Chapter 154
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 154
Rain lashed down upon the ruins.
The downpour drenched his pale, ashen lashes, streaming over his gaunt cheekbones and down the line of his jaw.
At a glance, it looked as though he were weeping. Yet, nothing could be read from the man’s frozen expression. Only a desolate, hollow shadow flickered faintly within his gaze.
As if he could no longer bear the weight of the rain, his arms dropped heavily to his sides. A ragged sigh escaped his lips, following the uneven breaths he had yet to steady.
“Let’s go back.”
“……”
Thalia only looked up at him with vacant eyes. At her silence, a crack finally appeared in his face, which had been as still and silent as set wax.
“You shouldn’t stay out like this. The blood…”
He spoke haltingly, as if his very train of thought were struggling to move.
“You lost… a lot of blood. If you let your body get cold…”
His voice grew faint, drowned out by the intensifying roar of the rain.
It occurred to her that perhaps he had swallowed the rest of his words. Approaching her slowly, as if nearing a skittish wild animal, the man knelt on one knee before her.
His pale, slender hand reached out to clasp her mud-stained one. A faint warmth seeped into her deathly cold skin.
Holding her hand in both of his, he rubbed it gently before pressing it against the heat of his own neck. Thalia remembered that he had once done the same for a pathetic little bird that had fallen into the mud.
The sobs she had been suppressing surged up once more.
“It’s time to go.”
He wrapped his arm around her frail back, which felt painfully thin beneath her nightgown.
Thalia twisted her body, trying to push him away.
She was truly terrified of this man—the man who could lift her to the clouds with a mere reach of his hand.
She resented him for making her harbor hope. If she had remained at the very bottom, she wouldn’t have had to endure the agony of this fall.
Even though she knew it was an unfair accusation, Thalia wanted to scream at him.
Why didn’t you just let me rot in the dirt that day?
Why didn’t you leave me in the shadows of the Imperial Palace?
Why did you make me dream of happiness?
“I don’t want to anymore! Leave me alone!”
As she writhed fitfully, he pulled her into a crushing embrace, pinning her with both arms so she could no longer struggle.
Overwhelmed by a sense of helplessness, Thalia burst into tears. His hot palm slid into her wet hair, cupping the back of her ice-cold neck.
A voice, heavy and rough as grinding metal, poured down over the crown of her head.
“We have to go. Now.”
Realizing he intended to take her away by force if necessary, Thalia twisted her head to look back at the grave.
The image of her baby, shivering in that cold heap of earth, flickered before her eyes.
Once again, the cry of a newborn seemed to mingle with the sound of the rain. She wanted to die from the sheer agony of knowing she could never pick the child up and comfort them, no matter how much she yearned to.
Thalia gasped for air, her breath hitching as she reached a hand toward the grave, but her limbs soon went limp.
The entire world was being submerged in rain and tears.
She wished she could simply sink beneath it all.
As her vision gradually blurred, she prayed through her weeping.
Please, let me sleep forever like this. Let me escape this agonizing reality…
*
Tiuran, who was climbing the stairs with a canteen of cold water, stopped in her tracks when she spotted Daren Dru Sieorkan standing in the hallway.
He appeared to have just come from an official event; the man, dressed in a fine doublet that fit his massive frame and a lightweight breastplate with delicate engravings, was talking to a young aide. He noticed her standing awkwardly at the top of the stairs and offered a formal greeting.
“You’re working hard.”
Tiuran bowed her head, her face tense. “May I ask what brings you here?”
“Ah, it’s nothing much. I just came to see how the Grand Duchess is doing.”
The man gestured with his eyes toward the bedroom door further down the hall.
Setting the canteen down on the floor, Tiuran moistened her parched lips and chose her words carefully.
“Her fever finally broke around noon today. She is currently sleeping after taking her medicine.”
“Then is the danger completely over now?”
Tiuran watched the man with a cautious gaze.
She was well aware that some of the vassals were already questioning the Grand Duchess’s fertility. Regardless of the disgust she felt toward their cold-bloodedness, Tiuran did not want Thalia to be hurt any further. Thus, she offered a defensive answer.
“Fortunately, Her Highness is slowly recovering. She should be back to her old self in a few months.”
“It takes that long?” The man’s thick eyebrows furrowed deeply.
Tiuran suppressed the urge to scowl.
What does this man think childbirth is?
Though it was a premature birth, the stillborn child had been large for a seven-month baby, and the Grand Duchess’s pelvis was narrower than most women’s. The situation had been virtually no different from a full-term labor.
Furthermore, the hemorrhaging hadn’t stopped, nearly putting her life in peril. It was only natural that recovery would take time.
Instead of explaining the medical details, Tiuran snapped back with a cold tone.
“This is a normal recovery speed. Are women’s bodies not inherently more delicate and fragile than those of men?”
“In any case, you’re saying she’s no longer in a critical state?” the man asked again, his tone growing impatient.
After a moment’s hesitation, Tiuran nodded.
A look of satisfaction crossed the man’s face as he let out a sigh of relief.
“Then there is no longer any need for His Excellency to remain by her side.”
Only then did Tiuran realize they had come because of the Grand Duke’s absence, and her expression hardened.
“I beg your pardon, but just because the wounds on her body have closed does not mean her heart has recovered. Her Highness has lost the child she cherished so dearly. She needs her husband right now.”
At her overstepping remark, the expression vanished from the man’s face.
Tiuran tensed. Daren Dru Sieorkan was not known for a cruel temperament, but high-ranking nobles were capable of being infinitely ruthless toward commoners.
Hiding her intimidation, she watched his reaction. The man, who had looked displeased, soon explained in a level tone.
“It may be too much to ask someone of your station to understand the duties a noble must shoulder. However, I shall explain it to you personally. Barkas Raedgo Sieorkan is a monarch responsible for millions of Easterners before he is anyone’s husband. According to his decisions, all the forces of the East move and hundreds of lords assemble. If he fails to fulfill his duties, the nobles will think this: ‘If that man does not fulfill his role as a monarch, why should we serve him?’”
“……”
“I am striving to protect the Grand Duke’s authority,” the man added. “If you are also in a position of loyalty to House Sieorkan, then inform our lord that the Grand Duchess’s health is no longer a concern and that he need not worry any further.”
“……I understand what you are saying. Please, forgive my rash remarks.”
As she bowed politely, the man’s mood seemed to lighten, and he stepped aside.
Tiuran picked up the canteen she had left on the floor. As she walked carefully down the hallway to ensure the water didn’t spill, the two men remained there, continuing their conversation.
Feeling Daren’s gaze on her back, Tiuran cautiously turned the door handle.
Entering as quietly as possible so as not to disturb the Grand Duchess’s sleep, she saw the Grand Duke leaning against the headboard.
Tiuran, about to tell him she had brought water, reflexively held her breath.
Sitting there at an angle, dressed in a loose tunic with his disheveled hair pushed back, he looked incredibly young.
Only then did Tiuran remember that he was a young man of a mere twenty-four years.
“What are you doing, just standing there? Bring it here.”
The man, who had been gently checking the forehead of the woman lying beside him, spoke in a quiet, low voice.
Tiuran, who had been frozen by the door, hesitated before approaching the bedside.
The young man didn’t even spare her a glance, his eyes fixed solely on his wife’s face.
Glancing at him, Tiuran suddenly noticed that the Grand Duke’s face was just as haggard as the Grand Duchess’s.
Come to think of it, had she ever seen this man sleep?
Though she had been in and out of the room day and night for several days to care for the Grand Duchess, she had no memory of ever seeing this man close his eyes.