May Every Wound Be Fatal - Chapter 56.1
“Why? Is it because the scar is large?”
When she asked with feigned composure, Allin hurriedly fashioned a smile and replied.
“It is… because it is still in the process of healing.”
“I see.”
“It will surely get better, my Queen.”
“Yes, I understand.”
“…Then, I shall remove the bandages for a moment.”
In spite of her acting as though it were nothing, Reyna let out a trembling breath in spite of herself.
‘They said the bone broke and tore through the flesh as it came out….’
It was a dizzying injury just to think about, so she had naturally expected a scar to remain, but the thought of actually facing her ruined leg made her nervous.
‘Still, if it is at the point where the splint can be removed, it must have improved significantly.’
She recalled the thin, long red line that ran along her right wrist. She calmed her mind, thinking it would likely be a larger scar of a similar shape.
During that time, the linen that had been tightly binding her calf was removed layer by layer, until finally, her right leg was revealed.
“…….”
And Reyna could not believe that what she was looking at was her own leg.
It was completely different from the image she remembered—no, it was entirely different from her left leg sitting right beside it.
On her right shin, a long scar trace climbed up her skin like a twisted tree trunk. Glistening new flesh and scars mixed with shades of red and gray were tangled together like scales, and the contour of the bone flowing below the knee was still lumpy and uneven. It did not look like something belonging to a human at all.
In a word, it looked like a monster.
“…This.”
Is it really alright for it to look like this?
Reyna was so bewildered she could not continue her sentence.
Without realizing it, she reached out and brushed her fingertips along the scar. On the surface, the wound seemed to have closed, but because the inner flesh had not yet knit together, a stinging pain spread wherever her fingertips passed. Her hand began to shake uncontrollably.
Allin, who had been watching Reyna’s reaction with bated breath, hurried to comfort her.
“It will be difficult for it to return to exactly how it was, but it will improve. Once the new flesh settles in, it will look better than this….”
However, Reyna could not hear her voice clearly.
“And you will be able to walk again.”
Well, it all felt like meaningless talk.
***
She did not remember how the bath she had looked forward to so much had been. There was no way food could pass through her throat. Reyna simply sat with her eyes closed.
“…Please call me if you need anything. I will be right outside.”
Allin withdrew earlier than usual, sensing the mood. Perhaps she was worried, as she lit a few more glass lamps in every corner before leaving, but Reyna thought it was a useless gesture.
She would rather just fall into a deep sleep like this so that she wouldn’t have to think about anything. She was too tired, exhausted, and sad.
However, the afterimage of her ruined leg would not leave her mind. Her eyes kept snapping open due to the rushing intrusive thoughts.
Reyna eventually pushed herself up into a sitting position. She was sick and tired of the pain that inevitably felt in her right leg.
Reyna, who had been sitting vacantly as if time had stopped, suddenly reached out and began to unwrap the bandages. She did so because the more she thought about it, the more unbelievable it felt.
‘Could I have seen it wrong? Or perhaps, I was so shocked that I remember it in a more gruesome shape than it actually is….’
But her foolish hope was crushed instantly. Her right leg looked even less human in the dim surroundings.
“This makes no sense, it can’t be like this….”
Truly, she could not believe it.
Something surged up from within her. Resentment, sorrow, anger, grief, fear—all those negative things were mixed together.
Reyna, barely managing to hold back her tears, impulsively lowered her legs off the side of the bed. The floor touching her bare soles was chilly. She ignored the spreading heavy pain and the strange pulling sensation of the stiff, hardened flesh.
Gripping the bedpost and supporting her weight with her left leg, she stood up just as she was.
However, no matter how much the palace attendants massaged her muscles day and night, a leg that had not been used for a while was more fragile than a newborn fawn. Her knee buckled helplessly, and Reyna’s hips fell powerlessly back onto the plush bed.
“Ha….”
A dry, hollow laugh escaped her at the absurdity of it.
It seemed she had become stubborn. Even after that, Reyna attempted to stand up several more times.
Even without putting weight on her right leg, the impact delivered every time she slumped down piled up and up. Eventually, a pain that turned her vision white flared out.
“Haah, haah….”
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