Kidnapped By The Crazy Duke - Chapter 34

I thought I dozed off, but I seemed to have half fainted again. My vision was blurry, as if wearing glasses that did not match the prescription.

Through the narrowed eyelids, I could see the unfamiliar scenery of the room and the cream-colored ceiling. I could feel a soft floating sensation on my back. It seemed I was in some kind of mansion. I tried to sit up, inwardly relieved that what had just happened had been a bad nightmare.

But my body, which had sore muscles and immobile hands as if I was exhausted, made me face the fact that everything was real. I’ve been to jail and I’ve escaped. Through the window curtains, I could see a gray, dull sky as if it would bring snow soon. And from the lack of the characteristic early morning spirit, I think it was around afternoon.

“Where am I ?”

“My friend’s house.”

As I lay on the bed asking myself a question, but suddenly I heard an answer with a gentle voice. I turned my head back and looked towards the direction of the voice and saw Noah sitting on an ash chair next to the bed, just like before.

This man…… He has friends too? He was wearing an ivory colored shirt and an olive colored military cardigan with bandages all over his face. The murky eyes of yesterday’s gruesome murderer were still affectionately looking down at me.

“I thought you were dead. Because you wouldn’t wake up.”

I slept like a dead person for a long time. As my dulled senses returned, I realized that he was still holding my hand.

He hadn’t let it go from the car to now? That was what I thought.

After a woman who appeared to be a servant brought in some bread and soup, Noah huffed a spoonful of soup and fed me instead of handing me a spoon and fork.

I leaned my back against the head of the bed and for the first time in a long time I was fed by him again. I frowned every time the soup touched my burst lips as it stung badly.

“What region is this?”

‘The North. North Caltz.”

I didn’t know where it was, but the name gave off the vibe of a cold region. Even when I was buried under the warm covers and in my warm quilted nightgown, my body still shivered from the cold. Noah put his hand on my cheek.

“Are you cold?”

“Yes, it feels cold in this town.”

“Yes. And I think the princess caught a cold.”

The throbbing head, tiredness, and chills were all due to a cold. Although small, this body was inherently strong. Like the cold weather training every year, I survived with an old blanket, so I must have overworked myself. Aside from being sick, I didn’t feel so bad.

“But, Noah, isn’t Medea allied with Progen? You’re wanted. What if they deport us?”

“The Queen is much closer to me. I stayed at her house for months when I was a child.”

Wouldn’t that make things worse for that country and Progen? I had a headache thinking about international diplomacy. Anyway, Noah seems to have more connections than I thought.

“How long will it take you to get there?”

“It’s a bit of a long way. We’ll leave when you’re better.”

I gently pulled my hand out of his grip and rubbed my forehead where a bandage had been applied. The slight fever still lingered, but when would it go away?

Knock. Knock.

I heard a knock on the door, and a middle-aged man in a burgundy gown with a tall, solid appearance walked in, smiling benevolently at me. He stroked his neatly trimmed mustache and spoke.

“Colonel Rothsilde. It seems that the Central Army Battalion will be leaving here in three days, so you’ll have to stay in my compound until then.”

“Yes, and I was discharged. I’m not a Colonel anymore.”

The age difference was significant, and it didn’t look like they were friends at all. Perhaps it’s because he’s from the Eastern Province, but the confusion was brought on by Noah’s anti-survival magnitude against the old opponent. The man who had been staring at Noah smiled as he looked at me, his wrinkled eyes gently bent.

“Duke, as usual, you love your funny jokes. Have a safe trip home, Lady Diana. May God bless you.”

What do you mean, “home”? I had never been to Medea. The man, who said something unknown, quickly left the room even before he heard my thank you.

The man who spoke incomprehensibly to me left the room before I could say anything.

I didn’t notice it when I was in the city center or port city, but the somber scenery of this place seen from the window made me realize that we were at war. Processions of soldiers in full military gear were often seen, while civilians went about their lives with tense faces.

Primary colored propaganda papers fell on the floor, and people marched with pickets with slanderous slogans against the enemy. It seemed to be similar to the World War in my original life, but I was not sure if it was World War 1 or World War 2.

It seemed to be a mixture of 19th~early 20th century forms. Does this mean that the technology is developing faster than the times?

It was probably the influence of the author. We may soon see a super inflation of 20 million won for a piece of bread. My sense of anxiety was growing.

I quickly shook my head to get rid of the thoughts.

“But what are we going to do now?”

Noah ruffled his dark hair and sighed deeply at my question.

“Marriage will have to wait. I’ll have to be a rich husband.”

He looked as disappointed as a man delaying his marriage, blocked by the walls of reality. My face flushed involuntarily at the word “marriage.”

Can we fall in love in a world of war where there are rebels and fugitives and total state warfare? I’d like to, but …… it seemed not impossible to see love blossom, marry, and have children during war.

“I’m satisfied if we have a place to settle down and live.”

“Yes. Diana, I can give you everything you need. I can even give you the world.”

Noah’s eyes were downcast and he answered in a seductive voice. I nodded as if I was possessed.

Did he even say such unrealistic things? It was easy to hear even though it seemed impossible. This was all because of his deceptive face and sweet voice. I deliberately avoided his gaze and stared at the carpet on the floor.

Yes, it’ll work out somehow.

***

It was only the beginning of madness that the crazy Duke abandoned everything and left.

