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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 68
Chapter Title: A Desperate Cry for Help
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Luciano’s lips forming the words “help me,” and even using “please”—it was shocking.
But I didn’t have time to just stand there dazed.
“Lu-chi!”
Snapping to my senses a bit late, I rushed toward Luciano, practically tumbling over.
“Where? Where are you hurt?”
I frantically checked his body.
Just getting close, a fishy metallic tang of blood spread sharply.
There were no obvious large wounds.
“Not me, not me...”
His voice hoarse like someone whose throat was clogged, Luciano couldn’t string his words together properly.
Luciano’s clothes were soaked with blood.
No way small wounds could drench him like this.
I couldn’t bring myself to touch him freely, worried I might aggravate an injury.
“It’s not that guy who’s hurt—it’s over here.”
Following the snide voice, I saw two people inside the carriage.
Cale, looking exhausted, and Harrison collapsed, covered in blood.
The one injured was Harrison.
“Gasp!”
His gruesome state drew a scream from me involuntarily.
Blood had soaked through the cloths wrapped around his abdomen, a wretched sight.
“Miss, don’t look.”
The nanny beside me hurriedly covered my eyes, but I’d already seen everything.
The shock made my body tremble.
I couldn’t see the wound itself, but his clothes were entirely soaked in blood.
It was the first time I’d seen someone bleed this much in real life.
The blood smell that had been lingering hit me even more harshly.
My stomach churned, and I fought back the urge to vomit.
“It’s okay, it’s okay.”
I grabbed the nanny’s hand covering my eyes and pulled it down.
She resisted at first, but when I insisted, she let go obediently.
“Ugh...”
Probably from losing so much blood, Harrison’s face was terrifyingly pale.
He looked just like a corpse—it scared me so much.
Then I noticed Luciano’s hand, standing beside me, trembling.
The shock must have been immense; his eyes looked utterly vacant.
Even I, in my second life, could barely handle the scene—what must this child be feeling?
‘It’d be weirder if he were sane.’
Luciano had desperately begged for help.
No time for weak actions now.
My mind cleared sharply.
I gripped Luciano’s hand tightly.
His hand was wet with blood, a sticky, clammy sensation at my fingertips.
It sent chills down my spine, but I had no time to shudder.
I firmly wrapped my arm around the shoulders of Luciano, who was staring up at me blankly.
He flinched as I pulled him into a hug, and his trembling intensified.
Holding him close as he leaned into me, I ordered the butler.
“Butler, prepare a place to lay the injured guest. And call a physician—no, a priest.”
A wound this severe wouldn’t do for just a physician.
The butler, who had come to the entrance for the sudden guests, grasped the gravity and moved at once.
“Understood.”
He quickly sent someone to the temple and personally oversaw preparing a guest room.
“I’ll contact the master and madam.”
In a situation this serious, my parents needed to know.
I nodded, entrusting it to him.
“And make sure to keep the coachman who brought them here quiet—tightly sealed.”
They must have been desperate and grabbed a street carriage.
Cale had probably handled it, paying generously with a strict confidentiality clause.
‘But better to make it ironclad. A noble’s warning carries different weight.’
“Yes, miss. I’ll handle it thoroughly.”
The capable butler was always reliable.
* * *
Not long after laying Harrison in the guest room, the priest arrived.
“Oh dear. A sword’s pierced right through the abdomen.”
I sucked in a breath at the priest’s assessment after examining Harrison.
‘What on earth happened...’
Just imagining it was horrific.
Before the priest arrived, we’d had a little time, but Luciano’s condition was so poor I hadn’t questioned him.
Cale, too, seemed uninterested in volunteering info, just standing to the side with arms crossed, stoic.
“Will his life be out of danger?”
At my question, Luciano flinched and tightened his grip on our joined hands.
I soothed him to signal it was okay and waited for the priest’s reply.
“Now that I’m here, of course he’ll be fully healed.”
His slightly arrogant tone was immensely reassuring.
I felt Luciano relax beside me.
My own tension eased considerably.
Thank goodness this was a romance fantasy world with divine power.
Otherwise, something unimaginable and horrific could have happened.
“The wound is large, so it’ll take some time. Could you step out? I need to concentrate.”
“Yes, understood. I’ll station someone at the door—if you need anything, just say so.”
At the priest’s request to leave, we all exited the room.
Hearing firm assurance that Harrison would be fine, I finally took in Luciano and Cale’s states.
“You two need to wash up and change clothes.”
“Got it.”
“They’ll prepare clothes for you?”
“Of course they will.”
“Then, I’ll accept the offer.”
