The Duke's longtime physician, Glenn Adams, was also one of the helpers. However, his thoughts on Eternity gradually took on a different character over time.
Unlike Louis, who became more obsessed with pursuing eternal life as she grew older, he was skeptical of Black Mass itself. At first, he was actively involved in receiving remedies and blood transfusions, but his thoughts changed after seeing the undeadness of the previous Duke and Edward's tragic end.
“Louis. There’s no hope for him. Send the girls back to the village now, and stop turning this place into another Cullinan Island.”
Glenn spoke sharply to the butler. The middle-aged woman stood upright as usual. However, she had mixed feelings inside. If Michael could not be a man and have an heir, and if Eternity could not be completed as a result, there was no reason to support him as the next Duke.
Louis regretted giving up on Kyle too early, sending false testimony that would hasten his execution. She had always guessed that Kyle had no interest in Eternity. Even with the dead Leticia, his marital relations were rare or nonexistent in the past three years.
As a result, both Leticia and Charlotte were useless, so they disposed of them, but if there was no hope of Michael recovering...
“That can’t be, Glenn. Unfortunately, Lord Kyle is already as good as dead. His Highness the Archduke Winston would have been firmly determined to punish him for the assassination of the Emperor and treason.”
If Kyle was executed, the next target could be Duke Winston, his nominal wife, his mistress, and the children she bore. If the royal family collapsed, the Blackwell family could forgive the country's enormous debt. Then the next step was obvious. With Michael, the Blackwell family could become the real power.
“There must be a cure. If Glenn is having a hard time, we may invite medical staff from overseas...”
“There is no need for that.”
Michael was already standing in front of the main gate. He threw the paper in his hand down on the table. Louis picked up the paper and narrowed his eyes.
“This is...?”
“There is a way, so my healing will no longer be a problem... Come in.”
As he looked between the middle door and the curtain, a woman in a veil came hesitatingly into the chamber. She looked as if she had been suddenly summoned to the mansion of a magnificent noble family and was at a loss as to what was going on.
“She is the most experienced midwife in the village. Heinrich brought her. Tell me about the condition of the woman you examined earlier.”
At Michael's direction, the woman bowed and opened her mouth. As if she thought everyone was waiting to hear her verification, her words flowed out smoothly.
“Yes. After examining her closely, I found that there were signs of childbirth on her body.”
Both Glenn and Louis were surprised by the unexpected fact. The woman folded her hands and added for emphasis.
“I have been helping the village doctor take care of pregnant women for 30 years, so I know a lot about that.”
“She had a baby? Was it really like that, not just a guess?”
Louis approached the woman and asked. The woman nodded, startled. After all, it was highly unlikely that Heinrich, a native of the village, would have brought her here without any care. The midwife whispered that in some cases, the perineum near the uterus heals and leaves a mark, and in Angie’s case, it was found very faintly.
“But it’s not a recent trace. It looks like it’s been there for at least two or three years.”
Louis's eyes changed. If it was Kyle's child. Then he had his first child. But Kyle would die soon, and she had a part to play in the outcome of that future. As if reading her thoughts, Michael sent the midwife away and spoke again.
“It was not John Fitzroy Blackwell who first performed the Eternity of Black Mass. It was the abbot who sacrificed his nephew’s blood a hundred years ago and lived to the age of ninety-eight.”
Surprisingly, the first ceremony was held in a small monastery in a remote village, by a sixty-year-old abbot and his monks. It was the Rosh Monastery in Krozen Province, Azerbaijan.
“I heard rumors too, but I had no evidence. How did you know?”
To Louis' question, Michael answered coolly.
“There is no physical evidence, but my aunt Hester told me before she died. It wasn’t written in the secret book containing the doctrine, but it seems that the two ancestors knew about it. My grandfather, who investigated the case, became an undead before he could tell Helper about the possibility, and my father, Edward, must have kept quiet until the end. In any case, the result is that he did not die as an undead. Unlikely grandfather.”
"Then..."
