TLDOWN 50

CHAPTER 50…………….

Strength Overflowing in My Whole Body

“Who are you?! Do you even know where you stand right now…!”

As the man in the hood slowly revealed his face, silence fell over the noisy square.

Even the breeze brushing the tip of one’s nose felt as sharp and cold as frost.

‘What is this?’

Sensing the shift in atmosphere, Lea slowly opened her eyes.

Before she closed them, everyone had been staring at her. But now, the gazes of the crowd were fixed not on her, but on the man standing before her.

‘Who is he…?’

Was it the blinding rays of the sun? His face, heavily shadowed, was hard to see.

With the sun at his back, the man took one step after another forward. The heavy echo of his boots on the dirt ground resounded through the execution site.

A suffocating stillness pressed down on all. The man’s unknown presence weighed heavily, making everyone hold their breath and watch his every move.

‘Just who is that man…?’

The shadow concealing his face lifted. Brilliant golden hair appeared.

Hair like molten gold, too familiar to mistake. And beneath the blazing sun, faintly gleaming crimson eyes.

“…Your Grace?”

Lea’s hands and feet trembled like leaves in the wind.

Was she facing the man who had come to escort her to the afterlife?

Because by all rights, he should have been buried beneath cold earth, his body lifeless and stiff.

“H-how can this be…!”

Someone cried out in her place.

Looking up, Lea saw Marquis Rodrigo leap from his seat beside the judge, his mouth agape in disbelief.

A few others who recognized the Duke’s face groaned in shock.

And at last, Lea realized. The Duke who had died was standing before them, alive.

‘He wasn’t dead…?!’

She hurriedly scanned the man approaching her. No matter how many times she blinked, the sight before her didn’t change.

As if amused by her dazed expression, a faint smile touched the Duke’s lips.

“Your Grace…!”

Gasps spread, and the crowd stirred again.

“The Duke? But wasn’t he declared dead?”

“Exactly! Isn’t that why the apothecary was sentenced to hang?”

“Wasn’t Duke Hydern supposed to be frail? He doesn’t look like a man who just returned from death…”

People muttered their doubts, but Lea heard none of it.

Her heart swelled with only one truth—this man was not dead.

‘…Your Grace.’

Her eyes burned, and soon warm tears slid down her cheeks.

‘You’re alive… You weren’t gone…’

If Akkia lived, it meant the new medicine had not killed him.

That alone freed her from the suffocating guilt that had been strangling her. Relief washed over her, and the tension in her face loosened.

‘Thank goodness… truly.’

She smiled faintly at the Duke, as if to answer him. But as her long-held strain finally broke, her body collapsed, drained of all strength.

❀ ❀ ❀

‘So warm.’

How long had it been since she felt such comfort? Her body was wrapped in soft, fluffy bedding.

‘Who…?’

A gentle hand stroked her ear. Lea let out a faint, embarrassed moan.

Annoyed by the touch, she buried her face deep into the pillow.

‘A dream.’

It felt like a sweet dream—someone caressing her with tenderness and affection.

Warm breath tickled her nose. Fingers brushed through her hair.

‘Why does this feel so real?’

The vivid sensations gradually pulled her into wakefulness. Feeling something strange, she slowly opened her eyes.

‘Your Grace…?’

Chiseled features, radiant golden hair like the sun, and eyes red as blood.

‘Impossible!’

Had she not yet woken from her dream? Or had she died?

Pale as a ghost, Lea touched her own neck.

“Ow!”

She pinched her skin and winced. It hurt. So it wasn’t a dream.

Still unbelieving, she traced the man’s face with trembling fingers.

“Wh-what is this…”

Suddenly, the man caught her wandering hand, his crimson eyes intense.

“Your face will wear out.”

‘Ah.’

That deep, low voice wrapped around her ears. Too familiar… It was the voice she had longed for.

“Is it really you, Your Grace…?”

Startled, Lea nearly sprang from the bed as she looked him over. Yes. No one else could have that face.

“My god…”

She had witnessed his death with her own eyes. In shock, she sat frozen, lips parted. He murmured,

“What? Aren’t you glad that I returned alive?”

Glad? It wasn’t so simple. Lea, still confused, only stiffened further.

Watching her, he took her hand and pressed it to his cheek.

“Disappointing.”

Resting his face against her palm, he muttered,

“When I died, you wept and wailed so pitifully. Was it all an act?”

His breath fanned across her palm, lips grazing her skin.

“No—it’s just… I saw you breathe your last—”

“I did.”

The Duke smirked at her startled response.

“But when I thought of you, laughing with other men in my absence—”

A chilling gleam flashed in his crimson eyes.

“My blood boiled.”

‘What?’

That he had returned from death was astonishing enough, but these words…

She swallowed hard and glanced around.

An unfamiliar room, draped in darkness. Though she couldn’t see clearly, one thing was obvious—it was extravagantly ornate.

Then, in a voice softer than ever, he whispered her name.

“Lea.”

His fingers gripped her chin, hot against her skin, as if to forbid her from looking away.

‘Was he always like this…?’

Her gaze roamed him.

His skin glowed with vitality, almost too much. The glimpse of his chest through his robe revealed firm, sculpted muscle.

Her eyes, against her will, drifted lower, tracing defined abs downward.

—gulp.

She snapped her gaze up again, only for him to chuckle at her reaction. His fingers brushed lightly over her ear.

“I’ll apologize for calling you a quack before.”

That deep voice grazed her ear.

“Thanks to you, I feel reborn.”

His long fingers stroked her cheek. In disbelief, she heard him murmur,

“From now on, everything will change.”

Their eyes met in the heavy shadows.

“…Pardon? What do you mean—”

It happened in an instant. He was above her, pressing her back against the bed.

“Your Grace?!”

“I thought you’d be at least a little happy.”

Softly, he brushed stray hairs from her cheek.

“Didn’t you want me to be healthy?”

Of course, she had.

No one in the Empire had wished for his health more than she.

‘But this is too healthy!’

Just days ago, he had been on death’s door—no, he had died. The Akkia she knew had never been this masculine.

He had been frail, living under a death sentence. Now, he was pressing her down with an overwhelming force.

The weight on her stomach made her uneasy. Surely it wasn’t what she feared…

Before she could dwell, his heated breath fell over her.

“Lea.”

She gulped and pushed lightly at his shoulder.

“Your Grace, wait—we should calm down and talk—”

“It’s strange.”

“…What?”

“My body… it’s overflowing with strength.”

Desire gleamed in his crimson eyes, heavy and oppressive.

“So much that I can’t control it.”

The burning intensity in his gaze threatened to consume her whole.

—thump.

—thump.

—thump.

Her heart pounded wildly, as if it might burst.

“So, Lea.”

His breath fell hot against her lips, dangerously close.

“Take responsibility.”

His fingers slid up her arms, interlacing with hers, leaving no room to escape.

“Because you’re the one who made me this way.”

The frail Duke had become healthy. Much too healthy.