Chapter 180
The Abandoned Empress
âHeâs right, my lady. Donât get up yet. You should take a good rest for a while. â
âButâ¦â
âIf you insist, let me give you a pillow, so you can lean on it.â
âAhâ¦Thanks, Sein. â
Carsein helped me lean against several pillows, then pulled up a thick blanket and covered me.
Tilting my head, I looked at Carsein because he looked different up close. With his neatly trimmed hair, deeper eyes and sharp aura, he was very different from the old him that I used to know.
Has something happened to him while I was in bed?
When I looked at him again suspiciously, Carsein, who was tidying up the blankets, asked, tilting his head to the side, âWhatâs the matter, Tia?â
âOh, nothing. By the way, where is my father â¦? â
âHeâs still in the Imperial Palace. He is coming back soon. â
âI see.â
When I answered with a subdued voice, Carsein, who looked at me silently, said to the High Priest, âYour Eminence, why donât you take a short break? I think you had better explain what happened since you arrived here after her father arrived.â
âSounds good. As her poisoning has been neutralized, I think I can take a break. See you a little later, Lady Monique.â
âAh, yes.â
When the High Priest disappeared, Carsein approached me carefully, sat at my bedside and put his hands on my cheeks. At that moment, I felt his hands suddenly hardening with a twitch.
âSein, whatâs wrong?â
He murmured as he hurriedly pulled me hard.
âHuh?â
âYour cheeks feel warm⦠â
ââ¦Sein.â
âWhat a relief! I feel so relieved now. Itâs so fortunate that you received treatment before it was too lateâ¦â
When he kept reciting the words with a hoarse voice, I lifted my wobbly arm and patted his back slowly.
Initially, I tasted bitter for some reason. If I had hurriedly called for help when I felt something was wrong, I would not have ended up in this situation. I thought I caused trouble to many people around me because I took my condition too lightly.
Carsein, who had been burying his face in my shoulder for a long time, carefully disengaged me from his chest and stroked my cheeks gently with his large hand.
âNever againâ¦â
âHuh?â
âI thought I could never see you again, Tia. I thought I couldnât hear your voice. â
â⦠Sorry.â
âSo, donât be sick, Tia. Please! I donât want to see you sick anymore. â
âYes, I wonât be sick.â
I felt heartbroken when he looked at me with tearful eyes. He stopped when I was trying to lower my head out of a sense of guilt, and said in a subdued voice.
âDonât feel that way, Tia. You know itâs been a while since weâve seen each other like this.â
ââ¦Sein.â
âI missed you a lot, Tia.â
âMe, too.â When I barely smiled at him, he looked a bit relaxed.
At that moment, I heard somebody knocking on the door. Shortly afterwards, Lina stepped into the room and said, bowing to me, âMarquis Monique has just come.â
âOh, let me go downstairs, so please take care of the lady. â
âYes, Sir Carsein.â
Watching him giving her instructions casually, I was dumbfounded because I didnât know he was close enough to instruct her like that.
As if he noticed me gazing at him, he smiled slightly at me and walked out of the room, saying that he would escort my father here.
Lina approached me cautiously and looked at me crying.
âMy lady, youâve regained your consciousness! What a relief. Iâm so happy.â
âItâs been a long time, Lina. How have you been?â
âHow can I keep well when you are sick? You have been lying in bed so long.â
âWell, what month is it now?â
âIt is the twenty-first day of the last month of 963 by the imperial power.â
ââ¦I see.â
When I fell, it was the third day of the tenth month. If so, has almost three months passed since I fell? How about the political situation for the past three months? What about my instructions to my subordinates? What about Jiun?
Suddenly, my head was pounding. When I moaned, putting my hand on my forehead, she hurriedly helped me keep my balance, and said, âAre you okay, my lady? Should I bring the High Priest right away?â
âNo, Iâm okay. He will be back here any minute.â
âBut your condition isâ¦â
âIf I feel I canât stand it, let me call him.â
âGot it. Then, before your father arrives, Iâll wash your body a bit. Please wait.â
Then she came back a little later with a basin full of warm water. She wiped my face and body with a wet towel, then washed my disheveled hair. Lastly, she changed my sweaty nightgown and gave me a mirror with a proud expression.
I looked at myself reflected in the mirror. My face, which I saw in three months, seemed very pale, but it was not bad as I just washed.
I let out a sigh. As Iâm seeing my father after a long time, I didnât want to show him my haggard look.
âOh, I look better. Thanks, Lina.â
âYouâre welcome, my lady.â
Lina, who smiled softly, went out with the basin. A little later a man stepped into the room. He was none other than my father.
ââ¦Itâs been a long time, Daddy. â
âYes, honeyâ¦â
His haggard face and trembling navy blue eyes. I could feel how concerned he was about me when he held my hands tightly.
When I smiled brightly, he pulled me to his chest silently. I rubbed my cheeks like a child, with my face buried in his strong chest.
âI missed you a lot, Dad. Iâm so glad I can see you again like this.â
âOh, you look a lot better than before, my lady,â said the High Priest playfully, entering the room.
I pulled my body from my fatherâs arms and bowed to him.
âYou have saved her life, Your Eminence. I donât know how I can repay your help. Thanks so much.â
âYouâre welcome. I could have arrived a little earlier, but something unexpected took place⦠I am very sorry for Lady Monique,â he said, sitting down after adjusting his long robes. His long white hair was dazzling.
âOh, Iâd like to greet you again. May the blessing of life be with you. Iâm Secundus, the second root of Vita. â
âAhâ¦. It looks like another High Priest seems to have returned to Vita.â
âStrictly speaking, thatâs not true. Well, Iâll talk to you later. Itâs top secret.â
âPardon? Ah yes.â
Tell me later? If itâs a top secret, isnât he supposed to say he canât tell me?
I looked at him suspiciously, but the High Priest smiled slightly and said nothing.
âSince the Spear of the Empire is here, let me explain to you. Well, Lady Monique has been poisoned by two different agents.â
âTwo?â
âThatâs right. Originally, chanting a charm to neutralize the poison is intended to drive away the harmful energy in our body, so it is not uncommon to know exactly what the poison is. Fortunately, I have experienced this specific poison before. As the royal doctor said the same thing, I think itâs almost certain.â
âWhat kind of poisonâ¦?â
At my asking he said with a serious look, âI need to confirm one thing first, my lady. If you take this poison for a long period of time, you feel dizzy and very much nauseated. You feel jammed up on the inside, you are out of breath often and your mood is up and down often, For example you suddenly get annoyed or angry at the slightest thing. Is that correct?â
â⦠Yes, exactly.â
âThatâs exactly what this poison is all about. I think you were sick because of this poison. Your poisoning was not that much, but when the poison in your blood increased over time, it threatened your life. The frightening thing about this poison is that it will ruin a womanâs body if she continues to consume small amounts for several months. â
â⦠Really?â My heart sank at that.
No way⦠Is the ominous sense I have right now really being realized in front of me?
My eyes turned to my father. When I saw him frowning in agony, I tightened my grip on the blanket unconsciously.
âIf you take this poison, your womb will dry out. Accordingly, it is difficult to have a baby or to give birth to a baby safely. In a word, it means that you would infertile. â
â⦠â
Suddenly, one thing came to mind. In the past, when I lost his baby miserably, I asked the royal doctor nervously. I felt like I was falling into hell, hearing the doctor saying he was sorry, with his head down.