“Of course, that doesn’t mean he died an honorable death. He didn’t know the limits of Eternity’s immortality, so he locked himself in his bedroom after he turned seventy and never stepped out. He didn’t know when or what kind of accident would cause the eternal life he had earned to go up in smoke, so he locked himself in the safest space possible and never left.”
He took out Armitage's papers on the people and handed them to Louis.
“Noah Silva Armitage. He’s three years old this year.”
“Three years old...”
Louis looked up at him. There was an excitement in her eyes that she couldn't hide. Then Glenn jumped up from his seat. He looked like he couldn't believe his ears.
“Wait! Right now, no way... If there really is a baby between Master Kyle and Angie Ridsdel, then in the consciousness... it can’t be?”
“Not if, but actually. Timing-wise, I think Angie was already pregnant when she escaped the island.”
Michael was confident. The attending physician was speechless in shock. But Louis dispelled Glenn's doubts with his cold eyes.
“It’s refreshing to think that this is why we exist as the Duke’s helpers.”
“Crazy... Not a human.”
Michael pretended not to hear the insult and turned his gaze back to the butler.
“First, we need to send someone to Vintergar to confirm the facts. If it is indeed Kyle’s child, we must bring him here by any means necessary. Angie must absolutely not find out.”
Louis nodded in agreement. It was worth a try, she said. The two men had no idea anyone was listening to their story.
Annette sat close to the fireplace in the next room, listening intently. She covered her mouth with both hands and her face turned pale as she listened to the conversation coming through the crack. A groan escaped from deep in her throat at the horror.
Annette moved quickly as soon as their voices ceased and she heard the door close. Her legs moved quickly towards the outdoor stairs and then down to the basement where the secret passage in the spire led.
It wasn't long before she reached Angie's bedroom closet, which had been moved to the spire wing facing the chapel.
She threw open the closet door without warning in a hurry and looked around. Angie looked at Annette with startled and astonished eyes. She looked like she was about to jump out of bed at any moment, even with her patient appearance.
“Annette...? How did you get out of there? I was so surprised I thought my heart stopped.”
“Shhh! Angie, we’re in big trouble. Angie, are you... having a baby?”
“How do you...”
Angie's face turned pale. The hair on her body stood on end in fear. Her whole body trembled with an ominous feeling that what she feared most was about to become reality. Her premonition was not wrong.
“I just heard Mrs. Dunst and that man talking...”
While Annette continued the conversation she had overheard earlier, Angie was clutching at her chest with one hand. She couldn't breathe. It felt like the monster called fear was crawling into her skin, squeezing every pore of her body.
“Annette, help me... help me. I have to get out of here. My baby... Noah, Noah...”
Angie managed to continue speaking, panting. It felt like someone was squeezing her heart. Angie sank to the bottom of the bed, barely able to catch her breath.
It would be okay. They couldn't touch Noah. Uncle Willem's personal bodyguards were the finest private soldiers on the entire continent. They would be guarding the Armitage mansion 24 hours a day, making sure not a single ant could enter.
“Angie, calm down for a moment. There was a secret passage in that closet over there that led to the outside. I found it yesterday too...”
Just then, a noise was heard from the hallway. It was Mrs. Dunst's footsteps.
The departure for Te Deum was delayed by a few days due to Kyle's illness. As soon as he was transferred to the palace prison, he suffered from severe body aches due to the aftereffects of torture and was unable to move. Having spent nearly three weeks in the cold prison, his physical strength had weakened, and on top of that, he suffered from severe pain several times a day due to intermittent heart attacks and hemoptysis.
Fortunately, Jerome had begged Grand Duke Winston to move Kyle from the prison to the infirmary. Since a pardon was quietly being discussed, it was possible to return to the Blackwell family estate in the capital. However, Kyle had insisted on being a prisoner in the Stone Tower, so he could not do so.
“Your Highness, I think it would be better to postpone your trip to Te Deum a little longer. In this condition, it would be impossible to leave tomorrow. Didn’t you say that the intervals between the seizures are getting shorter?”
