COARV Chapter 12

"You don't seem to realize you almost died. I won't tell a patient to get up, so stay lying down."

"Thank you."

After receiving Lesche's permission, I felt somewhat more at ease. I lay still and closed my eyes, when Lesche asked abruptly.

"I cannot understand what goes on in your head. What kind of dream makes you cry like that?"

"Was I crying?"

"Why else would I wake a sleeping person?"

"So it was Your Grace who woke me."

I blinked slowly.

"I dreamed I was dying."

"Are you afraid of dying?"

"Are there people who aren't afraid of dying?"

"I thought you wouldn't be afraid of such things."

"Me?"

Somewhat absurd, I laughed—a sound that didn't match the situation. I struggled so hard to survive. After laughing, I quickly grew serious.

'Does that mean Seria normally acted like her guts were hanging outside her body?'

For that to be true, Lesche's voice sounded a bit softer than usual. Weren't we having quite a long conversation right now? Normally he was someone really difficult to even talk to.

Something I'd forgotten suddenly came to mind.

"What about Kallis?"

Lesche made a cynical expression. He plopped down on my bed, snatched the handkerchief I was holding, and roughly scrubbed my forehead like polishing a porcelain vase.

"...Your Grace? What are you doing?"

"Wondering if you developed amnesia."

"...?"

Lesche asked a beat later.

"Don't you remember what happened at the wedding?"

When a person is in too much pain, they lose consciousness. In other words, memories just before that become hazy like a dream. I'd experienced this vividly at the wedding hall.

I clearly remembered collapsing in pain and crying.

After that, it was half like a dream.

"I finished the wedding ceremony."

"Yes."

I got married somehow. That's why I was alive. But I had no memory of seeing Kallis's figure until the very end at the wedding hall.

What I did remember was Lesche Berke with snow still clinging to his shoulders and hair that he hadn't brushed off. The cold air that permeated his body.

Was that a dream?

"Did I... marry Your Grace?"

Lesche didn't answer for a moment. Looking down at me silently, he slowly opened his mouth.

"Yes."

I blinked blankly. Incomprehension, bewilderment, shock. All kinds of emotions mixed together—I couldn't take my eyes off Lesche. Lesche didn't avoid my gaze at all.

"...Why?"

Lesche clicked his tongue.

"You want the head of House Berke to bear the dishonor of losing a Stern?"

"Ah..."

"I'd rather throw my knight's insignia into the lake."

Short and clear, but understandable enough. However, there was still one thing I didn't understand.

"Did Your Grace know I would die?"

I hadn't said a single word to Lesche about feeling like I might die. I'd been in too much pain to get any words out.

But there had been many priests there. The priests' words about tangled divine power had echoed loudly through the ceremony hall. That's why even Abigail had stopped mid-climb. Everyone must have naturally assumed it was a problem with tangled divine power.

Lesche looked at me silently, then spoke.

"Would I be the only one who knew?"

"Pardon?"

"My lady."

"Yes, Your Grace."

"I'll rule it innocent even if you kill Marquess Haneton."

Setting aside how terrifying that statement was, the content was strange. Just in case, I desperately hoped it wasn't true as I slowly asked Lesche.

"Did Kallis know that if he was late to the wedding, I might die?"

Lesche looked away from me and said.

"Yes."

"..."

For a moment, my chest felt cold as if sliced by ice. As a Stern, I'd never been told about this. It must have been something only communicated separately to Kallis as the betrothed.

Then... Kallis had gone out and not returned, knowing I could be in danger.

My hands resting on the blanket grew ice cold. As my trembling hands barely gripped the fabric—

Knock, knock.

A knocking sound. Lesche withdrew his gaze from me and stood up from the bed.

"Come in."

The one who opened the door and entered was none other than Chief Aide Linon. He bowed his head briefly, then spoke.

"Your Grace. Word has come from the Grand Temple. The High Priest says he will visit soon—you should come verify."

'The High Priest?'

As a Stern, the High Priest wasn't such a surprising figure to me. But that was only my position. To ordinary mortals, the High Priest was a sacred and exalted being so lofty it was difficult to even look up at him. Moreover, the High Priest rarely left the Holy Kingdom.

And yet he was coming in person?

Unlike me opening my eyes wide, Lesche showed no sign of surprise at all. He just had a look of deep annoyance in his eyes.

"Let's go see."

Lesche left without looking back. He really was tall. He strode away in an instant.

In contrast, Linon slowed his steps subtly, then quickly returned to me as soon as Lesche left the bedroom.

"Lady Seria."

