Chapter 132
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After the ritual was over.
Another reception was arranged at the patronage. Under the tents and awnings set up by the servants, many nobles laughed and drank. Raha, too, took off her robe and changed into a dress she had prepared in advance.
"Your necklace looks very good on you, Princess."
The Queen of Hildes approached and spoke. She wore her soft smile again today.
"I believe this is from the royal lord, is that correct?"
"That's right."
The Queen suddenly covered the corner of her mouth with her hand. For a moment, Raha was slightly embarrassed.
“Princess."
"Yes."
"Izad and I didn't realize the royal lord would do that."
"Izad....... the King of Hildes."
"Yes, my princess."
Only then did Laha realize that the queen was holding back her laughter.
"He still often thinks of his reign as a dream, and it's not just him; I'm sure all the nobles of Hildes would doubt their eyes if they saw him as he is now, and I, for one, am amazed every day at what he can do."
As the queen stifled a laugh, Raha felt strangely embarrassed. It was strange to hear the queen refer to the king as "he," even in the midst of all this. She was really putting herself in the family circle.
Why doesn't she resent me?
She heard the King and Queen of Hildes lost a child because of Karzen. She wasn't surprised. Raha already had a precedent.
Shed Hildes.
He was almost the first man she'd ever met who didn't hate her because of Karzen. Of course, the Queen and Shed were not the same. To Raha, they were as different as spring and winter, especially the queen, whose smile was always warm. Shed Hildes was always serious.
Why did he fall in love with her when he had such a warm person in his family?
"Wouldn't the queen like to try riding a horse?"
"I'm afraid of horseback riding. You should go and enjoy yourself, Princess."
As the sun tilted slightly, the crowd of nobles would retire back to the main palace. It was a light banquet held outdoors, and many of the nobles enjoyed horseback riding.
Though not as much as the chamberlain and the courtiers, who were constantly checking on the nobles, Raha had her own duties to attend to.
Riding a horse in a dress was uncomfortable, but.......
Sitting on her horse, legs crossed to one side, Raha blinked at the warm sun and crisp spring breeze. For a moment, her vision flashed. Just like the day she lost her sight. Panic rushed through her.
Raha staggered and lost her balance. Naturally, her hands lost their grip on the reins.
"Princess!"
Before she knew it, Raha was off her horse. Alarmed servants and nobles rushed toward her. Raha exhaled sharply. Had she just hallucinated? The landscape seemed as fine as ever.
More than the dull pain in her ankle, she was distracted by the fact that her eyes were still open. Raha's wrist was grabbed as she made her way down to the stinging ankle.
"Are you okay?"
"Shed. ......I'm fine."
Shed pulled up her dress a little. She could see her ankle bulging slightly beneath the white silk stockings that clung to her skin. The imperial physician hurried over and examined it in a moment.
"It looks like you've just sprained it a bit from your fall, I'll need to apply some medicine first......."
"I'll take her."
Shed stood up, scooping Raha up in his arms. Still reeling from the impact earlier, Raha felt another wave of panic as soon as her vision cleared. What if she lost her sight again? Why had she been blinded again?
Out of instinctive fear, Raha threw her arms around Shed’s neck. Her body trembled lightly. Panicked, she heard a voice overhead.
"It's okay."
"......."
Raha's mouth closed slowly. Shed didn't say anything else, only tightened his arms around her. Hugging Raha hard once more, Shed strode briskly down the aisle.
This was not the look of a formal consort. There were no foolish royals and nobles, at least not in this room, who could not read the deep emotion in his eyes, his actions, and his expression.
Branden, who had followed suit, shrugged.
"I see the lord doesn't even hide it from others anymore."
* * *
The evening stretched on. Oliver's hands were shaking. He'd spent hours checking Raha's eyes, ever since he'd been summoned. The faintest trace of magic under Raha's eyes.
He couldn't figure out what it was. His throat was dry, his eyes were dizzy, and he was scared. Just a little longer. Just a little longer....... he barely suppressed the urge to run into the Wise Men's Tower right away. It was Oliver who had chosen this path in the first place.
He himself....... vowed to protect the Eyes of the heir, even on foot, for the rest of his life.......
"Oliver."
"My lord?"
Oliver jerked his head up. It had been a long time coming. Shed clicked his tongue.
"Why are your hands shaking? Are you sick?"
"No......."
As Oliver answered slowly, he suddenly realized that Shed and him were at eye level. Why? He was still a young boy, and this lord was an unusually tall man, even for a grown man of his age.
It was strange to see such an imposing body, reminiscent of a giant carnivorous beast, sitting so casually on one knee in front of him. Shed had never done this before, not in front of Oliver.
