Translator: Nox

Chapter 45

45. So I Can Leave

“So, Your Excellency is going to sacrifice her to your beastly impulses because you don’t want to lose a bet?”

“Shut your mouth.”

Shed warned, as if he would strangle the impudent man again.

He didn’t care if he lost or won that damn bet, as long as he could keep Liana.

“If not, why are you being so stubborn!”

Eclaus pressed Shed.

A drop of blood fell from Shed’s clenched fist.

He knew. It was all his stubbornness. An obsession that would only leave scars.

That everything would go back to normal if he let her go.

But he couldn’t.

Not that he wouldn’t… but that he couldn’t.

His jaw was clenched tight, and veins stood out on his temples.

He didn’t know anymore.

Whether this feeling was revenge, anger, regret, or just habitual obsession.

But what was clear was that he wasn’t ready to let her go right now.

---

Before he knew it, sunlight was shining on the tips of her toes.

Liana, who had been crying for a long time, raised her head.

The sun had completely risen outside the window.

Regardless of her mood, light filtered through the clear skies of Ideana.

Knock, knock.

Liana was startled by the knock and looked at the door with fearful eyes.

“…Lady Liana, are you alright?”

A muffled, polite voice was heard from beyond the door.

It was Eclaus.

Liana squeezed her eyes shut.

She had to say she was alright, but her lips wouldn’t part easily.

“You need to get treatment.”

Liana clutched her blood-soaked clothes.

“I brought a doctor. May I come in…?”

At his gentle question, Liana parted her trembling lips.

“…I want to be alone.”

The voice that tried to answer loudly was choked with tears and lingered in place.

“Lady Liana?”

He asked again, as his answer didn’t reach him beyond the door.

She couldn’t say ‘I want to be alone’ again.

Because the words she barely managed to utter felt scattered and meaningless.

She wiped her hot eyes with the back of her hand, took a deep breath, and pressed all the thoughts she had been piling up inside.

She stood up and checked her appearance several times.

She checked to see if anything was wrinkled or disheveled, and not only smoothed it out with her trembling hands, but also put a shawl on her shoulders.

She carefully went to the door, took another deep breath, practiced raising the corners of her mouth forcibly, and then grabbed the doorknob.

When she slowly opened the door, a neatly dressed man was standing there.

His eyes, full of concern, scanned her.

Liana noticed a long, thin scar on Eclaus’s cheek.

The clothes that were buttoned up to his neck, unlike usual, also felt unfamiliar.

She had heard a brief commotion from Shed’s room earlier.

Something must have happened between Shed and Eclaus.

Liana saw that Eclaus’s expression wasn’t very good, but, unfortunately, she didn’t have the energy to worry about him.

“Are you alright…?”

At Eclaus’s question, Liana forced herself to lift up her collapsing expression.

She wanted to look as normal as possible.

She wanted to greet him as if nothing had happened.

But she couldn’t bring herself to answer.

She was afraid she would burst into tears the moment she opened her mouth.

Liana just nodded.

“I brought our doctor. She’s discreet and skilled, so she’ll be helpful.”

He introduced the Vittel family’s doctor.

An elderly woman bowed politely.

At the doctor’s kind smile, Liana opened the door a little wider and welcomed the two in.

“I’ll be outside, so call me when you’re done with the treatment.”

Eclaus stepped back and let only the doctor inside.

She thought it was a little fortunate that he wasn’t coming in.

The doctor told Liana to sit on the bed and lifted her clothes to check the affected area.

“Fortunately, it’s not serious.”

The doctor said in a comforting voice, as if trying to reassure her, who looked depressed.

The wound that had been healing had burst, but it was fortunate that it wasn’t as deep as before.

As Eclaus had said, she was as skilled as the Lester family’s doctor.

She calmly examined not only the large wound on her abdomen but also other places.

Bite marks on her neck, dark purple bruises on her wrists, and faint scratches on her ankles and calves from shards of pottery.

The doctor looked at the wounds all over her body without sighing in pity, adding unnecessary advice, or asking about the circumstances.

“…Is there anywhere else you’d like me to check?”

“No. I’m alright….”

Liana said, covering her neck where his bite marks remained with her hand.

She didn’t want to entrust the treatment of such places to someone else.

She could do it well enough on her own.

“…Do you need someone to curse with you?”

The doctor, who had been quietly watching her, asked.

At that, Liana blinked for a moment and then shook her head.

“I’m alright.”

Only then did a faint smile appear on Liana’s lips.

“Stay away as much as possible. From things like this.”

