The Villainess Captured The Grand Duke - Chapter 200

Chapter 200

The interior of the Duke’s mansion was extremely quiet. Unlike usual, everyone was holding their breath. In the midst of it all, Scheuer arranged flowers as if nothing were amiss. Holding one chamomile, she calmly opened her mouth.

“Where is the Duke? ”

At her question, Cali answered in surprise, as if someone had touched her.

“Oh, the letter hasn’t arrived yet! ”

“You sent the flowers, right? ”

“Of course. I made sure to watch until the hawk could no longer be seen in the sky.”

Cali nodded seriously.

As soon as she returned to the North, Scheuer had sent all the chamomiles she could find to the hunting squad.

The hawk from Naveed had gracefully disappeared with the bag of flowers just as it had when it brought the letter.

Since then, there has been no news. After hearing that he was injured, she waited, hoping he might return to the mansion, but she had yet to see even a strand of hair from the hunting squad. It would have been easier if she could at least see something. The complete lack of news only heightened her anxiety.

‘Right. They said he was injured. In the original story, he died, but this time he’s just injured, so it’ll be fine.’

As long as he’s alive. Nothing else matters; all she needed was for Raygrain to be safe. What if something had happened to him…

‘No! I shouldn’t think like this! ’

Scheuer lightly slapped her own cheeks with both hands. The soft sound of the impact made the maids jump. She then focused her eyes and vigorously made the flowers bloom.

‘No news is good news! It just means he’s busy.’

With letters arriving irregularly, there was no chance to ask if the flowers had arrived safely or about Raygrain’s condition after hearing he had been injured.

She would rather hear anything than nothing at all, but the hawk that had flown away didn’t return. Next to her, Cali tentatively began to speak.

“Um, Your Grace…”

“Uh, yeah.”

Unconsciously, she had bloomed an excessive number of flowers that now filled the desk. Scheuer smiled awkwardly as she sorted the flowers.

“What is it? ”

“There was a request from the palace asking if you could stay in the Central for a while.”

The letter she handed over contained a polite request from the Emperor asking if she could assist with the investigation regarding Silcaro. Since arriving in the North, she had been receiving constant inquiries about her opinions on Silcaro and his closest associates.

If she could communicate quickly with someone who knew most of the truth, the investigation would proceed much more smoothly.

However, Scheuer had only communicated through letters and hadn’t left the North.

“Could you just tell them I’ll respond from the North? ”

“Understood, Your Grace.”

Raygrain might return at any moment, injured. She hoped it wasn’t a serious injury, but just in case. She couldn’t afford to miss the golden opportunity. Cali fell silent at her resolute decision.

Watching this, Jess gently changed the subject with a voice as soft as if it would fly away in the wind.

“A letter has also arrived from Netri.”

“From the South? ”

The front of the letter Jess presented bore the name of Duke Netri.

“What? He didn’t even send a letter when I got married.”

Scheuer opened the letter roughly with a sulky face.

I’ve heard news from the palace. They say the agreement will be reestablished. If I had known that Silcaro was such a person, I would have dismissed him long ago. There’s also talk that the slate was forged, so perhaps there was a misunderstanding on our part. Let’s meet soon. [I’ll come to the north.]

Huh. It was an unexpectedly heartfelt message from Duke Netri, making her scoff. Scheuer smiled brightly and got up from her seat.

Striding towards the fireplace, she threw the letter from Duke Netri into the flames without hesitation. As she watched it turn to ash in the fire, Scheuer smiled brightly and asked,

“Are there more letters? ”

“No, there aren’t.”

Jess replied as if he expected that. Behind his voice, a horn sounded. In an instant, Scheuer’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“The hunting party… has returned.”

Raygrain was back.

Cali, who had been anxious these past few days, answered brightly with a more relaxed voice.

“Your Grace, it seems they have finally returned… Your Grace? ”

Cali’s voice faded behind her. Scheuer dashed down the corridor.

‘So that’s why he didn’t send any letters; he was coming back soon!’

She had heard he was injured, but she needed to check if he had any new wounds. And she wanted to hold his face and kiss him, saying how much she missed him. She would also brag about everything she had done while he was away in the Central region.

She believed without a doubt that Raygrain would respond calmly, saying she had done well. Her breath quickened from running so fast.

Gasping for air, Scheuer burst through the lobby and threw open the front door, shouting,

“Ray…!”

But it wasn’t Raygrain. 

What she saw immediately was Leilda, covered in blood.

