Chapter 106
“I just want to take a quick look inside.”
“It’s almost done.”
“It’ll just take a moment.”
“Kybellaune.”
Actor called out to her again, this time with a voice edged in anger. Pherenike glanced at Callianeira, who gave her a gentle nod.
She grabbed a cloth hastily offered by one of the soldiers and wiped the blood from her hands, then left the infirmary without so much as a glance at Actor.
Only one set of footsteps followed her, though a belated chorus of voices wished the king and queen farewell.
Without turning to look at the king, Pherenike walked toward a small body of water in front of the infirmary. She bent down and washed her hands in the cool water of night, and soon the footsteps she’d heard before resumed behind her.
As she straightened, a clean, dry cloth wrapped around her hands—Actor had fetched it for her from somewhere. Pherenike watched him quietly as he gently wiped each of her fingers clean with an unreadable expression.
“…The king is performing a maid’s duties for me now?”
“Is there anything a king cannot claim for himself?”
As if to say, just as he could seize treasures with his authority, he could just as easily take on a servant’s tasks. Actor looked down at her hands and spoke quietly, almost to himself.
“…Does it hurt a lot?”
“You already asked me that.”
“You didn’t answer.”
“……”
“I don’t know what it feels like for the one performing the healing. That’s why I’m asking.”
“It felt like dozens of needles were being driven under each fingernail.”
“……”
His indifferent face went pale for a moment. Pherenike gave a faint, teasing smile.
“Was that explanation good enough for you?”
“…I’m sorry.”
Though they weren’t yet in their bedchamber, he apologized as if he’d committed some grave crime.
“It was a joke.”
Pherenike added lightly. But Actor still didn’t smile, so she offered one more line.
“You only did it out of concern for me.”
Actor Nikandros saw her from a perspective she didn’t always understand. She didn’t feel especially moved by it—if anything, his insistence on protecting her in front of others could feel a bit patronizing.
Yet, she didn’t feel angry either. He looked genuinely shocked, and Pherenike continued in a calm tone.
“You were right to consider what was practical. But you didn’t need to take the blame in front of your men, or try to cover for my ‘weakness.’ I was only tired; even if I had collapsed right on top of Agilon, those sturdy men wouldn’t suddenly start doubting my powers. If anything, they might be all the more awed.”
“Practical?”
“Yes. So you could have just left me be.”
“I didn’t interfere with your work because I was thinking about practicality, Pherenike.”
“……”
“I just… couldn’t bear to see you collapse.”
She had already started to walk away, but his words made her pause, as if she’d just heard something incredibly foolish. Actor repeated himself, slowly, as if he was mulling over the words:
“…So even if you collapsed right in front of me, you think it would be better if I just let it happen?”
“Exactly.”
For a moment, a faint trace of anger crossed his usually stoic face. That version of the king was always hard for her to handle. Whenever he looked at her like that, he inevitably cornered her one way or another.
Pherenike quickly tried to excuse herself and head for her horse, but suddenly his arms scooped her up like she was nothing more than a bundle and carried her to the carriage like a barbarian.
“Actor!”
He climbed into the carriage after her, blocking her way out. The door shut behind them.
“…The only place I was going to ride my horse was to your house.”
“I know. And for once, that makes me happy.”
Actor replied with a sneer as he took a seat opposite her. Pherenike narrowed her eyes.
“So is this how you plan to treat me?”
“I just watched you nearly collapse right in front of me. Was I supposed to let you try to mount a horse in that condition, too?”
“…”
“My apologies, then.”
She glared at him, but he simply knocked twice on the carriage post with the ring bearing the royal seal, signaling for them to depart.
The spot where Actor sat—facing the opposite direction from her—was meant for an attendant or a child, not for the king himself.
It was far too cramped for him, but he managed to perch there with the same arrogance he showed on his throne. His legs boxed hers in, and one arm barred the door, as if he fully expected her to try and leap from the moving carriage.
Pherenike glanced at his large hand gripping the doorframe with something like disbelief.
“…Even for me, Agilon’s leg was a difficult case. I just temporarily lost consciousness as a side effect.”
“Pherenike Vassilios, I’ve never seen anyone as stubborn as you.”
“…”
“If even you can’t endure something, maybe you shouldn’t be doing it at all.”
“You sound like you’re scolding the princess.”
“Would a mere mortal dare lecture Kybellaune as if she were a child?”
“Actor.”
“That name belonged to your husband, didn’t it? Do you remember?”
“Do you even know what you said to me?”
His storm-grey eyes flickered like fire in a cave.
“As if teaching Leuce, yes, but in what way are you any better than she is?”
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