The doctor said, leaving just one piece of advice as she packed her medical bag.

Stay away as much as possible.

It was wise advice.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

The doctor smiled at Liana as if offering comfort and went outside.

As soon as the doctor left, Eclaus, who had been waiting outside, came in.

“Did the treatment go well?”

“…Yes.”

Liana nodded.

“Then, let’s move rooms.”

Eclaus said calmly, as if everything had already been decided.

Liana looked at Eclaus, who was deciding her whereabouts.

“Don’t worry. Duke Lester won’t make an issue of it either.”

Eclaus said with his arms crossed.

It wasn’t something Shed had permitted, nor was it something Shed had decided.

But if Shed Lester had any conscience, he wouldn’t be able to keep her next to his bedroom.

“And now you don’t have to serve near Duke Lester anymore.”

“Is that what Your Excellency decided…?”

“Halfway.”

He nodded.

“So you’re going to keep Lady Liana by your side?”

“That’s….”

“If you were in your right mind, you wouldn’t do that, even for Lady Liana’s sake.”

At Eclaus’s continued questioning, Shed eventually avoided it with silence.

He must know.

That things had gone too far to see Liana any closer.

So Liana would no longer serve Shed up close.

“Then I….”

“For now, you’re not feeling well, so let’s talk about moving you to a position where you can use your body less.”

Eclaus smiled warmly, the same as before, for the first time.

Liana nodded silently.

It wasn’t like she had the right to decide, and it seemed much better than working next to Shed.

“And I still haven’t gotten an answer.”

Eclaus took a step closer.

Liana, who was sitting on the edge of the bed, raised her red eyes and looked at him.

“You still don’t want to leave this place?”

Then Liana’s lips pressed tightly together.

She paused for a moment, lost in thought, and lowered her eyelids.

Honestly, the situation was so clear that she didn’t think there was anything more to think about.

But why couldn’t she come to a simple answer?

What regrets were left?

Eclaus knelt down in front of her, who was lost in thought, and met her eyes.

“Forget about what happened today.”

Liana just silently avoided his gaze and lowered her head.

Eclaus, who had been watching her, opened his mouth again.

“It was heat.”

At the word that came out of his mouth, her small head lifted up again.

“Heat…?”

Her eyes, resembling the color of grass, trembled at the unexpected word.

As expected, she didn’t know at all.

“It’s a sensitive issue for Duke Lester, so I wondered if I should say it, but since this happened, I don’t think it’s right for you not to know.”

“Ah….”

Emptiness flowed from Liana’s parted lips.

In an instant, all her worries became ridiculous.

Heat, so that’s why.

That hot gaze, the kiss that desired her and dug in deeply, the desire buried in the breath that stimulated her skin, that excitement and anger.

“I see….”

It was all because of that.

Shed didn’t want her, he just needed someone to relieve his lust.

She didn’t know whether to cry or laugh.

Was it fortunate? Or was it even more unfortunate?

Liana bit her lip tightly and then parted them again.

“…Could you help me leave?”

Eclaus was right.

This wasn’t a place for her to be.

If she stayed here, Liana felt like she wouldn’t be able to control herself.

If Shed ever went into heat again, and came to her with that seductive scent like today, would she be able to resist?

If he showed her love with such intense eyes, would she be able to look away?

She wasn’t confident.

She didn’t want to become a simple plaything for his desires.

She couldn’t let her feelings be treated like a broken doll.

“You’ve thought it through well.”

Eclaus nodded at her determined voice.

---

Dietrich woke up from a light sleep at the sound of someone tapping on the window.

He had barely fallen asleep at dawn, but soon an uninvited guest had come.

He rubbed his eyes and put on his glasses, and a white Carrier pigeon was sitting by the window.

“What kind of letter did the Great Temple send again….”

Dietrich muttered lazily in a sleepy voice.

He took the letter out of the letter tube tied to the Carrier pigeon’s ankle and unfolded it.

As he read the letter, his blinking eyes gradually cleared of sleep and widened in astonishment close to shock.

“This can’t be happening!?”

Just as Dietrich’s voice of bewilderment spread, someone knocked on his door.

“C-come in.”

“High Priest. Did something happen at the Great Temple?”

The Cleric seemed to have seen the Carrier pigeon fly in.

“W-well….”

Dietrich scratched his head and read the letter again.

“H-High Priest Giselle Marlehein is coming here. No. She’s already left and is on her way.”

The Cleric’s eyes also widened at Dietrich’s words.

Another High Priest was coming to Ideana.