Chapter 15

Chapter 15

* * *

I slowly opened my eyes. I felt as if I were waking up from a long, deep slumber. Unsettling sounds hit my ears, crying sounds and murmurs. A fog remained over my mind, so as I lay motionless, I unintentionally eavesdropped on the conversation happening around me.

“Is this really how it all ends?”

“I would like to see my children’s faces one last time, at least…”

“We don’t know who will be chosen yet, but let’s promise to send them off without blaming one another.”

“Goodness, I really hope she wakes up…”

What are they talking about? My mind was fuzzy, and my eyelids were heavy. Even opening my eyes felt like a never-ending task. Once my blurry vision cleared, the first thing I noticed was a transparent curtain surrounding the bed. That curtain was the only thing standing between me and those banshee screams.

Where am I? Oh, I remember now. I saved Kallen and was hit by an arrow. I slowly recalled the situation before I’d fainted. Have I passed beyond the veil? Did I die again? My stomach suddenly dropped.

My voice is gone. My mouth was as dry as a desert. When I tried to speak, I could only eke out a small cough.

Ugh, I feel terrible. I suddenly felt a presence beside me, and I slowly turned to look. It was Jade, sleeping with his cheek squashed against the bed.

Phew! If Jade’s here, it means I’m still alive. But why is he sleeping here? I was utterly confused. When I tried again to speak, I could only croak.

Perhaps hearing my noise, Jade’s eyes slowly opened, his dark eyelashes fluttering. He sat up, his bright red eyes staring right into mine. “Hello, princess. You’re finally awake,” he whispered softly, resting his chin in his hands. “We waited quite a long time, you know.”

Still unable to speak, I smiled widely.

I’m alive! Isn’t this a miracle? I survived being hit by a poisoned arrow that would have nearly killed Kallenl. That’s what I would have said had my voice allowed it. But then Jade’s peaceful expression wavered as he eyed my silent smile.

Jade? What’s wrong?

“It’s okay. Take your time,” he said, offering me a cup of water.

I took a small sip and was finally able to speak. “Where are we?” I asked, my voice hoarse from disuse.

“The hospital.”

I gave Jade a wide-eyed stare. What about Kallen?

“What about the duke?”

“He’s safe and sound. You were unconscious for a full week.”

My eyes bugged out. “I’m sorry?”

Jade stood up and quickly drew the curtains open. “The child is awake,” he announced.

I gasped as I suddenly became the sole focus of seven people. They were each dressed in white, and each whipped their head to stare at me. But it appeared that I wasn’t the only one who was surprised.

“She’s awake!”

“Thank goodness! This isn’t a dream, is it?”

“Our lives have been spared!”

They continued to cheer, holding each other’s hands, tears dripping down their faces.

What’s going on? Did they plan an event to surprise me?

The person who seemed to be the oldest approached Jade and asked, “Wh-when did you arrive, my lord?”

“That’s none of your business,” he replied bluntly.

Jade, did you break into my sick room without permission? That’s kind of creepy. I’ll never understand the Leweltons and their odd personalities. When I attempted to sit up, Jade rushed over to assist me.

Ow, my shoulder… I gasped at the throbbing pain, but it didn’t hurt as much as I had expected. I cast a glance to my left. The bandage wrapped around my shoulder showed through the thin nightgown I was wearing.

“Who are these people?” I asked Jade.

“Oh, right. They’re the doctors.”

I looked at Jade and waited for him to continue explaining.

“When the doctors first examined you after your injury, they said you would be fine and would soon regain consciousness. But that was because no poison had been found in the arrow.”

“I see.”

“It was later discovered that the arrow had been coated with a sedative. Because of your small stature, even the smallest amount was life-threatening. The doctors didn’t realize you had been sedated at first because the drug’s active ingredient is one that was difficult to detect.”

I gaped at Jade.

“Th-that’s such a relief,” I said.

Jade wrinkled his brow. “What’s such a relief about being shot with an arrow?”

“I mean, if something had gone wrong with the sedative, I might not have woken up. Maybe I’m lucky. I’m trying to think positively.” I realized I had said something strange and was hedging.

“It’s true. You were lucky,” Jade said with an odd expression on his face.

But why did the doctors proclaim their lives had been spared? I stared at the doctors, who continued to act a tad eccentrically. They kept reaching out for me and flinching, pulling back as if having thought better of it. They seemed to be biting back words, but Jade paid them no attention.

“Anyway, after you hadn’t woken up for a week, we were outraged by the doctors’ lies,” Jade continued. “You’re aware of how strange Father is, right? He declared, ‘I absolutely despise it when someone sacrifices themselves for me.’ But then he also said, ‘If something goes wrong with my adopted daughter, I will go insane and lash out at anyone.’ Later, he started pacing up and down the corridor like a madman...”

“Doesn’t that mean he was worried about me?”

That is, assuming you interpret his actions positively.

“In any case, Father and I had a long discussion and decided that if you didn’t wake up today, we would start drawing lots. We would randomly choose one of these incompetent doctors and award them an exemplary punishment.”

Wait, what? Does that mean they would’ve “punished” them with death? But the doctors did nothing wrong.

Jade went on to kindly explain the situation in greater detail. He claimed that the seven doctors were considered the most skilled physicians in the capital and had been requested the day after I had been injured.