Jerome spoke gravely as he nursed him. It was frustrating to wonder why he had kept his relapse a secret until now.
Unlike Louis, who became more obsessed with pursuing eternal life as she grew older, he was skeptical of Black Mass itself. At first, he was actively involved in receiving remedies and blood transfusions, but his thoughts changed after seeing the undeadness of the previous Duke and Edward's tragic end.
“Louis. There’s no hope for him. Send the girls back to the village now, and stop turning this place into another Cullinan Island.”
Glenn spoke sharply to the butler. The middle-aged woman stood upright as usual. However, she had mixed feelings inside. If Michael could not be a man and have an heir, and if Eternity could not be completed as a result, there was no reason to support him as the next Duke.
Louis regretted giving up on Kyle too early, sending false testimony that would hasten his execution. She had always guessed that Kyle had no interest in Eternity. Even with the dead Leticia, his marital relations were rare or nonexistent in the past three years.
As a result, both Leticia and Charlotte were useless, so they disposed of them, but if there was no hope of Michael recovering...
“That can’t be, Glenn. Unfortunately, Lord Kyle is already as good as dead. His Highness the Archduke Winston would have been firmly determined to punish him for the assassination of the Emperor and treason.”
If Kyle was executed, the next target could be Duke Winston, his nominal wife, his mistress, and the children she bore. If the royal family collapsed, the Blackwell family could forgive the country's enormous debt. Then the next step was obvious. With Michael, the Blackwell family could become the real power.
“There must be a cure. If Glenn is having a hard time, we may invite medical staff from overseas...”
“There is no need for that.”
Michael was already standing in front of the main gate. He threw the paper in his hand down on the table. Louis picked up the paper and narrowed his eyes.
“This is...?”
“There is a way, so my healing will no longer be a problem... Come in.”
As he looked between the middle door and the curtain, a woman in a veil came hesitatingly into the chamber. She looked as if she had been suddenly summoned to the mansion of a magnificent noble family and was at a loss as to what was going on.
“She is the most experienced midwife in the village. Heinrich brought her. Tell me about the condition of the woman you examined earlier.”
At Michael's direction, the woman bowed and opened her mouth. As if she thought everyone was waiting to hear her verification, her words flowed out smoothly.
“Yes. After examining her closely, I found that there were signs of childbirth on her body.”
Both Glenn and Louis were surprised by the unexpected fact. The woman folded her hands and added for emphasis.
“I have been helping the village doctor take care of pregnant women for 30 years, so I know a lot about that.”
“She had a baby? Was it really like that, not just a guess?”
Louis approached the woman and asked. The woman nodded, startled. After all, it was highly unlikely that Heinrich, a native of the village, would have brought her here without any care. The midwife whispered that in some cases, the perineum near the uterus heals and leaves a mark, and in Angie’s case, it was found very faintly.
“But it’s not a recent trace. It looks like it’s been there for at least two or three years.”
Louis's eyes changed. If it was Kyle's child. Then he had his first child. But Kyle would die soon, and she had a part to play in the outcome of that future. As if reading her thoughts, Michael sent the midwife away and spoke again.
“It was not John Fitzroy Blackwell who first performed the Eternity of Black Mass. It was the abbot who sacrificed his nephew’s blood a hundred years ago and lived to the age of ninety-eight.”
Surprisingly, the first ceremony was held in a small monastery in a remote village, by a sixty-year-old abbot and his monks. It was the Rosh Monastery in Krozen Province, Azerbaijan.
“I heard rumors too, but I had no evidence. How did you know?”
To Louis' question, Michael answered coolly.
“There is no physical evidence, but my aunt Hester told me before she died. It wasn’t written in the secret book containing the doctrine, but it seems that the two ancestors knew about it. My grandfather, who investigated the case, became an undead before he could tell Helper about the possibility, and my father, Edward, must have kept quiet until the end. In any case, the result is that he did not die as an undead. Unlikely grandfather.”
"Then..."
