May Every Wound Be Fatal - Chapter 21.2
“You said you wanted to save those beneath you.”
Reyna wondered what he was suddenly talking about.
“Do you really think you could stand properly in front of an executioner holding an axe?”
As memories of what had happened before she lost consciousness resurfaced one by one, Reyna blinked in quiet shock.
Only then did a burning pain spread from her right wrist up to below her elbow.
‘Why did I do that?’
The question briefly crossed Reyna’s mind, but the sense of puzzlement did not last long. All she felt was regret that she had failed to die.
Sensing that change in her, Elizer let out a low, ragged breath.
“Get a hold of yourself. You cannot die.”
“……”
“Survive. No matter what.”
It might have been her imagination, but his voice sounded desperately urgent. Even the hand gripping her arm seemed to be trembling.
With her foggy mind, Reyna thought to herself.
‘Is he still not done venting his anger at me? How much more pain does this man want me to suffer before he is satisfied? But…’
“…There is no reason for me to live any longer.”
‘Is this not enough already? I am already in enough pain as it is.’
A brief silence followed, and Elizer asked again.
“…No reason?”
Yes. Reyna answered silently.
His lips, which had been hanging open in a daze, slowly closed.
Reyna knew that he was angry. Still, she truly did not want to live anymore.
That was when it happened.
“…Then I will give you a reason to live.”
Muttering those words, Elizer painfully gripped Reyna’s chin and twisted it. At the force of his rough hand, her mouth fell open against her will.
His tongue forced its way between her lips, tangling with hers in a frantic, violent kiss.
“Ah, ngh….”
Suddenly crushed beneath him, Reyna scrunched her face in agony and weakly yielded the inside of her mouth. She had neither the presence of mind nor the strength to push him away. All she could do was tremble beneath him.
His rough hands tore away the silk robe she had been wearing as if ripping it apart. Her emaciated, skeletal body was laid bare. He kneaded what little flesh remained on her chest and hips, and with his other hand, he forced her legs apart.
It was no different from rape. Ever since she had begun sharing a bed with him again, when had she ever welcomed him of her own will.
Reyna realized what he was trying to do. He must have thought that if she conceived a child, she would beg for her life once more.
‘So far as to go this far just to keep me alive. How much must he hate me.’
She could not fathom the depth of his rage toward her. Still, Reyna now understood what he felt each time he looked at her.
“The Queen truly seems not to know what it is that you have shattered.”
The memory of Priscilla’s voice saying those words suddenly surfaced. With it, a question arose in her mind.
Just then, his lips pulled away, allowing her to breathe. As she felt his mouth trail down along her neckline, Reyna asked indifferently.
“How did Prince Cassian die?”
At that, Elizer, who had been greedily pressing his lips to her delicate skin, froze like a statue.
“……”
Elizer did not answer. It was as if he was not even breathing. So Reyna changed the question.
“Did you see Prince Cassian’s body as well?”
“……”
Elizer remained silent.
That answer was enough.
Reyna thought that Prince Cassian might have died right before his eyes.
It must have been a horrific sight. Perhaps even worse than Karla’s. Had he been torn to shreds by a whip like her father and brother.
Imagining the face of Prince Cassian she had once seen from afar becoming drenched in blood, Reyna murmured softly.
“I think I understand now why you looked at me with such horror.”
Elizer survived. And aside from his sister-in-law and the unborn nephew in her womb, he lost everyone he loved.
It must have been unbearable. Even so, Reyna believed that he would eventually overcome it, that he would one day recover the same smile he once had. She had vowed to remain by his side forever so that he could.
It was a terribly naïve and terribly selfish thought.
Each time Elizer looked at his wife, he must have remembered the corpse of the brother he had followed like a father. Just as she now remembered Karla’s corpse and the burning Red Citadel each time she looked at her husband.
Ah, it was truly horrifying.
Reyna turned her head away.
“I know everything now. I know what hell is now. Your revenge has succeeded enough, so please stop.”
Elizer lifted his face.
Reyna was looking elsewhere, so she could not see what expression he wore.
For a while, Elizer silently watched Reyna staring into empty space. Then he wrapped her up in the blanket and carried her out of the Queen’s palace.
The knights and attendants followed the king, unable to hide their shock.
He stopped at the king’s bedchamber.
After roughly tossing Reyna onto his own bed, Elizer gave an order to Lyman.
“Guard the Queen at my side. Do not take your eyes off her for even a moment.”
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