Ch#232
The doctor, who had followed Mullang into Roena's room, widened his eyes when he saw me lying in her bed. Upon seeing the wound on my neck, he opened his mouth as if to say something, but as soon as he noticed the terrified expression on my face, he cleared his throat. His hands were trembling slightly as he examined the wound, feigning composure.
“The wound looks like a knife cut... Hmph. Well, I’m not sure what to say.”
“How the wound was made is none of your business. Treatment is what matters.”
When I spoke in a cold tone, he cleared his throat again, looking embarrassed.
According to the doctor, the cut was somewhat deep and would leave a scar if not treated properly. He lamented that it had occurred in such a conspicuous place. Perhaps because of that, his touch as he applied ointment and wrapped the bandage was very gentle and careful.
“Keep a tight lip about this matter. Ensure no rumors spread.”
I warned the doctor in a stern voice. He blinked silently for a moment and then simply nodded. His lips remained firmly pressed shut.
After the treatment was finished, the doctor handed Mullang the medicine he had just applied. Mullang took the medicine and escorted the doctor back out. Then she returned to me.
“Shall I pour you a cup of tea?”
“No need.”
Mullang kept glancing at my complexion, looking restless. She remained hovering near the bed without leaving. My nerves grew sharp, and I spoke to her in a somewhat harsh voice.
“That’s enough, go out now. And as soon as it’s light, prepare a carriage so I can go out.”
“Yes.”
“Mullang.”
“Yes, My Lady.”
“Watch your mouth as well. No one is to know about this wound.”
“I understand.”
Mullang obeyed submissively without asking any questions. She stepped out very quietly, muffling her footsteps as if trying not to upset my mood.
Left alone, I sat curled up, tracing the bandaged wound with my hand. I sank into quiet thought.
I thought the Grand Duke would be the one to act, but this is unexpected. Then again, there's no way the Empress would just stay still. But I didn't expect her to try and kill me so soon...
Many things were becoming complicated and tangled, giving me a headache. My body was exhausted, but my mind was wide awake. The reality that I couldn't sleep due to fear felt like a wave of depression.
Having to ponder why the Empress wanted Roena was another factor that made things difficult.
Thus, I remained in that spot until dawn, alternating between deep thought and staring blankly at a corner of the bed. When morning came and Mullang visited me, I told her in a tired voice to help me prepare for the outing.
I wore a dress that came up to my neck to hide the wound and applied powder to my face; only then did I manage to avoid looking like a corpse.
My vision blurred with every step I took, but I urged the coachman to race to Madam de Lavallière’s mansion. I demanded to see her from the Lavallière house butler.
The Madam was enjoying a leisurely morning with her morning tea. She seemed quite displeased when I suddenly arrived and broke her rest. She kept her expression stiff as if about to scold me, but as soon as she saw my face, she looked surprised. Madam de Lavallière quickly offered me a seat as I greeted her and asked for forgiveness for my rudeness, asking if I was ill.
“Could you please have the people around us step out for a moment?”
At my request, she frowned for a moment as if puzzled but reluctantly nodded. She signaled for the maids to leave.
“You asked if I was ill, didn't you? It’s not an illness, but I have been wounded.”
“Wounded?”
Instead of answering, I slightly lowered the fabric at my neck to show the wound. The Madam’s eyes widened at the sight of the thick bandages.
“What on earth happened...?”
“An assailant broke in, demanding to know Roena's whereabouts. He told me to hand her over.”
I deliberately didn't mention the kidnapping. It was to observe the Madam's reaction.
Madam de Lavallière looked surprised at my words and hurriedly asked about Roena's safety.
“So, did you answer him?”
“If I had answered submissively, would I have ended up with a wound like this? When I wouldn't answer, he threatened to kill me.”
“Was it the Grand Duke?”
“It was the Empress.”
When I spoke with certainty, the Madam shook her head as if she couldn't understand. Her face was deeply distorted with confusion.
“No, why would she... Well, since the Grand Duke was the one who kidnapped Roena, it wouldn't be strange for the Empress, who is close to him, to target her. But how did you know that?”
“I used a trick to deceive him into thinking soldiers were lying in ambush nearby. I lied and said he had fallen into a trap I set. Then I coaxed him. I told him I’d let him live if he told me who ordered the job. It was an act against my conscience and morals, but I had no choice to protect Roena.”