Realizing their own conditions only now, the two agreed readily.
“Miss, you need to wash your hands and change too.”
While they went to wash, the nanny pulled me along.
Blood transferred from Luciano had ruined my hands and clothes.
I’d been too frantic to notice.
The blood on my palms had dried and flaked off.
My heart felt just as dried up and crumbled.
“Yeah. Let’s go to my room.”
I spoke calmly to keep the nanny from worrying.
* * *
After washing my hands and changing with the nanny’s help, I headed to the drawing room.
Cale had washed first and was resting.
Luciano, who’d gone around the same time, wasn’t there yet.
Better that way.
“What happened?”
I jumped straight in with the question.
Cale scratched his head tiredly.
“I don’t know the details. By the time I got there, the attack was already underway. That big guy was blocking for the kid, run through by a sword in a pitiful state, and all I did was grab the attackers in shock.”
The word “attack” sent a chill through my heart.
And hearing Harrison had taken the blade for Luciano shocked me too.
From Cale’s demeanor, he’d only shown up to save them at the critical moment.
“How many attackers, and how skilled?”
“Six. Disguised as thugs, but trained assassins. All dead.”
As if expecting my question, Cale calmly reported even the outcome.
“You killed them all?”
Shouldn’t they have captured at least one as a witness?
No way an experienced guy like Cale would make that rookie mistake.
“No, they all... offed themselves, uh...”
Answering nonchalantly at first, Cale trailed off, realizing the word wasn’t fit for a child like me.
“Not sure if I should even be talking to you like this.”
He looked puzzled.
I had no mental spare to accommodate Cale’s concerns.
I’d suspected, but “assassins” confirmed it—a targeted hit on Luciano.
I clutched my head briefly.
It didn’t make sense.
Nothing in the original story mentioned Luciano facing a direct attack like this.
I’d assumed no assaults.
Especially since any attack would risk the emperor’s scrutiny...
‘It’s because Luciano went out!’
Issues in the palace could be traced back, but an outside incident could easily be pinned as an accident.
Truthfully, Luciano’s outing barely qualified as official.
No royal could roam freely.
Ignored in the palace, he’d slipped out unofficially.
An unauthorized outing, in other words.
If this attack had succeeded...
‘It would’ve been swept under as a tragic mishap during his reckless jaunt.’
Meant we had to be extremely cautious with outings from now on.
“No other details?”
“Nah. Checked their pockets—nothing to ID them.”
No evidence either.
“Then I’ll talk to Lu-chi alone. Better if it’s just us now.”
“Probably best to get him to open up that way. You two talk first.”
Cale had to be curious too, but he went along with my suggestion.
Likely because he knew Luciano wasn’t in great shape.
‘Acts all selfish, but he’s surprisingly considerate.’
“I had the butler prepare a guest room for you. Rest up.”
Cale waved me off like he didn’t need fussing.
I left the drawing room and headed straight to Luciano’s room.
We had a room set aside for him since he occasionally stayed over.
Knock knock.
“Come in.”
Permission came from inside after he’d apparently washed, so I entered.
Luciano’s face was stiff, but he’d shaken off much of that earlier despair.
“All washed?”
He nodded simply.
“You need to dry your hair properly.”
I snatched the towel from his hand and dried his hair.
Luciano meekly accepted my touch.
A cool aura lingered, like he’d used cold water.
I carefully observed him.
His eyes were slightly red, mirroring his earlier turmoil.
‘Did he cry alone?’
I kept silent, just working with my hands.
After toweling off the moisture adequately, I called the nanny.
“Nanny, prepare a cup of warm tea for us.”
She returned quickly, as if she’d anticipated it.
“It’s chamomile milk tea to calm the mind.”
Good for soothing body and soul.
The nanny was the best, as always.
“Call if you need anything else.”
Once the nanny left, I placed the teacup in Luciano’s hand.
“First, take a sip.”
After the sweet milk tea, laced with plenty of honey, color returned to Luciano’s pale face.
“Thanks for helping.”
Luciano’s first words were gratitude.
“It was the obvious thing to do.”
His red eyes stared intently at me.
The poignant gaze made my heart ache.
“Sorry for showing you that awful sight. I had to save him... and you were the only one I could think of.”
He apologized belatedly, as if just realizing.
I caught his dropping head, forcing our eyes to meet.
“You did well.”
Luciano’s eyes widened.
“Harrison’s alive because you thought of me. Sure, you might’ve handled it alone and survived. But you might not have.”
I wasn’t trying to plant negatives or worst-case memories.
When Luciano was struggling...
“Tell me anytime.”
I wanted him to know there was always someone to help.
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