Translator: Nox
(19) The Golden Lion's Treasure and the Contaminated Water (3)
Floyd, sensing Roxana's gaze, turned his head, and upon seeing her expression, chuckled. He swept back his casually disheveled bangs and said,
"I don't know what I'm blathering on about to a princess who wants to die. It's probably all the same to you, Princess."
"I think you're doing well."
"Pardon?"
"I think Your Highness is doing very well."
Floyd stopped his hand that was sweeping back his hair and stared at Roxana. Roxana, now looking straight ahead, calmly said,
"Where is the right answer on the path of a Monarch? If the people can feel secure and trust you, that is a Monarch. The fact that they are preparing for a festival even as the river is contaminated and people are dying means they believe Your Highness will somehow resolve it."
"……."
"The fact that all the people can trust Your Highness with one heart even amidst the threat means that Your Highness is doing very well. So there's no reason for Your Highness to go mad or insane."
Her voice, flowing out without inflection, settled in Floyd's heart like a song. The platinum blonde hair, swaying slightly in the blowing wind, was dazzling.
Floyd unconsciously reached out his hand towards her hair. Soft strands caught on his fingertips. He wrapped the ends around his finger and pulled gently, drawing her head closer.
A face brought near, eyes widened in surprise, emerald pupils contained within, and slightly disheveled breaths. As if she had eaten grapes before Floyd arrived, her breath carried a grape scent.
Floyd, feeling as if electricity was running down his spine at the touch of her breath, opened his mouth, wondering why he was doing this.
"I didn't expect to hear those words from you, Princess."
Roxana's eyelids, which had been wide with surprise, lowered. She cast her eyes down and said in a whisper,
"A slave has spoken presumptuously."
"You're saying that again. What should I do to stop the word 'slave' from coming out of that mouth?"
"You don't need to do anything, Your Highness. I am facing reality properly."
"Acknowledging that you are a slave and wanting to die quickly so you can't even return to God's embrace, is that acknowledging reality?"
The lowered eyelids rose again.
"Yes, Your Highness."
She stared straight at Floyd every time she spoke of death. Floyd wished she would look at him straight when she wanted something other than death.
"Jewel!"
A sharp voice tore through the air. Floyd and Roxana, who had forgotten where they were until then, returned to reality.
In Roxana's eyes, turning her head, a small figure collapsed by the pond came into view. The moment she discovered the small body sprawled on the ground, Roxana jumped up and ran.
'No!'
Her young nephews, whose corpses she hadn't even seen, came to mind.
Her young and lovely nephews, who left without properly enjoying this life.
Just before Roxana's hand reached Jewelry, Floyd shouted.
"Stop!"
The moment Roxana, startled, turned to look at Floyd, he had already come right next to her and grabbed Roxana's arm, pulling her roughly.
"You mustn't touch it with your bare hands."
Floyd said in a heavy voice, looking down at Jewelry and Dennis. Dennis was already holding his young sister tightly.
Jewelry's dress skirt was soaked as if she had fallen into the water, and Dennis's clothes, holding Jewelry, were also getting wet.
"Get off, Den."
"Jewel... I... I pushed her... just playing..."
"I understand, so get off."
Floyd took off his top. His bronze upper body was exposed under the sunlight. He grabbed Dennis's shoulder, who was reluctant to let go, and pushed him aside, then wrapped Jewelry with his taken-off top.
The large top completely covered Jewelry's small body and was still left over.
"C-call... call Daddy..."
"Stay here, Dennis."
Floyd said, looking at Dennis's wet pants and top from holding Jewelry. Floyd called out loudly for people, and the employees nearby ran over.
While Floyd was giving instructions to them, Roxana stared at Jewelry, frozen.
Jewelry looked as if she were dead. Just a moment ago, she was laughing brightly and playing with her brother, but Jewelry's face was so bloodless that it was doubtful whether it was an illusion.
Roxana's pupils, unable to breathe, turned to the child's ankle. Red rashes were rising on the ankle, slightly exposed under the covered top.
It looked so painful that her heart ached. The hand she reached out to do something for the child who had smiled brightly at her and given her a bouquet was grabbed by Floyd.
"Don't touch it, Princess. The water here is also contaminated. There's nothing you can do."
There's nothing you can do.
Those words struck Roxana's heart.