But how come “requested” sounds more like “kidnapped” here? Am I hearing things?

“D-does the royal family allow such behavior?” I asked.

“The royal family helped us gather the lot of them,” Jade said.

My body stiffened as numerous thoughts raced through my mind. Just how much influence does House Lewelton wield in this kingdom? Should we be worried about the kingdom’s future?

“E-excuse me…” Finally, one of the uneasy doctors mustered enough courage to speak. They appeared to be the eldest doctor among the seven. “Would you mind if we quickly examined her ladyship?”

“Oh, right.” Jade glared at the doctors but eventually stepped back to give way.

I pouted at their exchange. Why is Jade the one granting them permission? It’s my body.

The doctor checked my pulse and looked into my eyes and mouth. After examining me, he sighed deeply. “She’s all right now. I believe you can leave her shoulder as is and check her condition again in the afternoon.”

“Are you certain?”

“Yes, my lord. Lady Lae is truly the luckiest girl in the kingdom. I can’t imagine what would have happened if something went wrong…” The doctors looked at Jade with pleading eyes.

“Wh-what will happen to us now, my lord?”

Jade jutted his chin towards them. “Consider yourselves fortunate. I even prepared the lots, but I’ll let it slide this time.”

“Thank you. Bless you, Lord Jade!”

The doctors started to rejoice. I wouldn’t be surprised if they threw a party.

“You may leave,” Jade told them. “Stay on call for a while more, and when my father gives his permission, you can all return home.”

The doctors nodded in unison and exited the room.

After they left, I tugged Jade’s sleeve. “Please tell me what happened. I can’t stand not knowing. What happened after I collapsed? Why am I the luckiest girl in the kingdom?”

Jade met my gaze directly. “Do you recall the fortune-teller’s home?”

“Of course.”

“Well, there were several booby traps set up in that house, including the crossbow that ultimately injured you.”

I nodded, encouraging him to continue.

“There were two crossbow traps, one near the door and the other on the side wall.”

“I see…”

Everything made sense now. The arrow meant to hit Kallen had been launched from a trap near the door. That means the arrow that hit me...

“That crazy fortune-telling bastard triggered the crossbows using a ring on his finger. And while Father was busy strangling him, he was able to activate the ring. If he had spun it to the right, it would have set off the trap at the entrance, killing you. That arrow, you see, was laced with a deadly poison. But he spun it to the left, and a different arrow was fired at you instead.”

“Oh…”

That meant the arrow that was supposed to be fired at Kallen was the poisoned one.

“The crossbow trap on the side wall contained a tranquilizer. That bastard was a real scumbag. He said the tranquilizer arrows were meant for the women.”

Chills ran up my spine. Meant for the women?

“He would shoot one of those arrows to sedate a woman, then toy with her before killing her. He killed men instantly with the poisoned arrows, but he claimed that to kill a woman so easily would be a waste.”

Ugh, that’s sickening. I’m getting nauseated just thinking about it.

“Just who in the world was he?” I asked.

“The real culprit behind the heart attacks of those redheaded women… He poisoned the women who came to have their fortunes read. The poison was colorless and odorless.”

“You mean a poison with no taste or smell?”

“Precisely. And a poison that took effect after a few days, at that.”

“Why would he do such a thing?”

Jade explained the killer’s motive, which was consistent with what I already knew.

The women he killed all had one thing in common: they had red hair, just like his mother. He was consumed by an obsession with his birth mother—an obsession that moved beyond love and into perversion.

Growing up, he had suffered under his mother’s own obsession, and so he loved and hated her simultaneously. Torn apart by such conflicting emotions, he found himself driven to take the role of his mother.

He dressed as her, even going so far as to don a red wig. Finally, he posed as a fortune-teller, luring other women into his parlor to murder them. He killed as an attempt to fulfill something missing within him.

And that was the story of the perpetrator of the fortune-teller murders. Even though I already knew his story, hearing it again made me shiver. The criminals in this world were frightening.

“That’s rather scary…” I whimpered.

“Everything’s alright now. Father made certain to punish him thoroughly.”

That means the duke killed him, right? I tried to imagine how the fortune-teller might have died, but I stopped myself. There were some things I was better off not knowing.

“Does it hurt?” Jade asked, eying my shoulder.

“No, not really. There was a moment where I thought I was going to die, but I guess the wound was pretty small.”

Jade chuckled. “You actually lost a portion of your shoulder. We could see your bones, you know. They were all fractured too. You could have bled out.”

“Pardon?” I inhaled sharply.

Th-then… has my shoulder fully healed or not?

“The priests cast pain-relieving spells on your body for the past week, so your shoulder won’t hurt for a while. They’re actually waiting for you in the next room.”

Aren’t high priests, or those who know how to use holy magic, extremely rare and valuable in this world?

“They did all of that for me?” I asked.

“Uh-huh. Aunt Marianne gave them an earful after they complained about wanting to rest and return to the temple. Since then, they’ve been waiting dutifully. Don’t worry. If need be, I’ll compel them to use their magic to relieve your pain, even if it means squeezing out the last of their life force.”

“B-but I don’t want to be a nuisance…”

“It’s no trouble,” Jade replied sweetly. “We can simply pay the temple back through donations.”

Is this how the wealthy operate? No, I suppose this is just… the mindset of villains. I laughed nervously.