The Sand Bride - Chapter 73

It was as if to ask if she needed to be watched as before. Karzhen almost nodded but stopped himself. Esther was struggling even to get up.

“Lord Sayar……?”

And he didn’t like having servants in the room either.

He stood there for a moment, then, as the servant called him, he shook his head and said,

“No……. Just let them meet in the room.”

“Then we…….”

“You don’t need to watch either. Go.”

At his firm words, the servant hesitated for a moment but then bowed and withdrew.

Karzhen, left behind, watched the door foolishly instead of leaving immediately. He envisioned with his mind’s eye the hallway behind that door, the hanging blinds, the room, the walls, the floor, the bed, and Esther on it.

What could she be doing? She’s probably lying down. Is she sleeping? No, she’s probably lying awake. Karzhen asked himself and answered himself, thinking of Esther.

What is she thinking?

But there was no answer to this question. Or perhaps he just didn’t want to answer it, and having thought that far, Karzhen stopped thinking.

He felt like a complete idiot.

* * *

It was early afternoon. Karzhen, who had been in the room all morning, left for an appointment, and Esther, having eaten porridge and medicine at the hands of the servants, was able to meet Bianca in the room.

Bianca, whom Esther was seeing for what felt like a very long time after the terrible time in the prison, was wearing different clothes than before.

Instead of the lavish and extravagant royal palace servant uniform, it was comfortable clothing with separate top and bottom pieces. Her hair, which used to reach her waist, was now tightly pulled up and coiled, making Bianca look like other Gharyam military officials.

As soon as she entered the room, Bianca approached in a single stride and rubbed Esther’s cheek, her face filled with surprise. Recently, Bianca had been incredibly busy working under Greta on war-related matters, barely having a moment to herself.

So she hadn’t heard the rumors spreading throughout the palace and had only recalled Esther’s last appearance, assuming she was doing well. But seeing Esther, who seemed to have been fine, now on the verge of death, she was greatly shocked.

“What happened? What’s wrong with your face?”

Esther replied calmly.

“Nothing much… I was just sick…….”

“How sick? So sick that…….”

“Just…….”

Her words were listless. Bianca was so worried she didn’t know what to do. Esther looked even worse than when she was in the temple.

“It’s not ‘just’! What in the world happened? Huh?”

“…….”

“Tell me.”

Bianca raised a hand and grasped Esther’s shoulder. Her warm hand gently caressed Esther’s cold shoulder.

Esther slowly blinked her eyes. It was strange. Her hair, as white as snow and shining like silver, and her eyes, as blue as cornflowers. Bianca’s appearance wasn’t like Esther’s family, so why…….

“Then I can help you…….”

Why did she look so much like family?

When Esther didn’t answer, Bianca urged her with a firm tone. Her blue eyes shone with a strong will, as if she wouldn’t back down until Esther spoke, even facing a man a head taller than herself. But it was gentle. Her eyes also seemed to contain genuine familial affection. Enough to just want to believe it, even if it was an illusion.

The suppressed emotions, at that moment, poured out as if pricked by a needle. Esther finally burst into tears. Her words mixed with sobs.

“It was all a-a lie…….”

“What?”

“Father is dead, Bianca……. Mother too…….”

Esther collapsed after finishing her words. Bianca, standing next to her, hardened her face.

* * *

True to her personality, which disliked uselessness and preferred cleanliness, Greta’s palace was a place permeated with an extremely clean and restrained atmosphere. Bianca walked and walked along a corridor made of dazzling white stones without a single stain, instead of vases or decorations, and arrived at the center of Greta’s palace.

Having reached the place with unrestrained steps, she asked a man to see Greta. The man, with many scars on his forearms and built like a bear, was Greta’s most trusted subordinate and one of the few who knew about Bianca.

“I wish to see the King.”