May Every Wound Be Fatal - Chapter 18.1
“…Karla?”
There was no time to do anything. Even after life had left her, the warm blood refused to stop flowing. Reyna was covered in it, unable to move or react.
Lyman, who had rushed over, separated Karla from Reyna and checked her pulse. Then Reyna saw the flicker of disbelief cross his face.
It was certain. Karla was dead.
“…….”
The death of a child who had never drawn a breath in the outside world felt different.
Reyna finally understood what death was.
She understood, in a single moment, what it meant for one’s body to be drained of blood by whipping, and what it meant to be executed by having one’s neck cut.
Only then did the reality of what had happened to her strike her with unbearable clarity. Her entire body froze in unfamiliar terror.
Karla had not closed her eyes. The scent of blood was overwhelming, as if she were submerged in it.
Reyna instinctively knew.
She would never forget this moment.
This moment would haunt her for her entire life.
With unbearable vertigo, her vision flashed white, then black. Her perspective tilted, and she felt her body plummet downward.
“Queen!”
The last thing Reyna saw was the dark green potion bottle that had slipped from Karla’s grasp.
***
After learning that her father and older brother had been executed, Reyna often had nightmares.
She dreamt of their deaths.
But her imagination, having been nurtured only on beauty and goodness, had always had its limits.
Reyna did not know how flesh could be torn apart, what happens when a neck is cut, or how metallic and pungent the smell of blood could be. Not until she witnessed Karla’s final moments in her arms.
After witnessing Karla’s death, her nightmares became far more cruel and horrific than before.
“…The Duke and the Young Duke were whipped in front of the crowd. Their bodies were torn apart, and it looked as if all their blood had been drained.”
Every night, her father, older brother, Ventari, and Karla appeared in horrifying forms, taking turns.
After them, Elizer always stood with his back turned.
His hands were soaked in blood. He felt different from before.
Gasping sharply, Reyna woke from sleep.
After that, she feared sleeping and the coming of night.
Her head ached as if it would split from lack of rest. She was on the brink of madness, barely half in her right mind.
The scholar told her,
“The cause of death is suicide by poison.”
“…Suicide?”
They dared say that Karla had taken her own life.
“How she obtained the poison remains to be investigated, but for now, she took her own life…”
“No. Karla was murdered.”
Reyna could not accept that Karla had committed suicide.
“Someone drove her to death. How can that be called suicide?”
Of course, it was something to consider, but the scholar could only state the cause of death based on objective facts.
After meeting the scholar, Reyna spent the entire day in a daze, consumed with busyness.
She had to avenge Karla.
Reyna focused on finding the one who had given Karla the poison. After all, just before dying, Karla had suddenly spoken of something horrifying. And when asked who had said such things…
“It is something even a child knows. Even a very young child… Only the Queen and I were trapped here, knowing nothing.”
A child.
As if realizing something, Reyna flung open the door and began inspecting the faces of the knights guarding the corridor. Among their flustered expressions, she spotted the face of one of the knights who had carried Karla to the cemetery.
Reyna grabbed his arm and demanded,
“Do you remember who Karla encountered at the cemetery that day?”
“I did not encounter anyone.”
“A child. Didn’t Karla speak with a child?”
The knight, confused by the Queen’s sudden behavior, replied hesitantly,
“A passing young servant handed her a handkerchief…”
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