I Became The Wife Of The Cursed Grand Duke
Grace
저주받은 대공의 아내가 되었다 Jul 06, 2026 52 views
Chapter 45
Leah flinched as if burned by the Grand Duke's question and answered in a timid voice.
“It was the young lady's instruction. She told us to attach sturdy straps to thick leather and put them over the infected people's mouths. I thought it was simply to prevent infection... but that wasn't it.”
With a hardened expression, Kallian continued reading the letter.
Most of the infected had been quarantined, but there were also patients who developed symptoms later while still inside civilian homes.
Tormented by unbearable thirst, they had eventually begun attacking their own families.
The leather masks had acted as a barrier, preventing flesh from being torn away and minimizing the casualties.
She was even able to foresee something like this?
That wasn't the only strange thing.
According to the information Benjamin had gathered while investigating throughout the territory, Count Bernard had played a decisive role in allowing the Blackwood Knights to enter the city.
He said it was repayment for saving his younger sister's life.
Kallian absently rubbed the bulging vein on his forehead.
Did she save the Count's sister because she had foreseen it as well?
“...Just how much do you know?”
He had spoken almost to himself.
Leah shrank back, startled by the question.
“H-Huh? Know... know what?”
He simply couldn't understand.
Thinking back, every event that had appeared in her dreams had revolved around him.
The Gate in the Forest of Twilight.
The plague and the Gate that appeared in Richev Village.
Even saving the girl before him, creating a debt of gratitude in Count Bernard.
She even prevented a disaster that could have wiped out an entire territory... yet she gained absolutely nothing in return...
That was far beyond simple repayment for lifting his curse.
What are you?
What is it that you really want?
Remembering how she had acted as though she would willingly lay down her life for anything related to him, Kallian frowned.
Then he looked at Leah, who kept glancing nervously at him with frightened eyes.
“Tell me everything. Whatever you know about Evelyn.”
“Um... Ah! I once heard that the young lady brought a dead cat back to life.”
Leah answered hurriedly.
She knew from experience that Kallian was not a particularly patient man.
Leaning against the window, he motioned with his chin for her to continue.
Leah's eyes trembled slightly.
“S-So... the Countess gathered a group of nobles in her salon and... displayed the young lady before them...”
“Displayed her?”
His voice sank coldly.
Already terrified, Leah shrank even further and nodded repeatedly.
“Y-Yes. I don't know why exactly... but I think she deliberately brought in injured animals and made the young lady heal them in front of the nobles...”
Kallian had long heard rumors of secret gatherings held in the Countess's salon.
Naturally, they had never been respectable parties.
Otherwise, deranged men like Viscount Fairfield would never have frequented the place looking to buy women with money.
At those filthy gatherings...
Evelyn had been nothing more than entertainment.
In that sense...
Louise deserved to die.
She had been evil beyond redemption.
“She was trying to make herself a fortune from it, then. Go on.”
Although he asked calmly, an indescribable heaviness settled inside his chest.
It wasn't because he feared Evelyn might have been touched by other men.
Nor because he worried her body had already been defiled.
The burn scar on her thigh alone was enough for him to imagine the abuse she had suffered.
Compared to that...
Such things were meaningless.
Just then, Leah, who had remained silent like a child awaiting punishment, spoke hesitantly.
“It's... difficult for me to say these things myself... Do I really have to continue?”
A faint crease appeared between Kallian's brows.
Leah immediately realized his patience was nearing its limit.
Holding back tears, she slowly began recounting everything she had witnessed herself and everything she had heard from others.
“If I could... I'd turn back time. Before the young lady saved me, I was nothing more than a bystander myself.”
What followed...
Was far worse than Kallian had imagined.
The endless abuse.
The violence.
The sadistic cruelty inflicted upon her.
No child should ever have experienced such things.
Starving her was considered minor.
Mutilating parts of her body...
Throwing her into a lake...
Only pulling her out just before she drowned...
Such things had become routine.
Listening to the horrifying account, Kallian felt a deep disgust settle inside him.
Why?
It wasn't as though he hadn't already known she had suffered an unhappy past.
Even hearing that her blood had been drawn every two weeks...
He had dismissed it as insignificant.
So why...
Now...
Did he suddenly remember her saying she was afraid of water...
And find it unbearably pitiful?
“What was the Count doing during all this?”
Perhaps overcome with emotion, Leah lowered her head as tears streamed down her cheeks.
“I... I don't know. Count Lawrence was practically the High Priest's shadow. He was rarely ever seen.”
That made sense.
He had obtained his title through marriage.
Interfering with whatever his wife did would not have been easy.
Kallian thought he finally understood the source of his discomfort.
It was because—
Even after suffering so terribly at the hands of other people...
She still pitied others.
Had it been him...
