Chapter 88

Chapter 88: Chapter 88

As he couldn’t stand it anymore, he drank melted opium, but he couldn’t remember how he had fallen asleep since then. He tried his best to recall what happened.

Kloud’s voice and Curtis’s glance. The feeling of his fever going down little by little. Cool serenity. Sleep coming on. The sense of walking in the air and the bottomless darkness.

Nowhere in his memory was Marianne. Nevertheless, he could imagine her expressions, eyes, and voice.

What if she entered the room the moment he was awake?

She must have had worried about him. With a sad expression, she would feel bitter and bite her lip, and her green eyes would be filled with resentment and affection.

Then she would’ve probably shouted at him like this: “Your Majesty, why didn’t you tell me anything until you ended up being in this sorry state? You promised to tell me anything honestly, right? If you had told me sooner, I could have helped you earlier. You are really stubborn!”

Her distinctive voice was vivid in his ears. Not content with that, she would have forced him to take medicine, lie down, and go to sleep. She would have waited by his side while he was sleeping. Without caring at all about others or complex political calculations, she would only wish he could sleep soundly, hoping to lessen his pain just a little bit.

How much courage would it take for her to do this? How good and sweet should she be for this?

Eckart made a bitter smile after he realized he was lost in such idle thoughts.

He gave up unconditional love and trust for a long time. His beautiful and vain faith that goodwill and affection would turn the impossible into the possible didn’t keep him.

So, he vowed that he would never rely on such fragile feelings again. He wanted to live by giving up all hope and human desires. While leading such a life, he wanted to keep his mother’s will to moderately follow the destiny of the Emperor, and hope to leave this world one day without any regrets.

But this woman was ruining everything too dangerously and too enchantingly.

He stroked her cheeks gently as she was asleep. His large hand that almost covered her face created a dark shade. While his tender hand moved along her facial lines, he recalled the fact that realities that were so heavy that he wanted to forget.

“Karl. Promise me you will survive no matter what happens.”

That was her mother’s desperate wish.

“Above all, I want you to have a happy family.”

That was the vain hope that those officials close to him had.

“Do you want Lennox, too?”

He still thought about the shadow of his father that he had not yet removed.

The more he got stuck in it, that would be his weakness. He would rely on it and believe.

He would be obsessed with it and hang on to it. He would give up more in order not to lose.

He was not sure if he had already reached that point.

He knew well about the symptoms of mysophobia that he had. It was a tower soaring toward the sky that he was afraid to dare to see from a distance. A lone divinity that was so far from the earth would be good not to obey the laws on it.

But all the things on the top were at the risk of falling so easily.

‘If I go any further here, it’ll be dangerous. It might be really irreversible for me…I think I had better let go of her at this point…’

Eckart quietly bit his lip. The flesh inside his mouth was mercilessly chewed.

At that moment, Marianne’s eyes opened. His whole shape was gradually reflected in her green eyes.

“…”

“…”

Silence fell on them as if time stopped. Their eyes were tangled intricately instead of questions and answers.

Eckart was stroking her cheeks when she opened her eyes. She blinked her big eyes and tried to look at his eyes and her cheeks.

Knock, knock!

They heard somebody knocking on the door. The door opened even before Eckart gave his permission.

“Sir, are they are sleeping…Oops! Your Excellency? Did you get up?”

While whispering, Kloud raised his voice a little more in a good mood.

Eckart pulled his hand away from her cheeks as naturally as possible and turned his eyes away from her. And then he grabbed the bedding as if to make up for his emptiness.

“Kloud, is there anybody else here?”

When Eckart raised his head to look around the room, Curtis, who was standing in the corner, opened one more curtain.

Sunlight penetrating the large window was shining into the room.

“… Curtis.”

Eckart called Curtis with a frustrated voice.

“I think I clearly told you when there were two in the room, you should let us know you’re here.”

“I thought there weren’t two. Sorry.”

Eckart wanted to rebuke him for his silly answer, but eventually shut up because he thought it wasn’t wrong. In the meantime, Marianne, who was looking up at him, gradually became more troubled.

He once again questioned Curtis with a serious expression.

“How long have you been here?”

“From last night…”

“… That’s enough.”

He didn’t need to ask more. He was a man with a sense of quick judgement.

He tried to tighten his left arm and raise his upper body. Then Marianne, who was just rolling her eyes blankly, got up awkwardly and helped him.

“Did you wake up, too?” Kloud approached the bed and asked.

“Oh, I just woke up..”

Marianne replied casually with her gaze fixed on Eckart.

“I came to tell you that the meal would be ready around noon, but I told them to hold it until further notice because you were sleeping.”

“Thank you. What time is it now?”

“Two o’clock.”

Marianne woke up completely, patting her stiff waist. She thought she managed to sleep in an uncomfortable position for long, but at the same time, she hoped Eckart had a good sleep if he woke up a minute ago. Of course, she was more curious about his sleep, not hers.

“What about the grand duke’s group?”

“In fact, that’s why I’m here to brief you that they just arrived at the entrance of the temple.”

Marianne was very excited by his good news.

“Wow! That’s why my eyes opened automatically. As you are physically uncomfortable, let me go out and meet them.”

Even before he raised the objection, let alone his consent, Marianne greeted him by holding her skirt slightly and left the room quickly.

She pulled the door latch hard. The wooden door was closed tightly.

“Whoo…”

She let out a heavy sigh, which was rare.

“… I thought your heart was bursting open.”

Only then did she touch her cheeks, blushing. She felt her cheeks still burning even though Ecart pulled his hand away from her cheeks a while ago. She knew how carefully he touched her cheeks, so she almost burst into laughter because of his tickling. If she had laughed, he would have noticed that she was awake a bit earlier than him.

“I wish I had been caught pretending to sleep and then asked him what the hell he was doing.”

She looked back at the door as if she missed his wistful gaze on her.

Although her previous life was ended by betrayal, she had the experience of loving somebody dearly in the past. That meant she knew better than anyone else about the tremendous change that would follow after someone wanted someone else.

And she knew through her gut feeling that it was a pretty good sign.

Marianne quickly started running, holding the hem of her red dress. She felt like flying when she walked along the hallway.

* * *

A long procession stopped at regular intervals in the temple courtyard. They were Milan’s guests who should have arrived two days earlier if they had stuck to the schedule.

Grand Duke Christopher, who was standing at the front, jumped off the horse.

Starting with him, the doors of the wagons lined up opened one by one. Duchess Lamont and Marquise Chester got off the wagon with the help of the maids.

Cordelli set foot on the ground after Beatrice. The grand duke and the two noblewomen were exchanging pleasantries with the cardinal who came out to greet them. But Cordelli didn’t pay attention to them and looked around.

She scanned the walls of the magnificent temple and sideways with a nervous expression. The temple, which reflected the afternoon sunlight, boasted its holy and majestic appearance, but she could not afford to enjoy its beauty.

“Lady Marianne, I hear that the great hall of the temple looks different depending on the sunlight. Did you know that?”

“Yes, I hear that it is shining brightly in the starlight even at night.”

“I’m so curious because I saw that only in a picture. I wonder how beautiful it is. I really hope the weather is good when we get there…”

That was the conversation Cordelli had with Marianne on their way to the Roshan Temple, expressing their strong wish to see the temple. Naturally, Cordelli might be captivated by the fascinating temple. When she arrived, however, Cordelli was eager to find her who must be somewhere in the temple.