So I Was the Persecuted Grand Duchess Destined to Die? Chapter 41

Chapter 41

Swearing, something I barely ever did, came so easily right now.

This makes no sense. I thought I’d just possessed some weak supporting character grand duchess.

Me, the tragic heroine?

And terminally ill, on top of that?!

There hadn’t been any sign of it until now!

“Cough, hack, kgh, cough!”

As I stood there refusing to believe it, a cough burst out, like it had been waiting for its cue.

And it wasn’t just a cough.

Splatter.

Bright red blood spilled across the pristine white nightgown I was wearing.

It all came from my mouth.

“Aaaah!”

My front was soaked with blood before I could even think, and a scream ripped out of me.

I learn I’m terminally ill and immediately cough up blood?

What is this timing, are you messing with me?!

Clutching my head like I was screaming at the universe, I staggered.

My vision clouded instantly. The room spun.

Crash, bang!

“Milady!”

The door flew open.

The last thing I saw was Betty’s horrified face,

and then I blacked out again.

Back to a few days earlier, after the argument with Renée.

Xavier had stormed out and was riding alone toward the dock.

He thought he’d gone too far.

He wanted to apologize first.

And he was sick of acting childish in front of her.

But what awaited him there was chaos, complete pandemonium.

“Oh my god! Our milady fell into the water! Please, help!”

It was the maid who had previously reported Renée’s every move to Xavier, stamping her feet in panic.

Everyone was frozen, not knowing what to do.

Xavier rode straight to the riverbank and jumped off his horse without hesitation.

“Renée!”

And he threw himself into the river.

Splash!

His title as Grand Duke, the political hostility with House Blanche,

even the biting cold of the river,

none of it could stop him right now.

Only instinct remained.

Save Renée.

Diving beneath the surface, Xavier found her immediately.

Under the overturned boat,

Renée lay pale, eyes closed.

Water plants were tangled tightly around her slender ankle.

Damn it.

Xavier ripped the weeds free in one motion and surged upward.

“Ha!”

Above the surface, he pressed his cheek to hers and felt, barely, breath.

She’s alive.

Relief hit him so hard he almost laughed at himself.

Was this what it meant, that even a loveless marriage was still a marriage?

He swallowed the bitter self-mockery and looked around.

Then he noticed Katharina, unconscious, still clinging to the boat.

With his remaining arm, he gathered her up too and dragged them both out.

Two women slung over his shoulders,

and it still wasn’t difficult for him.

“Your Grace!”

He laid them on the grass one by one.

Startled maids rushed forward.

Xavier raised a hand to stop them, then pressed his ear to Renée’s chest.

Her heartbeat is too slow. Too weak.

And her body was freezing.

At this rate, she could die of cold even on a spring day.

“Wrap the Grand Duchess in blankets. If you don’t have cloth, use anything. Now!”

“Y-yes!”

“H-hic, Milady!”

Renée’s maids tore off aprons and wrapped them around her.

Her skin, already pale, had gone bluish white.

Her cherry-colored lips, once smooth and bright, were purple now.

Her condition was critical.

“Your Grace!”

From behind, Cal approached, along with several attendants, faces stunned.

This was thanks to Garnet, the maid who had sprinted to the castle the moment trouble erupted.

“Oh no… our milady…”

“She’ll be fine. She’s strong. First, get her back to the castle. We need Duke Celeste’s physician, Jin, immediately!”

“Sob… Milady…”

“Don’t cry! This isn’t the time. Castle first, Jin first!”

“Hic, y-you’re right!”

That side will move. Good.

But Xavier still felt wrong about it.

Something gnawed at him.

Calling it a simple accident didn’t sit right.

Xavier’s sharp instincts flared.

There’s something here.

And he knew exactly where that something pointed.

He looked to the other side.

There,

“W-what do we do? She’s breathing, right?”

Unlike Renée’s maids, who were a sobbing mess, Katharina Hugo’s maids stood pale and helpless.

Katharina lay exactly as Xavier had left her on the grass.

No one dared touch her.

“We’re done for…”

“What if we get yelled at for not doing anything? But I can’t swim…”

It wasn’t even “didn’t touch.”

It was worse. They were hesitating because they were worried about themselves, not her.

“Ha…”

Xavier exhaled hard, stepped past them, and went to Katharina.

Her face still had color.

She wasn’t in immediate danger.

He issued a cold order.

“Move Katharina Hugo to the castle. She’s only fainted from shock. She’ll wake soon.”

“…Y-yes!”

Yet no one stepped forward right away.

“Your Grace, I will carry her.”

In the end, one of the castle’s attendants hoisted Katharina onto his back.

Even then, her maids remained flustered.

Xavier snapped at them.

“Are the people here the only witnesses?”

“W-witnesses…? You mean…”

“When the boat overturned. How did it happen?”

The sudden interrogation made the maids exchange frightened looks.

“Th-that is…”

And again, no answers. Only hesitation and glances.

Just how terrifying had Katharina’s usual behavior been, that her maids were this cowed?

Xavier’s irritation sharpened.

Then,

“Your Grace!”

Cal’s voice carried from a distance.

Behind the old butler, three young ladies approached, faces drained white, shuffling forward.

“They are ladies who were having a tea party nearby. I brought them in case they witnessed anything.”

“Good.”

“W-we greet Your Grace…”

The girls bowed so low their foreheads nearly hit the ground.

They were trembling.

But the fear in them was excessive.

That’s even stranger.

Suspicion deepened.

Xavier narrowed his eyes.

“Is there truly nothing you have to tell me?”

It wasn’t a question.

It was pressure, an ultimatum.

Everyone froze, unable to move.

Then,

“Y-your Grace… I have something urgent to report!”

A maid who’d been stalling suddenly blurted out something unbelievable.

“Lady Katharina pushed the Grand Duchess! I saw it clearly!”

“!”

“Oh my!”

Everyone recoiled.

Xavier’s gaze sank, heavy and dark.

“…Is that true?”

He turned to the three young ladies, voice glacial.

“W-what… why are you asking us…?”

“You are witnesses too, are you not?”

His rough, unsteady tone revealed his state.

His chest was filling with urgency.

He wanted to mount his horse and personally deliver Renée to Jin right now.

But he was the one responsible for all of House Celeste’s territory.

Containing this situation was his duty.

I should’ve raised at least one capable adjutant. Of all times.

He’d never regretted having no right-hand before.

Not until this moment.

With his nerves razor-tight, these unfamiliar faces grated on him.

“It wasn’t us, Your Grace! We weren’t even at the boat! We were only leaving after tea when…”

“Then why were you in Celeste territory in the first place?”

“Th-that…”

Excuses piled up. His patience thinned.

Then, a soft voice slipped in from behind him.

“Excuse me, Your Grace.”

He turned.

A young woman stepped forward, voice trembling but steady enough to force words out.

“I am Lilian Siern, second daughter of Count Siern, our land borders the Celeste domain. I have something to say about what happened today.”

Her eyes shook violently with tension.

Xavier’s mouth twisted into a cold, crooked smile.

Just as he thought.

This wasn’t a simple accident.