Chapter 47

Episode 47: I Choose My Destruction For Your Happiness

Raymond opened his closed eyes at the sound of footsteps.

Even in the dark, the sound of people’s footsteps and one faint but very nostalgic footstep, were mixed in his sensitive ears.

‘Chloe…!’

Raymond immediately recognized the owner of the footsteps. Her gait, as light as the feathers of a baby bird, was definitely hers.

squeak

The dark prison was lit up with a harsh sound of iron. Raymond frowned for a moment, then lifted his head.

“Ah… “

A groan-like sigh erupted from his teeth.

“Chloe… “

It was her. Fortunately, she didn’t die, but her frail neck was covered with white bandages.

“……!”

The moment he felt that their eyes met, her eyes widened and shook. The wandering eyes, unable to look at him, eventually fell to her toes.

When Raymond was about to say something to her, the man’s voice, which he had been ignoring the whole time, sneered down.

“It’s a terrible sight, Your Majesty. No, now you’re just a little brother.”

The owner of the voice was Raymond’s half-brother, Kailos Ludwig, who wanted to kill Raymond and become Emperor

Raymond thought he was a man who had no greed. Therefore, Raymond thought there was no need to keep him in check.

I never thought such a man would be so thorough and cleverly stab him in the back of his head. Since when did he hide his ambition in front of me and smile like that?

“Chloe was the bait to catch you.”

Bait. Raymond frowned as he couldn’t understand the words, but immediately had to clench his teeth at the pain he felt over his chapped skin.

“It’s like falling in love without realizing it.”

Tch, the sound of a tongue clicking rang through the dry prison.

“Didn’t you think it was strange? She was the perfect fit for your taste.”

Raymond slowly, very slowly, understood his half-brother’s words.

So Chloe Garnet is a being that he painstakingly crafted from scratch to catch Raymond. That lovely face, words, and gestures were all made to catch him.

“Well, it’s such a beautiful body that it makes you want to fall in love with her even though you know it’s strange.”

Kailos burst into laughter, as if it was funny. Raymond ignored his half-brother, who laughed at him to his heart’s content, and looked at Chloe Garnet, who was trembling behind him.

She was still staring down at her toes, unable to make eye contact. The soft-hearted woman was trembling behind his half-brother, unable to fully rejoice at the victory she had won.

A laugh came out.

What’s the matter with you? My silly girl. Why can’t you be happy or enjoy when you’ve given the man you love what he wanted.

“That’s a relief,”

said Raymond, with all his heart, in a tranquil voice,

“Because my brother won’t kill you alone.”

Her sorrowful red eyes contained him and shed tears.

I remember her crying for my half-brother when I visited Grand Duke Ludwig a long time ago. Now she is crying for me.

“Aren’t you mad at me?”

“If I’m not angry, it’s a lie. But what’s the use of it now?”

Looking at her endless tears, Raymond thought, Maybe a little bit, she opened her heart to me now.

“But you are still crying for me.”

A soft smile appeared on Raymond’s lips. Chloe had to squeeze her toes, trying to hold her staggering legs, as if to calm herself down.

“That’s enough,”

A hard voice cut the conversation between the two. Kailos took a step and blocked Raymond’s gaze at Chloe. Raymond’s eyebrows wriggled softly.

“Stop consoling yourself, little brother. She was a doll made for you from the beginning. These tears are nothing but cheap sympathy.”

What made him angry was that he chose only those words that were not pleasant to hear. Raymond clenched his teeth.

No, it’s not. Chloe is not a doll. She has her own will, even though you have kept her from expressing her feelings for a long time.

“Let’s go back, Chloe,”

Kailos, turning around, hugged Chloe around her shoulder. Raymond stared at her as she moved away.

Chloe, will you be happy after my death?

I really hope you will be happy.

Even though he is a man who trapped and trampled on your feelings, I hope you are happy with the person you love.

Don’t let my death, which I chose to protect you, be in vain.

* * *

His half-brother had been preparing for his downfall much earlier than Raymond could guess.

The nobles and the church, who had already turned their backs on Raymond, ignored his downfall, and Raymond Del Astaroth had to die on the charges of the crimes he had not committed.

At the moment of his death, Chloe Garnet was missing.

It was also fortunate.

I don’t want to see her cry again because she’s soft-hearted.

Just before his neck fell, Raymond thought of her. He thought of his child who looked like her.

