Chapter 95

A deep sigh filled the room with heaviness.

Yurik’s words were more like a soliloquy than something that required an answer. He had nowhere to lament, no one to listen, so he spoke as if to the walls. Yet, his companion was someone who could understand him in many ways. At the same time, perhaps someone who could blame him.

However, Raihan did not want to blame Yurik. Not because he was kind, or liked Yurik, but simply because if he himself had done better, if he had been just a bit more thorough, if he had ordered stricter security, if only… then none of this would have happened.

Truthfully, he knew there was nothing more he could have done. But even if his mind accepted that, his heart did not. He couldn’t stop feeling guilty.

“……That attendant is locked up in the lowest level of the dungeon.”

“…….”

Raihan, sitting opposite Yurik, saw his fist clench as soon as he finished speaking. Yurik looked as though he might jump up and run to the dungeon’s lowest level at any moment, but Raihan knew he wouldn’t.

“That’s enough. Your Highness, just please go see for yourself.”

“I don’t intend to go either.”

Both of them knew that even if they confronted the attendant, it would be blaming the wrong person. Of course, that didn’t change the fact that the attendant had tried to kill her, so punishment was unavoidable. But the one they truly wanted to catch and interrogate was someone else.

“What does the Earl say?”

“Well… He says, ‘Why would I do that to my own niece?’”

“He should know when to stop spouting nonsense.”

The tone was so cold it sent chills down the spine, and the words were anything but dignified, but Raihan fully agreed. Knowing the truth, that excuse was nothing but an absurd lie.

In fact, being her uncle—her blood relative—was exactly why he tried to kill her, his tongue so sly. He coveted the inheritance that would come to him if Dione died. It was utterly repulsive. Even the faint sense of humanity he sometimes had seemed to disappear.

And so, another long silence fell.

“You should go now.”

Raihan quietly stepped outside at Yurik’s subtle dismissal. After only a few steps, he paused and gazed out the window. The busy knights moving about made it clear just how absurd the situation was.

Most of the rebels had been rooted out last night, but with the possibility that collaborators remained, the attendants and maids were being investigated. As a result, except for the minimum trusted personnel, the palace staff had been drastically reduced, but it was unavoidable.

Turning back, Raihan stared at the door to Dione’s room for a while, then finally left the palace prepared for the delegation, his footsteps echoing.

The vast palace felt twice as desolate as usual.

* * *

She had been trapped in darkness for what felt like forever, but suddenly, she woke up.

“Ugh…….”

Even though her eyes were open, her vision was blurred, and she couldn’t seem to focus. She tried blinking rapidly to bring things into focus, but even that didn’t work as she wished.

Honestly, the first thought that crossed her mind was, ‘I’m alive.’ The sensation right before she lost consciousness had been so dreadful she thought she might die from blood loss.

Looking back, perhaps she had really come close to death. The thought was meant as a joke, but the more she considered it, the more chilling it became.

‘Is anyone… Can’t I call for someone? Is there no one?’

Perhaps she had slept too long; her vision was so unclear she wanted to speak, but even her voice wouldn’t come out properly.

How long had she been stuck in that frustrating state? Through the blurry vision, she saw the door open. Someone poked their head in, saw she was awake, and ran out into the hallway shouting.

“Ugh…….”

She tried to speak again, but managed only a small m*an. If not that, maybe she could move her body, but that, too, failed.

Just as she gave up trying, the door rattled open again.

Several people rushed in—mostly familiar faces. Raihan, Yurik, Mary, and a few of her maids.

There was just one unfamiliar person, who introduced himself as a doctor from Moreira, staying with the delegation. She had met him before, but her vision was so blurry she hadn’t recognized him.

After checking her condition, he nodded, saying there were no major problems.

“Today is three days since the coronation.”

‘Too weak to answer’, she simply nodded.

According to his explanation, she would be able to speak soon, and her strength would return gradually afterward. She was so weak because she had hovered at death’s door.

“For now, you must rest absolutely.”

“Until when?”

Raihan, who had been silent, suddenly asked.

“Well… Judging from now, at least a week, I’d say.”

“A week…….”

Her vision was too blurry to see his expression. Just from his voice, he sounded lost, maybe resigned.

Just as the doctor predicted, her voice soon returned.

“Ah, ah. Now, it’s coming back…….”

“My Lady… How are you feeling?”

Mary’s tearful question made her hesitate, then she spoke of her current discomfort.

“You know, I… I can’t see well. Maybe I slept too long.”

“What?”

“What did you say?”

“…Huh?”

Whatever they made of her words, the three of them were instantly alarmed. The doctor, however, was unfazed and diagnosed her condition as simple blurriness, not loss of sight, and only then did sighs of relief come from all around.

“It’ll be fine soon.”

After giving a brief report on the surgery and precautions, the doctor left, followed by the maids for the patient’s rest. Only Mary, Yurik, and Raihan remained.

After the doctor left, Mary sighed and scolded her gently.

“You scared me.”

“Sorry. I spoke too vaguely.”

With Mary’s help, she carefully leaned her back against the pillow at the head of the bed. Even that left her a little breathless. All it took was one stab for her to become a patient.

‘…Am I really a patient?’

Thinking again, she realized she was. The doctor had said she’d been on the verge of death. She had never imagined something like this would happen. Well… Of course not. Who goes through life wondering, ‘What if I get stabbed near the heart?’ Some might, but she certainly hadn’t.

As she mused over such trivial thoughts, blinking a few more times, her vision finally returned to normal. It had been a short but frustrating ordeal.

With her sight restored, she saw Yurik and Raihan’s faces… and they looked dreadful. Had they lost weight in the meantime? Their jawlines were sharper, and dark circles had appeared under their eyes.

‘Did neither of them sleep at all?’

Raihan had surely been busy since the coronation, but for Yurik to look like that too… It was probably because she hadn’t woken up for more than two days after being stabbed.

As she caught her breath and studied their faces, Yurik, who hadn’t taken his eyes off her, asked,

“Is it okay to lean back?”

“I asked the doctor earlier—he said the stitches are fine.”

“I don’t feel anything, though.”

“They applied anesthesia about an hour before you woke up.”

“Ah, I see.”

Only after Mary’s answers did the two men, who had been standing, carefully sit down on either side of the bed. Even after hearing she was fine, their expressions remained gloomy. The surgery had gone well; once the wound healed and she regained her strength, it would be over.

“Mary, you can step out. We have something to discuss.”

“Okay. Please call me if you need anything.”

“Mm.”

Thud. The sound of the door closing after Mary left, but neither man spoke first. Neither smiled… Both stared at her with such dark faces that she felt quite burdened.