TTOSS 120

Chapter : 120

The duke arrived at the Grand Duke’s castle in the late afternoon.

Since the master of the castle had shut himself away in seclusion, a shadow lay over the faces of all the servants as well.

The butler, who received the guest in place of the castle’s master, bowed to the duke seated on the reception room sofa and explained the lord’s grim condition on his behalf.

“Go and tell him that I have come to take my daughter back.”

At the duke’s words—declaring he had come for his dead daughter—the butler’s eyes widened for a moment. Still, he bowed deeply and replied that he understood.

The perceptive butler had already realized that the duke had not come here truly intending to take Liriope away.

No matter what persuasion was attempted, Theo refused to leave his bedroom—now turned into an ice chamber—where Liriope lay.

Even if the duke himself came to see him, Theo would not take a single step away from Liriope’s side.

But if Theo believed the duke had come to take his daughter away, the fear of losing Liriope might finally force him out of the room.

As the butler walked toward Theo’s bedroom, he thought that today’s visit might be the only way to draw his master outside.

“Quickly prepare His Grace’s favorite tea and food.”

Before heading up to the second floor, the butler gave quiet instructions to a servant and quickened his pace.

Praying that Theo would eat and drink even a little, and escape the path of death he was walking on of his own accord.

Theo’s black eyes—eyes in which all light had died—were fixed on Liriope lying there.

Their ceremonial clothes, stained with the blood of both Theo and Liriope, and their faces had been completely cleaned using water magic. Other than the long tear in the fabric near her heart, they looked exactly as they had when they entered the wedding hall.

Liriope lay on her back, hands folded neatly over her abdomen, facing upward, looking as though she might open her eyes at any moment and yawn, saying she had slept well.

Finely controlled water magic, chilled to an extreme, enveloped her entire body.

Theo did not cry, nor did he wear an expression of grief. He simply gazed at Liriope calmly.

With a face that showed no awareness of her death.

Only his eyes—utterly devoid of light.

Knock, knock.

At that moment, there was a knock on the door, followed by the butler’s voice.

“Your Highness, Duke Steila has come to see you.”

For a brief instant, a faint crack appeared in Theo’s expressionless face—no different from Liriope’s in death.

But he quickly returned to his blank expression and continued looking at her.

For just a moment, he wondered whether Liriope might want to see her father.

“Duke Steila says he intends to take the young lady back to the ducal estate.”

At the butler’s next words, expression returned to Theo’s face in an instant.

His eyes widened in shock, then his brow sharply furrowed, and the lips that had long been frozen in indifference twitched.

“I’ll… be out shortly…”

Perhaps because he had kept his mouth closed for so long, the vocal cords moving again after so long produced a pitiful sound.

It was so small and hoarse that someone sitting beside him would have had to lean close to hear it.

Theo cleared his throat and spoke again toward the door.

“I’ll be out shortly.”

He forced strength into his abdomen to raise his voice as much as possible, but even that sound was faint.

Having eaten nothing for so long, no amount of effort could restore his normally resonant voice.

Theo slowly raised his hand and rubbed his gaunt face.

“My father-in-law has come, Ripe.”

He spoke as color slowly returned to his face from the friction of his hand.

Though the light in his eyes was still dim, the tenderness in his gaze toward her was unmistakable.

“He seems to want to take you back to the ducal estate.”

His cracked, metallic voice echoed through the frozen space.

“Do you want that too…?”

He sulked to Liriope, who could no longer hear him, asking whether she too wanted to abandon him and return home.

“No, right…? Say no, Ripe. I couldn’t possibly…”

His voice faltered, and Theo paused. His prominent Adam’s apple bobbed as he slowly continued.

“I couldn’t ever let you go…”

It was less a statement about returning her body to the ducal estate and more a murmur of his inability to accept her death.

Theo slowly reached out and gently caressed Liriope’s cold, rigid cheek.

“I’ll persuade my father-in-law and come back, Ripe.”

Even if you’re lonely and scared, stay here alone just for a moment. Just a little while.

Whispering the words she could not hear, Theo slowly rose to his feet.

Perhaps because it had been so long since he stood up from the chair, his vision spun for a moment.

Bracing himself against the armrest, Theo endured the dizziness, straightened his posture, and let out a long sigh.

