May Every Wound Be Fatal - vanish into fiction

The door opened silently.

The cold, damp wind immediately struck her face, and her steps came to a halt on their own.

The numbing shock lasted only a moment. Her dizzy head felt slightly lighter, and she felt as though her blocked breath had eased just a little.

Only then did Reyna move her feet again.

The only place she could go alone at this hour was the small garden attached to her chamber. She felt as though she would go mad if she couldn’t see Elizer right away, but she wasn’t foolish enough to actually leave the tower.

Reyna stepped forward with her left foot first, then carefully placed her right foot down, using the cane to support herself on the ground.

As Elizer and Reyna had frequently visited the garden, the servants had begun to properly maintain the path leading to it. Now, instead of extinguished candles, large and small glass lamps and braziers warmly lit the spaces between the corridor pillars.

Come to think of it, this was the first time she was passing through the corridor alone. She had always been either carried in his arms or followed by attendants and knights. It felt strangely odd.

The thought crossed her mind belatedly that she should have brought at least a maid with her, but that was all. Tears were already welling up behind her eyelids. Hiding one’s tears from servants was the habit of a noble lady.

Passing through the lonely corridor, Reyna finally pushed open the low door leading to the garden.

The outside world unfolded before her, and the cold, damp wind swept through, whipping her clothes and hair. Reyna blinked reflexively but paid it no mind and continued forward.

She had come to the garden in the middle of the night simply because she wanted to feel closer to him.

Though she didn’t know the castle’s layout, she believed that the farther she went from her room, the closer she would be to him. She knew it was ultimately a meaningless act, but it seemed the only way to calm her racing heart, even just a little.

At her pace, it took a long while to reach the stone fountain again. Finally arriving before it, Reyna leaned on her cane and sat down on the edge of the fountain basin.

“Ah…”

A pained groan involuntarily escaped between her ragged breaths. Even with the help of the cane, walking this far on her own was still too much. A dull ache spread through her right shin. She kept her head bowed for a while, catching her breath.

How long had she been sitting there?

Her sweat cooled, and she felt a slight chill. Only then did Reyna lift her face and glance around.

The surroundings were quiet. Looking up a little further, she saw that the sky, which had been overcast since the cold wind began to blow, was now rarely clear. It was a strangely peaceful scene, giving no hint of what was happening outside.

It must all have been created by Elizer.

Reyna’s face twisted as if she was about to burst into tears at any moment.

She tried to hold back the tears threatening to spill. Crying here felt as though it would confirm that something was truly wrong with him.

“…What if something really happens to him.”

In the end, a single tear trickled out and rolled down her cheek.

She quickly raised her hand to wipe it away. But once the tears started, they wouldn’t stop easily.

Reyna sobbed quietly, thinking.

Is there truly nothing I can do?

She wanted to be of some help to him, other than hiding here like this. But she had no idea how.

She looked at herself. She was only just able to take a few steps with the help of a cane. If only she had her memories intact at least…

…Memories.

A thought suddenly struck her.

If I knew what happened to me, wouldn’t I be able to think of a way to help him, even just a little?

No matter how she thought about it, there was nothing she could do in this state. It seemed she needed to find out what had happened to her.

Thales had advised that forcibly stirring up memories would not aid her recovery. But now her body had recovered considerably, and she felt as though she could accept whatever had happened to her.

No, she would accept anything.

She couldn’t remain in ignorance, hiding behind him while he had collapsed. She was his wife, so just as he sought to protect her, she too had to protect him.

Having made up her mind in an instant, Reyna stood up again, leaning on her cane.

She planned to return to her room first. She would find Aileen and ask what had happened to her, then somehow find a way to do what she could…

By then, her tears had stopped. Just as she was about to carefully move her trembling legs, strained from the exertion—

*Rustle.*

A sound came from behind her—a sound that shouldn’t be there.

Reyna instinctively held her breath and froze in place.