“Of course, that doesn’t mean he died an honorable death. He didn’t know the limits of Eternity’s immortality, so he locked himself in his bedroom after he turned seventy and never stepped out. He didn’t know when or what kind of accident would cause the eternal life he had earned to go up in smoke, so he locked himself in the safest space possible and never left.”
He took out Armitage's papers on the people and handed them to Louis.
“Noah Silva Armitage. He’s three years old this year.”
“Three years old...”
Louis looked up at him. There was an excitement in her eyes that she couldn't hide. Then Glenn jumped up from his seat. He looked like he couldn't believe his ears.
“Wait! Right now, no way... If there really is a baby between Master Kyle and Angie Ridsdel, then in the consciousness... it can’t be?”
“Not if, but actually. Timing-wise, I think Angie was already pregnant when she escaped the island.”
Michael was confident. The attending physician was speechless in shock. But Louis dispelled Glenn's doubts with his cold eyes.
“It’s refreshing to think that this is why we exist as the Duke’s helpers.”
“Crazy... Not a human.”
Michael pretended not to hear the insult and turned his gaze back to the butler.
“First, we need to send someone to Vintergar to confirm the facts. If it is indeed Kyle’s child, we must bring him here by any means necessary. Angie must absolutely not find out.”
Louis nodded in agreement. It was worth a try, she said. The two men had no idea anyone was listening to their story.
***
Annette sat close to the fireplace in the next room, listening intently. She covered her mouth with both hands and her face turned pale as she listened to the conversation coming through the crack. A groan escaped from deep in her throat at the horror.
Annette moved quickly as soon as their voices ceased and she heard the door close. Her legs moved quickly towards the outdoor stairs and then down to the basement where the secret passage in the spire led.
It wasn't long before she reached Angie's bedroom closet, which had been moved to the spire wing facing the chapel.
She threw open the closet door without warning in a hurry and looked around. Angie looked at Annette with startled and astonished eyes. She looked like she was about to jump out of bed at any moment, even with her patient appearance.
“Annette...? How did you get out of there? I was so surprised I thought my heart stopped.”
“Shhh! Angie, we’re in big trouble. Angie, are you... having a baby?”
“How do you...”
Angie's face turned pale. The hair on her body stood on end in fear. Her whole body trembled with an ominous feeling that what she feared most was about to become reality. Her premonition was not wrong.
“I just heard Mrs. Dunst and that man talking...”
While Annette continued the conversation she had overheard earlier, Angie was clutching at her chest with one hand. She couldn't breathe. It felt like the monster called fear was crawling into her skin, squeezing every pore of her body.
“Annette, help me... help me. I have to get out of here. My baby... Noah, Noah...”
Angie managed to continue speaking, panting. It felt like someone was squeezing her heart. Angie sank to the bottom of the bed, barely able to catch her breath.
It would be okay. They couldn't touch Noah. Uncle Willem's personal bodyguards were the finest private soldiers on the entire continent. They would be guarding the Armitage mansion 24 hours a day, making sure not a single ant could enter.
“Angie, calm down for a moment. There was a secret passage in that closet over there that led to the outside. I found it yesterday too...”
Just then, a noise was heard from the hallway. It was Mrs. Dunst's footsteps.
***
The departure for Te Deum was delayed by a few days due to Kyle's illness. As soon as he was transferred to the palace prison, he suffered from severe body aches due to the aftereffects of torture and was unable to move. Having spent nearly three weeks in the cold prison, his physical strength had weakened, and on top of that, he suffered from severe pain several times a day due to intermittent heart attacks and hemoptysis.
Fortunately, Jerome had begged Grand Duke Winston to move Kyle from the prison to the infirmary. Since a pardon was quietly being discussed, it was possible to return to the Blackwell family estate in the capital. However, Kyle had insisted on being a prisoner in the Stone Tower, so he could not do so.
“Your Highness, I think it would be better to postpone your trip to Te Deum a little longer. In this condition, it would be impossible to leave tomorrow. Didn’t you say that the intervals between the seizures are getting shorter?”
Jerome spoke gravely as he nursed him. It was frustrating to wonder why he had kept his relapse a secret until now.
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