?*????????*?????。? .?。? .?*?????????*?????
ELLA''s POV
My head felt heavy, my breathing unsteady, and I couldn’t find strength in my body to move.
I had no recollection of what happened. All I remembered was that I was at the fountain and waiting for Isa to come back.
With great difficulty, I opened my eyes. However, everything was spinning and my head was ringing painfully. Once my view gradually cleared and steadied, I was greeted by an unfamiliar ceiling; one that looked significantly cleaner and higher than the one at our room in the count’s manor.
I soon realized I was in a different place.
“Where am I? What happened to me?!”
I asked myself and started panicking.
A surge of adrenaline came rushing through my veins. Despite feeling weak and dizzy, I cautiously got up from the bed and anxiously examined my surroundings.
There were a lot of beds; some were occupied, some had their sheets cleanly folded into place; and women who wore black clothes were roaming around carrying trays with suspicious tools on their hands.
"What are they going to do?"
I trembled at the thought of them using those tools on me.
Were they servants of the countess? Did they come to torture me again?!
My heart began pounding uncontrollably in my chest and it became harder to breathe.
Desperate, I spun my head across the room to look for an exit. There were only two doors - each located at the end of the hallways opposite to each other.
While the servants were preoccupied, I hurriedly dashed towards the door closer to me and tried to get out. But before I could reach it, the servants caught me and prevented me from leaving.
“Miss! You''re not allowed to go there!”
They took hold of my arms as they tried to placate me, but their words sounded muffled in my ears. All my mind could process was the fact that I was going to be whipped again as I cried out pitifully while kneeling on the floor.
“P-Please! It’s painful! Please stop!”
Amidst the chaos, one of them accidentally dropped their tray and the shady-looking tools got scattered on the ground. The sound of metal clashed against the concrete floor and echoed across the chamber.
There, my eyes landed on a piece of fabric smeared with fresh blood.
Seeing that, I was struck with horror and swallowed my breath - as if not wanting to make any more sounds that could earn their ire.
“Hic..!”
Fear engulfed my whole body as I crawled backwards, away from the scattered shady instruments with tears running rampantly on my cheeks.
“Please, calm down. You’re currently in our clinic because you lost consciousness and you were brought here to take a rest.”
Their words couldn’t get through to my head. Their voices sounded muffled as if I was submerged in a deep black sea with a suffocating silence that seemed to tighten around my neck.
Once again, my head started spinning and ringing painfully, and I could hear my heart deafeningly pounding inside my chest.
Because of that, I couldn’t move again as the creeping hunger and fear clawed at my feet, siphoning out what little strength I had left.
“Sshh… It''s okay. Have you calmed down?”
“Let’s bring her back to bed.”
They tried to force me to move again but I couldn''t find strength in my knees to stand up.
I remained rooted in that spot for a minute until my dizziness subsided for a bit. They, too, stayed unmoving, as if realizing I couldn’t move myself, and continued to soothe me - which I knew was just their way of getting me to lower my guard.
“She''s still cold. Just bring a warm blanket over here for now.”
When I finally recovered a little, my mind raced and searched for a way to slip away from them.
“I have to escape here. I don''t want to get burned and healed repeatedly again!”
At that moment, Isa''s face flashed in my mind.
“Again, they separated us again!… Please… Please don''t let anything bad happen to her anymore…”
Desperation clawed at my throat as I silently cried out to any god who might be listening.
Isa had already suffered so much because of me. What did we ever do wrong?!
“Here''s the blanket.”
When they thought I had calmed down, the servants loosened their hold on my arms so I took advantage of that.
I ran with my life on the line towards the door and successfully reached it!
But, alas! It was locked!
“That''s the way to the storage area, miss! Patients are not allowed to go there.”
A shiver ran down my spine, chilling me to the bone as I realized my only escape was through the other door, meters away.
With horror surging through every inch of my body, I desperately searched for any place nearby where I could hide myself - a place that could be my sanctuary amidst the gushing fires of this hell - but there was none.
My eyes landed on the curtains near the window, and in that moment, they became my only shield against the terror that engulfed me. With shivering hands, I tightly held on to the thick fabric, shielding my body with it against the servants who were trying to come to me.
Eyes clamped shut, my face smeared with tears, my lips bled from being bitten hard, and my head bowed in fear of my fate. I knew they could see me. I knew it was all futile no matter how hard I tried to escape this wretched fate of mine.
But with the warmth of the curtains that were exposed to the sun, I deluded myself into thinking that everything would be alright and I wouldn''t have to get hurt anymore once I opened my eyes.
?*????????*?????。? .?。? .?*?????????*?????
