Chapter 73
But I couldn’t just sit there, shedding tears like some tragic heroine.
“Agá! You’re awake!”
“Cecil… what on earth… why are you crying? Why are you crying?!”
“What happened?!”
Blinking several times in surprise at the noisy commotion all around me, my vision gradually cleared. And there, surrounding my bed, were my family, my teacher, Eunice, and my physician.
“Huh…? Why is everyone gathered here?”
“Why, you ask? You wicked little student,” my sister scolded, shaking her head.
“Cecil, are you okay? Is anything hurting?”
“Please, let me examine the young lady’s condition,” said the doctor, stepping forward.
As the physician checked me, I realized something from the concerned looks of my family.
“Could it be… I was asleep for several days again?”
“Yes. You were unconscious for four days.”
“Four days…”
Longer than before.
And now I thought I knew why I had slept for such an extended period.
The dream… it was so vivid and so long.
I remembered every detail. As I stared blankly at the ceiling, replaying the dream in my mind, the doctor finished the examination.
“Fortunately, there’s nothing serious. But you seem a bit weakened, so you’ll need to take some restorative medicine.”
“Restorative medicine? Again?”
“Well, you collapsed, so it’s unavoidable. Right?”
My sister shot me a stern look. There was no way I could protest the medicine, so I quietly kept my mouth shut.
“Then I’ll prepare the medicine immediately.”
“No need to rush…”
“Please go quickly, Doctor.”
“Don’t worry, young lady. I’ll prepare some chocolate for you to eat after taking the medicine,” the doctor added kindly.
I couldn’t bring myself to ask her to stay, so I quietly watched as the physician and Eunice left the room.
“Cecil.”
My instincts screamed a warning.
From the tense look in my mother’s eyes, I knew I was about to be scolded. I hunched my shoulders and braced myself.
“Why… why, Mother?”
As I suspected…
“Did you, by any chance, meet with the Second Prince privately before you collapsed?”
Ahh! Emergency!
I panicked inside but kept my composure outwardly.
“No? I didn’t.”
“Really?”
“Yes. The Second Prince has been busy. How could I have possibly met him?”
Luckily, my acting skills hadn’t deserted me. My mother examined my face from every angle, yet seemed none the wiser.
“You really didn’t meet him?”
“I told you, I didn’t.”
“Then what’s this?”
Mother produced two objects like a secret weapon.
One was long and white… some kind of stone? I couldn’t tell. The other was a small whistle, shaped like a dog whistle.
“What are these?”
“You really don’t know?”
“No. I genuinely don’t know.”
I honestly didn’t. But seeing my reaction, the expressions of my sister and brother grew serious too.
“It seems there really was another intruder. That’s my fault,” my mother said solemnly.
“We should immediately find the captain of the guard and investigate if someone broke into the house…”
“Why… why? What are these two things?” I asked urgently.
“They were placed by your bedside,” Mother answered.
“…By my bedside?”
“Yes. And if you don’t recognize them, then they must have been left by some intruder who entered your room.”
“Mother, perhaps there’s dangerous magic on these items,” I suggested.
“That possibility cannot be ignored. I’ll investigate,” she said.
“Please, Melania,” I said.
“Wait!”
I quickly snatched the two objects from my mother’s hands before they passed to my teacher. All eyes turned to me.
Holding one in each hand—likely items left by Lionel—I discreetly clasped my hands behind my back and knelt on the bed.
“I… met him…” I said.
“What?”
“Well… um…”
How was I supposed to explain this?
Lionel had come to see me on his own, even though I hadn’t called for him.
My mother would immediately lodge a formal complaint with the palace. And in this situation, Lionel would appear to be a reckless man sneaking into his fiancée’s bedroom at night.
No. I cannot ruin my future husband’s reputation.
I had to protect both my own reputation and his.
Tears threatening to fall, I carefully spoke.
