"Empress Aileen I, the former Duchess of Felix, had been in poor health since birth. It was to the point that when the Royal Physician took a look at her, when she was a newborn, he said it would be a miracle if she made it past 20."
"...Is that so?"
"Yes. So even though she was the emperor's only daughter and only sister of the crown prince, she wasn't coerced to marry a political marriage.....
Meanwhile, other empires, kingdoms, and royal families didn't want to marry a princess who had less chances of having a successor."
"......."
"However, perhaps because of the former Queen's sincere care, Aileen turned 20, contrary to Royal Physician's expectations. She was still not healthy, but tried to find a fiance late. Then, when she was about to get engaged to the third prince of the neighboring empire by her family, Aileen proclaimed that she would marry the former Duke of Felix, James Carter Felix."
"....Then, those two...".
"Yes. Aileen was secretly in a passionate relationship with the former Duke James. The declaration turned the imperial family upside down, and His Majesty Seon was infuriated and at once brought Duke James into the Imperial Palace.......I really thought that the former Duke was hanging out of Felix's castle then."
Sally shook her head excitedly as if the memory of that time was still vivid. Grace stared at Sally with an inquisitive expression and urged her.
"So? What happened?"
She said.
"Fortunately, King Seon allowed the two to marry because he didn't want to see Aileen's tearful plea. The only daughter, who has always been worried about being sick since birth, pleads, 'I will give up all the rights I have as an empress, so please allow me to marry this person,' which parents can't allow?"
"So, that's how they got married."
"....Yes. I'm telling you, the two of them were on good terms, not like any other royal couple. They always loved each other enough to follow each other with their eyes. I wonder what God thought of the couple, and three years after they got married, the great wife was told that she was pregnant."
"......Is that the duke?"
When Grace asked carefully, Sally nodded with a wry smile. Then she looked down with his darkly sunken eyes and answered powerlessly.
"The Duchess and the former Duke were delighted at the news of pregnancy that came three years after marriage. But the joy was also brief. Felix Castle's chief Physician, Viscount Rowton, who examined the duchess, told her, If she wants to live, she must give up the child in the stomach."
"What? No, why..."
"I heard it's hard to bear and give birth to a child in such a state just because you've been alive so far. As he said, in fact, after the duchess got married, she got sick due to the harsh climate of Felix. The Duchess kept hiding it."
"...Oh god."
"The former Duke, who found out about it, persuaded his eldest wife to give up the child immediately. But the great madam didn't give up, insisting that it was perhaps the last chance to have a child of their own blood."
Grace's face darkened after hearing Sally's answer. Sally carefully continued to talk, looking at Grace's expression.
"The former Duke begged with tears to give up the child, but in the end, he could not overcome the stubbornness of his beloved wife. In the stomach of such a great wife, the baby grew up, and as her belly grew bigger, her body gradually weakened. The people of Felix Castle prayed earnestly for the birth of the baby in the belly of the eldest wife as soon as possible, regardless of their status. But...."
"...Was it like that?"
"One day just before the dissolution day, the Duchess, who was walking in the secret garden, suddenly collapsed with a violent cough and vomiting blood. In addition, unfortunately, it was bleeding underneath her just in time. At that time, I was cleaning in a nearby annex, and I ran to the secret garden after hearing the scream of the former Duke Jeon."
As if it was terrible to recall again, Sally said with a tantrum. Grace listened to it, frowning. It must be a very pitiful situation for a loved one to vomit blood and die in front of your own eyes.
"...Oh?"
But at that time, Grace, who was listening to the story while sympathizing with the sad story of the former Duchess Felix, suddenly felt a sense of surprise.
Grace stopped Sally trying to lead to a blank face.
"...Hold on."
"What? What's wrong?"
Grace, who had been wondering why she was so accustomed to Sally's words, thought of a scene.
[Please! Open your eyes!]
[ㅡㅡI don't think I can do it. ㅡDuke, God is calling me.]
[No! Wake up! I-I can't let you go like this!]