ISABEL''s POV
"Excuse me, where''s the patient on this bed?"
Right when the black-haired guy asked one of the nurses, an alarmed voice echoed from the other end of the hallway.
"Please calm down!"
We all threw our heads to the direction of the voice.
“What’s going on there?”
Confused, the guy with long auburn hair asked.
“Oh, thank goodness you came back!”
Suddenly, a middle-aged nurse approached and hurriedly explained the situation to us in a distressed voice.
“We have been trying to calm her down, but she seems to be scared out of her wits.”
Not needing to hear the rest of the story, I anxiously went to the end of the hallway and saw Ella hiding herself behind the curtains with terror written all over her face.
Two nurses were trying to coax her into calming down, but it was no use.
“Ella?! Ella!”
I called out to her and hurriedly went by her side.
“Ella! Are you okay? I''m here. Look at me! I''m here, I''m Isa.”
“No! Please! I’m sorry!”
I gently tucked the strands of hair covering her face behind her ear and wiped away the tears on her cheeks.
It took a while for her to recognize me. When she did so, she sobbed as she held out to me pitifully.
“Isa…”
“Sshh… It''s alright now. You''re safe. They’re not going to hurt you.”
Tears were forming in the corner of my eyes, unable to comprehend how scared she must have been to suddenly wake up in an unfamiliar place filled with strangers, but I maintained a calm soft voice to not scare her any further.
The middle-aged nurse who explained the situation to us instructed the other nurses, as well as the two men, to leave us alone for now.
“I''ll get her a glass of water. For now, help her calm down so she can drink.”
I thanked the nurse who simply nodded before she left.
It took more than a few minutes for Ella to fully compose herself. When her breathing finally stabilized, I felt relieved as she held on tightly to my waist like a child afraid to be separated from her mom.
Soon, the nurse came back. We both guided Ella back to her bed and explained the situation to her, ensuring that she was in a safe place.
“Those women are called nurses and they help tend to the patients. They’re here to help you recover, not hurt you, okay?”
“They won’t use those tools to hurt me? I’m scared, Isa.”
“No, they use those things to heal the other patients’ wounds, not hurt them. Just like how mom and I use bandages and disinfectant to treat your wounds, Ella.”
With the senior nurse''s help, we explained the purpose of the medical tools to Ella. Despite her fear, she tried to understand that they had no ill intentions towards us. However, for her peace of mind, everyone agreed it would be best to prevent her from seeing the medical tools again. They surrounded Ella''s bed with foldable room dividers, creating a gentle barrier that shielded her from the sight of nurses carrying medical instruments. Fortunately, her condition did not require the use of those tools.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
Finally, after placing all necessary precautions, I encouraged her to eat so she could regain some strength before receiving medication.
“Do you think you can eat now, Ella? Or do you need more time?”
“.....What about you, Isa? You’re not going to eat?”
She looked at me with those glistening doe eyes that held unyielding innocence. After all we’d been through, how could she still be so innocent and worry about other people first instead of herself?
Sometimes, I’d admire her for that. Sometimes, I’d be worried and scared.
In this cruel world, I’d rather her be more selfish than her getting taken advantage of easily.
“I told you, you need to think about yourself first in situations like these. You eat first, okay?”
I carefully gave her a bowl of warm chicken broth before she could argue any further. Though still hesitant, she took a spoonful of sip from it and her eyes widened in surprise.
“It’s delicious..! How could water be this delicious?”
Her eyes twinkled like the stars, a bright energy radiating from her as she exclaimed, unable to contain her delight.
“Take a sip too, Isa! Here.”
She held out a spoonful of chicken broth to which I refused; for she, who was sick, was supposed to be the one eating it. But after her continuous persuasion, I decided to give in.
And just like her, I was very pleased with the taste. It was almost like I could taste the chicken even though it was only the broth.
“You two seem to be really close.”
The middle-aged nurse from before commented beside me as she put down a tray of food on the table similar to what they gave to Ella.
Confused, I looked at the senior maid with a puzzled expression and before I could ask, she immediately explained.
“The two men from before told us to give you both food until your friend here recovers.”
“But we don’t have enough money. How could we ever pay you for all these?”
I gulped in nervosity as I caught Ella in my peripheral vision looking tense and regretful.
Seeing our reaction, the nurse warmly smiled at us - strongly reminding me of my late mother.
“Rest assured, my dears. Those men shouldered all the costs and even paid extra so that we’d provide you everything you need while you’re here. They didn’t look like it, but they sure do have a lot of money.”
She explained.
“B-But… We couldn''t even say thank you. Did they already leave?”
Ella asked with regret all over her face.