A very affectionate form of address, unlike Linon who normally called me "my lady." Linon rubbed his hands together like a subordinate flattering a superior.

"Actually, I'd like to call you Grand Duchess right away, but you know how it is? Once we receive His Imperial Majesty's approval, the Grand Duke's marriage is officially complete."

Officially complete. Those words sounded truly strange. Wasn't this... closer to a temporary marriage?

A wedding ceremony that Lesche Berke had performed as a temporary measure to save my life for some reason. A wedding ceremony with no valid reason to continue.

It wasn't pessimism, but realistic assessment.

I don't know what expression I was making. But Linon's expression changed slightly.

"My lady, I actually ambitiously prepared a wedding gift..."

Linon, who had been murmuring quietly, suddenly flinched his shoulders. The sight looked exactly like a rabbit detecting a predator's presence. Following Linon's gaze as he quickly looked outside the door, I saw—but no one was there?

Linon's complexion paled as he bowed his head deeply.

"I'll come back to attend you shortly."

Then without giving me time to respond, he quickly—actually practically ran out. Left alone in the bedroom in an instant, I just blinked.

I absentmindedly put weight on my arm and flinched at the sharp pain I felt. Only after rolling up my fluttering nightgown sleeve did I realize.

My entire arm was wrapped in bandages.

'Because I almost died at the wedding hall.'

The arm I'd just leaned on must have torn open a wound—blood was trying to seep through. I pulled the bell cord to summon the maids.

I briefly heard their reactions to the recent wedding from them and bathed with their help. To meet the healing priest, I had them prepare comfortable clothes to go to the main castle.

"This dress with a cloak over it would be best."

"If you wear something with wide sleeves and tie them appropriately with ribbons, it won't interfere with treatment..."

The maids had just pulled an appropriate dress from the wardrobe.

Bang!

The bedroom door burst open roughly.

"Seria! Seria Stern!"

A man rushing in with it. Disheveled golden hair and pitch-black pupils. My fiancé... or rather, former fiancé, Kallis Haneton. It was that man. Berke's knights hurriedly followed as Kallis rushed into the bedroom in a single bound.

"Marquess Kallis Haneton! You cannot enter so presumptuously!"

"His Grace the Grand Duke said not to admit anyone except those he permitted!"

'Why are knights guarding my bedroom?'

That question was brief.

Kallis's condition was a mess. He looked like he'd been rolling in snowbanks, with bandages wrapped around his forehead and wrists.

But setting all that aside, the eyes looking at me were strangely burning. Yes, well... we had things to discuss.

I draped the shawl hanging by my bedside over my shoulders and said.

"Everyone leave. I have things to discuss with Marquess Haneton."

I'd been planning to threaten them if the knights refused, but surprisingly, they bowed with discipline and went outside without much argument. The contrast was striking—blocking Kallis like a criminal but readily following my words. Though it didn't seem to be an important issue to Kallis.

The bedroom was quiet after even the maids left reading the mood.

"Seria!"

Kallis strode over and gripped both my shoulders. His eyes blazed with fury.

"How could you do this? How could you marry another man, the Grand Duke of Berke no less! Ser—!"

Smack!

Kallis's cheek didn't turn as far as I'd thought. I had little strength in my hand. I was frustrated. He didn't know how miserable I'd been standing alone at the wedding hall.

"You're the one who didn't come."

"...Seria."

"You're the one who didn't come to the wedding."

I glared at Kallis and spoke, biting off each word.

"I married another man? You brought it on yourself, Kallis. If it hadn't been for His Grace, I would have died. Coughing blood, dying horribly. Because you didn't come!"

His jaw clenched.

"Why? Curious how I found out? That you knew full well I might die if you were late to the wedding. No, wait. Actually, you wanted me to die, didn't you? That's why you went off to fool around with Lina!"

"Seria. Please... It was an accident. I didn't not come on purpose!"

"An accident?"

I gritted my teeth.

"Did someone hold a knife to your throat threatening to kill you if you didn't sneak out to the glacier with Lina? Two days before the wedding, going out to a glacier where accidents frequently happen, and you call it an accident?"

"I'm sorry."

Kallis ran both hands down his face.

"I'm sorry, Seria..."

"Get out."

"Seria. Seria, please."

"I said get out!"

He desperately grabbed hold of me. Trembling as he held both my hands, he began pleading.

"I was worried you'd get hurt, Seria. You can take it as an excuse. But even with the blizzard raging, I tried to get out somehow. I collapsed at the door and that's why I was so late..."

Tears began forming in Kallis's black pupils.

"You know you're the only woman I wanted to marry. The confession I made wasn't a lie. I truly love you."