May Every Wound Be Fatal - Chapter 30.1
Elizer, left alone in his room, spent almost the entire day thinking about Reyna.
It was beyond his control. His mind could not help but dwell on her.
Martin often came by Elizer’s room, slapping his shoulder with force.
“Hey, Elizer. Don’t let it get to you. This isn’t your fault.”
Unaware of what filled Elizer’s mind, Martin, taking his side, spoke ill of Reyna.
“It’s all that arrogant Reyna Dazbel’s fault, just like her father.”
Martin disliked the Dazbel family. In truth, he was not alone in that sentiment. Anyone associated with Cassian could not help but despise the duke.
Elizer felt the same way. He knew of the countless atrocities committed by Leonard Dazbel. Protecting his lord Cassian from the cunning and cruel duke was his duty.
And yet, Reyna was Leonard Dazbel’s daughter.
Elizer still could not believe her true identity. To him, she had simply been a pure and innocent young lady.
Indeed, the Reyna he met in the king’s garden, the only one who had wished for his victory in the joust, was clearly different from the ‘Dazbel’ he knew—or at least he wanted to believe that.
Elizer could not bring himself to part with Reyna’s handkerchief and secretly held it close to his chest.
“They say the duke has locked the young lady away.”
Various stories drifted into the room while he was holed up alone. Whenever he heard something about her, he instinctively crept toward the door to listen.
“Apparently, she’s completely fallen out of the duke’s favor after this incident.”
“The young lady must have offended the prideful Prince Tiberian, so the duke must be in a difficult position as well.”
“Even if she becomes the princess, the prince may never truly love her.”
“She’s basically brought this upon herself.”
Elizer clenched the handkerchief he had been fidgeting with so habitually that he barely noticed himself.
The anxiety he felt was like nothing he had ever experienced. He knew he had no right to worry about her, yet he could not help but do so. Even from afar, he wanted to see her just once more.
To resist the surging impulses, he repeated to himself that she was the duke’s daughter, yet it was useless.
The young knight, innocent in his understanding of emotion, could not identify exactly what he was feeling.
Elizer could not put Reyna’s handkerchief down and kept listening for any sounds outside. By now, it was the dark hours of early dawn, and no one seemed to be watching him closely.
Eventually, he slipped quietly out of his room.
***
This was the royal palace, yet in the tall tower where the duke resided, the duke’s knights in red cloaks patrolled instead of the usual guards.
Elizer had not come this far to scale the walls and avoid them. In fact, he did not even know why he was standing there.
Still, like the days he had wandered searching for the nameless maid, he loitered around the tower for the next day and the day after.
And soon enough, a chance came as if by miracle.
Something seemed to have gone awry. The duke’s knights suddenly and hurriedly disappeared in formation, vanishing somewhere.
Elizer climbed the wall as if in a trance. No red-cloaked shadows were in sight. It was strange. He sensed that something was off, yet he could not turn back.
He passed through the empty corridor and hid behind a column, cautiously peeking out. Luck seemed to end there. Beneath the lanterns, the duke’s red-cloaked knights were stationed in full.
Elizer knew it was time to return to his place. Yet he stubbornly stayed put, unable to move.
Clang.
The sound of clashing metal drew near. If it had not, he might have stayed there much longer.
The patrol had returned. Elizer, snapping to attention, ducked between low buildings to avoid them.
Then, from the opposite direction, the clang of metal came again. Elizer calmly turned, hiding himself in the bushes.
‘Damn.’
Hiding from the sounds, he felt himself being gradually cornered. He crouched as low as possible, trying to gauge the direction of the wall.
From somewhere, he heard the sound of quiet sobbing.
Wide-eyed, Elizer reflexively turned his head toward the source of the noise.
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