Chapter 42

A short while later, two maids rushed out of the Queen's palace. One headed to the knight's quarters to carry out the Queen's orders to Lionel Valder, while the other went to the Emperor's palace to inform him immediately upon the Queen's awakening, as per his command. ＊ ＊ ＊ After Michael Rosen left, Lionel found it hard to concentrate on his work. His mind was a tangled mess, with no beginning or end in sight, and he had no idea how to unravel it. Instead, scenes he had seen and those he hadn't kept flashing through his mind in a disordered manner. The scent of the mead he had drunk lingered in his nostrils, and the name whispered like the wind seemed to rustle his earlobes. Why had she suddenly fallen ill? Although it was said she wasn't poisoned, it was only a guess. Why was the Emperor suddenly guarding her? His nerves were on edge. Feeling suffocated, he undid a button. Despite his restlessness, Lionel eventually got up from his chair and paced around his desk. At that moment, there was a hurried knock on the door. Lionel took a deep breath, quickly sat back down, and replied,

"Come in."

To his surprise, it wasn't an aide but a maid from the Queen's palace who appeared, clearly out of breath from running.

"What is it?"

As Lionel slightly rose to ask, the maid tried to catch her breath and said,

"Her Majesty, the Queen, huffs, is calling for you."

His heart pounded heavily at her words. Lionel blinked blankly for a moment before abruptly standing up. Without asking the maid for details, he rushed out of the room. The maid, taken aback, hurriedly followed him. The Queen had ordered that no one was to enter. Not Lady Giggs, the maids, or even the physicians who wanted to check on her condition. The only person allowed to enter was one. When Lionel, who had run without stopping, arrived at the Queen's palace, a maid waiting at the entrance quickly led him to the Queen's bedroom. In front of the bedroom, a group of maids led by Lady Giggs and a few physicians were milling about. Their gazes all fell on Lionel. Lady Giggs, upon seeing his face, cautiously knocked on the door and entered. Lionel took a deep breath, straightened his clothes out of habit, and waited for Lady Giggs to come out. A moment later, Lady Giggs emerged and led him into the room.

"She wishes to see you alone."

Lionel, unusually tense, took a step into the room. As he entered, Lady Giggs quietly closed the door. The room felt like a completely different world once the door was shut. The warm temperature and high humidity typical of a sickroom, along with the pungent smell of medicine, made Lionel catch his breath. The Queen was lying on the bed. He had seen her sitting on a sofa with a haughty expression before, but this was the first time he saw her lying down. Clenching his teeth, Lionel approached her. His slow steps soon turned into a hurried pace.

"Your Majesty, the Queen."

Without sitting on the prepared chair, Lionel knelt beside the bed, facing the Queen's profile. She still had her eyes closed. Her heavy breathing seemed to be mixed with a persistent fever. Her skin, pale to the point of being bluish, and her parched lips were alarming.

"Your Majesty, the Queen, it's Lionel Valder."

His voice, barely audible, was strained. Her tightly closed eyelids fluttered once, twice, lightly. Lionel watched her intently, holding his breath. When her golden eyes were fully revealed, Lionel exhaled the breath he had been holding.

"...Lionel."

At the weak, cracking voice, he quickly nodded.

"Yes."

When she opened her eyes and saw Lionel, the woman with the composed face, Adel, stretched out her trembling hand with all her might. Lionel looked at her hand with a bewildered expression, but Adel had no time to consider his feelings. Her hand, reaching out like a lifeline, finally touched him.

I can only call you by name here. I can only ask you for help.

"...Send someone to Gottrop, anyone, just one person, bring them to me."

The warmth of her hand on his cheek made him freeze for a moment, but when he saw her tears, Lionel snapped back to reality.

"Who do you want me to send for in Gottrop?"

"Tell them I'm looking for them, that I'm calling for them..."

"Who?"

"Cain Knox, Ghibellin Lohan, Theodore Siniac... anyone will do. Anyone, it doesn't matter. Just one person... If I call for them, they will come."

The firm belief in her golden eyes, filled with determination, made Lionel's heart sink coldly. Tears, mixed with deep longing, slid down her cheeks. Lionel looked at her with a heavy heart and slowly asked,

"Why do you want to call them?"

"..."

"Why do you suddenly want to call them?"

"Because I feel like I'm going to die."

"..."

"Because I feel like I'm going to die. ...That's why."

