tears of blood. So I told it to pray. But it said there was no peace in its prayers, burned everything, and bit me. But as soon as Lia appeared, the corpse that was biting me disappeared. And when she vanished, the corpse crawled out of the ground and bit me again!”

“Your Holiness.”

“Today, the man tormenting me in the dream said his name was Herssen. He told me to feel the life he lived. In the dream, I lived Herssen’s life, and I killed him. But why does it feel like Herssen is me? I didn’t want to die or kill… Is Herssen me… No, am I Herssen? Is Herssen me? Are we both the same person?”

Rybid mumbled in fear for a while before collapsing.

Aens laid him straight on the bed and covered him with a blanket.

Rybid’s nightmares continued after witnessing the monster in the capital. Even in his dreams, a man named Hersen tormented him.

What could be the reason for such persistent nightmares? They needed to take Yuliana and return to the Holy Kingdom with Rybid quickly. Otherwise… Aens feared Rybid’s mind might break. With no heir yet born, losing Rybid would be the worst-case scenario.

“I will ensure that we return to the Holy Kingdom with Lady Yuliana soon. I hope this time you won’t be tormented by nightmares… Agathaine, please help us.”

Rybid’s breathing became even. Confirming he was asleep, Aens began planning to take Yuliana.

Yuliana had become the fiancée of Duke Rockbellion. Naturally, the hidden shadows of the Duke’s family were likely protecting her.

Attempting to take her carelessly would surely lead to trouble. They needed to bypass the impenetrable defenses to reach Yuliana.

Fortunately, the secret map provided by Princess Ophelia revealed all the secret passage entrances and exits within the castle.

“Thanks to Princess Ophelia, things seem to be going well… But we must still be cautious.”

Aens wrote a letter and sent it to the Loengrin estate.

The letter was promptly delivered to Yuliana.

* * *

Upon receiving the letter, Yuliana frowned immediately.

“It was sent from Pope Rybid of the Holy Kingdom.”

Yuliana read the letter. It expressed a desire to have tea before returning to the Holy Kingdom.

It also included an apology for past actions and hurtful words towards Anthus and congratulated her on her engagement to him.

“That’s typical of perpetrators… Do they think it’s over just because they apologize and send a letter like this? The more I think about it, the angrier I get.”

“Young Lady, please calm down. It’s not good for the baby.”

“I know. But just reading the letter makes my anger rise.”

Perpetrators might think it’s over after apologizing, but victims continue to remember and can’t erase the unpleasant feelings. They seemed oblivious to the fact that the reason they could live peacefully was because the hurt person was kind. The self-delusion of feeling saved by a single word of forgiveness and living like a victor was infuriating.

“How shameless. I asked them not to use pet names and told them not to harass my fiancé, but they still did. And now they send this unilateral apology just to ease their own minds, mocking me and the Duke.”

“Young Lady, it would be best not to meet them.”

Luda and Butler Leijin, who had brought the letter, nodded in agreement with Yuliana’s words.

“Young Lady, just burn the letter.”

“No, I should at least write a reply.”

Luda nodded and prepared the necessary stationery, quill, and ink.

“Those who hurt others don’t know. The reason they could live peacefully after hurting someone is because the person they hurt was a kind person.”

Yuliana hadn’t forgotten how Rybid had made Anthus cry and suffer. But Anthus had comforted her, saying it was okay, and had let it go.

“The Duke is so gentle and kind-hearted that he just resolves issues amicably… But Pope Rybid pushed too far.”

Leijin and Luda flinched at Yuliana’s serious remark about Anthus being gentle-hearted, but they chose not to comment. They had realized by now that Anthus turned into a gentle man in front of Yuliana.

“To think they would stress a young lady in the early stages of pregnancy. I really want to send all those Holy Kingdom people to heaven.”

Luda, who would normally say ‘kill them,’ was trying to speak more nicely for Yuliana’s sake.

“You have to prepare for your wedding, so please don’t worry about those Holy Kingdom people who are like common bugs crawling on the street.”

