May Every Wound Be Fatal - Chapter 39.1
Even after finding Priscilla and Lucian, Elizer remained on the battlefield for another year.
Leonard had discovered the existence of the two earlier than expected, and Elizer still lacked the strength to protect them from Leonard.
While they were hiding in a safe house, Priscilla spoke.
“I hope Leonard Dazbel loses everything he loves and falls into the same hell as I did.”
She wanted revenge against Leonard.
Even if it was not for revenge, in order to safely pass the throne to Lucian, Leonard had to be eliminated. Not only Leonard, but everyone connected to him would have to be killed.
When all that revenge was over, Elizer often thought that he too would meet his death in some way.
He believed that would be a fitting end for a knight who failed to protect his lord.
He was prepared to accept that fate.
And whenever he had such thoughts, Reyna, who was inevitably tied to him, came to mind.
Leonard’s daughter, and the king’s consort who originally should never have been queen. When all the revenge was over, Reyna too would not be able to escape death.
Elizer absentmindedly tried to picture Reyna’s death, then stopped. His chest churned too violently.
From that moment on, he avoided thinking of her. He thought only of revenge, of returning everything to its rightful place. Perhaps that was why.
“…Your Highness.”
When he returned to Elmaril and reunited with his wife, Reyna, for the first time in three years, Elizer froze.
“……”
Reyna was still beautiful.
The deep green dress suited her pale skin and red hair perfectly. Her long hair was braided tightly up, revealing the slender nape of her neck, which seemed thinner than he remembered. Her expression was stiff, as if she were nervous.
In her clear green eyes lingered both resentment toward her husband who had returned from the battlefield after three years, and relief that he had come back unharmed.
It was still obvious what she was thinking just by looking at her face, just like the very first time he had met her long ago.
He had met her on a night when stars poured from the sky.
The silver shining heavens and the woman who unexpectedly shone just as brightly.
The sea breeze whispering songs and her clear laughter.
Fingers brushing against fingers.
Elizer was startled by the fact that he still remembered that night.
“……”
As the silence stretched, Reyna could not hide her flustered expression.
“Your Highness?”
At that moment, Elizer felt an ominous premonition.
‘When all the revenge is over, perhaps I…’
Elizer’s face twisted suddenly.
At the same moment, the small trace of hope in Reyna’s eyes vanished, replaced by sorrow.
Elizer could not bear to face her any longer. He passed by her without a word.
Left standing there alone, Reyna probably… yes. She must have burst into tears.
***
Reyna had remained the same. The one who had changed was Elizer.
After losing everything in an instant and wandering battlefields for three years, he could not be the same as before.
The man who once stayed awake every night, shaken by his first love, had died three years ago on the day his world collapsed. Elizer’s soul was still trapped on that day, the day his lord and comrades died.
The guilt of surviving alone ruled him. In truth, he could no longer smile, nor could he love anyone.
It surprised even him that the moment he first met Reyna resurfaced so vividly in his mind, but he did not feel the same emotions as before. Elizer felt an unconscious relief at that fact and instinctively distanced himself from her.
“The king dislikes the queen.”
As word quietly spread that the king did not visit the queen even on the nights meant for them to share a bed, rumors began that the king hated the queen.
Scandals followed, saying the queen was barren, or that the king had a mistress.
Elizer did not refuse to share her bed to humiliate Reyna. He had to return the throne to Lucian. That was all.
However, Reyna had been a proud lady who had been born with everything in her hands, and she could not endure such rumors in the slightest.
“How dare you block the queen.”
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
