May Every Wound Be Fatal - Chapter 16.1
The woman’s eyes were red, and her skin was darker than the others.
She was a Dochioin.
“How can there be a Dochioin in the royal palace?”
Reyna was shocked.
The voices of the old man who had cursed that they would be unhappy, the slave who seemed to only shed tears, and her father who had said they could do nothing but commit crimes, all swirled in her mind. Occasionally, the chilling screams that echoed through the Red Citadel pierced her ears sharply.
“She is not the scholar, but she is the person in this castle who has delivered the most children.”
The distressed voice of the maid barely reached Reyna’s ears. She felt that the Dochioin before her might harm Karla.
‘So that meant…’
‘They would hate the Dazbels.’
Reyna knew that the Dazbels had treated them like beasts and mistreated them. She had deliberately tried not to think of it, because she had to appear as the innocent young lady who knew nothing.
“Ah!”
At that moment, Karla screamed again from beyond the door. Despite that, Reyna could not release the Dochioin maid’s arm.
“Your Highness, there really is no time.”
At the maid’s desperate voice and Karla’s renewed screams, Reyna’s pale hand finally fell weakly from the Dochioin maid’s arm.
The dreadful waiting began again.
After another long period of complete darkness, Karla gave birth at last, after two full days. Exhausted, she lost consciousness immediately but was fortunately unharmed.
Reyna, overwhelmed with relief, grabbed Karla’s lifeless hand and wept uncontrollably.
A trembling voice muttered from someone nearby.
“…The child, the child is not breathing.”
Everyone’s gaze turned to the scholar, who held the child frozen in their arms.
A chilling silence followed.
“Not breathing?”
Reyna could not immediately comprehend what that meant. But she had no choice but to realize the truth soon enough.
The room was instantly filled with grief, and muffled sobs echoed softly in the silence.
Yet Reyna could not accept the fact that Karla’s child had died.
“That cannot be… It cannot be.”
Indeed, it was unbearably cruel.
Karla’s desperate voice, whispering that this child must be protected, came to mind. Reyna felt as though all the blood had drained from her body.
Why were such things happening? How could this be? She felt unbearably sad and wronged. An indescribable rage rose to her throat.
She could not hold it back.
“This cannot happen. The child is dead. Something is wrong. Something…”
Reyna’s gaze suddenly fell on the Dochioin maid.
“You… what have you done?”
The woman, equally overcome with grief, looked at her with a startled expression.
Reyna staggered to rise as if to rush at her.
“Your Highness, please calm down.”
Aellin and the other maids caught the staggering Reyna.
“Let go of me!”
Reyna struggled with all her strength, shouting.
“That woman has harmed Karla’s child, I am certain of it.”
At that moment, Reyna truly believed it. Otherwise, there was no explanation for this endless misfortune.
“Bring me a sword. I will punish her myself.”
But everyone just froze, exchanging glances.
Infuriated, Reyna roughly pushed the maids aside, spun around, and shouted at Lyman.
“How can a Dochioin be inside the castle? Since when… Have you all forgotten how King Talion lost his life?”
Even just shouting like that made her heart race and dizziness set in. Clutching her chest, she gasped for air.
Lyman, the king’s knight, spoke in a monotone voice.
“Rebel Leonard Dazbel killed two kings and five princes.”
“…What?”
Struggling to breathe, Reyna lifted her stunned face and met his cold gray eyes.
Lyman, the king’s knight, was so taciturn he seemed almost like a statue. Reyna had never seen him speak except when answering a question.
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