“Okay.”

“Young Lady, should I bring more peaches? I’m so thankful you don’t have morning sickness.”

“I… It’s my wedding, but is it okay to not prepare and just eat, sleep, and play every day like this?”

“Of course! You must be careful in the early stages!”

The Rockbellion and Loengrin families decided to hold the wedding quickly before Yuliana’s belly showed. Anthus was busier than ever, taking on Yuliana’s share of the work.

“I hope everything goes smoothly, and the baby is born without any issues.”

Yuliana placed her hand on her flat belly, smiling more happily than anyone else in the world.

But receiving Rybid’s letter made her feel uneasy. It was strange that such a shameless person suddenly wanted to apologize and meet. He was not someone who would apologize.

“As long as I don’t meet him, there shouldn’t be any problems.”

“Understood.”

Thinking there would be no problem, Yuliana wrote a reply to Rybid and handed it to Leijin.

* * *

Anthus was suspicious of how Aens had obtained the sleeping pill ‘Gentleman of the Night.’ While it was a necessary sleeping aid for those suffering from insomnia, its effectiveness was so great that it had become a banned substance due to frequent abuse.

The most common misuse case was ‘kidnapping.’ Anthus instructed the shadows to keep a close watch on them.

According to the report, Rybid and Aens have not stepped out of the palace where they are staying.

The fact that Rybid was quieter than expected was more unsettling than reassuring. Until the day he left for the Holy Kingdom, the tension could not be eased.

“Pope Rybid has decided to return to the Holy Kingdom the day after he bestows blessings at Monica’s birthday banquet.”

“There is a bit of unease.”

“Indeed. It’s too quiet. But, Duke Anthus… How long has it been since the engagement that you’re already preparing for the wedding? Wasn’t Young Lord Louis supposed to go first?”

Cloud caught the peculiar excitement in Anthus’s expression at the mention of the wedding.

“Lia is expecting a child.”

“To think you would cause a stir just to hasten the marriage… Your decisiveness is remarkable.”

“The child came despite our precautions. Please refrain from saying it was an accident.”

Cloud congratulated Anthus with a joyful face.

“Anyway, congratulations. If it’s a daughter, let’s have her betrothed to our Crown Prince.”

“I absolutely refuse.”

“What does Rockbellion think of the Imperial Family? Others are desperate to form ties with us.”

“If it’s a daughter, I’ll keep her by my side for life. And it could be a son.”

“Hahaha. Could it be that your daughter might fall for our Ian and chase after him?”

“I don’t even want to imagine that, Your Majesty.”

Cloud did not hide his disappointment at Anthus’s firm refusal.

“We don’t know if it will be a son or a daughter… Let’s save that conversation for after the child is born. Are you planning to attend Monica’s birthday banquet with Lady Yuliana? You should be cautious, especially in the early stages…”

“Yes, we plan to attend.”

“I think it would be better for her to stay at the Ducal residence, don’t you think?”

“She’s safest by my side.”

At the banquet, Anthus planned not to take his eyes off Yuliana or leave her side. Since he couldn’t follow her into the restroom, he decided to have Maid Luda, skilled in combat, accompany them.

“Do not look for me that day, Your Majesty.”

“Understood. We need to send Pope Rybid off quickly, so it will be brief. Anyway, congratulations on the marriage. I’ll send a gift later, so accept it. It would be nice if it were a daughter.”

Anthus frowned slightly at Cloud’s dark desire for a daughter not yet born, but Cloud was undeterred and kept repeating that it would be nice if it were a daughter.

“Your Majesty, it could be a son.”

“It could be a daughter.”

“I don’t want to arrange a betrothal for an unborn child.”

“Having a son is difficult. Look at me. Every day, Monica takes him away from me. To avoid ending up like me, you should have a daughter.”

“Please stop, Your Majesty.”

Anthus’s head began to ache. It seemed like a mistake to have confided the pregnancy to Cloud.