May Every Wound Be Fatal - Chapter 73.1
Reyna quickly moved her hands again and replied.
“It’s nothing.”
But Reyna’s eyes had already narrowed. Unable to withstand her piercing gaze, Aileen desperately racked her brain.
“…Well, the two of you have been apart for so long, so isn’t that only natural?”
At Aileen’s ensuing answer, Reyna’s eyes widened slightly.
“Been apart for a long time?”
“As soon as His Majesty ascended the throne, war broke out on the southwestern border, and pirates ran rampant along the southern coast.”
“…Surely, you don’t mean he went to the battlefield himself?”
“…Yes. He was away from the palace for three whole years.”
“Good heavens. What kind of…”
Elizer had been on the battlefield for three years. It was such a shocking revelation that for a moment, she completely forgot what she had been talking about. What kind of war was it that required the King himself to take the field?
“Was he injured? Was he hurt or anything…”
“As far as I know, he returned safely.”
“…Thank goodness.”
Though it was all in the past, the fear that she could have lost him made her break out in goosebumps. Seeing how her heart still pounded anxiously even now, the three years she must have spent waiting for him alone in this unfamiliar palace must have been nothing short of hell.
At that, Aileen carefully added,
“So, if you think about it, the two of you have spent more time apart than together. So please don’t worry too much…”
“…Alright.”
Reyna tried to calm her startled heart and nodded for now. However, her questions remained unresolved.
Even if he had been on the battlefield for three years, hadn’t it already been three years since Elizer returned to the palace? Three years was by no means a short time.
‘Even if they said they had two children, I’d believe it…’
What started as a very light doubt grew increasingly serious in Reyna’s mind.
After all, Elizer was the King, and she was his Queen. Bearing an heir was one of her most important duties. As far as she knew, there was actually nothing more important than that.
‘But there’s still no heir…’
An ominous feeling flashed through her mind for an instant, and a malicious voice suddenly surfaced.
“Then how many children are there between my King and me?”
“Well, I’m not sure. That part is hazy, like seeing through fog.”
That tiresome curse that clung to her ears whenever she thought she had forgotten it.
“…I’m a little cold. I think I’ll go back to bed.”
Reyna forced herself to ignore it.
‘Surely not. There’s no way something like that would happen to me…’
Even though she had barely survived after hovering between life and death, even though only recently she had been afraid to open her eyes, Reyna—who only had memories of seventeen years—held a vague belief that misfortune was not hers to bear.
Still, her uncomfortably pounding heart from earlier would not easily calm down.
This anxiety, yes. It will all be fine once I see Elizer. Reyna soothed herself with that thought.
“…Yes, Your Majesty.”
Though she wore a conscious smile, an unavoidable hint of unease flickered across Aileen’s face.
***
“Depose the Queen, Your Majesty.”
Elizer rose from the throne and left the hall without another word.
Among the nobles left behind, disappointment, discontent, and distrust toward the young King spread like wildfire.
Some feared that the Queen might bear a prince at this rate, while others were spiteful that they couldn’t make their own daughters Queen.
“How long does he intend to shield that madwoman…”
“At this rate, the kingdom will truly be ruined.”
“This is why base bloodlines are…”
Sinister and irreverent murmurs followed behind him. Elizer ignored them and continued walking.
“Your Majesty.”
Suddenly, a sly voice echoed through the corridor.
Elizer reflexively stopped and turned around. At the same time, a brief hint of weariness flickered across his face, but Alberic Winble, who was of his grandfather’s generation, paid it no mind and approached him.
Alberic stopped before him and bowed his head.
“Winble greets Your Majesty.”
And he was the kind of man who would chuckle heartily, pretending not to notice, even when the King gave him a cold glare.
“…….”
Outwardly, he appeared to be a pleasant, friendly, and loyal vassal. But to Elizer, Alberic was no different from the other nobles. In the end, he too acted solely for his own benefit.
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