The buildings of the arsenal, munitions factory, and the Third Engineering Department, located in the former possession of Duke Rothsilde in Progen, suddenly exploded. Citizens who heard the explosion shaking the ground last night were terrified all night, thinking it was an enemy invasion and artillery attack, and troops and police were urgently dispatched.

Commander Rockefeller, who went directly to the scene, sighed in fear of the flames that rose like an active volcano and engulfed the surrounding area fiercely.

“Was that what you* were going to do in the end?” (*Noah)

This was a provocation and a warning to the Emperor. Because Noah also knew that the Emperor had ordered a captivity for Diana along with him*. (*Noah)

It was probably a silent warning that the Imperial Palace would be next. This was the place where they were investigating military fraud.

It was obvious why the Emperor had ordered the investigation.

It was the new munitions business of the former Duke.

All the relevant documents disappeared, his secretary, Vincent, was consistent in “pretending not to know” and suddenly disappeared. Molly, who worked as a servant and kept an eye on Noah also disappeared.

The emperor was anxious to capture Noah in fear Noah may go to other allied and federal countries to provide them with munitions weapons and military information that he had developed to check Progen’s hegemony.

In order to prevent this, the Emperor was willing to turn a blind eye to the eccentricities of the bloodthirsty Young Duke, but the emperor made the wrong decision by placing more importance on Noah’s authority.

Surely, Noah was a man who could do such a thing. However, he only wanted the woman, Diana, and no one could touch her.

The Commander had seen Noah since he was a child, and knew him very well. Noah lacked empathy for others and didn’t know how to love people.

(Noah) He was just capable of grasping the thoughts of others through excellent observation and insight, and had been socialized through knowledge, common sense, and education to act upon them and live a safe and mixed life.

(Noah) He was not at the level of assassinating the emperor of the empire or changing regimes. Because he always went beyond the range that ordinary people would think of.

“Are you thinking of starting a project in Medea where Progen failed?”

This was the conclusion the Commander came to after much thought. Well, instead of changing the king of the chess horse, he (Noah) would break the chessboard altogether.

In other words, he (Noah) may borrow the force of extinction of mankind to take control of the world just because he didn’t want anyone to disturb him and the woman. It was all for her.

Killing a few people in the era of war was not the number of madmen. Rather, it was a world full of madness where the number of lives taken was converted into medals of honor that adorned the breastplate of the uniform.

Murderers who should be considered evil willingly become actors, playing leading roles on the stage of war, giving pleasure to the monarchs, receiving praise and compensation.

Noah Rothsilde was a madman who stood out from the rest. He was like the Thunder Emperor, who spent the life of a nation in a mad war of conquest for the mere pleasure of bringing people to their knees.

*******

Meanwhile, Admiral Winston Claire*, upon hearing the news that Diana had escaped from prison, sat at his desk in his study with his fingers crossed in worry. His dignified, clean face was twisted in annoyance. (*the father)

“It’s funny, you always fail.”

Celine and Diana’s nanny, Janet, kept their hands clasped and their gaze on their toes.

Janet had been the longest serving member of the mansion, and was one of the few people the Admiral trusted for her unique brilliance. She was once the Admiral’s secretary, and had done well in her secret errands.

“I kept her thinking she would be worth using, but I didn’t know she’d give me such a hard time.”

“There is a story that it was Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Grenendall who broke her out of prison. They say it was a dark-haired man in military uniform, similar in height and build.”

Janet spoke with the same calm demeanor as ever. The blue eyes of the Admiral, who was looking at the sky, turned to her.

“So there’s a chance that even the Prime Minister (Jeffrey’s father) knows about it?”

“It is possible that the Lieutenant’s brother knows. The Prime Minister doesn’t seem to know. If he did, he wouldn’t have kept quiet about it. And as you know, this fact is not easily revealed.”

“Right. No one can be safe if it was revealed that the culprit was the Lieutenant Colonel (Jeffrey)”.

The Admiral recalled the negotiation message that Colonel Noah Rothsilde sent after kidnapping Diana.

“Give up everything you think you know, and I promise to keep my mouth shut.”

The Colonel (Noah) knew everything and he was willing to keep it quiet. But the fact that he left Celine behind and only kidnapped Diana was questionable. And the Admiral hired mercenaries to kill Diana.

“Do you think there is another reason for Colonel Rothsilde’s intention to take Diana?”

“I don’t know, Sir.”

Janet bowed and answered the Admiral’s question, and worry deepened in the Admiral’s brows.

“Why does he say as if he knows everything?”

“Because he’s a military man who excelled in that field to begin with. Now, he has committed treason and fled Progen. It seems that he’s aiming for the imperial power.”

“No.”

The admiral, who had been tapping the desk with his fingers, made a dull sound and repeatedly clenching his teeth.

“Even if we don’t know who helped Diana escape, it’s clear that Colonel Rothsilde, that mad Duke, who has Diana now. I’m sure he’s trying to get his hands on Medea, a powerful country with a vast colony.”

That shouldn’t be the case, but the man is insane. Where would there be anyone who would not reach this point?

Admiral, who used people to seek power, but the mad Duke pursued the exact opposite. That was why the Duke didn’t ask for help in revealing the truth to Medea.

It was for the woman. Janet thought in her mind and remained unfazed with her head down.

She thought she would have to take a break from writing for the time being, remembering the far past where all this causality began and the original crime.