He would have gone mad from loneliness and pain long ago.
In truth...
He already had.
To someone like him...
The world was not something worth protecting.
Nor was it something worth saving.
Without the lofty title of the Empire's Guardian...
And without the cursed contract he had made with the Evil God...
He would have destroyed this world countless times.
Compared to him...
Her heart was closer to that of a saint.
But—
Impossible.
It couldn't be.
Nor should it be.
Having sorted through his thoughts with cold, emotionless eyes, Kallian rose to his feet.
He couldn't wake the woman lying before him yet.
But he now knew exactly what he needed to do.
The following dawn.
Kallian left Paminion Territory with Benjamin.
Their destination was the Imperial Palace.
They were going to attend the examination of the Countess's body.
Since they needed to stop somewhere on the way, they traveled by carriage equipped with powerful transportation magic.
Despite carrying mana stones, Benjamin could barely endure the pressure of the magic.
His face was deathly pale as he reported to Kallian, who sat across from him.
“About the illegal salon... I don't think it's something ordinary.”
During their stay in Paminion Territory, they had investigated the Lawrence family's wealth, debts, and numerous illegal activities.
Included among them were Count William Lawrence's disgraceful private affairs and the atrocities committed inside the Count's estate.
The salon had served as a secret gathering place for nobles.
Those who gathered there freely exchanged partners and participated in group orgies and other obscene acts.
“It's too serious to touch carelessly. There are too many great nobles involved. This could easily turn into a massive corruption scandal among the aristocracy.”
“Yes... I suppose it could. Well, isn't that actually good news for His Majesty?”
At that moment, Benjamin opened the carriage window and vomited.
Clicking his tongue, Kallian handed him a waterskin.
Benjamin drank the water, which carried the smell of leather, before grimacing.
“Good news? They're practically all His Majesty's lapdogs. If anything, they'll use this as an excuse to suspect Your Grace instead. They may even accuse you of interfering in the Empire's internal affairs.”
“Benjamin, you're more naïve than I thought.”
Kallian pulled a cigar from inside his coat.
Quickly understanding, Benjamin lit it for him.
Hiss...
The tip glowed red.
“I have no intention of involving myself in this.”
With the cigar between his lips, Kallian gazed out the window.
“Besides, do you think this is the first crime they've committed? His Majesty didn't reach the throne by accident. I'm sure he already knows the weaknesses of every dog he keeps.”
“So... you're giving His Majesty a justification?”
“I'm leaving this matter in his hands. Whether he uses it to control the nobles or buries it forever... that's none of my concern.”
“So you're creating a debt he owes you.”
Kallian curled one corner of his mouth into a smile befitting a villain.
“Whoever's trying to frame me... I only hope they realize tricks this shallow won't be enough.”
After a brief hesitation, Benjamin asked,
“Is... all of this because of the young lady?”
For the first time, Kallian did not answer immediately.
He remained silent.
Only after crushing the half-smoked cigar beneath his fingers did he finally speak.
“I told you before. Life is a never-ending struggle. I return exactly what I receive. Nothing more.”
He slowly exhaled.
The smoke drifted toward the towering spire of the temple in the distance, wrapping around it like mist.
Not long afterward, they arrived at the temple.
Since Kallian was free to enter the temple as he pleased, no one stopped him.
He walked straight to the office of William Lawrence, Captain of the Holy Knights, located on the top floor of the annex.
Without knocking—
He flung the door open.
“I told everyone not to let anyone in!”
The moment the door swung open and William saw who had entered, his eyes shook violently.
“Y-Your Grace... What brings you here...?”
William hurriedly climbed out from beneath his desk, where he had been crouching awkwardly.
As Kallian steadily approached, William stared at him in confusion.
“I heard you wouldn't even be attending today's autopsy because you were helping with the recovery efforts after the Richev disaster.”
Ignoring him completely, Kallian casually sat down in a chair.
Without the slightest hint of a smile, he placed a cigar between his lips.
“I thought the only things you gained through your wife's family were your title and your position as captain. But judging by the villa you bought for your parents overseas... it seems you've accumulated quite a fortune.”
The sudden accusation immediately filled William's face with hostility and caution.
This isn't good.
Does he know something?
Determining that he needed to seize the initiative, William shouted,
“Smoking? Such sacrilege has no place within the sacred halls of the gods!”
“If we're comparing acts of sacrilege... I'd say murder is far worse than smoking.”
“M-Murder? What nonsense are you talking about?!”
William hastily protested after a brief silence.
But his panic was obvious.
Kallian did not miss it.
“It seems you've been hunting recently.”
With a mysterious smile, Kallian leisurely crossed one leg over the other and stroked the leather guard covering his right arm.
“I may not know much about other things... but I have an exceptional sense of smell when it comes to blood.”
