Damian Rupenwein bleeding profusely. It was the first time since he passed his mid-teens.
He had to stop the bleeding since the cut wasn’t healing.
It was a special feeling to be receiving treatment for a wound like a normal person after almost ten years. There’s even something wrong with the wound and his fever was rising as time passed.
His cheeks turned red like apples and his eyes relaxed. It was unintentional, but it was so bewitching that the people who entered the room were startled.
Damian thought feverishly.
‘Is the human body so uncomfortable and fragile?’
His gaze went to Lilian.
Even he, who is beyond the category of an ordinary person, can’t heal a cut like this, so what about Lilian?
It seemed like something terrible would have happened.
‘As expected, I killed them too easily…’
Damian clenched his teeth in an uneasy manner while Lilian, who carefully cooled his heated brow and cheeks with a cool, wet towel, quickly wore a concerned look on her face.
“Your Highness, where are you uncomfortable?”
“No, it’s okay…”
It was an uncomfortable thought not that his body was uncomfortable.
However, Lilian seemed unable to shake off her concerns easily.
She dipped the towel, which had been warmed by Damian’s body temperature, back into the water and instead cooled his head with her own cooler hands. He felt much better when his wife’s hand, like a cool marble surface, touched his skin. Damian involuntarily groaned.
“Your Highness…”
He was in a good mood but Lilian must have mistaken it because he was sick. Damian looked at his wife’s blurred expression.
He was sorry for worrying her, and thought it’s fortunate that he’s hurt instead of her.
But deep inside…
‘It feels good…’
Lily looking at him with a heartbroken expression like that.
His mother, who had given birth to Damian, had never looked at him so anxiously and with so much care.
In fact, Damian’s physical condition was not very serious. It’s just an unusual situation that Damian Rupenwein’s wounds didn’t heal. He didn’t lose consciousness and he wasn’t seriously hurt.
Of course, the paralysis was a little tingling, and the bleeding did not completely stop even after treating it, but by the standards of Damian, who had suffered worse than this, it was more than enough to endure it.
But instead of honestly saying that it was tolerable, Damian leaned his face against Lilian’s palm, which was pleasantly cool.
He knew she’s worried, but he couldn’t give up his desire to enjoy more of this sweet, itchy sensation of being cared for.
“It feels good that your hands are cold…”
“That’s because you have a lot of heat. Take your medicine and you’ll be fine.”
Just then, the attending physician, who had been testing something with the blood from Damian’s wound, returned.
“You were poisoned.”
“Yes?”
The only one surprised was Lilian.
Those who have known Damian for a long time would usually say, “Oh, poison. No wonder he couldn’t get up” while showing an understanding reaction.
“We’ll have to do more analysis to know for sure, but for now, it’s estimated to be a type of hemolytic poison called ‘Venom Core’. It’s a very rare poison, but the special thing is that it works in response to mana.”
“You mean mana?”
The Grand Duchess asked urgently and anxiously. No matter how he looked at it, she seemed to know nothing about the Grand Duke’s special constitution. The attending physician looked at Ivan with a little embarrassment.
‘She don’t know, does she?’
Ivan answered with a quiet shake of his head.
Geez, she didn’t know. The attending physician began to explain more carefully.
“Well…to put it simply, it’s a toxic substance that’s more lethal to those with a lot of mana and a higher tier.”
“That…”
“But Your Highness is so strong. I remember once before…”
Ivan urgently signaled. The attending physician was aghast and changed his words.
“I’ve seen a similar case once before, and even then, the patient recovered quickly. This time, no, even His Highness the Grand Duke will quickly shake it off.”
“I see.”
Ivan clutched his forehead because of the inexperienced attending physician, but fortunately, the Grand Duchess did not notice as she was busy being relieved.
“First of all, I will prescribe some medicine to help with detoxification and fever.”
“Yes, thank you.”
Even as she said thank you, the Grand Duchess didn’t seem relieved. What’s even more surprising is that the steel-like Grand Duke said, “it’ll be fine, don’t worry too much” in a weak voice, as if placating the Grand Duchess.
Everyone except the Grand Duchess thought the same.
‘…that’s probably an act.’
‘Looks like the Grand Duchess is being tricked.’
The attending physician quickly brought the prepared medicine. Lilian accepted the medicine bowl as if it were natural.
“Your Highness, you need to take some medicine.”
“Is my wife feeding me?”
“Because this is all I can do for you.”
All that Lily could do for Damian, who was injured while protecting her, was cooling him down with a towel and giving him medicine.
Lilian was sad and upset, but her concern and care were what Damian wanted most at this moment.
The Grand Duchess carefully scooped out the medicine with a small silver spoon and fed it to the Grand Duke.