Unless she was mistaken, the situation Sally explained was very similar to the "fantasy" she saw before she collapsed. Grace asked Sally, fumbling over her memory with a sense of uncertainty.
"Sally, I have a question..."
"Yes? Tell me anything."
"Was Aileen wearing a white dress?"
"...Oh, yes! That's right! How did you know that?"
"...And how much does the duke resemble the former duke? Eyes, nose, etc.... Isn't it similar overall?"
"Yes, that's right, Madam. The two look alike as if they were stamped on a frame. Prince Leon looks like the great madam except for his eyes."
"...Oh my god."
At Sally's answer, Grace quietly exclaimed and covered her mouth with both hands. After listening to her, she felt that the "fantasy" she had just seen was vivid.
That's right.
In the fantasy, the eyes of the "man" who looked just like Arthur were blue on both sides. Until a while ago, her memory seemed to have been blurred by confusion and childish jealousy about falling into a fantasy.
'You're like a fool. You pushed Arthur, the Duke, away who is cut off due to your jealousy, and you're giving Sally a lot of trouble.'
Grace shuddered with embarrassment and shame that came late. She was really more childish than Leon as an adult.
After talking to Sally, one question passed through her mind again when she decided to apologize to Sally and go to Arthur.
'By the way... Why did I see them?'
If what she saw a while ago is related to the "curse," why did the curse show itself? No, what she experienced a while ago was a "curse" right?
Grace's mind was tangled up again. In a frustrating mood, Grace squeezed her hair with both hands, and Sally looked strangely at her and asked.
"...What's the matter?"
"Oh, it's nothing!"
"...Madam?"
"So what happened?" Aileen, she recovered safely then, right?"
When Grace hurriedly changed her words, Sally, who was tilting her head at the appearance, continued to talk to her urging.
"Yes, but the appearance of the great madam I saw at that time did not seem to be able to revive. The white floor was filled with blood poured out by the eldest lady, and the eyes of the great madam, who fainted with blood all over her, and the former duke, who was holding their baby son with his unseparated umbilical cord, were really scary to look at. I and all the servants and maids of Felix Castle who saw the scene thought that the wife in the arms of the former Duke had passed away."
"....Of course you would. She spit out so much blood like that..."
"So when we approached to recover the great wife who was hugged like a corpse, the former Duke shouted 'Don't touch' with his eyes fluttering with anger and madness, and left the baby, who was not separated from his umbilical cord, to us and went up to the highest tower in the castle."
"What? He didn't call the doctor. Why did he do that?"
"Well, we don't know either. The tower is a remote place, so the former Duke might have called a doctor without us knowing it, but... Anyway, no one knows the details. In just three days, the former Duke came down with a 'living' duchess."
"...No, how... It's a miracle."
Grace looked at Sally incredulously and said.
Her body was so weak that she said it was difficult to survive in the pregnancy, but it was not enough to describe it as a miracle that she survived even after experiencing both bloodshot and bleeding.
We can maybe call this a miracle of love.
As Grace continued to admire, Sally nodded as if she agreed.
"I know. None of us expected his wife to be resurrected. It's literally a miracle, no, it's beyond a miracle.
"... That's true. It's hard to believe."
"....That's how she came back. Sigh, if she hadn't insisted on having a baby again, both of them would have still been alive."
"Oh, come to think of it, she died of a fever after giving birth to Leon... Wait a minute, Sally."
"Yes?"
"...You said both of them just now. What do you mean? Did someone else do something wrong that day?"
Grace asked about the part of Sally's words that bothered her. Sally then gave a slightly troubled look, but soon answered Grace's rushing gaze.
"On the day the eldest wife died of a fever, the former Duke was hurriedly returning to Felix Castle and was killed by an arrow shot by an unidentified man."
"...What!? No, How did they... Then, they both died on the same day?"
"...Yes...but it was a bit strange to see the dead Duke."
"...What?"
"That's..."
When Grace swallowed her saliva and asked, Sally hesitated for a moment and replied.
"There was no sign of being hit by an arrow anywhere in the former Duke's body."
ㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