Chapter 46
“My goodness!”
As soon as Elisa saw Ethan’s swollen leg, she nearly fainted and began raising a commotion, insisting a physician be summoned at once.
Howard, who was in the adjoining room, overheard her and gave his aide a knowing look, as if he had expected exactly this. He promptly ordered him to fetch the physician he had prepared in advance.
Dragged out in the middle of the night before he’d even rubbed the sleep from his eyes, the physician was at first brusque. But when his pocket was discreetly filled, his demeanor became endlessly kind.
“The bone is neither fractured nor cracked, but the ligament has been badly stretched and torn.”
After examining Ethan’s condition closely, the physician excused himself to fetch the proper medicines and tools. When he returned, his arms were heavy with supplies. Pulling bandages, herbs, and prepared pieces of wood from his bag, he treated Ethan’s injury quickly and with precision.
“You must not strain yourself by walking for at least a month,” he instructed, pressing a pair of crutches into Ethan’s hand.
“Even after a month, until you are fully healed, you should avoid any strenuous activity. Light riding may be tolerable, but you must not attempt to gallop.”
To make his point, he warned darkly that carelessness might leave Ethan limping for life. Elisa’s expression grew grave at that, though the patient himself looked indifferent.
Since Ethan showed no concern for his own body, Elisa listened to the physician’s explanations with careful attention in his place.
“This is why I told you to get treatment sooner,” she scolded.
When Elisa left with the aide to see the physician out, Howard nudged Ethan in the side and muttered reproachfully.
Ethan narrowed his eyes and glared.
“Stop meddling.”
“Meddling? Everything I did was for your sake.”
“This could have waited until morning.”
“And would you really have gone to be treated come morning?”
Ethan pressed his lips shut. He could have said yes, even as an empty excuse, but he didn’t. That made Howard laugh. It was, after all, part of why he kept Ethan close.
“Did you leave Noah in the room?”
“Mm. He was so tired that he slept straight through all that noise next door.”
Howard added jokingly that good children ought to be dreaming at that hour.
“But what exactly did you tell him earlier that made Noah take your hand?”
“Oh, that. I told him if he slept with me tonight, he’d get a little brother.”
Ethan let out a sharp breath, tilting his head in disbelief.
“You said that—and then you ran to Elisa about my injury?”
“Well, think about it. To make a little brother, you’d have to move your lower body quite a bit. With that leg, I figured such exercise wasn’t possible.”
Ethan’s face darkened at both the words and the smirk. Any more and he might truly lash out, so Howard whistled innocently and changed the subject.
“Anyway, looks like you’ll be on crutches for a while.”
“…I won’t use them.”
Ethan cast a scornful glance at the crutches the physician had left behind.
“But he insisted you must. Otherwise you’ll end up limping.”
“That was just to scare me into compliance. I’ll be fine without them.”
Howard thought it wiser to listen, but Ethan’s tone was so firm that he dropped the matter. Ethan had always been like this—even on the battlefield, he’d brushed off doctors and nurses alike, claiming he knew his own body best. Had things ever gone wrong, Howard would have had plenty to say, but they never did. Which only made Ethan harder to argue with.
A moment later, Elisa returned from seeing the physician out and pressed the crutches back into Ethan’s hand.
“You heard what he said, didn’t you? Use them, and don’t put weight on that leg.”
Howard expected another stubborn refusal.
“Yes, I will.”
To his surprise, Ethan nodded without protest.
Howard clicked his tongue and shook his head. The man was a savage beast most of the time, yet before Elisa Leslie he became as docile as a puppy. It was absurd, and yet… Howard found himself, just a little, envious that Ethan had someone he cherished so much.
***
Ethan had been found, but for now his presence was to be hidden, both to watch Princess Camilla’s reaction and for other reasons.
Howard, however, had to depart for Sailport. Elisa, on the other hand, no longer had cause to go.
The next morning, Howard’s aide reserved a train bound for Norfen—this time in first class rather than standard.
Elisa and her companions accompanied Howard to the station to see him off. The morning mist drifted faintly across the platform, already crowded with travelers.
“I leave it in your hands, Your Highness.”
Since keeping Ethan’s discovery a secret depended heavily on Howard, Elisa folded her hands and made her request with solemn courtesy.
“Don’t worry. No one can outdo me at feigning sorrow.”
Puffing his chest as if in pride, Howard declared himself perfectly suited for the task.
Being good at pretending to grieve is hardly something to boast about.
Ethan longed to retort, but with Elisa present, he held his tongue.
…Besides, he had Noah now.
He glanced down at his son, who clung tightly to Elisa’s hand. People said the boy resembled his father, but to Ethan, that wasn’t true. The slanted eyes, the fine nose, the small delicate lips—they were all Elisa’s. Especially when he smiled.
“Ethan has decided to remain here until our return. And you, Miss Leslie?”
“Yes.”
What waited in the capital was certain: her father would drag her back and force her into marriage with Derek Grenville. Compared to that, staying here was a hundred, no, a thousand times better.
“Good. The misunderstandings are settled, so rest easy until I come back.”
Patting Elisa’s shoulder, Howard smiled warmly. But when his gaze shifted to Ethan, his expression hardened.
“Your presence must remain secret. If it’s discovered that you—long thought missing—are here, chaos will erupt.”
“I understand.”
“Fortunately your face hasn’t graced the newspapers. Otherwise hiding would have been impossible.”
Even so, nobles might still recognize him, so he would need to avoid places where they gathered. Instead of moving lodgings, they simply shifted into Howard’s vacated room, which had two beds.
“The train’s about to depart, Your Highness,” the aide reminded.
Howard nodded.
“Then I’ll be off. I’ll see you in four days. Little one, take care.”
Having grown fond of Noah overnight, Howard bade him farewell before boarding the train.
Ethan and Elisa remained on the platform until the train was out of sight, then turned away. Ethan, struggling more with the awkward crutches than with his injured leg, tried to walk—when Noah’s small hand clung tightly to his.
“Noah, your father is in pa—”
“It’s fine.”
When Elisa moved to pry him off, Ethan instead stopped her and gripped Noah’s hand more firmly.
Their eyes met—eyes of the same color—and laughter rose between them. No sound, yet a bond of blood and deep affection.
Smiling brighter than ever, the child held both his parents’ hands as they left the station together.
***
Elisa’s father, Count Leslie, was expected to order her seized immediately. But, surprisingly, he took no action. He only spewed curses, railing at the ungrateful girl who dared defy the man who raised her.
In his stead, Derek Grenville gave chase himself.
No one would be more troubled than he if the marriage fell through. He could not stand by and watch the tower of effort he had built crumble to the ground.
From Sailport, Derek’s men reported that Elisa had indeed met Prince Howard at the station and boarded a train with him.
Since the true goal was Ethan, Derek assumed she had gone to Sailport.
But to his frustration, Elisa never arrived. Howard and his aide reached their destination, yet Elisa and Noah were nowhere to be found.
The prince’s arrival a day later than expected was suspicious as well.
Did they part ways en route?
If so, why? Where had she gone?
“Wait a moment…!”
As Derek puzzled over these questions, the door flew open without a knock, and he turned his head sharply.
