24. Closer

After finishing a satisfying meal at the annex palace, I was on my way back to my quarters.

Unlike before, there was something on the path.

Moving a bit closer, it looked like a collapsed person.

Seeing this gave me a sense of déjà vu from this morning. I remembered Annie and Lara whom I had found on the stair landing when I came out of my bedroom.

I ran to check on the person up close.

Though I didn’t know who it was, they appeared to be another victim of the sleep-inducing well water. I walked slowly toward them, muffling my footsteps to avoid waking them from their deep sleep.

Judging by the clothes and build, the collapsed person was a man.

When I got a little closer to him, I couldn’t help but hold my breath.

“Gasp……”

Why would he be in a place like this?

The person was clearly Young Master Riverton.

I couldn’t understand why he was collapsed here, but that wasn’t the important fact.

His already poor condition looked unusually serious.

Unlike Annie and Lara this morning, he didn’t seem to have simply fallen asleep.

His breathing, as he lay on the ground, was visibly unstable.

I quickly ran to the young master’s side to help him up. He was completely unconscious.

As I barely managed to turn him over by lifting his shoulders, I saw sweat flowing down his forehead.

His tightly fitted clothing seemed to be suppressing his breathing. After hesitating, I undid a few buttons.

I felt dejected, as if confronting a forgotten misfortune.

The happiness that had filled me until just moments ago had already subsided in an instant. A corner of my heart ached as if pierced by guilt for having enjoyed such happiness.

I remembered what Mrs. Wellers had said earlier today.

‘I hope that door opens again someday.’

Would he be in this state at times other than this moment when I happened to encounter him? If so, would it be alright for him to continue living there alone, locked away?

He showed no signs of waking from his unconscious state.

It seemed best to move him to my quarters first. Could I manage it?

While supporting him, I discovered he had serious injuries on his hands. Those unhealed wounds, as if slashed by something sharp, seemed recent as blood seeped out even with slight pressure.

Bleeding continued whenever pressure was applied. I panicked.

Though I knew I needed to stop the bleeding, the vibrating smell of blood kept making me nauseous.

There was no doctor here.

But I had a minor healing power that could stop his bleeding.

Of course, I didn’t wish him harm, but I was scared. This was the first time I had seen such severely lacerated wounds.

I brought my trembling hands over his blood-stained hands. With my eyes tightly closed, trying not to look at the wounds, I held his injured hands.

Though I blocked my vision, my sense of touch and smell remained vivid.

When I touched the wet, slippery affected area, I felt as if the stinging pain was transferred to me.

I wanted to let go of his hand due to the transmitted pain, but I desperately endured it.

Was it fortunate that I had this slight healing power?

“Young master, please bear with me a little longer.”

I gradually felt the area where our hands touched drying up. Fortunately, the bleeding seemed to have stopped.

He was still unconscious, unaware of anything.

Could I carry him on my back?

I lifted his arms and draped them over my shoulders.

The friction created a strange sensation of roughly dried blood on my hands, but I raised my gaze to look ahead.

When his weight settled on my shoulders, I had to exert a bit more strength to keep his feet from dragging on the ground.

His body was pulled toward me as I staggered slightly.

Though not impossibly heavy, I had to empty my mind and concentrate fully to avoid dropping him.

His faint, almost broken breathing continuously sounded in my ears.

His cold body temperature transferred directly to me. His arms and legs, weakly swaying as he leaned on me, added small vibrations.

“……Rosie.”

Tears suddenly welled up at that voice calling me. It sounded cracked, as if making a metallic sound.

“I’m sorry.”

His frail body flailed in the air as if trying to break free from my support.

“It’s alright. We’re almost there now. So, just stay still.”

Even without facing each other, my voice was noticeably wet and trembling.

I continued supporting him and led him to my quarters, where I had already lit the entrance earlier.

After guiding him to the bedroom, I laid the young master straight on the bed. His body was pale white, like someone drained of all blood.

His barely exhaled breaths were irregular, and I could feel a subtle trembling, almost imperceptible. With his eyes closed and hands neatly folded, he looked like a delicate herbivore placed defenseless, having lost all vitality.

Beads of sweat had formed on his transparent face.

I took out a clean spare towel and wiped his forehead.

With his condition so poor, was it really right to leave the young master like this?

His head moved slowly, then he raised it and looked at me with a strained expression. His dry lips barely moved.

“A little, closer.”

Though his voice was so small it was almost a whisper, I could barely understand.

Standing beside him, I bent my upper body and brought my ear closer to him.

His pale, slender fingers reached toward me. At the same time, a faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

His fingertips weakly pointed in my direction and hovered in the air for a brief moment. But soon, as if lacking strength, his hand fell down.

That hand, which landed with a thud on the blanket, twitched slightly, perhaps from the impact. His gaze was still directed at me, but strangely, our eyes didn’t meet.

He seemed to be looking past my gaze to somewhere else.

He must have half-lost consciousness from the pain. With such wounds added to his already ill body, it couldn’t be helped.

“Young master, I’ll quickly go out and call a doctor.”

Looking at his condition, I spoke with growing urgency.

“No.”

Though he rejected my words, he still looked unwell.

“That’s, not allowed. Rosie.”

Despite his shallow breathing, his pleading words were impossible to refuse.

Because of this, I changed my mind about rushing out and decided to stay by his side.

“Actually, I’m scared.”

He said weakly in a hoarse voice with his eyes closed.

“That this moment might be the last.”

“……”

I couldn’t respond to those words that naturally made me solemn.

But soon, I decided to tell a fairly irresponsible but well-intentioned lie.

“No, that’s not true.”

Though I was neither a doctor nor a fortune-teller, I wanted him to have hope.

“That will absolutely never happen, young master.”

For a moment, a strange light seemed to flow through the emerald eyes looking at me. When I met that gaze, goosebumps ran through my entire body, making my hair stand on end without my realizing it.

But his appearance, limp and unconscious again, reminded me that all of it was my imagination.

Just now, what was that?

It was too intense to be a misconception. The feeling I experienced in that moment was etched in my mind.

For a moment, I felt dazed enough to forget he was beside me.

However, I couldn’t just stand here quietly anymore.

The young master seemed to have fallen completely asleep now.

It seemed I should leave to let him rest comfortably.

For tonight, I decided to give him my bed and sleep in the annex room myself.

When morning came, it would be good to get help from people to treat him and safely send him back to the outer castle.

I quietly got up from my place and extinguished the lamp lighting the room. Then, making as little noise as possible, I closed the door and headed to the adjacent annex room.

Though I lay down on the bed in the annex room, sleep wouldn’t come easily.

I was concerned about the young master who would be beyond that wall.

Though I hadn’t asked him earlier, I was still curious.

Why had he been collapsed in front of this place with such wounds on his hands?

A momentary ominous thought crossed my mind. The injuries might not be limited to his hands.

With sleep completely gone, I sprang up from my place.

I needed to check.

He might have unhealed wounds I hadn’t yet confirmed. If they became infected, it would be serious.

It seemed best to go check.

Though I felt a bit guilty about secretly intruding on the sleeping young master, this was certainly not a bad deed.