May Every Wound Be Fatal - Chapter 53.1
Hilda lowered her gaze in bewilderment.
“Why is that?”
“But Hilda, you go outside sometimes. Why am I not allowed to go out?”
“Well, that is because….”
Hilda was momentarily at a loss for words at the unexpected question.
As the silence stretched on, a look of mockery flickered in the blue eyes staring intently at her. Pushed by that sharp gaze, Hilda finally opened her mouth.
“…That is because you are still too young, Your Highness. There are many dangerous things out there.”
“So, what exactly is out there that makes it so I cannot go?”
However, giving a halfhearted explanation did not work on the Prince, who had grown quite a bit recently. After much thought, Hilda answered.
“Well… there is a very terrifying witch.”
It was an absurd claim, but in her mind, it was the best she could do.
She simply could not explain what was happening in the outside world to a child who was only six years old. To Lucian, who was currently obsessed with the fairy tales his nanny Marjorie read to him, a witch would be a fearsome existence.
“A witch…?”
As expected, the child hesitated.
“Yes. And a witch who has lost her memory, at that.”
“…Liar.”
“Hmm, I wonder.”
When she replied with a deliberately mysterious air, Lucian furrowed his brows.
Reading the trace of fear behind that expression, Hilda felt certain that Lucian would not go outside the detached palace alone, at least for the time being.
“So you must never go outside the detached palace by yourself.”
“…Okay.”
Lucian finally nodded with a strangely frozen face.
Hilda felt sorry, wondering if she had scared Lucian too much. On the other hand, it weighed on her heart that the young Prince seemed to find the detached palace increasingly stifling.
“…Shall we go see Lady Priscilla today after you have washed up?”
The seriousness caused by the existence of the witch vanished in an instant as Lucian’s face lit up and his eyes sparkled.
“May I?”
“Yes, it will be fine for a short while. Lady Priscilla will be very happy as well.”
“Let us go back quickly!”
Lucian ran off. Hilda, who lost her hold on the child’s hand in a flash, let out a hollow laugh and hurried after him.
“Wait for me, Your Highness! You really are something else.”
Whether she said it or not, Lucian pushed through the lukewarm wind with even more vigor in his excitement. Then, he suddenly looked at the gray walls surrounding the detached palace.
The sun was setting before he knew it.
Between the tall buildings beyond the walls, the red sunset blazed. He still found it hard to believe that a witch was somewhere out there.
A vague fear and a curiosity about her blossomed in a corner of his heart.
***
Sshhhh.
A gentle breeze drifted in from somewhere.
Reyna turned her head, feeling her hair flutter pleasantly.
The window was wide open. Whenever the lukewarm wind shook the lush leaves, the sound of water falling from a nearby fountain and the chirping of birds wandering nearby could be heard along with the thick scent of grass. She was just thinking that she was curious about what that fountain looked like.
Noticing that Reyna’s gaze was fixed beyond the window, Allin asked.
“My Queen, shall I close the window?”
“No, just…. The weather seems lovely.”
“Ah…. Yes, it is a perfect day to sit in the shade.”
“It is….”
Reyna suddenly remembered how, around this time of year, she used to climb up a gentle hill every day to lie down side by side with Karla under a large fig tree, letting time pass without a single worry.
She felt a strange sensation, as that time felt like it was only yesterday, yet also like a very distant past.
Time was like a fired arrow. Two months had passed since the accident. It had already been a month since she regained consciousness. When she came to her senses, summer was already heading toward its end.
In the meantime, changes had occurred in her right leg, which she had thought would never heal.
Though she was still in a position where her wound had to be disinfected and wrapped in new linen every day, she no longer suffered from the kind of pain that soaked her entire body in cold sweat even while staying still. She felt the itchiness of new flesh growing more often than the stinging pain of needles. Just yesterday, she had even received permission from Thales to leave the bed and sit in a chair.
However, the attendants still made a fuss even if Reyna just raised her body alone to lean her back against a pillow.
Right on cue, Allin whispered restlessly.
“Should I close the window after all? Even if it is not a cold wind….”
Reyna let out a hollow laugh, feeling like a newborn infant.
“My heavens, Allin. It is not to that extent. Did you not hear what the scholar said? I simply cannot walk.”
The protection from Allin and the other attendants felt somewhat excessive.
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