“Oh, yes. They said they still had somewhere to go. But they did leave a message wishing for you to have a quick recovery and for you both to stay healthy. They’re such real gentlemen.”
Ella and I looked at each other, astounded yet immensely grateful from the bottom of our hearts.
With that, we became indebted to those men whose names we were unable to ask.
We spent the rest of the day in the clinic and stayed there for three more days, resting, talking, and eating whatever they provided us. Compared to the restaurant from before, the foods from the clinic were more simple and consisted mainly of whole grains, broths, soups, fruits, and vegetables. But with every bite, we expressed our heartfelt thanks for receiving what we considered as delicacies we couldn’t have at the count’s manor.
On the first day, Ella regained a bit of strength so, due to our body clock being set to wake up at 4:00 am, we both woke up very early and decided to clean the entire second floor. At first, I urged her to go take a rest but she just wouldn’t budge. So, I just gave in to her stubbornness and helped her clean.
When the senior nurse caught us, she scolded us and put us back to bed and did not allow us to do any more laborious work for the rest of the day.
On the second day, due to the Flower Festival at its peak, more patients came in and all eight beds were fully occupied. Thankfully, the patients only had minor injuries. On the other hand, we watched the people at the plaza through the window - enjoying the festival, watching performances, and partaking in different kinds of entertainment as they all beamed in joy with flowers being scattered everywhere.
At night, they launched colorful fireworks that Ella saw for the first time in her life. The glow in her eyes back then was something I thought I’d never see before. She looked like a child blissfully witnessing one of her most magical days with nothing else to worry about. At that time, I wished to see her like that everyday, living a life that every 18-year-old girl was supposed to have.
Soon enough, the last day of the Flower Festival came; it was also our last day in the clinic. During breaktime, the nurses talked about the winner of the Spring Flower Competition which took place early in the morning.
It was an annual event that was held every spring in the Kallistar Empire. Anyone, commoner or noble lady, was welcomed to participate in it and the winner would be hailed as the Lady of Spring. Each year, whoever won as the Lady of Spring received an incredible prize from the imperial family such as a box of gold or a famous gemstone. But the most coveted prize given away by the palace was the holy azaleas - miraculous flowers that could heal almost every illness that bloomed only once every five years in the imperial palace grounds.
This year, I heard that the holy azaleas had bloomed again. That’s why there were more people who came to witness it at this year’s festival.
“I knew Princess Jeanneva would become the Lady of Spring this year! She just exudes confidence and grace - a true vision of springtime beauty.”
“Truthfully, I was supposed to be rooting for my friend. She was one of the contestants, you see. But I had to agree that Princess Jeanneva is such a strong force to be reckoned with that I ended up supporting her instead.”
“I also think she deserves the title.”
The nurses conversed enthusiastically, their voices a cheerful buzz of excitement.
“By the way, have you heard of the rumors that she will soon be announced as the crown princess?”
“Of the Pelenin Queendom? I thought she’s just second-in-line to the throne?”
“No, silly! The crown princess for our prince! Our empire!”
“Really? No way! I thought Duke Nightingale’s daughter would be our crown princess?”
“It’s just a rumor though. Nothing’s confirmed yet.”
Based on the nurses’ chatter, the winner was the second princess of the Pelenin Queendom - Princess Jeanneva - one of the strongest candidates for the position of the empire’s crown princess.
I’ve heard of her from the maids at the manor and they would often criticize her for her bad reputation as a seductress who slept with both men and women. They strongly believed that the empire wouldn’t accept such an infamous person to be the crown princess, and called her whatever insulting names they could think of.
My face twisted in disgust when I remembered one of the maids back there saying she herself should be the crown princess instead.
“Ugh!”
“Isa, is something wrong?”
Ella, who was merrily eating her lunch on the bed, noticed the quick change of my mood and asked if I was okay.
“Oh, nothing! Ahaha…!”
I laughed awkwardly as she gave me a confused look.
Before we knew it, it was already midnight once more.
We hadn’t been back to the count’s manor for nearly four days.
I couldn’t sleep - the thought of what they would do to us once we came back haunted me throughout the night.
Careful not to wake the slumbering Ella, I sat up in bed and was about to stand up when she called out to me.
“Isa?”
“Ella? Did I wake you?”
“No, I… I couldn’t sleep. I want to consciously spend our last days here in heaven wide awake. It’s scary to think that when I open my eyes tomorrow, we’ll be beaten again. At least in our last hours here, I’d be able to prepare myself for what’s coming.”
Her words were laced with helplessness and sorrow, but she had a forlorn smile on her face, as if she was fully resigned to her fate. Seeing how she was trembling while pretending to bear that smile, the tears I had been trying to hold back began to fall.
