May Every Wound Be Fatal - Chapter 11.1
Karla’s steps were slow, her stomach visibly swollen. Between her short breaths she whispered.
“Please forgive me.”
Reyna, who was supporting her from behind, quietly shook her head. She could not tell how she was even walking. Everything felt like a dream. She wished it were.
While they walked down the narrow corridor that stretched along the thick, damp stone wall, strangely enough they encountered no one.
As Ventari’s words that it had already begun slowly felt real, Reyna’s head began to burn. Her chin trembled and cold sweat streamed down her skin.
At last the corridor ended and an iron door covered with withered moss came into view. It was a door leading down to an unused dock beneath the steep outer wall.
Reyna stopped without realizing it. As the supporting hand disappeared, Karla reflexively turned back.
“My Queen?”
Reyna stood staring at the iron door, her face blank. Ventari grew anxious and urged her.
“My Queen, there is no time left to hesitate.”
Reyna did not answer. It was less that she refused to speak and more that the words would not come out.
“… I will not go.”
Ventari’s face twisted.
“My Queen, please…”
“I am not leaving.”
But Reyna had already made up her mind. No, she had come to her senses while walking here.
She was still the mistress of this castle, and her king was Elizer Wills. He was the king she had chosen. If he was to burn, then she had to burn with him.
“Ventari. Go. Take Karla with you and leave Elmaril at once.”
Her voice shook with the vague terror of death that she could not suppress.
“Ah, My Queen…”
Karla burst into a silent sob and reached out to cling to Reyna.
At that moment the top of the castle wall flared red. Reyna snapped her head up. Dozens of torches.
“No…”
At first she thought Diegor had already launched an attack on the castle. The thought made tears suddenly spill down her cheeks.
Reyna hated her husband. She hated him so much that she wanted him to hurt as she did, and she felt as though she no longer loved him.
Yet even then she had never once wished for him to die. Not once had she dared to imagine such a thing.
Whenever she thought of Elizer dying, she could not breathe.
Without realizing, she had almost run forward to kneel before her brother and beg him to save Elizer. But this time dozens of metal footsteps clattered behind her.
Reyna spun around. At the same time, torches lit up in succession behind the corridor and along the joints in the wall, illuminating the surroundings.
Dark silhouettes rushed toward her.
“How…”
Reyna’s lips parted in shock, and Karla let out a sharp scream.
Black-clad guards filled the corridor in an instant.
Reyna could not follow what was happening. She glanced around with a dazed expression, then was seized with a different kind of terror and pushed Ventari behind her.
The guards split into two lines to open a path. Through it, Elizer stepped forward with knights whose blue cloaks fluttered behind them.
“Reyna.”
Reyna flinched, her toes curling as if she meant to step back, shaking her head repeatedly.
Elizer spoke in a flat voice.
“The man you are hiding behind you is a traitor. Step aside.”
Reyna’s face twisted at once, and Elizer gave an order to his knight.
“Lyman. Escort the Queen.”
Lyman seized Reyna’s shoulders. She fought wildly to break free of his hands.
Right in front of her, Ventari was being taken away.
“No. No, this cannot be. Your Highness, please wait. Where are you taking him, where are you taking that child. Please, just a moment.”
Reyna cried out desperately. But no one stopped.
Ventari, held by black-clad guards, was dragged away and could no longer be heard. Karla collapsed to the floor, clutching her stomach.
Held by Lyman, Reyna struggled and repeated that it could not happen.
Then Elizer grabbed her tear-stained cheek with a harsh grip.
“I told you that you could not leave.”
Her green eyes, full of tears, wandered wildly through the air before finally finding him.
“Your Highness, Elizer. Please…”
Elizer’s face held no expression.
“For the time being, you will not be able to leave your room.”
A harsh sound escaped from her throat.
Reyna could no longer breathe. White light flickered before her eyes.
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