Kapitel 221: [Chapter 222] Will You Fall to Hell With Me?
It was dark all around. Neris sighed, thinking it was fortunate that she couldn't see Cledwyn's face properly.
"Do you know the Duchess's personality? The one who became my stepmother thought I was a dirty foreign object that had intruded into her precious family. Valentin hated me from the beginning, so it was even worse. She abused me, making all sorts of excuses, saying I wasn't refined enough in etiquette, that my attitude wasn't submissive enough. I wanted to be accepted by that family, so I studied, cutting back on sleep, and eventually I became so good at etiquette that she couldn't find fault with me anymore, but that was all."
Life in that house, where she could barely breathe.
"The Elandria family was desperate to become independent from the empire, and I helped them using my gem-eye. And one day, the Duke's family and the imperial family made a deal to make me Abelus's wife. It was an arranged marriage, of course, without my consent or Abelus's, but both families wanted it, so the engagement was made in an instant. The marriage was the same."
No matter how positively she put it, she was just a chess piece, moved from one place to another.
Abelus didn't love me. The whole imperial family disliked me because I couldn't have children due to the potion Natasha Grunehalz gave me before the wedding. There was no hesitation. On our wedding day, Abelus fell in love with Megara, not me.
Cledwyn's face contorted with a complex expression as he watched Neris's wry smile.
Even without further explanation, he would understand. What she was saying.
That it was about 'time going back'.
When the time was ripe, the Elandria family became independent as a kingdom. The imperial family imprisoned me in a tower, like a criminal, and tortured me, saying I was a spy for my family. I was wronged. It's true that I worked for my family, but I also did my best for the imperial family. But no one listened to me.
Neris's face clouded over.
In the end, I died. At the hands of the people I wanted to be family with.
Neris.
Cledwyn put the lamp down on the ground. And he hugged her tightly.
Her body trembled at the hug, where he didn't ask anything. Neris buried her face in his chest. Tears welled up, but she wasn't very distressed.
When I came to, I was twelve again. Valentin said it when he killed me. Dogs are useful even in death. Keamil must have been very happy to get my corpse, her loyal dog. She must have thought she could finally fill the altar in the secret chamber. It was clumsy, but the seal was broken, and it actually brought about the result of saving me.
Cledwyn took a deep breath. It seemed like he was enduring some intense emotion. A negative kind.
She didn't want him to suffer. Neris put her arm around her husband's body and gently patted his back.
It's okay. I'm getting my revenge, one by one. I'm really okay.
There was no answer. She smiled faintly.
"I wanted to ask if facing the imperial family head-on is what I want. It is exactly what I want, Cledwyn Maindelant. In fact, I should be asking you. The fight with the imperial family will be long, difficult, and hell might unfold along the way."
The hand patting her back stopped.
She whispered,
"Will you fall to hell with me?"
A low, long breath, like a beast's growl, escaped.
Cledwyn bit Neris's lips. The kiss was short but intense. If it hadn't been for the desperate expression on her husband's face when their bodies separated, Neris would have been blushing for a long time.
She felt fear in the hot gaze that seemed to be too precious to even blink. Neris realized that he had noticed all her oddities, and that he was somehow uneasy because she hadn't explained the reason for those oddities first.
'Fool.'
He could have thoroughly questioned her if he wanted to.
Neris smiled playfully. Cledwyn grinned.
"Don't even think about going to hell alone."
Suddenly, a faint voice came from afar. Your Highness! Your Highness! …Ha!
It was definitely Aidan's voice, though it was far away.
Cledwyn bent down and picked up the lamp. Soon, a flickering light appeared at the far end of the corridor. Several welcoming voices followed.
They must have found another entrance by drilling through the ground from above. Neris smiled and took Cledwyn's hand.
"Let's go. To the people waiting for us."
The carriage stopped in front of the White Swan Castle.
"Long live the Grand Duchess!"
"Long live the Grand Duke!"
The cheers of the people that had been echoing throughout the city since the entourage entered the outer gate exploded as the Duke and Duchess stepped out of the carriage.
Petals of various colors fluttered under the blue sky. Neris and Cledwyn nodded to those who had lined up in front of the gate to greet them.
"Your Highnesses."
The person at the front of the servants was Ellen. She bowed deeply, her face filled with emotion.
"We have been waiting for your return."
"We have been waiting!"
The other servants shouted in unison.
Neris felt a little embarrassed. She knew how arrogant the people of Maindelant were. So, she had come determined to ignore the fact that they might look at her, Neris Trude, with disapproval as Grand Duchess, even if they followed her as an advisor.
But when she looked at the servants, and the officials standing on the other side, she only felt warm affection and trust in their eyes.
At that moment, a woman walked out from between the servants and officials, as if she were running.
"Liz!"
"Mom!"
Neris's face brightened.
It had been so long since she last saw her mother, it was already difficult to count in days. She had even been forced to take the blame for Adrian's murder and dragged away, so just thinking about how worried her mother must have been made her feel guilty.
Sure enough, her mother was thinner than before. But thankfully, her face was bright and healthy when she called out Neris's name.
Even though she had called out her daughter's name without thinking, her mother was a branch of the aristocracy. She remembered how a guest should behave in a public setting where she was greeting the returning lord and lady, and she stopped near Ellen's position.
A short silence followed. Cledwyn was the first to move.
