TPOP 70

Chapter 70

***

Sponsored by Curufin. Thank you ❤️ (4/5)

***

The Crown Prince's fierce shout sent one of the maids nearby rushing out in a panic.

Felix barely managed to steady Diana.

"Diana."

"Master. Master, I... I smelled something strange."

Diana pushed him away and blurted out frantically.

"It smells like a fire outside, like burning wood. The forest might be on fire. We should check, but the head maid won't let me go out. The smoke smells so strong, why—."

"Diana, breathe."

"I told you the forest is burning…!"

Diana's voice rose to a shrill pitch. Felix, and indeed anyone who knew her, had never seen Diana scream like this before. The woman who always maintained such quiet composure had completely lost her mind.

"Did you know? I can still smell it. I... I need to go to that forest. Let me out. Untie me!"

"Stop struggling and stay still. You're bleeding..."

"You don't have to take me. I'll go on my own."

There was no smell inside the room. The window opened a crack, but it wasn't wide enough for the scent from outside—especially from the hunting grounds, over ten minutes away by carriage—to drift in. Yet Diana insisted her senses couldn't be wrong.

Felix clamped his mouth shut and gave Emile a nod. Emile, who cleverly understood his meaning, quickly closed the window. The flow of air inside the room stopped.

Diana, who had noticed that subtle change, abruptly stopped her defiance. Her lips parted slightly as she strained her hearing and sense of smell, then asked in a trembling voice.

"Master. Why aren't you saying anything?"

There was no time to respond. Felix forced her knee down to examine the injured foot. The wound was clearly severe at a glance. Large and small shards of glass had pierced the tender flesh and embedded themselves deep inside.

His Diana was hurt.

Felix's eyes narrowed like a wolf's. The maids standing before the closed door met his fury and froze in terror.

"Who broke the glass? I clearly ordered all sharp objects removed from the bedroom!"

"My deepest apologies, Your Highness. It's just that... I dropped the tableware I was carrying out..."

"Master!"

When no answer came to her question, Diana began struggling to break free from his grasp.

Did she think she could defy him like this? With every kick of her legs, the glass shards dug deeper into her flesh. She seemed oblivious to the pain.

Felix forced her into his arms and walked out. As they stepped out into the living room, leaving the bedroom in chaos behind them, the nobles waiting outside the inner chambers' door stirred violently.

Arnold, standing guard in the living room, hurriedly closed the door, but most of the nobles had already noticed Diana's presence. It didn't matter. The Duke would handle keeping their mouths shut.

Felix sank into the sofa, Diana still in his arms. She was still crying.

"It doesn't seem like a small fire. Fire... Fire is bad. If a fire breaks out..."

If he didn't calm her down, he wouldn't be able to treat her wounds, let alone examine the affected area. Felix held her tightly and stroked the back of her small head.

"It’s not burned. It's okay."

Even his own voice was hoarse and strained. The moment he saw the blood splattered across Diana's body, his heart grew cold. He'd felt it before, when he'd spilled paint on her once, but this damn color suited her so poorly it was eerie.

Diana fumbled for the hem of his sleeve. Blood flowing from her wrist stained his gold-embroidered uniform.

"Really? But the smell was awful..."

"It’s fine. How would you even know if that was the smell of burning wood or a burning house?"

"I can tell."

Diana's complexion was as pale as a corpse. She trembled, her lips turning blue.

"If it happens in the forest, I can tell what it is. Anytime."

"Alright. Then go check it out yourself later."

"Let me go now."

"Where do you think you're going, looking like this?"

Now he saw it wasn't just one foot—both were covered in blood. Her hands, too, were badly cut, a long gash from her palms to her wrists, as if she'd grabbed something wrong. Her ankles, tortured by chains, hung limply below her thighs.

His Diana, who had been blemish-free and beautiful just this morning, was wounded. Ruined. Felix recognized this fact with startling clarity. It was as if someone had lit a fire in his head, jolting him awake.

Leaving Diana alone was dangerous. No, even with someone nearby, an accident could happen in an instant.

Even everyday objects that seemed insignificant to him were threats to her.

Felix bit his parched lips for a moment. Diana's cheeks were still wet with tears. She was pushed to the brink of exhaustion.

"Can you promise me? That nothing happened?"

"I promise. Don't say anything. Take a deep breath. Pull yourself together."

"On your name and your throne?"

"Yes."

Felix replied curtly as he rolled up Diana's sleeve. Fortunately, there were no cuts above her wrist, but a deep scar ran vertically along the inside of it. Felix, judging the location of the artery, gasped.

"What the hell... did you get cut here?"

"I don't know."

Felix was speechless. He didn't even know what had cut her.

Looking back, she was used to bumping into things and wandering around. She was the kind of woman who wore bruises all over her body. His heart grew colder and colder.

The attending physician, who had rushed over at full speed, panted as he unpacked his medical tools.

"Let me examine the wound. Oh my... Good heavens..."

As the doctor wiped away the scab with a disinfectant-soaked cloth, Diana let out a small groan.

Felix kissed her temple every time Diana's eyes narrowed in pain. He wiped her damp face with his sleeve, pressing his lips from the swollen corners of her eyes to the reddened bridge of her nose.

The deeply embedded glass shards had to be cut out through the skin. Though she'd been given anesthetic, it took time for the medication to take effect. Tearing raw flesh couldn't possibly be painless, yet Diana didn't utter a single cry.

Only after a long while did the attending physician wipe his brow and sit up.

"It's done, Your Highness. I’ve removed all the shards, stitched the wounds, and disinfected them. Just be careful not to step on it until the stitches come out. Apply this ointment to the bruises and wounds on the ankle, and they should heal quickly."

"Leave."

The physician gathered the surgical instruments and began to leave. Perhaps the anesthetic was finally taking effect, for Diana's resistance noticeably weakened.

She murmured weakly.

"Can I go now…?"

"After you sleep and wake up."

“…You’re not lying, are you?”

"Why would I?"

Concise, yet undeniable. As always, the only information Diana was granted came from his words.

“The hunting grounds are fine, Diana. I don’t know what scent you caught, but it’s not uncommon to see fires in the forest. They burn animal carcasses, or gather fallen leaves to burn in autumn.”

"......"

"Nothing happened, so calm down and stop crying."

Diana was confused.

He didn't seem to be lying. He was the kind of man who had no reason to go out of his way to comfort her with falsehoods. But the heat that touched her cheek, the crackling sound of sparks, the acrid smell of smoke...

What was that all about?

Water spirits and fire spirits possessed opposing natures. Fire spirits couldn't live in damp places, and water spirits couldn't exist where flames had scorched away all moisture. It was a natural law.

Were the children who spoke to her safe?

Then, someone knocked on the door. It was Arnold.

"Your Highness, Duke Christen requests an urgent audience."

"Tomorrow."

Felix cut him off coldly.

Having stormed out during an important meeting, the Duke had every reason to be furious. He had gone to great lengths to hide Diana's existence from the public eye.

Hilde's prostitute. The fact that he had brought a woman into the palace – a woman who had lived in a brothel, treated worse than a butcher slaughtering livestock, even if she hadn't actually sold her body – was perfect fodder for Prince Eisen's supporters to exploit. They had likely sent Diana there for that very purpose from the start; they wouldn't let this opportunity slip.

Thus, among Felix's supporters, Hugo Christen was the only one who knew of Diana's existence until now.

But that changed today.