🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter – 43
“Yulion, we need to get closer.”
First, I had to check on the man who had been hired by Rocsis.
I only hoped he was still breathing.
“With that foot, you think you can walk properly?”
Yulion spoke curtly and simply scooped me up in his arms.
“No, I’m fine—”
“You’re not.”
He looked like he’d get angry if I protested further.
Embarrassed, I decided to stay quietly in his arms.
As we approached, a pungent smell stung my nose. Yulion covered my mouth with the edge of his clothes and frowned.
“It doesn’t look like anything survived.”
“What about that man from earlier?”
Crunch. Yulion stepped over the ashes and surveyed the area. Ares had already checked the opposite side and returned.
“He’s not here. Not even a trace.”
“They must have taken him.”
It seemed Rocsis had thought it would be troublesome if the man were captured.
Otherwise, he would have discarded him mercilessly like a horse that had outlived its usefulness.
“What on earth did you do earlier?”
“What do you mean?”
“What kind of grotesque weapon do you carry around that he collapsed instantly like that?”
“Oh, that.”
It was nothing special.
Just one of the essential medicines I carried in my medical bag—a fast-acting sleeping anesthetic.
It was the same one I had used when I infiltrated the Crown Prince’s Palace to propose a contract before marrying Yulion.
I hesitated to mention that detail, and as I fumbled for words, Ares called out to me.
“Your Highness, but…”
Anxiety filled his voice—and his face. His vermilion eyes were clouded with guilt.
“Was Hemion Martin here?”
“I have more than one question myself. By the time I went to Garnet Palace, Hemion Martin had already disappeared. I assumed Rocsis had taken her and pursued him, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.”
Both men turned their eyes to me.
A brief silence settled.
Feeling awkward, I spoke haltingly.
“Well… she must have already fled somewhere else…?”
The silence stretched.
Under their wordless pressure to explain further, I let out an awkward laugh.
Where should I even begin?
A few days earlier, on the night I had almost administered Hemion’s new medicine—
I was staying in the small makeshift apothecary I had set up in Garnet Palace, under the pretext of preparing medicine.
Night had fallen, and even the knights standing guard were fighting off drowsiness.
I picked up a small spoon and opened the door that connected to the adjacent room.
It was the room where Hemion lay sleeping.
Creak. After closing the slightly open window, I placed a candle mixed with a soundproofing pellet on the windowsill.
One in front of the door, one by the connecting door to the apothecary—then I slowly approached the bed.
“Hemion Martin.”
She looked as if she had fallen into an eternal sleep from which she would never wake.
But if one looked closely, there were differences from when I had visited earlier.
The position of the blanket, the shape of her hands, even the direction her hair had fallen.
Considering no one else had come since I left, it was strange.
Just as I expected.
I called her again, though she didn’t stir.
“Open your eyes, Hemion. I know you’re awake.”
Earlier, when I checked her pupils, I sensed something off.
They didn’t match the reactions of someone truly unconscious.
After confirming a few more things, I became certain she had regained consciousness long ago.
She had been pretending to sleep all this time.
Probably because this was the Crown Princess’s palace.
Because she considers me her enemy.
She must have believed that if she revealed she was awake, she would be tortured or used.
I leaned closer and lowered my voice.
“What you’re doing now is even more foolish. Do you plan to pretend to sleep forever and truly die like this?”
If she remained unconscious for too long, it would publicly signal that her condition was worsening.
Then Cassian might take action.
If she died bedridden, people would assume her illness had worsened—not that she had been murdered.
To survive, Hemion needed to open her eyes soon.
“This is your last chance. If you don’t open your eyes now…”
I trailed off and reversed my grip on the spoon I had brought from the apothecary, pressing it lightly against her neck.
Then I whispered deliberately in a colder tone.
“I’ll slit it right here. Choose wisely.”
It was just a spoon. Even if I dragged it, it wouldn’t leave more than a faint mark.