By shortening the tense situation and emphasizing the assailant's foolishness, a story was instantly completed. Since there was no reason to boast of my cleverness to the Madam, I only briefly explained how I persuaded him.
At that, she, who had been suspicious at first, soon fell for my words and nodded slowly as if she understood.
“Fortunately, you managed to deceive him somehow. But why would the Empress want Roena...?”
“She likely intends to bring Roena and give her to Duke Kiran. There would be no better way to reconcile with him. It seems she was desperate because of the rumors that the Crown Prince intended to give Roena to Duke Kiran.”
After thinking it over all dawn, I had finally reached this conclusion. I told her that all of this was for Duke Kiran. That the attempt to eliminate me, a witness to the sordid affair, was for the same reason.
Unlike his elder brother, the Duke of Kiran, Duke Kiran had struck out on his own to build his own force, and he possessed enough power to be a card the Crown Prince would reach for to check his maternal uncle.
Therefore, for the Empress, whose faction had been swallowed by the Grand Duke, there was no better lifeline. Even if they were a pair who were busy biting each other rather than having good sibling affection, they were nobles who could unite without hesitation for their respective gains.
It was certain that Duke Kiran had first demanded Roena as a sign of reconciliation. Since Roena was known as the Empress's person, she wouldn't be able to lift a finger if the Empress commanded it.
So she must have resorted to such a dirty trick. Since another chance to obtain the most beautiful girl in the Empire had arrived, why wouldn't she?
Thus, Pulkeor had moved the Grand Duke's man, who was not yet fully prepared, and sent him to the Bischwaldz Mansion. Very hastily at that. This was a part that showed how much the Empress was being cornered by the Grand Duke.
“Perhaps the Empress even knows that I have come to find you.”
“...So that is why you have come to find me so early.”
“Yes.”
The Madam let out a deep sigh, seemingly disgusted by the Empress's conduct. She went silent, holding her forehead with her hand. Her pale face was filled with disillusionment. She was truly enraged.
“Since there is no evidence, we cannot even question her, and in the end, we have no choice but to protect Roena as we are doing now. Very well, what help do you need?”
“Please prepare two separate carriages to depart at the same time tomorrow dawn. And ten minutes later, you should also leave the mansion in a carriage, Aunt. Have the first two carriages head toward the country roads, while you travel through the city and return to the mansion two hours later. An hour before you return, there must be a small cart leaving the mansion, and it must be filled with vegetables. The size should be enough for a girl about Roena's size to lie down in.”
The wise Madam de Lavallière quickly realized what I was saying.
“So the first two carriages and I are decoys to dazzle their eyes. Those who attack the first two carriages will soon realize they were deceived, and then they will join the people following me, waiting for their chance. While their attention is diverted, a cart—one that might be slightly suspicious but surely wouldn't hold a noble lady—will be sent out to blindside them. Ultimately, you mean to make them suspect that Roena escaped through that vegetable cart?”
“Yes. Exactly.”
“I shall do so. I will do it tomorrow.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
“Is there anything else?”
I answered 'no' in a quiet voice. Since I had poured out the reason for my visit as soon as I sat down, I didn't even have time to get a cup of tea. Of course, I wasn't in the mood to drink it even if she gave it to me.
The Madam looked at me and let out another sigh, then lowered her gaze to the wound on my neck. Her eyes were softened much more than when we last met. It was inevitable since she heard I had sustained such a wound to protect Roena.
“You’ll need good medicine to ensure no scar remains. I will send some very good medicine to your mansion soon. It is excellent for wounds.”
“I will receive it gratefully if you send it. May I take my leave now?”
“Already... No, you should go and rest well since you are unwell.”
The purpose of visiting the Madam early in the morning had been fully achieved. I had planted the suspicion in the Empress's side that Roena was here, and I had built trust with the Madam. Although I can only think this because it ended with just a wound on my neck, in the end, yesterday's incident became a bit of a stroke of luck for me today.
I rose from my seat and bid farewell to the Madam. For a moment, my vision blurred and my body swayed significantly, but I barely managed to catch my balance.
Madam de Lavallière seemed worried about me and called a maid, saying she would have her support me. I didn't refuse her words. So the maid supported my body firmly until I boarded the carriage.