Thanks to the extra payment the gentlemen provided to the clinic, we were allowed to stay here for days and they even used a heating stone to provide warmth for us during the night, even though we were the only people left here. But despite that, my body shivered down to the bone. I wasn’t sure if it was due to the coldness of the night or my being terrified of what was awaiting us at the count’s manor tomorrow.
In the midst of despair, there was nothing else we could do but prepare for the worst as we hugged and talked about our happy memories together until sunrise.
?*????????*?????。? .?。? .?*?????????*?????
Evander''s POV
“Haahh…”
I yawned as I stretched out my hands up into the air and comfortably sat on the fluffy couch.
“Ahh… How nice would it be if I could just lay on my couch every day.”
I let my head rest on the cushion as I closed my eyes, letting my body melt into the couch’s velvety softness.
“Sorry to inform you, your highness, but with status as high as yours, you’re doomed to be stuck with work for the rest of your life.”
A frown crossed my face. I opened my eyes and stared at the ceiling intricately painted with cherubs and flowers.
“Aww, come on! Would it hurt your butt if you comfort me for once?”
“With all due respect, your highness, but I can’t find the relevance of my butt hurting in this conversation.”
My frown just deepened even more and I faced my right side since my eyes started to hurt from the glare of the diamond chandelier above.
“Ahh… I really hope you find someone who can stand that uprightness of yours, Cal. I sincerely wish that your future children will inherit their personality from their mother, not you.”
“That’s not possible, your highness, for I have no plans to marry anyone.”
With question marks all over my face, I looked at him with an eyebrow raised.
“On another note, your highness, I must commend you for not sneaking out of the palace lately. Did you eat something weird? Did you perhaps drink poison?”
He asked with his forehead creased in worry, but there was just something irksome about his expression that caused me to frown even deeper as I faced him with arms crossed. The golden topaz earring that dangled from his right ear and glinted under the light further fueled my annoyance at him.
This bastard was so unnecessarily good at changing topics!
“It’s not that I’m not sneaking out. It’s because I can’t sneak out after what happened last time.”
“Do you mean when you carelessly pulled out a pouch full of gold coins and used it as payment to the clinic despite us disguising ourselves as commoners?”
With a resigned frown on my face, I answered.
“Yeah, you got it right. Ahh, that was so stupid of me. I just wanted to help - you know that, right?”
“But you forgot we were acting as commoners. No normal commoner in this empire would carry a bag full of only gold coins like that.”
I sighed in defeat as I admitted to my mistake.
“You’re right. I should really be more careful next time.”
“So you’re still planning on continuing your clandestine excursions out of the palace?”
“Heh, why not?”
This time, he was the one who sighed in defeat which painted a victorious smile on my face.
At the same time, I remembered the two girls we encountered back then - the one who fell unconscious by the fountain and her friend who helped us calm her down. They looked like a pair of hapless sisters striving hard to survive by themselves.
“I wonder where their parents are.”
I unconsciously talked to myself, leaving Cal confused.
“Who?”
He asked with an eyebrow raised.
“Those girls at the clinic - I wonder what happened to them.”
For a moment, he paused before answering.
“They''re in good hands since I know the doctor at that clinic. He''s not only been a good person to me when I was a kid, he''s a talented doctor too. Though he doesn''t seem to recognize me after all these years.”
“That''s a relief.”
After being assured that they were going to be fine, I closed my eyes and silence took over us for a while. I looked up at the ceiling once again. As I did so, I wondered and asked.
“Are the slums filled with people like them? They looked so malnourished and barely hanging on to their lives. I wonder how they have been surviving in this dangerous world with such weakened bodies all this time.”
With a serious expression on his face, Cal looked at me and replied.
“I know everyone in the slums but I''ve never seen them before. Besides, no one in the slums sells embroidered fashion accessories.”
After he mentioned it, I recalled the baskets that were with the girl when we found her, filled with handkerchiefs and gloves, each adorned with intricate embroidery. Buried deep in one of those baskets, there was a pouch of copper and silver coins; helping us arrive to the conclusion that they were selling those embroidered goods.
“Well, no matter where they came from, there will always be misfortunate people like them in all corners of the world.”
He tried to hide it with an apathetic tone and a composed attitude while looking out the palace window, but there was a hint of misery and pain in his eyes as he stared down the imperial city in all its grandeur outside.
Hit with a reality check, I twiddled with my fingers and stared at the marble floor below me, deep in thought.
With this conversation, I was reminded of my duties as the next emperor of this empire.
?*????????*?????。? . to be continued .。? .?*?????????*?????