But Hemion’s eyes were closed.
And she believed I was a villainess who could take her life at any moment.
Extreme anxiety and fear were only natural.
There are easier ways, of course.
Inflict pain so she couldn’t stay still.
Tickle her until she couldn’t bear it.
But those would only wake her.
I wanted more than that—I wanted her to feel that I had no intention of harming her.
Even if the method was somewhat provocative.
“Well? Choose. Open your eyes—or…”
I pressed the spoon down slightly, slowly increasing the pressure, heightening her fear to its peak.
“…follow your family into a meaningless death.”
At that moment, her previously unmoving eyebrow twitched.
No matter how brave, a young girl couldn’t endure such fear and continue pretending.
“!”
Hemion’s eyes flew open. She snatched the spoon from her throat and glared at me with hatred-filled olive-green eyes.
Amid her violently swirling emotions, she growled a single word.
“Murderer.”
Seeing how lively she was, I let out a small laugh.
Mission accomplished.
I straightened and took out my notebook.
“Your gaze is strong, your voice is clear. Anywhere else hurting?”
As I wrote down her condition, confusion mixed into her furious expression.
“What are you trying to do?”
“You’re awake, so I need to check my patient’s condition. Any other pain?”
“You…! You just tried to kill me!”
“When did I ever try to kill you?”
“It was clearly a knife…!”
“Does that look like a knife? Is your vision not fully recovered? Or is it cognitive impairment?”
Hemion stiffened like a wax doll, unable to process the situation.
“You deceived me? With something like this…?”
Her face flushed red as she swung the spoon at me—then stopped. Swung again—stopped. Looked at her perfectly fine hand. Then stared at me.
Amused, I decided not to waste more time.
“Hemion Martin. I have no intention of doing anything to you. The only thing I want is to keep you alive.”
“And you expect me to believe that? You’re Cassian’s villainess. The one who did that to my father and mother—Cassian’s—!”
“Did I do it personally? I know nothing about it.”
“But—”
“If I wanted to kill you, I would have threatened you with a real knife. Why use a cute little spoon?”
“Then why play such a sick joke?!”
“Does this look like a joke? If you stayed like this a few more days, you really would have died. By the hands of the Cassian you hate so much.”
She opened and closed her mouth, overwhelmed.
I decided to end it there for the night.
“You’ve probably heard, since you’ve been awake for days, that I’m the one who saved and protected you.”
I pressed her shoulders gently and laid her back down.
“I respected you enough to come to you first without publicly announcing you’ve awakened. Think carefully why I did that.”
“To torment me…!”
“As I said, if that were the case, I’d have used a knife, not a spoon. Disobedient toys are better off dead, aren’t they?”
The candle by the window flickered faintly.
The soundproofing pellet was losing its effect.
“I’ll come again tomorrow night. For now, it’s best you keep pretending to sleep during the day. There are too many eyes and ears curious about you.”
Hemion gave no reply.
Watching the candle flame extinguish with a soft flare, I quietly left the room.
After that, until the spring banquet, I visited Hemion every night.
Especially after learning that Rocsis would attend the banquet, I told her about the secret passage.
“There may be an attack. If that happens, run straight here.”
“Where does it lead?”
“Two places. One is the management office of Watchtower No. 21. And the other… there.”
I pointed out the window.
After confirming the location, Hemion’s eyes widened in surprise.
I continued.
“Depending on the situation, the evacuation site may change, so let’s decide on signals in advance. If you head to the watchtower office, leave a circle mark on the floor. If you go there instead, leave an X. Understood?”
“…Understood. Can I ask one thing?”
“Go ahead.”
“Why does my room even have a secret passage?”
She looked at me, genuinely curious.
I covered the passage again with the rug.
“It’s not that your room has a secret passage.”
Her confusion deepened.
Footsteps of a knight sounded outside, and I paused until they faded.
Then I finished my answer.
“It’s that I placed you in a room that has one.”