He had been holding his wife's shoulder as if it were sewn with silk thread, but he let go of her. Then he walked towards Neris's mother, strode towards her, and knelt on one knee in front of her.
"We've arrived, Mother-in-law."
Neris watched her mother's reaction with a nervous heart. Even though it was necessary due to circumstances, she had gotten married without a word to her mother, so she couldn't help but feel she would be reprimanded.
She was prepared to be scolded. And she was ready to spend as much time as necessary to convince her. But what about Cledwyn…?
A smile spread across her mother's face. She extended her right hand, allowing Cledwyn to kiss it, and spoke like a lady.
"Welcome, my dear son-in-law. You must have had a hard time on your long journey abroad. Let's go inside. Everyone has been waiting for you, and for my daughter."
Waiting, she said.
At those words, she finally felt like she had come home.
****
Ellen led Neris to the Grand Duchess's room.
It wasn't the former Grand Duchess's room in the West Palace. The room prepared for Neris was a study next to Cledwyn's bedroom, which had been expanded and redecorated, with a door leading directly to his bedroom.
The room was decorated with fabrics dyed in Tyrian purple, the same color as Neris's eyes. The silk, as expensive as gold of the same weight, was embroidered with bright yellow arabesque patterns and covered the bed. The same color curtains, trimmed with gold thread, hung luxuriously from the ceiling of the four-poster bed.
A large fireplace, reaching to a person's shoulders, was lined with mirrors from Pizansan, famous for its glasswork, as well as Pizansan stained glass pieces, and porcelain ornaments painted with gold throughout. Below, everything from a delicately crafted poker to a log holder and a fireplace screen was finished in brass, gleaming brightly.
A mahogany desk with smooth curves, a luxurious chair with purple cushions, an antique wall with gold molding, a table with a clear jade top and carved legs.
The room was incredibly luxurious, with gold and purple everywhere. Neris asked Ellen,
"Does my husband have an obsession?"
"Excuse me?"
Ellen looked momentarily confused, then smiled, realizing Neris was joking.
"The former Grand Duke also decorated the entire room with the Grand Duchess's eye color. I guess it's the way the men in this family show their love."
Even so, it didn't seem necessary to go this far, but she liked the expression "love." Neris took a closer look at the room, then saw something familiar and approached it. There was one slightly old chair placed in a position where she could see directly outside through the window, unlike the other furniture in this room.
"The Grand Duke ordered in a letter that it should be placed in a comfortable space, as it is something the former Grand Duke cherished."
Ellen explained, seeing Neris looking at the chair. Neris sat down on the chair.
She felt a familiar comfort. The space that had been her hiding place for a long time, and in this life, the place where she met Cledwyn.
The only difference was that this chair was now placed in front of a bright and cheerful window, not in a secluded corner of the library.
"This is the same shape as the chair that was in the former Grand Duchess's reception room, isn't it? Am I remembering correctly?"
"Yes, Your Highness. It was made with a magic communication device in the handle, so when the former Grand Duke and Your Highness were apart, they would secretly talk to each other through magic."
So that was what it was.
"Liz."
The bedroom door opened. Neris's mother entered the room. Ellen greeted her politely.
"Mrs. Trude."
There was an unbridgeable gap between a low-ranking noblewoman who was staying at the castle and the mother-in-law of the lord of the castle, but Ellen's attitude was not much different now than it had been before.
'She was polite from the beginning.'
Ellen had always been extremely polite to both Neris and her mother. As if she knew this would happen.
"Mrs. Ellen, I'm so sorry, but…"
"You want to talk to Your Highness alone? Yes, of course."
"Thank you."
Soon, only Neris and her mother were left in the quiet room. Neris got up from the chair and approached her mother with a slightly awkward gesture.
"…Mom."
"My darling."
After months, mother and daughter embraced. Neris felt her heart calm down as if by magic as she inhaled the soft, clean scent of her mother.
There was so much she needed to tell her mother. She didn't plan to tell her about the regression, as it would break her heart, but there were many other things her mother needed to know.
Why Neris had gone willingly with Adrian.
What had happened to the Elandria family.
The secret of the gem-eye.
And the circumstances of how she had married Cledwyn and become the Grand Duchess, returning here.
She pondered a lot about what to explain first in this moment to convince her mother. But as she hugged her mother, she realized that it didn't matter.
Her mother soon looked at Neris's face and pinched her cheek. A cheerful smile appeared on her still young face.
"I'm glad you seem to be doing well, my darling. You look better."
"Really?"
"Yes. You look much brighter too."
"I'm sorry I got married so suddenly without telling you, Mom."
"Well, actually, I wasn't surprised."
Neris was a little surprised at that. Why wasn't she surprised?
"Why?"
Her mother's eyes twinkled.
"I could see from the moment you were here that you two loved each other."
Neris's face turned crimson. She was always clumsy when it came to discussing her feelings. Especially when she was looking into her mother's eyes, and hearing those words, she didn't know what to do.
"…Is that so?"
"Yes, my beautiful darling. From the beginning, the way you two treated each other was different from how you treated others."
Well… that was true. Perhaps it was so obvious that this would happen.
"Mom."
Neris hugged her mother tightly again. A sigh, like a whisper, escaped her lips, revealing her true feelings.
"I'm sorry for worrying you."
And then, like a shower of petals falling one by one, the events of the past unfolded.
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
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Rangliste 
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Stein