Chapter 75: Chapter 75

“I think she will be safe.”

“Lady Biche…”

“And you are not responsible for the accident. No one knew that would happen.”

“However…”

“Don’t blame yourself. That doesn’t help you at all, Ms. Cordelli. Think about this instead. If she looks at you now, what will she say?”

Beatrice sat down next to her and tilted her head gently.

“Do you think she would have gotten mad at you because you were not with her or would she have said, ‘I’m glad you didn’t hurt too much, so don’t worry.’ What do you think?”

She patted her shoulders kindly while looking at her.

Of course, Marianne would have said something to comfort her instead of blaming her. Cordelli recalled her kind and lovely face, voice, and gestures. She would definitely have inquired after her safety first instead of rebuking her or holding her accountable.

Of course, that was on the assumption that she was still alive.

“I heard what the knights said earlier. They said they found a horseman’s body in the tributary. It was the man who drove the emperor’s carriage. So, I …”

Cordelli shut her mouth, unable to speak anymore. When she heard them, there were no words she could find hopeful as far as the emperor’s carriage was concerned. Given the knights’ mention of ominous things about the carriage, She couldn’t even imagine any terrible misfortunes regarding the emperor and Marianne.

“I believe they will certainly come back safe and alive.”

In the end, Beatrice changed the topic.

“If she comes back to the residence, she is going to use this room again, I guess. So, sleep soundly. Let us unpack that bag tomorrow so that she can live here comfortably whenever she comes back. Change the flowers in the vase, ventilate the air and that birdcage over there…”

Suddenly, their conversation was cut off. Cordelli lifted her head after some silence.

Beatrice was looking at a mountain of luggage, opening her eyes wide over her glasses.

“Lady Biche?…”

Cordelli called her with a hesitant voice, and Beatrice was gazing at something far ahead. There was a half-opened silver cage without its owner in one shade of the luggage piled up from the door to the window.

“Ms. Cordelli, do you know when the cage was empty?”

* * *

Marianne suddenly opened her eyes.

It was bluish and dark everywhere. It seemed like the sun had set while she was blinking.

She curled up, releasing her arms while hugging her knees. Her stiff muscles woke up, screaming. She felt the whole body aching from head to toe as if she was beaten by someone.

‘Yeah, I overdid myself…”

Actually, she used up not only her physical strength, but also mental energy all day long.

She had to do all the work on behalf of the wounded emperor. While she was at it, she didn’t know it was hard because she was just too absent-minded. Even if she did, she couldn’t afford to play the baby.

No matter how hard or exhausted she was, she couldn’t feel more painful than the emperor whose arm was broken and back was bleeding.

She looked at him lying on the side while massaging her numb arms.

The moonlight dimly lit his back, which was moving a little. Fortunately, he was covered with the shirt which was dried in the sun the most, with a splint on his broken right arm. No matter how strong of a build he had, he could not be insensitive to pain. His pitiable back showed that he looked more like a betrayed remnant than the emperor of an empire.

‘He won’t last long. The wound is too deep and he bled a lot. I already changed the grass to stop his bleeding three times. The pain was so bad that he couldn’t eat anything properly.’

She shrugged her shoulders with a long sigh. It was early summer, but the night was pretty cold. She rubbed her bare forearms with both hands.

‘Besides, it’s too cold and I’m hungry.’

The only advantage of being stranded near water was that it was easy to get drinking water.

It was wet and cool near the river. The clothes in the sun dried much slower than in the fields. As she had nothing proper to wear, she had to wander around the valley in her slip all the time.

It would have been much easier if she could make a fire because she could dry the wet clothes, heat herself up when it was cold, and send a smoke signal to signal where she was.

But she couldn’t find even flint, let alone embers. She hit wet pebbles together to make fire, but only her hands hurt.

‘What should we eat if the rescue team doesn’t come tomorrow? I think I saw raspberries a while ago. Can I pick some of them? Let me collect more anesthetics and herbs.”

Still, she was still in a positive mood. She originally had an optimistic personality, but she had to stay positive and optimistic on purpose.

And she could not end her life like this. She had to go back alive. There were too many people waiting for her. She still had a lot of work to do, something only she should do.

She leaned against the stone wall. Her necklace breathtakingly hanging on her clavicle slipped back into place. She had red diamonds on her fragile fingers, which she touched gently.

That jewel, which drifted through the rugged waterways and did not slip, inevitably brought out her emotions hidden in the deepest part of her heart.

She remembered the emperor’s replies to her questions.

“I wasn’t trying to save you because you were a hostage.”

“I didn’t want you to be hurt.”

Although he answered shamelessly, she had been upset all along.

It was the second time the emperor avoided his replies as of yesterday. She could now easily guess that he was extremely reluctant to involve his private feelings in his political calculations. And she no longer wanted to embarrass him with her unilateral feelings.

The emperor as her political partner was her last available card. That’s why she vowed not to be greedy. She vowed that she should not give too much meaning to his favor. She vowed that she should deal with him as calmly and rationally as possible.

‘It depends on me, but I can’t work it out as I wish.’

However, she was often bothered by what he said. He said she didn’t have to apologize, he vowed that would keep his promise by all means, and he wouldn’t die because of her. So, she wanted to find just one possibility, in the hem of the cloak that covered her shoulders, his belt wrapped around her arms, and his hands touching her cheeks.

‘But…I just wish he would be really mean to me like Roxy or Ober in my previous life. If he were, I wouldn’t be confused about him anyway.”‘

At that moment, she was thinking about the emperor: cold-hearted, his blue eyes reflecting mockery, cutting off somebody’s words heartlessly, and no show of any compassion…

She let out a sigh again. She felt ashamed of herself as she found herself lost in such idle thoughts. Frustrated, she looked back at his back again.

‘Should I have plucked up the courage to ask him what he meant by his replies?’

While she had lots of things in her mind, he seemed to fall asleep in peace.

‘I’m still scared to hear his reply. But he wouldn’t have risked his life if he didn’t like me. Was he serious when he said he didn’t save me because I was a hostage? It bothers me to keep asking about it…’

His firm shoulders reflected in her green eyes moved up or down in line with his breathing.

‘… Should I ask him later after the engagement? I wonder if he is going to break it off because of that..’

His shadow shook very slowly.

She shook her head. The shadow that sunk as if it breathed out did not rise for a long time. When a person went to sleep, the cycle of breathing was supposed to slow down a bit, but she thought this interval was a bit strange.

“Your Excellency?” She called him with a trembling voice.

He didn’t reply. Instead, his very slow breathing continued. He breathed very slowly.

She hurriedly got up. She crawled to him and quickly reached out and touched his neck.

At that moment, she felt that something was seriously wrong.

‘Too cold…! ‘

She quickly removed the shirt covering his shoulders. She touched his arms, back, waist, chest, and hands, which were all cold.

She climbed over his legs without concealing her astonishment.

“Your Majesty, please come to your senses! Can you hear me?”

Eckart’s eyes were closed as if he heard nothing.

“You shouldn’t lose your mind! Open your eyes!”

Biting her lip, she slapped him in the face. Only then were his tightly closed eyelids opened. As there was only the moonlight, his white hair and blue eyes sparkled whitishly. His face exactly looked like that of a dead body.

“…”

He moved his lips slightly as if he wanted to say something.

She put her ear near his lips.