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~Chapter 25~
He grabbed her small hand and pulled her in. Her body came to him, as light as a feather.
Grey held her tightly and swam up toward the surface.
Splash!
He broke through the water and lifted his face. Water droplets flew everywhere.
Grey tilted the young lady’s head back. Her face, pale like a wax doll, was revealed.
“Young Lady!”
He brought his face close to hers. She wasn’t breathing.
His face twisted in panic. For a moment, he lost control of his own breathing. But he quickly got himself together.
I can’t do anything for her here. I have to get her out of the lake, fast.
He looked to the side and saw Ethan carrying a tired Vivian out of the water.
Grey held the young lady in one arm and moved as fast as he could.
As soon as he got out of the water, he laid her down on the ground.
Her face was so pale that he felt like he couldn’t breathe. His vision blurred and her face overlapped with another face in his memory.
A pale face, eyes closed—so alike.
Grey’s hand shook as he reached out to touch her. The moment his fingertips touched her face, the ghostly vision disappeared.
“Young Lady…”
His voice trembled with fear, full of emotions he tried to hold back.
Is that really my voice?
Hearing his own shaky voice actually helped him calm down.
Grey quickly leaned in to check if she was breathing. She still wasn’t.
He put one hand on her forehead, the other under her chin, and tilted her head back to open her airway.
She doesn’t look like someone from this world…
I won’t let her die.
He pinched her nose and breathed into her blue lips.
Her lips were icy cold. He breathed into her again and pressed on her chest quickly.
Anger burned inside him.
Why did I leave her alone? Why?!
He pressed his lips to hers again and breathed for her.
Open your eyes! I still have so many things I want to ask you!
He pressed her chest, and her thin body sank into the ground.
Again, he breathed deeply into her cold lips.
Open your eyes. Please…
The thought that she might die right here made his chest ache and tighten.
Suddenly—
“Haaah!”
She gasped loudly and coughed up water.
Grey quickly turned her head to the side.
“Cough, cough! Cough, cough!”
After spitting out all the water, she fainted again.
But some color returned to her pale face.
Grey finally let out a huge sigh of relief and sat down beside her.
Just then, Oreon spoke to him.
“Is the young lady alright?”
Grey looked up and saw Oreon’s back.
He was about to answer, but then he glanced down and saw that her thin slip was soaked and see-through.
Damn. As Grey tried to undo the buttons on his wet shirt, Oreon reached out and offered his own jacket.
Grey stood up and took the jacket.
“Where’s Ethan?”
“He said he would take Her Highness back first. Didn’t you hear?”
Oreon sounded surprised.
Grey hadn’t heard him.
He’d been so focused on saving her, he missed everything else.
“How is the princess?”
“She’s safe, thankfully.”
Grey picked up his own jacket from the ground and wrapped it around the young lady. Then, he covered her with Oreon’s jacket like a blanket and lifted her in his arms.
The emperor disappeared quickly, carrying the young lady away.
Oreon looked around to tidy up the area.
He found the princess’s clothes hidden near a big rock. As he picked them up, he also found a letter under a stone.
Oreon’s eyes widened in surprise as he picked up the letter.
“Ria!”
Annie, pale with worry, and Rayen, looking serious, rushed into the room, with a distressed-looking Cole right behind them.
Dahlia was lying on the bed, eyes closed, her skin without color.
The palace doctor greeted them.
“Welcome.”
Annie hurried past the doctor and ran to the head of the bed.
Rayen asked the doctor about the princess.
“Is she alright?”
“Yes, thanks to quick first aid, she is safe.”
“But why? Why did she go into the water…”
Annie’s voice was thick with tears.
They had rushed here as soon as they heard the princess fell into the water.
The palace doctor calmly explained.
“I don’t know all the details, but I heard the young lady saved a child who fell in the water. After saving the child, she was in danger herself, but luckily, His Majesty’s group found her and helped. She is sleeping now.”
So it’s the emperor’s group again? She’s involved with him once more…
Annie sighed and looked at Dahlia’s peaceful, sleeping face.
Hearing about a child made everything clear.
The princess always liked children—not just Princess Rose, but any child she met, she’d give them gifts and look after them.
If she hadn’t lived in a side palace, she would have done good deeds for every child in the kingdom.
She looks so much like the late Queen… in looks and in heart.
The late Queen also loved children and always helped those in need.
She even died suddenly after volunteering at an orphanage.
And now, Annie saw the princess lying here after saving a child.
Please, princess… don’t follow her path so closely. Please…
Annie’s eyes filled with tears.
“Annie. Ria is safe now, so don’t worry too much,” Rayen said softly, patting her shoulder.
“I’ll stay and take care of her. You can go to work, brother.”
“I’ll stay, too,” Cole said with a guilty voice.
Rayen looked at Annie and Cole, then sighed.
Both looked full of regret and worry for the princess.
“Alright.”
“I’ll prepare some medicine for her. Please give it to her when she wakes up.”
“Yes, thank you.”
Annie thanked the doctor, then immediately turned to the bed.
Heart, who had followed them, quietly watched from behind the door.
“She’s still not awake?”
“…No.”
Grey’s cold question made Oreon flinch, as if it was his fault.
“Didn’t the palace doctor say she would be alright? Then why?”
“They say she’s just sleeping.”
Oreon quickly reported, worried that he’d get scolded if he hesitated.
“What about the other palace doctors?”
“All five doctors said the same thing. She’s just sleeping.”
“How can someone sleep for two days?”
Grey frowned, clearly unhappy.
“I know, right,” Oreon nodded, just as confused.
“How’s the princess?”
“According to Diane’s report, she’s resting and stable.”
“And the reason she went into the lake?”
“She… went swimming, apparently,” Oreon answered, not really understanding.
