Lady Devil - Chapter 49

#49

The duchess stared at Griselda, who was clinging close to her side, with terrified eyes.

“One… naive ancestor of mine prayed to the devil for happiness, and went mad. Deeply mad… In madness, wandering alone through forests and fields, laughing madly, mistook the son who came looking for prey and shot dozens of arrows, killing him. Then drowned himself in a pond. They say his face was… full of smiles when pulled out.”

The duchess whispered to Griselda without removing her hand from her bruised blue lips.

“Someone who prayed for victory returned paralyzed and spent until called by God bedridden… Living excessively long, enduring nearly fifty years of hardship. Think that’s all? Another ancestor who prayed for wealth and prosperity… discovered treasure on the site where his entire family perished in an unexplained fire.”

“……”

“Ah, aah…. And what of me, who wished for nothing but a son…? As you’ve already seen, have I not given birth to a devil’s spawn?”

“……”

“I want to live, Griselda. I’m afraid. I’m terrified out of my mind. My husband, that butcher who seemed he wouldn’t singe a hair even falling into hell’s fire in life, terrifies me so, and I’m going mad wanting to live so desperately I could die! What, what should I pray for? No matter what I pray for, it feels I won’t escape this sulfurous pit, I… What am I to do?”

“Your Grace….”

“If I. If I. Pray for what… Even a speck… Less….”

“……”

“…It seems I’ll be unhappy.”

Of course, Griselda could give no answer.

The man did not stop sawing. The duchess could not easily make up her mind. The longer the duchess hesitated, the fainter the blood clouds became. Though Griselda had no way of knowing what that sight meant, it certainly seemed to be pushing the duchess.

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