“I asked him to come. I told him it didn’t matter when, as long as he came whenever he could.”
“Cecil, you…”
“But! If he leaves for the North, who knows when he’ll return? It could take at least five years, maybe over ten!”
Wait a second. That was unfair!
We had shared our first kiss. He hadn’t fully realized his feelings yet, but he had promised to confess someday!
And now, at a crucial moment, I had to become some tragic heroine waiting for her lover like the stars in the sky? Other girls only had to wait a year and a half for their boyfriends to return from military service!
Five years? And that’s the minimum?
“And there’s no guarantee he’ll return in one piece! What if he gets seriously hurt?”
“Well, the Second Prince has his prophecy…”
“That only guarantees his life. What if he comes back with scars on that priceless face?”
Just imagining a scar marring that national treasure of a face made tears prick my eyes.
“Why… why does this have to happen? Why did those monsters attack now, of all times?!”
The emotions I’d held back suddenly overflowed. Tears streamed down uncontrollably—probably because the dream still felt so real.
I rescinded all thoughts that Lionel was doll-like when I first met him. The word ‘doll’ only suited someone who had lost their will… like Lionel in my dream.
He had become a tool to harm others, against his own will.
“Ah… he’s so pitiful… ah…”
“Oh, my dear. Stop crying,” Mother soothed.
“You’re a good girl, Cecil. The Second Prince will be fine. There are so many protecting him.”
Seeing me cry so bitterly, my mother and siblings surrounded me, patting my shoulders and back, comforting me.
“If he saw you crying like this, he’d feel troubled too,” my mother said.
“Yes, yes. First, you need to take care of yourself,” added my sister.
“Drink some water… that’s right.”
After drinking warm water, wiping my face with a warm cloth, and being comforted by my family, I finally stopped crying. A bit embarrassed, I sniffled quietly.
“I didn’t need to cry this much…”
Mother looked at me with concern.
“You must be exhausted. We’ve been too hard on you, I’m sorry, dear.”
“No… I’m the one who should apologize.”
“Apologize?”
“Yes. I’m sorry for making you worry so much.”
“—Hiiing.”
Pouting, I looked like I might cry again. My teacher clicked her tongue.
“Why are you crying like a child? You’ll ruin the skin around your eyes. Stop it at once.”
“Yes…” I muttered, drooping my shoulders. My sister helped me back onto the bed.
“Rest more. Eat something delicious and regain your strength, okay?”
“Okay… sniffle.”
Though I had supposedly been asleep for four days, as soon as I lay down again, sleep overtook me almost instantly.
Wait… could this be a sleep magic…?
Before I could finish the thought, my eyes met my teacher’s, and I fell asleep again.
After confirming that Cecilia had fallen asleep, everyone quietly left the bedroom so she could rest.
Once the door closed with a soft thud, Melania immediately spoke, as if there was no time to move to the sitting room.
“Cecil’s body contained both the Second Prince’s magic and her own.”
“Excuse me?”
“That means… Cecilia’s magical vessel came into contact with the Second Prince’s power.”
Everyone’s expression grew serious.
“Wasn’t Cecil’s magical vessel supposed to be somewhere in the palace?”
“I thought so too… But are we certain she didn’t go to the palace?”
“Yes. That’s certain.”
The palace was not a place Cecilia could have secretly visited.
“Then perhaps the soul fragment containing her magical vessel is in an item that the Second Prince possesses?”
“For that to be true, he’d have to still have an item from ten years ago… Is that even possible?”
Everyone fell silent.
Cecilia’s Spirit Familiar had disappeared when she was seven. Lionel was also seven then. Could he still have kept an item from that time?
Besides, Lionel had an older brother who had a habit of stealing everything precious to him.
“Then… where exactly is the soul fragment containing Cecilia’s magical vessel?”
They were flying hard to find out. But the people of the Rohaim family had no clue, and only Melania, being a mage, seemed to have an idea.
“Perhaps…