Damian took the medicine little by little like a sick baby animal and took it with great pride.
The attending physician, Ivan, Mrs. Maureen, and Head Butler Aaron, as well as those closest to the Grand Duke, quietly exchanged glances and turned away from the scene.
‘Let’s pretend we didn’t see it.’
‘Agreed.’
A tacit agreement was reached.
***
That night, Lilian nursed Damian through the night. Nursing someone was nothing special to her.
She fanned or cooled him down with a wet towel, and when the time came, she gave him medicine.
Damian’s condition didn’t improve but it didn’t get much worse either.
“The assassins earlier…did His Majesty sent them?”
“Probably. Although I think the method is a bit radical for my second brother.”
“Perhaps because he’s offended by Duke Blanchett’s case, right?”
“I think so.”
Lilian fanned Damian and slowly looked back in her memory what she had organized into a diagram a long time ago.
In fact, it’s difficult to attach great significance to that record of what would happen in the future. Over the past years, as a result of Lilian’s steady role as a variable, more changes have occurred than expected. It seems that the only thing she could be sure of now is a large stem.
As far as Lily knew, the circumstances of Matteo’s succession to the throne were as follows. The seven electors unanimously exercised their right to veto Claude and Matteo naturally took over the position when Claude was brought down.
‘Later, Emperor Claude and Madame Rachel ended up committing suicide together…’
Moreover, now, unlike before, the alliance between the Crown Prince and Turin was not in jeopardy and was strong, and even Duke Blanchett joined his side.
Even if the Emperor was in a situation where he’d be impatient, did he have to kill her like this?
There’s something unclear, but there’s no doubt that this was the Emperor’s doing.
There weren’t many people who could send a rare poison like Venom Core and assassins who could compete against Damian.
“Currently, three of the seven Electors are on the side of His Majesty the Emperor.”
“That’s right.”
And Damian, Elector of Hemenlinna, Cedric, Elector of Turin, and the Elector of Icanan supported Crown Prince Matteo.
The only one left was the Elector of Castana. As the father of Empress Aratine and the maternal grandfather of Crown Prince Matteo, he remained neutral to this day.
“Even though the Elector of Castana is the father of Her Majesty the Empress, I thought he’d still support His Highness the Crown Prince, his only grandson.”
“Perhaps he would have, had my sister-in-law not remarry with my second brother.”
Not only Castana, but no one from the crown prince faction could completely reject and slander Empress Aratine. She was the mother of the Crown Prince they supported.
That said, it was circumstancially ambiguous for Castana to join the side supporting the Crown Prince without cutting off Empress Aratine.
Besides, Elector of Castana didn’t seem to think that Emperor Claude had no chance of winning.
It was a complicated situation and Elector of Castana had a lot to lose and was old. So he seemed to decide that it’s better to remain neutral than to take sides and fall together.
“…it’s a situation where we need to bring at least one or two people to this side, including the Elector of Castana.”
If that happened, there’s a high possibility that the rest of the Electors would give up on Claude and come over to Matteo.
Because it’s a vote, not a war. In war, it’s possible to defeat a large army with small numbers. However, when it comes to voting, no two alone can beat five at all costs.
Lilian carefully guessed.
Perhaps Empress Aratine’s position would play an important role in attracting the Elector of Castana?
‘Come to think of it, I’ve never heard of Her Majesty’s thoughts. There are only rumors…’
Then Damian let out a thin groan.
Lilian realized that she had stopped fanning, lost in her thoughts.
“Ah, Your Highness. I apologize.”
“No, even you will hurt your arm, you don’t have to keep overexerting yourself.”
He didn’t need fanning, he just wanted to grab Lily’s attention.
“But…”
“Didn’t the doctor tell you? It will be fine.”
Damian laid the half-raised Lilian down with a free arm.
“I’m happy and grateful that you’re taking care of me, but if you’re overdoing it and got sick, it will hurt my heart.”
It was nice to have Lilian worry about him, but he didn’t want to abuse her for that. Damian’s heart was sincere.
Perhaps it’s because they’re in the same bed at night with just the two of them, that sincerity definitely reached Lilian.
Lilian put down her fan, then replied in a small voice.
“…yes, I will be careful.”
Damian’s sincerity always made her feel small.
Lilian didn’t know how much Damian loved Lilian, the small, helpless, flawed Grand Duchess.
“Are you going to sleep with me? I think I’ll be with you until I feel better.”
After putting Lilian to sleep, Damian cautiously got up from his spot.
He carefully unwrapped the gauze and bandages he had placed on the wound.
A small amount of blood was oozing from the cut that was still open.
…according to Damian’s experience and calculations, it’s a wound that should have healed.
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