The Nymph Wants to be Plundered - Chapter 115

“I was the one who ordered the fire to be stoked.”

“Pardon?”

“Hm, never mind.”

Having gone out at dawn while she was sleeping to check on the state of the oak firewood, Cassis sighed deeply. He had thought it strange that the temperature here was nearly as warm as the bedroom, but it was entirely his doing. And then he had forgotten all about it after leaving her to come out alone. He was nothing short of insane.

“Evelyn, I hope you’re not feeling hot. Since not everything for a patient necessarily required warmth, he struggled with mild conflict.”
“No it’s fine”

Should I take her out now and have her remove some layers?

Just as a deep sigh was about to escape his reluctant lips, Laocon, who stood behind him, whispered.

“Your Majesty, the courtroom seems excessively warm.”

Indeed. Cassis could only respond inwardly, unable to admit that he had ordered it so. Laocon, clearly displeased about something, furrowed his brow and poured out his candid advice.

“While I appreciate Your Majesty’s concern for the accused, please treat her more strictly. Don’t you agree? If you provide such comforts before the trial even begins, that person will become emboldened.”

“…….”

Unable to respond, he could only stew in his awkwardness when suddenly, through the open door, a shrill scream was heard from far away.

“Let me go, let go! Huuk… ugh, it’s too bright. Why are you dragging me away? Why…!”

“Be quiet!”

“Do you not want to attend the trial that’s being held at your request, Lya?”

Lya. A strange and completely incomprehensible name. Evelyn, who had been slightly bowing her head after making eye contact with Cassis, looked up. It’s finally happening. The… the memories of that frightening day were about to replay, and that was a little scary.

On the first day she woke up after being ill, she barely knew why she had lost consciousness. She had simply opened her eyes, and upon seeing Cassis, immediately remembered the Aika Festival and told him to hold it and attend, and he had kindly taken care of her, and soon drowsiness overcame her, and she lay back down and slept like the dead.

As for why she was in this state, she had simply assumed it was due to a common fever or a tick bite that had made her collapse. A significant factor in this assumption was that while her body felt weak, she didn’t feel the sensation of being in pain from being hit.

A day passed, then the next day, the day after that… The longer she stayed awake, the more inevitable it became for her lost memories to gradually return. The moment Evelyn recalled the relentless violence inflicted on her cheeks, shoulders, and stomach, she suffered pain as if her heart had frozen.

But she did not collapse again.

In the bedroom filled with traces of him, she didn’t tremble while searching for arrows that no longer flew toward her. She didn’t clutch her stomach and groan in pain when it no longer hurt and had fully healed. She didn’t suffer from hallucinations of unknown elves approaching her with accusing fingers or trying to kill her, her eyes bloodshot. It was possible because she had hardened her heart.

The village chief told me when I became a nymph. Since anything that’s a first exists, don’t just be afraid but live your life steadfastly. And… Now I want to know too. I want to hear directly what I did that is so wrong.

Having firmly resolved herself, she clenched both her fists.

Ever since entering this castle, the elf who had directly tried to harm her would give her the answer as to why she was so hated. They were different from the other elves who indirectly made things difficult for her or glared at her from afar, weren’t they? Someone who had been so direct about it would surely tell her.

“Let me go!”

As the fierce voice that scraped against her throat grew rapidly closer, three elves stumbled through the open door, nearly falling over. Evelyn took a deep breath and looked at the person who had harmed her. And… she was bewildered.

‘Huh?’

The illusion she had carefully built up as her injured body healed shattered all at once.

She had roughly assumed it would be a terrifying person. In short, someone fiercer than the castle guards, more savage than a blizzard, a powerful warrior who could break anything with a single punch. It was a natural assumption, since when she was beaten in front of the sacred site, she truly thought she was going to die.

The attacker, held by two elves, unexpectedly had a frail body closer to that of a young girl. She even appeared slightly shorter than Evelyn. Her limbs, bound and unable to move freely, looked weak, and her eye sockets were so sunken like those of a sick person that it was nearly impossible to gauge her young age. Of course, that was just her appearance—she was certainly much older than Evelyn.

“Let go!”

“Sit down!”

Thud. The girl’s backside landed on the chair with a loud noise as if about to break it. Unlike Evelyn, as soon as she was seated, they attached each of her arms to the armrests and fastened shackles to prevent her from moving at all. The metallic sound of the locks clicking shut seemed to strike Evelyn’s heart instead. One of the guards who had completed this burdensome task clicked his tongue.