She said this while crying uncontrollably, seemingly unaware that she was crying. Lionel, unable to say anything, remained on his knees, holding his breath. The warm hand on his cheek slowly lost its strength and fell. Lionel gently caught her hand and placed it back on the bed. He remembered her saying that it felt like she was walking into hell. Perhaps Echmont was her hell and prison. So, she must have fallen ill from missing and suffering. There was nowhere in this place where she could find solace. That's why she wanted to call the people she had left behind, feeling like she was going to die. Lionel clenched his teeth. Just then,

"No... no."

The Queen suddenly spoke.

"Don't bring them. Pretend you didn't hear, Lionel."

"..."

She slowly turned her body to lie flat and muttered,

"Because of me, they shouldn't abandon their homeland, their families."

With those words, the Queen closed her eyes. Lionel, startled, quickly checked her breathing. She was breathing weakly but steadily. He took a deep breath in relief, but was soon overwhelmed by an indescribable emotion. Cain Knox, Ghibellin Lohan, Theodore Siniac... The names he had never heard before stuck in his ears, refusing to leave. The strong belief. How much weight did the trust she placed in him carry? What kind of trust did these unknown faces share with her? I... I... Bang!! The door suddenly burst open, and Lionel jumped to his feet. Who dared to enter the Queen's sleeping chamber?! Lionel turned sharply, but froze when he saw who it was. A furious beast, whose territory had been invaded, slowly walked in.

"Lionel Valder."

"...Your Majesty, the Emperor."

Karl Ulrich, with an angry expression, had rushed over as soon as he heard from the chief physician that the Queen had awakened. As Karl arrived at the corridor where the Queen's bedroom was located, he immediately noticed the subtle tension on the faces of the servants guarding the door. A gut feeling pierced his mind. Without anyone stopping him, he burst into the room as if it were his own. Lady Giggs, sighing, quickly said,

"Her Majesty, the Queen, called for you."

However, her words only fanned the flames. The purple eyes of the Emperor flared with anger. Indeed. His gut feeling was right. His chest boiled as if he had swallowed boiling water.

"Lionel Valder."

"...Your Majesty, the Emperor."

Lionel, standing by the bed where the Queen lay, bowed his head in a noble and respectful manner. Karl's gaze slowly fell on the Queen, who lay motionless behind Lionel. This man had undoubtedly been looking at the sleeping Queen. The Emperor growled,

"Did the Queen call for you?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. She did."

Lady Giggs, trying to hide her anxiety, quickly answered, and Karl took a deep breath. He then took a step toward Lionel, his eyes fixed on him. Lionel, defiantly, met his gaze without flinching. Karl wanted to immediately throw this man out of the room. He wanted to demand what this man had been doing here. Karl looked at the sleeping Adel. She looked as if she had never woken up.

"Is it true that the Queen woke up? She doesn't look like it."

"It seems she woke up briefly and then fell asleep again."

The chief physician, fearing he might be blamed, quickly answered. Karl, passing by Lionel, said accusingly,

"Then, even if she called for you, you should have come out when she fell asleep, shouldn't you?"

Karl stopped at the head of Adel's bed. Her elegant face, contrasted by her white skin, was damp with sweat and tears. A fierce possessiveness surged, overwhelming the Emperor's senses. What was this man thinking as he gazed at her vulnerable form?! A savage urge to gouge out Lionel's eyes rose within him. At that moment, Lady Giggs, who had been observing the Emperor and Lionel, whispered to Lionel,

"You should leave now."

The Emperor's discomfort was palpable, and the Queen, who could have calmed him, was unconscious. Lionel, who stayed, would only make things worse. Lionel, letting out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding, clenched his jaw. An indescribable, unpleasant feeling crawled over his body like insects. Simultaneously, a sense of powerlessness and despair, as if he were crushed under the ruins of a fallen wall, weighed heavily on him. When Lionel didn't move, Lady Giggs gently urged him,

"Minister."

Her voice was overlaid by a chilling command.

"No. Stay there for a moment."

The Emperor, staring intently at Lionel's broad back, ordered. Lionel, as if drawn by something, slowly turned around. Karl scrutinized Lionel's expression with a relentless gaze. Lionel, with a rigid face, met the Emperor's eyes. However, Karl, in a fleeting moment, noticed Lionel's gaze had been on the Queen.

'This man is ogling my Queen.'

Karl's animalistic instinct reached a red-hot conclusion. A sense of crisis spread rapidly through his spine, making his body heat up.

'I'll show him who this woman belongs to.'

Karl deliberately put on a relaxed expression and leisurely looked at the Queen. He then half-lay on the bed where she lay.