May Every Wound Be Fatal - vanish into fiction

Rather than having fully regained consciousness, it was closer to a mumble in her sleep. However, it was clearly different from when she had been incoherent while hallucinating under the influence of medicine.

Reyna seemed to perceive that someone was holding her, as she furrowed her brow in discomfort and let out a faint moan.

“Mmm…”

“……”

At that, Elizer forgot even to breathe for a moment.

He was terrified that Reyna might wake up like this and notice his presence.

Reyna had thrown herself into the sea because her husband was so horrific to her. If she realized who was holding her, it felt as though she would immediately run to the balcony and throw herself into the sea once again.

“……”

Thus, Elizer could not make a single sound and remained frozen as if time had stopped for a long while.

Fortunately, Reyna could not overcome the heavy influence of the medicine and soon fell back into a distant sleep.

Only then was Elizer able to breathe again.

When he finally regained his senses, his entire body was drenched in a cold sweat. He slowly loosened his arms that were wrapped around Reyna. He placed her down from his embrace with extreme care so that she would not wake again.

As if her frowning and asking “Who is it” had been a mere trick of his imagination, Reyna’s breathing remained calm.

However, her consciousness was clearly returning. Elizer had an intuition that the time he could stay by her side like this was running short.

It was exactly fifteen days after Reyna had fallen into the sea.

The fever that had kept her senseless finally broke completely. Fortunately, the wound on her right leg had not rotted.

The complexion of Thales, the old scholar who examined her body, brightened for the first time.

“It is too early to be entirely at ease, but this is a good sign. It would be best to stop using the poppy juice now.”

Poppy was a fatal poison in its own right. They could no longer use the drug on a body that had become as weak as it possibly could.

“The pain will be vivid, but she will likely regain consciousness soon.”

After a brief moment of relief that Reyna had survived, Elizer reflexively hesitated at the news that her consciousness would soon return.

“It is truly a miracle, Your Majesty.”

Reyna did not die.

As Thales said, it was certainly a miracle.

‘This is enough. With this…’

Elizer had nothing more to wish for.

He intended to fix her broken leg by any means necessary. So Reyna would be fine now….

“……”

Elizer could not leave the sleeping Reyna’s side for a long time, until he secretly bowed his head and hesitantly pressed his lips to her forehead.

Deep in sleep, Reyna did not wake.

Elizer quietly left the room where she slept.

It was only a short while later that he realized there was another problem with Reyna, who had miraculously escaped death.

***

Reyna did not regain her senses immediately just because the fever had subsided.

Once the poppy juice was discontinued, Reyna suffered from the pain that she could now feel in its entirety.

Withdrawal symptoms began. Cold sweat poured down her skin, and regardless of her will, tremors seized her body at all hours.

Nevertheless, her consciousness was clearly returning.

“Karla, water…”

Though she still babbled in delirium, repeatedly seeking the dead Karla because the pain was so extreme, simple communication was now possible.

“Oh, my Queen. You are thirsty.”

Allin, who was guarding Reyna’s side, trickled water little by little between her parched lips.

Allin cared for Reyna nearly all day, cutting back on her nightly sleep. However, she could not alleviate Reyna’s pain.

“It hurts…”

Reyna instinctively tilted her head, searching for the embrace that had held her so firmly. She seemed to believe that the pain would vanish only if she were in those arms.

However, he was no longer by Reyna’s side.

“Why…”

Reyna, who could not have known the truth, sobbed sorrowfully as if she did not understand why she was no longer being held when she was in this much pain.

“What should I do…”

Allin wiped away Reyna’s tears, not knowing how to help.

A while later, Reyna, appearing to have calmed down slightly, suddenly opened her eyes. Beneath long eyelashes drenched in tears, her green eyes, revealed for the first time in ages, sparkled with moisture.