IBWCD 50

Chapter 50

Her heart was racing. So why had the merchant she’d met mentioned the top of the Parminion?

“So that means the herbs on the market are contraband. Do you happen to know who said that?”

She broke out in a cold sweat. She hadn’t meant to accuse him, but his demeanor softened immediately.

“Of course not, there is no smoke in the chimney. I’ll have my spies check to see if there are any forbidden items circulating up there and let you know.”

Her heart sank. She thought meeting the Duke of Parminion would untangle the tangled threads, but her stomach still felt like she’d swallowed a large rock.

But there was no time to dwell on this.

Evelyn swallowed her nerves and finished her prepared remarks.

“May I ask one more favor?”

The Duke nodded as if to say go ahead. Evelyn pursed her lips, a troubled look on her face.

“A trading ship from the continent of Nora is due to arrive in port in a few days, isn’t it?”

“Hmm? How would Miss Evelyn know that?”

“Because once every full moon, the trade merchants hold a bazaar in the Adelheim Great Square in the capital, and when I go there, I can hear all sorts of rumors. Didn’t the merchants tell you that the plague has delayed the arrival of the trade ships that were supposed to come in this month?”

Evelyn looked the man in the eye and was inwardly surprised at herself for blurting out the lie so casually.

Humans were creatures of adaptation.

After a brief moment of self-deprecation, she hardened her gaze.

“I would like you to delay the arrival of the trade ships for another month.”

In the past, after the town of Litchev had been burned to the ground, the despondent duke had sought to show his family’s strength by sending a trading ship into port.

But…

<The ships from the continent of Nora to the top of Paminion were all sunk in a storm! Will the long-established duke finally fall?>

The plague and the gate ravaged the Parminion family, and this event began a slow collapse.

And this led to an irreversible tragedy.

Unable to contain his rage, the Duke finally blamed the grand duke for everything.

Realizing that he could not kill his only heir, he threw himself into the Shroud of Darkness.

It would not happen in this lifetime.

“But what’s with the sudden…?”

Blood splattered everywhere.

Someone’s pained cries.

The shadow of death looming in front of me.

And her , slowly oxidizing away.

Suddenly, a flood of memories began to crawl back into her throat in a clump.

“Miss Evelyn?”

She choked out. Her mind was scattered, her consciousness suddenly fuzzy.

The sensation of space distorting.

Feeling overwhelmed with terror, Evelyn clutched at whatever she could get her hands on.

If she didn’t, she felt like she was being pulled inexorably into the nothingness of space.

Bang!

A loud bang, followed by a boom.

Cold sweat poured down her face as tinnitus assaulted her senses like the world had turned upside down.

“Oh, God! Don’t move, Leon! Albert! Is anyone out there!”

A harsh voice shouted in her ears, the sound of a man’s voice suddenly separating her from reality.

At the same moment, the door to the flower garden burst open and Leon, who had rushed in, forced her hand open and pulled out a shard of glass lodged between her thumb and forefinger.

Evelyn realized she was panicking and struggled to regain her composure.

“Hah, hah!”

“Evelyn, can you hear me? It’s just a broken glass, it’s nothing, calm down.”

Evelyn looked at the trickle of blood and clutched at her chest, struggling to breathe. Leon rushed to her side and patted her back.

“It’s okay, breathe slowly.”

“Ha, ha…”

“That’s right, you’re doing good. Slowly.”

Soon enough, she was breathing, and her eyes slowly came into focus.

Slowly, Evelyn regained her senses and looked around. Seeing the duke looking shocked, she steadied her shaking body.

“I was distracted for a moment and… apologize.”

“You have nothing to apologize for, my priority right now is for you to regain your health.”

“You’re right, Duke, it’s okay, it could be, rest assured there’s nothing dangerous.”

Taking Evelyn’s hand soothingly in his as she tried to pull away in panic, Leon tore a long strip of cloth table mat and pressed it against the wound.

Blood stained her dress, shards of glass scattered over the neatly arranged food.

Everything was a mess.

Evelyn acknowledged that something inside her was solidly broken, but part of her wondered why it had happened.

“I haven’t finished telling…  yet.”

“There’s no rush. It’s not too late to talk after you’ve tended to your wounds, Leon, Miss Evelyn.”

* * *

Leon took her by the arm and shoulder and carefully led her out of the room.

Apparently, she was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

A mental illness that manifests itself after experiencing a life-threatening physical or emotional trauma.

