At Delmonsi’s cry, Carlos’s body suddenly stiffened. He tilted his head and asked back.

“What?”

He looked like someone who had just heard absurd news. Seeing Carlos seemingly not understanding his words, Delmonsi moved his lips again.

“To be precise, it’s the ability to transfer others’ wounds to her own body! That’s why when Your Majesty’s legs were healed, the Queen began to limp instead. Didn’t you find it strange then? How Your Majesty’s legs were suddenly healed overnight, and at the same time, the Queen began to limp!”

“That…”

Carlos’s face gradually hardened as he trailed off. He recalled the day his legs were healed while searching his memories. One day when he was completely drunk, he had a pleasant dream, and when he woke up, his legs were fine. It was truly like a miracle. But on that same day, Ines…

Overcome with a strange feeling, Carlos asked Delmonsi again.

“So what you’re saying is that Ines used her healing power to cure my legs, and in exchange, she became lame herself… is that what you’re saying?”

Delmonsi nodded his head vigorously in affirmation to Carlos’s question.

“Yes! That’s exactly right! And that’s not all! When Marquis Descartes learned of this fact, he exploited the Queen’s ability to heal his sick son! Do you remember when there were those ridiculous rumors about an affair between the Marquis’s son and her? The truth behind those rumors wasn’t anything like an affair!”

“What in the world…”

“I had already confessed everything truthfully to Herman before I was taken to the underground prison. But Herman…!”

Just as Delmonsi was about to reveal Herman’s crimes.

“Your Majesty…!”

Someone urgently called for Carlos. He turned his head. There was Herman, breathing heavily.

Herman bit his lip briefly upon seeing Delmonsi and studied Carlos’s face. He seemed to be gauging how much Delmonsi had revealed. Seeing this, Carlos narrowed his eyes and asked Herman.

“Delmonsi has been saying some absurd things. He says you tried to kill him. I haven’t ordered any disposition yet, so what’s this about?”

“That…”

“More bizarre than that is his claim that Ines had healing powers. That Ines sacrificed herself to heal my legs? Don’t you think it’s too ridiculous even for you to believe?”

Carlos pressed Herman as if expecting him to agree with his words. But contrary to his expectations, Herman lowered his head, avoiding Carlos’s gaze.

Perhaps it was from that moment. When he began to feel the ominous premonition.

Carlos narrowed his eyes and called Herman’s name again. The response that came back was,

“…I’m sorry. I failed to tell you.”

Herman’s apology as he knelt down. Carlos’s face instantly became rigid.

“Herman…?”

Herman, who had been hesitating, continued. Having judged that he couldn’t hide anything now that Delmonsi had confessed everything.

“Delmonsi’s words are true. The Queen possessed a special ability.”

‘I have a special ability.’

Suddenly, Ines’s voice echoed in his head. An old memory emerged unexpectedly, beginning to make him dizzy.

‘I can heal when I place my hands on other people’s wounds. I can’t transfer the illness of sick people to my body, but I can reduce their pain. That’s why I went to the mansion to ease the pain of the sick Marquis’s son.’

The image of Ines’s face as she struggled to speak those words flickered before his eyes.

‘Then those words back then were all true?’

As if finding it hard to believe, Carlos’s eyes trembled left and right. Healing powers? How preposterous.

Moreover, Carlos hadn’t simply dismissed Ines’s words that day. He had asked her to demonstrate her healing power, but Ines had ultimately failed to show her ability.

So he had naturally assumed Ines’s words were lies. That’s why he couldn’t believe what these two were saying now.

Carlos clenched and unclenched his fist as if trying to release tension, then raised his head.

“What evidence do you have for saying such things? Do you really think it makes sense that such an ability could exist?”

His voice trembled slightly. It seemed as if he was begging for someone to affirm his words, even briefly. But unfortunately, no one granted Carlos’s wish. Instead, as if driving in the final nail, Delmonsi spoke.

“It’s because of the Sun’s Flower.”

“The Sun’s Flower…?”

“It’s one of Tezever’s old legends.”

With that introduction, Delmonsi began to lay out everything he knew, one by one.

From the story of Duke Claudia’s strange behavior in the past to the Queen’s ability he had witnessed at Marquis Descartes’s mansion.

While explaining the events in detail, he emphasized that he had consistently insisted on informing Carlos about the Queen’s ability.

“I believed such a noble power should not be carelessly misused. Moreover, she was this country’s Queen! So I stressed that this situation should be reported to Your Majesty immediately, but Marquis Descartes ignored my words. Instead, he threatened me, saying he would harm me if I spoke unnecessary words!”

Delmonsi added how Marquis Descartes and his followers had exploited Ines’s ability. As he continued, Carlos’s face grew increasingly pale.

“You can’t imagine how heartbreaking it was to see the Queen screaming in pain every time she used her ability. When she was healing the Marquis’s son, I begged Marquis Descartes to stop, but he finally…”

“Wait.”

At that moment, Carlos cut off Delmonsi’s words.

“Writhing in pain? What do you mean by that…?”

“The wounds weren’t simply transferred. When she took away wounds, she also took the corresponding pain. She probably felt the same pain from that time when healing Your Majesty’s legs.”

At those words, Carlos’s eyes widened.

‘She takes the pain too…? Then…’

His face hardened as he briefly looked at his legs.

Carlos was confused. He couldn’t believe if what Delmonsi had just said was true. No, he didn’t want to believe it.

Then suddenly, Delmonsi’s words from earlier flashed through his mind.

‘She suffered every time she healed the Marquis’s son?’

In that moment, the image of Ines lying on the bed in the Marquis’s son’s room flashed through his mind. The image of Ines breathing heavily, completely disheveled.

‘If she had used that ability then…’

As his thoughts reached that point, a chill ran down his spine. His mind went blank and his heart began to race.

“No, it can’t be… That’s impossible…”

Unable to believe the difficult truth, Carlos shook his head vigorously, denying Delmonsi’s words. But Delmonsi didn’t back down and pointed his finger at Herman.

“Herman knew about this too. Yet he didn’t tell Your Majesty! What could be the reason! I heard he has a sick sister. Surely he kept it a secret to heal his sister!”

Carlos, who had been clutching his head, suddenly turned to look at Herman. Herman hastily defended himself as if he was wronged.

“That’s absolutely not true. The reason I hid the Queen’s ability was because I feared Your Majesty would be shocked later. But I never thought the Queen would end up like this…”

As Herman made a pained expression, Delmonsi shouted.

“You hypocrite! Stop lying!”

“You’re the one spouting nonsense, Delmonsi.”

While an intense battle of words continued between the two men, Carlos couldn’t hear their argument. Only Ines’s face was spinning through his mind.

His heart fell to the ground like falling flower petals. At the same time, Ines’s words flashed through his mind like a kaleidoscope. Her desperate face begging him to believe her words shook his heart.

Carlos turned his head to look at where Ines was buried.

Stumbling, he slowly moved his feet.

Soon reaching Ines’s grave, Carlos fell to his knees. Only the cold earth greeted him, as if saying it was now irreversible.

“Ines…”

All the numerous things he had done to Ines flashed through his mind like a kaleidoscope. He hadn’t believed Ines’s words when she begged him to trust her, and he had rejected Ines’s plea when she reached out saying it was difficult.

What had he done?