May Every Wound Be Fatal - Chapter 15.1
Priscilla, who rarely showed displeasure, frowned.
“…Is it certain that she conceived?”
“Sir Lyman is guarding the front of the Queen’s Palace rather than staying by the king’s side, and a royal scholar is reportedly examining the woman every day.”
Rumors that the queen was pregnant were spreading quickly through the royal palace. People whispered that this was why her execution kept being delayed endlessly.
Before the rebellion of the Dazbel family, the king had, for reasons unknown, frequently visited the queen’s bedchamber. That rumor had added fuel to the fire. As a result, people were already treating the rumor as if it were fact.
Some whispered that since the royal bloodline was scarce, they would accept the child if the queen were to give birth to a prince. Others loudly insisted that there was no way they could accept a prince carrying the blood of the Dazbel family as the heir.
“It seems His Majesty visited the Queen’s Palace again last night.”
“…His Majesty truly has whims that are difficult to understand.”
At Priscilla’s quiet reply, Hilda grew anxious.
“Surely His Majesty is not thinking of betraying us, is he?”
“Who knows.”
“He cannot. Not unless he has forgotten what happened five years ago…”
“How could he ever forget that?”
Priscilla, who had been answering vaguely, cut Hilda off with a firm tone.
At first it sounded like her usual voice, but there was unmistakable sharpness in it. Hilda immediately closed her mouth and lowered her head.
“…This just made things more troublesome.”
Muttering that, Priscilla began walking again.
“In this castle, how many people do you think want the daughter of Leonard to live? Even if it is not me, there are dozens, hundreds of people who want her dead.”
The crimes of Leonard Dazbel were countless, and his history of wrongdoing was long. His enemies would naturally become the queen’s enemies as well.
“Soon everything will return to its rightful place.”
Which meant the long-awaited end of their revenge was truly near.
Priscilla glanced at the severed heads hung along the fortress wall, then left the tower without a hint of regret, as if she had nothing left to see.
***
“Let me help you.”
Surprisingly, his words about helping her survive had been sincere.
“Is this also revenge?”
“…Perhaps.”
But when Reyna asked if this too was another way to torment her, his answer remained unclear. Reyna had no idea what Elizer was thinking when he chose to let her live.
After that, Elizer occasionally came to the Queen’s Palace at the darkest hour before dawn. He would stay for a while beside her sleeping form, then leave. Reyna woke up each time, but she neither reached for him nor spoke to him. She held her breath as much as she could and waited for him to go.
She feared he might change his mind again.
“……”
Fortunately, he never spoke to her. He did not demand her bed, which she had feared. He only looked at her.
‘What could he possibly be thinking?’
Because of that, Reyna struggled to sleep. She closed her eyes for short moments, but her body remained tense, and none of it felt like real rest.
She rose late, rubbing her face slowly, worn down by exhaustion. As she did, her eyes drifted toward the scenery outside the window.
The sunlight looked warm. It seemed as though winter, which felt like it would last forever, had finally passed and spring might have arrived.
Come to think of it, when was the last time she had looked outside this window, let alone left this room?
Her sense of time had grown faint. She could not tell how much had passed anymore.
As if drawn by something, Reyna stepped away from the bed and carefully pushed open the window she had not touched even once since being confined to the Queen’s Palace.
Creak.
Because it had been unopened for so long, it let out an unpleasant sound, and cold air rushed in, scraping against her skin.
“Ah…”
Blinking rapidly, Reyna realized that not as much time had passed as she had imagined.
And outside was strangely quiet. There were no shouts demanding the queen’s execution, not even the sound of small footsteps passing by.
When she cautiously took a breath, only the familiar scent of winter filled her lungs.
It felt as though absolutely nothing had happened.
That was what made it so strange.
As time passed, the fall of her ducal family and her father’s death began to feel less and less real.
Was it because she had only heard about it secondhand?
But this did not feel normal.
The cold air snapped her senses back in an instant. Buried under relentless questions and a vague sense of dread, she quickly shut the window. At this rate, she truly felt she might lose her mind.
Reyna forced herself to stop thinking so deeply and called for a lady-in-waiting.
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