Chapter 136
“Wait.”
Sylaria stopped the attendants and approached Aria. She gently closed the corpse’s wide-open eyes. Euclid gave her a warm smile at the gesture, while Arendtert’s expression tightened.
“What is the point of closing the eyes of someone who is already dead? She won’t even know.”
Sylaria ignored Arendtert’s absurd remark and gave the attendants a nod. She watched Aria’s body being carried out and offered a brief silent prayer.
Aria had not been a good person, but she did not deserve to meet such a hollow end. Her greatest mistake had been choosing the wrong person to serve.
“Let’s go, Euclid.”
Still looking in the direction Aria had been taken, Sylaria spoke calmly. Euclid nodded and took her hand. Sylaria let out a quiet breath and left that dreadful place where she had nearly met death.
* * *
Once they returned to the palace, Euclid had Sylaria treated by Cyan first. He must have felt the same pain she did, yet he showed no intention of being treated himself.
“Ah…!”
Sylaria flinched with a pained expression as Cyan applied the ointment. She hadn’t even realized it hurt while she was in the Second Prince’s Palace, but now that she was back and medicine was being applied, the pain flooded in anew.
“Does it hurt a lot?”
“No, I was just startled.”
Sylaria smiled at Euclid, who seemed so worried he didn’t know what to do. But he pressed his lips together in a straight line at her words. When she blinked at his sulky expression, he furrowed his brow and said,
“Did you forget that whatever you feel, I feel as well? It hurts. It really hurts.”
“Hehe, that’s true. Yes, it hurts.”
When Euclid pointed to his own neck, now reddened just like hers, Sylaria burst into laughter.
To be honest, she had always found the sense synchronization inconvenient. Feeling everything the other felt had only seemed troublesome.
But if their senses hadn’t been linked, she wouldn’t have received Euclid’s help in time. Without him, she wouldn’t have been able to deal with the Maw that opened in midair.
‘Come to think of it, what really was that?’
That unnatural Maw, the one that had felt as if someone were deliberately manipulating it.
Sylaria lowered her gaze in thought. No matter how she considered it, she couldn’t come up with a convincing explanation. Only vague suspicions arose, like the idea that the Empress or Arendtert might be involved.
‘No. I shouldn’t jump to conclusions without evidence.’
She lifted her eyebrows slightly and dismissed the thought. Just then, Cyan finished applying the ointment and tying the bandage, then stepped back.
“The treatment is complete. You may have internal injuries, so please be cautious for a while.”
“I will. Thank you, Cyan.”
Cyan bowed to her, then handed Euclid the container of ointment. After giving instructions to apply it once daily, he left. The bedchamber now held only Euclid and Sylaria.
“What are you thinking about?”
Euclid spoke to Sylaria as she sat leaning against the bed, staring blankly at the blanket. She blinked and lifted her head.
“What you said earlier at the Second Prince’s Palace. You said it seemed like someone was controlling the Maw. Do you think that could really be true?”
“Well.”
Euclid tilted his head at her question. Sylaria watched him closely and spoke again.
“Could it be, just maybe… that the Empress or Aren is involved?”
“I hope not. No, it must not be.”
“Why not?”
Sylaria asked, puzzled by Euclid’s repeated insistence. He answered her with a grave expression.
“If the Imperial Family is involved in that, the Empire will collapse. The Imperial House itself might disappear.”
Hearing Euclid’s words, Sylaria’s eyes sharpened. It was true. The Maw had long been the Empire’s curse and its greatest scourge. But if the truth was that the Imperial Family was involved. Worse, if they knew and hid it.
Then the Imperial Family, and the Emperor himself, would be dragged down by an enraged populace.
Discussion
0 CommentsNo comments yet.