Though he had neglected basic needs like eating and sleeping, Theo had never failed to cleanse his body, clinging to the thought that Liriope might awaken at any moment. Aside from significant weight loss and hollow eyes, he looked relatively unchanged.

Turning slowly, he sent water magic toward the entrance he had frozen shut.

Having sealed the doorway after endlessly pestering Adil, the guards, and the butler, it took some time to undo the thick ice encasing the door.

He could have melted it with fire magic, but he could not use fire in this room.

The finely divided ice protected her.

After clearing away all the ice around the door, Theo slowly opened it.

Perhaps because he had been in such cold for so long, the hallway beyond felt absurdly warm.

To feel warmth in the northern lands, where cold and cutting winds never ceased.

Feeling the irony and absurdity anew, Theo strode forward with long steps.

The duke, seated on the reception room sofa, looked up at Theo as he entered and offered a respectful greeting.

They said he hadn’t eaten or slept properly for a month, and indeed his face was terribly gaunt.

His bloodshot eyes were wrapped in overwhelming fatigue.

“You’ve come.”

At the sound of Theo’s cracked voice, the duke’s brow instinctively furrowed.

It was a frown steeped in pity.

“Father-in-law.”

Theo addressed him a beat later, lowering his gaze to look at the duke.

The duke stared back at him.

Strictly speaking, after what happened on the wedding day, the title was not yet accurate.

But the duke did not seem inclined to object.

“You look terrible.”

The duke gestured toward the sofa, indicating Theo should sit.

As Theo came to sit opposite him and unbuttoned his jacket, the duke continued speaking.

“It’s a wonder you’re even alive.”

Theo answered only with a slight pull at the corner of his lips.

It was a smile, yet it looked as though he might cry, and one side of the duke’s heart grew warm.

“At least take something. Look at the state you’re in.”

The duke gestured toward the tea and cookies placed before them.

Theo showed no intention of touching them, merely smiling that same tearful smile.

Watching Theo stubbornly refuse even the teacup, the duke eventually let out a long sigh.

“Liri would be just delighted to see you like this.”

At that, a subtle crack appeared in Theo’s face.

The duke saw how Theo’s lowered eyes wavered at the mere mention of Liriope’s name.

When Theo slowly lifted his gaze, the duke continued.

“You know as well as I do that this isn’t what Liri truly wants.”

“……”

Theo’s eyes, which had been nothing but dim, slowly filled with moisture as he stared at the duke in silence.

A being whose name alone made his heart ache with longing.

The realization that his daughter was such an existence to Theo filled the duke with complicated emotions.

Joy, sorrow, pride, pity—feelings too tangled to name pricked at his nose and fingertips.

“Enough now. Pull yourself together.”

“……”

“I intend to take Liri back to the ducal estate. That’s why I came here—”

“No, Father-in-law.”

Theo’s gaze, which had been fixed on the duke, collapsed to the floor.

Tears pooled in his slowly dampening eyes.

They spilled over helplessly, carving tracks down his beautiful face.

“No… You can’t… Father-in-law…”

As though he could no longer contain them, Theo bowed his head deeply and sobbed in silence.

Had the tears not dropped soundlessly to the floor, the duke might not even have realized he was crying.

Seeing Theo’s tears for the first time in his life, the duke stared at him wide-eyed, speechless.

“Please… don’t take Ripe away.”

His cracked, tear-filled voice carried an inexplicable desolation.

The tears falling from the eyes of the cold, unfeeling Theo he had always known, the grief-soaked voice—it all felt unreal, leaving the duke momentarily dazed before he cleared his throat.

“Grand Duke, I understand your feelings. But Liri is a member of the ducal family. We cannot leave her with the grand ducal house forever.”

“No… no, Father-in-law…”

Theo murmured with his head bowed, as if unable to hear the duke’s words.

“Haa… You fool. Liri may wish to return to the home where she was born and raised—”

At that moment, Theo lifted his head.

The duke’s eyes widened once more at Theo’s tear-soaked face, his eyes and nose red and swollen.

And then his widened eyes twisted with sorrow at the single sentence Theo uttered.

“I’ll die.”

“……”

“I’ll die.”

Lowering his head again, Theo sobbed openly this time.

“If you take Ripe away, I’ll die, Father-in-law.”