It was always like that. There was always nothing Roxana could do.
When her country was destroyed, when her family was dying, when her knight and maid were dying, there was nothing Roxana could do.
Living and breathing without being able to do anything, could there be a more wretched life than this?
The employees who had received instructions returned with a stretcher. Floyd was holding Jewelry and laying her on the stretcher when a scream that seemed to tear through the air was heard.
"Jewel!"
Roxana's frozen pupils turned to the place where the desperate cry was heard.
A man in knight's uniform was running over. He was a rough-looking man with bronze skin, brown hair, and a long scar on his right cheek.
He passed Roxana as he was and tried to hug Jewelry laid on the stretcher. Floyd grabbed his shoulder roughly and pulled him away.
"Calm down, Hexter!"
"Monarch, Jewel... Jewel...!"
Floyd lightly hit the back of Hexter's head, who was panting and unable to speak properly.
"Dennis also got water on him. Take care of Dennis."
"Ah……."
Only then did Hexter's eyes turn to his son crying next to him. Hexter hadn't even realized that Dennis was grabbing his trouser leg and crying.
Reality began to enter the eyes that had turned black from the moment he heard that Jewelry had fallen into the pond and collapsed. Hexter took off Dennis's wet clothes with trembling hands.
"Sorry... I'm sorry... I was wrong, Daddy... Waaaaah."
He should tell him it's okay, but he couldn't say anything. His heart felt like it was going to explode, and even breathing was painful. The reality that he couldn't do anything as a father for the child laid on the stretcher was terrible.
Again, his eyes became sore and it felt like tears would flow, but he barely held back thinking of Dennis.
Hexter carefully wiped Dennis's body with a towel brought by an employee and wrapped the child's body with a blanket. Hexter tried to pick up Dennis, but he couldn't put strength into his arms.
'My daughter…….'
She was a daughter more precious than a thousand gold.
Hexter's life, which had been rough, completely changed when he met his wife and had two children. The moment he held the child in his arms when she was born was as vivid as yesterday.
That day he decided to protect her, to prevent any danger from reaching her. The days when he was pleased and regretful every time he saw the children growing up so quickly. The time when Jewelry first called him "Daddy."
In a very short time, all those moments flashed by.
"Move, Hexter."
Adrian, who had run after Hexter, couldn't stand watching Hexter, who kept fumbling, and stepped forward.
"N-no……."
Hexter didn't even have the strength to pick up Dennis, but he didn't try to get away from his son. When Cain grabbed Hexter's arm and raised him, Adrian sighed and picked up the sobbing Dennis.
"Don't cry, Dennis. Are you a crybaby?"
"Jewel... Jewel because of me..."
"It's not because of you. And what about Jewel? She's not dead. She's still alive. Kirshan will heal her. So don't cry. If you keep crying, I'll cry too? Do you want to see me cry?"
Dennis made a strange noise and buried his face in Adrian's arms. Adrian patted Dennis's back and turned around, and Cain and Arsene supported the staggering Hexter and followed Jewelry, who was being carried on a stretcher.
Floyd, who had taken care of all the situation, glanced at the frozen Roxana and said to Petria.
"The water is contaminated. Take the Princess inside and be careful that the Princess doesn't touch the water."
+++
It wasn't just Jewelry who was affected.
When Floyd called the employees, he ordered them not to touch the water, but it was a belated order.
Several of the employees who frequently used water in the Lily Palace showed symptoms similar to Jewelry and collapsed. The cooks in the kitchen, the maids doing laundry, the servants drawing water from the well. Two knights of the Golden Lion Knights guarding near the Lily Palace.
Floyd had told them to use the water in the storage in advance, fearing that this would happen, but the kitchen used the Lily Palace's well water to use 'fresh water', and the laundry used it because 'it was too much trouble to go to the storage', causing this incident.
When Roxana entered the building with Petria, screams and cries were erupting everywhere. Roxana also saw a maid wiping the window collapse and other employees surrounding her.
'There's nothing I can do.'
But Roxana, unable to do anything, slowly walked, repeating the words that were stuck in her heart like thorns. Roxana, entering the room, lost strength and slumped down on the sofa.
Knowing that she couldn't do anything, the smile of the child who had handed her a bouquet and smiled brightly didn't leave her head.