Next to him, Raygrain was hunched over, supported by Naveed, looking limp.

Thud. Scheuer’s heart raced.

Even at that moment, Leilda was clutching a chamomile flower in one hand, pressing it against Raygrain’s abdomen. The chamomile, which should have been white, was inexplicably stained red.

In disbelief at the scene before her, Scheuer stammered,

“Duke, is the Duke…?” ”

At her small voice, Raygrain lifted his head. Perhaps due to the heavy bleeding, his eyes were unfocused, barely holding onto consciousness. Seeing his bloodied state and the vacant expression in his eyes, she doubted whether he was even alive. In that moment, a surge of red liquid flowed from his abdomen, soaking Leilda’s hand.

Startled, Leilda pressed firmly on Raygrain’s stomach as if to stop the bleeding and urgently said,

“We need to get the Duke lying down. We can talk later.”

Behind her, Jess’s voice rang out as he rushed in late.

“Your Grace! ”

It felt as if Jess and the other attendants were moving in slow motion. Despite the chaotic situation, their conversation was not clearly heard.

Jess helped support Raygrain, who was on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion.

Raygrain lifted his head.

The amount of blood pooling on the floor was enough to make anyone watching feel pain, yet for some reason, his pale and sensitive face remained unchanged. It was as if he didn’t even feel the pain.

How everything unfolded afterward was a blur. She simply followed Cali’s guidance, and when she came to her senses, she found herself sitting next to Raygrain, who lay on the bed.

Leilda was pushing back her sweat-soaked hair and taking deep breaths. The blood, sticky and flowing from her head to her clothes, didn’t seem to belong to her. Sure enough, feeling Scheuer’s gaze, Leilda averted her eyes a bit nervously and replied,

“It’s not my blood.”

Scheuer quietly looked at her and asked,

“Is the Duke okay? ”

“I’m still breathing. If it weren’t for the healing flowers you sent midway, I would’ve really been done for.”

Though he tried to sound lighthearted, it only reinforced her belief that there was a significant reason he had suddenly sent a letter.

Even in this situation, Naveed, bolstered by Koa’s divine power, was already preparing to go back out. As Scheuer silently watched him, Leilda bit her lip, appearing troubled, and continued explaining.

“There were mutant monsters in the center of the black stone mining site. Unlike before, they didn’t die in one blow, even from my sword. I insisted we turn back when I got injured early on! ”

“And so, what about the Duke? ”

Scheuer blinked, repeating the question.

Flapping his hands irritably to shake off the blood, Leilda looked at Raygrain with eyes filled with guilt and said,

“They were too much for Blenga’s hunting squad to handle. If even one of them got out of the mining site, it felt like everyone would be wiped out, so I insisted on taking them all out before returning.

“And so, what about the Duke? ”

Scheuer’s desired answer was not this.

As if repeating the same words like a parrot, Leilda clenched the bloodied chamomile and replied,

“He’s still alive. That’s all I can say.”

Tears finally streamed down Scheuer’s cheeks. Was it because she had begged for him to just stay alive? So did they really only manage to keep him breathing?
Once the dam burst, her tears began to drip down, soaking her dress. 

Scheuer asked with a voice mixed with sobs,

“Are the flowers… the flowers no longer useful? ”

“Just maintaining life is a miracle,” Leilda replied.

What about the monsters? If the Duke went this far, then the monsters…”
Leilda wet her parched lips with her tongue and continued calmly, Well, the big ones have all been dealt with, but there are still a few small ones left. So that was why Naveed was preparing to go back out. Apologetic for delivering bad news, Leilda tried to comfort her with her words,

“But we did bring back the source of the black stones from the mining site. We can trace this to find out which monster caused this mess!”

But what good would that do? Her eyes were blurred from the tears that flowed continuously, making Raygrain’s face, lying still as if dead, appear hazy. 
Scheuer quickly wiped her tears with her hand. Even though it wouldn’t change anything, she still didn’t want to show Raygrain her sorrowful face. 

In the somber atmosphere, there was a soft knock at the door. 
Peyton entered, looking somewhat flustered, and carefully delivered his message.

“Um, Your Grace, I’m sorry, but they say someone from Netri has come.”

In an instant, the letter from the Netri Duke came to mind. He said he would visit the North, and he really did come. With wet eyes, Scheuer glared at Peyton and replied,

“Absolutely do not let him in. Drive him away from the North.”

“Come back. Even as shadow, even as a deam.” – Euripides