In other words, during her conversation with the Duke, she was likely subconsciously recalling scenes from her past or from previous battles.

As if to prove it, her body was shaking violently as she mumbled unintelligible words and sobbed.

“Poor thing.”

She was a patient who had only just awakened.

Leon understood and felt deep compassion for Evelyn, for he had seen men die on the battlefield many times before.

“It would not have been too late to call for her after she had recovered.”

Leon, who had cursed the short-tempered Duke of Parminion inwardly, spoke up in a tone that could not have been more subtle.

“A little fresh air will calm you down, and then I’ll come upstairs and stitch your wound up so it doesn’t hurt.”

Despite his pleas, which included an aggressive appeal to her strengths, she remained speechless.

“With all that power, I don’t think I can…”

Well, physical and mental strength are not always proportional.

Leon stroked her back soothingly, and then, feeling sorry for her, he gripped her shoulders with a little more force.

“You don’t have to be afraid. I’m pretty good at this…”

Just then, her steps came to a screeching halt.

Leon stopped dead in his tracks and stared into Evelyn’s eyes.

The panicked, helpless look in his eyes a moment ago was quickly replaced by shock.

Leon’s face, which had turned his head to follow her cold gaze, also contorted involuntarily.

“Why would the Grand Duchess want to…”

* * *

Coming out of the greenhouse flower garden, Evelyn stared blankly at the carriage that was gradually approaching the porch.

Only one person could possibly get out of a carriage bearing the Orpheus family crest.

But she wasn’t the only one to step out of the carriage.

At the end of the line of sight was the grand duke, who stepped out of the carriage carrying a woman in pure white.

“…Saint?”

The moment she saw the two of them descending as one, her body went limp.

Evelyn, her eyes white with fear, clutched the hem of Leon’s robe for support.

Suddenly, she remembered the portrait she’d seen in the Grand Duke’s mansion.

A man and woman gazing lovingly at each other.

A couple so flawless and perfect that they seemed tailor-made for each other.

‘No way…’

At that moment, as if sensing her gaze, Kalian turned his head, his face cold as he spotted them.

Evelyn quickly averted her gaze.

It was inevitable that the two would eventually join forces. But not now, at least.

It was she who had saved him, risking death and scraping her magic to the limit.

She hadn’t meant to give up her place at the table to a holy woman without warning.

‘I haven’t even received the Grand Duchess’s book yet, and you’re already bringing a saint with you…’

But the reality in front of her seemed to confirm that she was a replacement for the saint.

And unlike the saint, who was beautifully dressed like a pure white bride, she was covered in blood and dirty.

She didn’t dare face them in this state. Dejected, Evelyn turned and walked away from the castle.

A few moments later.

By the time she reached Bernard’s mansion beneath the walls of Parminion, rumors of the saint’s miracles had spread like wildfire across the Parminion estate.

“Did you hear? She led the sun god to Litchev.”

“She’s back from her pilgrimage, isn’t she? That idiot crown prince had a lot to do with it, too. The sun will rise in the west.”

So, when Kalian went to Mardenne, it was to fetch the saint for himself.

Perhaps to consolidate her position by returning the healing power from Evelyn’s hands to her own.

‘Of course, we’ll have to ask Kalian for the exact details…’

Her head felt cold, like the blood had been drained from her body.

She shivered, realizing how hard she’d been holding back her emotions.

“Where did I go wrong?”

In this life, she had tried so hard to change her fate.

She’d used Kalian to punish Louise, and she’d used her memories of the past to help him.

She had strived to be the perfect wife for the Grand Duke, and she would continue to do so, even if it was to no avail.

She even died for him, and yet her choices have brought this upon her.

Evelyn clenched her fists tightly, overcome with an emotion she couldn’t name.

She had believed that once the problems in the village of Litchev were resolved, all the worries that weighed her down would disappear.

‘What’s going to happen to me, to me, to us?’

Her fluttering eyelids lowered as she tried to think.

“Does it hurt a lot?”

A voice interrupted her reverie.

“No.”

She looks up and her vision takes in an unfamiliar place.

When she looked down a little further, she saw Leon bandaging her stitched-up hand.

Evelyn laughs at his joke and shakes her head.

“It doesn’t hurt.”

She meant it. It should hurt, piercing flesh with a needle that thick.

But she didn’t feel anything, as if her nerves had gone out of whack, perhaps because her heart was hurting even more.