When I returned home after finishing the planned task, a letter had arrived from an unexpected person.
I received the letter from a man covered in dust. He was a familiar person. And for good reason; was he not the knight who sometimes guarded the Crown Prince's door and kept watch? He had tried to dress normally, but the sharp aura he radiated was impossible to hide.
The knight said he had been waiting because he had to deliver it to me personally. He added that he was told to verify if I read it immediately. He wouldn't even sit on the sofa I offered. His gaze followed me obsessively until I opened the letter with a paper knife.
The letter was short and bold. But the content was not as simple as its length.
[I desperately hope you will follow the sender and come to the Border Region.]
For a moment, I wondered if I had misread it, and when I checked again, the words telling me to come to the Border Region were written boldly. I looked up and examined the knight's face again. Had I not been badly burned just yesterday by the assailant mimicking Knight Sylphice? There was no rule saying I couldn't be deceived again.
“How can I believe this letter is real?”
At these words, the knight took out a pendant he had kept in his chest and handed it to me. It was something only a knight in charge of the Crown Prince's escort could possess.
As I examined it to see if it was a forgery, he stepped closer and showed me a seal mark secretly stamped like a trace on the inside of the envelope. It was the pattern symbolizing the Crown Prince, which I had seen before when he was stamping documents.
Ah, it’s real.
I nodded and asked the knight for forgiveness for my rudeness.
The Crown Prince's seal was made of a special material, and it was known that no matter how much one forged it, a pattern identical to the real one could not be produced. So it must truly be him calling for me.
“He intends to push me into a death trap.”
“I was only told to bring you.”
“What if I say I won't go?”
The knight hesitated and then continued.
“He said if you refused to come, I should add these words: ‘The prophecy calls to you.’”
The prophecy the knight spoke of must refer to what I heard from the Witch before. Seeing as he needed me, he seemed to have recalled those words that referred to death rather than something related to the rebellion.
Calling for me while mentioning the prophecy suddenly meant something related to it had happened. And something major related to the Crown Prince's life.
Even if that were the case, how could he ask to bring me to a battlefield where life and death are at stake? The Crown Prince must truly be mad.
“Did something major happen to His Highness's person?”
“I do not know the details.”
Even though he said that, the way he avoided my gaze as if he were hiding something suggested that something major regarding the Crown Prince's safety had occurred.
But still, this wasn't right. I spoke sharply with a cold face.
“I won't go.”
“Please reconsider.”
“How can you take me to such a dangerous place? I can't go. No, I won't go. What help could I possibly be if I went?”
Besides, they seemed to regard the war as a sacred place, as even the tents where camp followers stayed were kept far away. If I went to see the Crown Prince, it was certain I would become the subject of all sorts of gossip.
And what about the fear of war? I had never seen death before my eyes even in my previous life. Both my adoptive father and mother had died in places I couldn't see. I had committed suicide, so I hadn't seen my own corpse. At most, I had seen it in dreams.
Could someone like me remain composed in a place where the horrors of war are unfolding? The thought alone was horrific. At the same time, anger surged toward the Crown Prince for demanding such an absurd thing.
So I turned my head away pointedly. I had suffered from fear all night and had thought deeply to uncover the Empress's scheme, so my physical condition was poor to begin with.
Rather than arguing like this, I wanted to quickly go into any room—I didn't want to go to my own room—and close my eyes for even a bit. Of course, there was no guarantee I could sleep well even then, but I thought lying down would be something. I couldn't keep trembling with fear forever, could I?
But did I turn my head too sharply? Or was it because I had to argue without a moment's rest?
Suddenly, my vision spun. At the same time, my sight went dark, and the world began to distort, rapidly drawing curves like waves. And in the moment I felt I had regained my senses, I was slumped in the knight's arms.
The sound of “My Lady” rang in my ears. Between my flickering eyes, the hallucinations of the gloomily laughing assailant and the knight were crossing paths.
“...May I? May we go...?”
“Don't... want to.”
I tried to push him away with flailing hands, but someone held me tight. I barely moved my heavy lips to squeeze out a word.
“I will never go.”
And then I fainted as if I couldn't endure it any longer.
Shards of the Broken Glass Shoe