He bent down, perhaps recognizing the trembling in his hands. Oliver wiped at the corners of his eyes.
"The lord would make a very good husband."
"Yes."
"I mean it. You'll be a good father, and a good......."
"I hope she thinks so."
"You don’t think she will......?"
Shed wasn't convinced. There was probably no one in the world who could be sure of Raha, so paradoxically, that meant Oliver meant everything he said.
It was strange. Oliver felt a lump in his throat. If Raha was okay, this lord would make her happy somehow. The Princess really did love this man.
If only love and life could always go hand in hand. Shed opened his mouth slowly.
"Answer me."
"It's ......."
"What's wrong with Raha?"
"Her eyes......."
"How are her eyes?"
"It's enchanted."
"Magic? Raha's never had a wizard in her life."
It was true. Magic, after all, had always been deceptively flashy. It was impossible to inscribe a spell that would silently harm a human body. But.......
"If you light a dog's or cat's tail on fire and stick it through a crack in an enemy's wall, it won't be long before the castle is consumed by a great fire."
"What was the tail on fire?"
"......."
"Oliver."
Shed raised one eyebrow.
"Bedroom slaves?"
Even if it was Karzen, he couldn't feed Raha anything so obvious. Raha was the chosen one with expansive eyes, and Oliver was a courtier who was widely believed to have once been a student of the wide men.
So Karzen had purposely gone to the trouble of gifting her with a bunch of slaves, discrediting her reputation, and wrapping them up in a loving package, ostensibly as a "gift" to her.......
Oliver realized with a start that Shed’s face looked very cold. He usually wore a soft expression only in the presence of the Princess....... Outside of her presence, this cold stare was the norm.
"Oliver."
"Yes?"
"Can I bring that wizard in and kill him?"
Oliver shook his head in confusion. He was too angry to just listen to the words. The royal lord had already saved the nobles and soldiers of Delo from certain defeat and annihilation. For that merit, the man proposed to the Princess…
It was a good thing he was a lord of a distant kingdom. If Raha had been a common noblewoman, and Shed a common nobleman of Delo.......
He would have been less concerned with his surroundings than he was now. After all, the lord recognized this Delo Empire as Raha's. Just as Oliver thought.
"How......."
The unanswerable question crept up on him.
"How do you put up with it?"
"......."
"How the hell do you......?"
A lot was left out, but Shed answered.
"Because I know she'll hate it."
"......."
"She had too many assholes around her."
"......."
A hug, which would normally be fine, became a terribly painful act when the other person was not whole.
Princess was a person whose whole soul was torn apart. Oliver was both sorry and glad that Raha hadn't heard what Shed had just said.
She hated being pitied. She couldn't stand it when someone felt sorry for her. Even if it was love and not pity, she still couldn't tell the difference.
Oliver had always treated her heartbeat as if it were his own, so he'd observed it, so he'd lived it over and over again. It was as if her fragility had somehow transferred to him.
Oliver felt like he was about to cry like a child. He realized that the lord in front of him was a mature adult, not like himself.
Oliver wiped his eyes with his sleeve, then slowly opened his mouth.
"I can break the Princess’s spell."
"You're a doctor."
"But......I can do it."
For a moment, Shed’s brow furrowed.
"You can do that?"
"It's ......."
It was strange. Shed stared at Oliver with a strange look in his eyes. Oliver was a doctor. A doctor who had been a student of the wise men, but had abandoned the path of the wise in favor of medicine.
This Oliver was the only thing the cold, seemingly-indeed, icy Raha found endearing. Shed was well aware. Raha would smile at Oliver's story.
Shed didn't ask more. Instead, he straightened up.
"Go and release the magic."
"It'll take a while."
"How long?"
"I'm not a wizard, so I'd say a week, but I have a hunch it's going to be later."
"What can I do to speed things up?"
"It's kind of...... unethical, but......."
He pressed his lips together a few times to keep him from falling apart. Oliver finally opened his mouth, looking determined.
"Could you get me the bodies of the Princess’ slaves......?"
"Raha would cry if she knew you said this."
"The Princess doesn't cry over things like this."
Shed realized all over again why Raha liked Oliver.
"It’s going to be three days to get the bodies."
"Then I can go out myself, the sooner the better......."
"Is a person better?"
"What?"
Oliver blinked.
"I guess it's better to be alive than dead, usually."
"That's true, but we don't have a living slave. Ah, well, we have the royal lord, of course, but the brand you received back then was different. What kind of branding can you expect from the lord when he's a war hero......."
"Can we stop pretending you don't know?"
Shed said slowly.
"You know who I am, Oliver."
****
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