Now that he had lost everything, he closed his eyes, thinking that it was fortunate that the two people, whom he had vowed to protect throughout his life, were safe.

Soon after, the flying iron split his skin.

Even though it had only been a few months, a scene that felt like a distant past was unfolding before his eyes.

A greenhouse in the Imperial Palace, surrounded by warm air.  In the midst of all the green color, Chloe, who was shining alone, was patting the child on the back and singing a cradle song.

‘If I climb up the clouds, there is the castle of angels. An angel in white is smiles at me. She dances with flowers and butterflies, sings a song of happiness, and when I wake up, my mother hugs me.  She whispers in a dreamy voice that she loves me….’

Estelle’s face, falling asleep softly to the gentle sound of the song, was so peaceful.

When Chloe, who had raised her head suddenly, met his eyes, she burst out laughing silently.

‘Ah….’

Raymond looked at her, her smiling face, at Estelle, who had fallen asleep in her arms for a long time.

I think it’s a scene that I won’t forget until the moment I die.

* * *

“Raymond! I heard a woman stayed in your bedroom that day. Is that true?”

Bang! He heard the sound of the door opening and the voice of a woman whom he did not miss very much. Raymond’s eyebrows frowned in displeasure while he was closing his eyes.

“I know you’re up! You just wiggled your eyebrows. Stop pretending to be asleep and get up, Raymond!”

Raymond, who had just thought it was a happy life, immediately corrected his thoughts. Having to remember this woman’s voice until the moment of his death, what a terrible life he has lived.

“Chloe Garnet, a woman sponsored by Grand Duke Ludwig? She made her first public appearance at the New Year’s ball the day before yesterday.”

It was a little strange, this was his unforgettable conversation.

“The rumor has already spread in the Imperial Palace that she stayed overnight in your bedroom!”

Raymond slowly raised his eyelids to the growing question. His eyes, which should have been closed forever, focused little by little and accepted the bright light.

Blink, blink.

I blinked a couple of times to focus my blurred vision, and a woman’s face, that I didn’t want to see again, came into it.

“Ugh…!”

Raymond let out a startled sigh for the first time in his life. Was it a….. nightmare?

“What’s the matter, Raymond? Why are you sweating like crazy?”

He moved and carefully touched his forehead confirming whether or not it was a nightmare. However, the touch felt on his forehead was as vivid as reality.

“I don’t think you have a fever……. Do you want me to call the Imperial doctor?”

“The Caroline Witch…….”

A clear voice came out of his slowly open lips. At the same time, the woman, who had been considered a nightmare, stared at him with widened eyes.

“Why, all of a sudden, are you picking a fight? Ray, is it so offensive that I found out a little about her?”

“…….”

Raymond was stunned and looked down at his palm. It was not a hand that was crushed and broken by harsh torture, but a hand that was kept clean. He carefully fumbled his face with his hand.

“I’m al…ive?”

“Raymond?”

“……!”

Daria’s voice could no longer be heard.  Raymond stood up and looked around in disbelief.

It was the bedroom of the Imperial Palace. A desolate bedroom with no trace of her and Estelle.….

Raymond, standing absent-mindedly, suddenly pulled Daria’s wrist hard.

“It hurts, Ray!”

“What did I do at the New Year’s ball?”

“Ray…?”

Daria frowned for a moment then pursed her lips and answered his question in earnest.

“At the New Year’s ball the day before yesterday, you brought a woman in here. The woman went back after spending the whole night.”

“Her name is…….”

“Chloe Garnet, a girl from the fallen branch of the Grand Duke of Ludwig.  There are rumors that she is an illegitimate child.”

“…….”

Raymond slowly released Daria’s wrist, then he trudged to the window. He leaned against the window sill with his thick palms and bowed his head.

Unbelievably, it was snowing outside the window.

‘No, it was definitely summer…….’

His fingertips were trembling, and he shook his head at once. A lot has already changed other than the seasons.

So Raymond Del Astaroth, he is now…… I’ve either traveled back in time or had a very long and vivid dream.

“No, it’s not a dream at all.’

Raymond had to admit it, he went against the clock. And of all things, he came back at the time he had spent the night with her.

“Damn it..”

Should I be happy or sad?

Chloe, who looked at him and cried endlessly, and he thought it was enough.

I didn’t know what to do. Why, of all things, after spending the night with her?