MHHC Chapter 91

Reunion

That evening, as Mikhail had promised, the king died.

The funeral procedures and duration were drastically simplified, and exactly three days after the national mourning was held, Mikhail ascended to the throne.

Though there was a grown heir, the king's death had been far too abrupt.

Uneasy rumors circulated both within and beyond the borders, and the Nürnbergians needed a suitable scapegoat to strengthen their unity.

Adelheid's trial proceeded amid this chaos.

The judges were desperate to heap more crimes upon her head.

The crime of daring to take vows with an impure body, thus defiling the sacred; the crime of being born with a corrupted soul and therefore unable to inherit magical power; the crime of resorting to perverse sorcery to obtain magic; the crime of shamelessly seducing her own blood kin...

All of it had occurred under Mikhail's tacit approval.

Her honor plummeted in an instant into something utterly worthless and filthy.

Something too shameful to even tread upon, something that had been dim from the very beginning.

And each time Adele was thus vilified, Mikhail smiled with rapturous delight in the courtroom.

He seemed to be waiting. For her to become utterly miserable, to be torn to shreds until no one would pick her up.

'So when your life becomes completely wretched, only then will I reluctantly pick you up like salvation.'

The root of that emotion was obsession, stubbornness, and—terribly—desire.

With each day drawing closer to the trial's final verdict, she grew parched, unable to swallow even a mouthful of water.

Once confined and removed from people's attention, what Mikhail would do to her was as obvious as daylight.

Amid all this, it was fortunate at least that the temple had accepted Betitha.

From the occasional updates delivered sympathetically by passing soldiers, the child seemed to be adapting well and would soon become a member of the temple.

That, at least, was a stroke of fortune.

'I'm tired.'

Adele coughed dryly and leaned her gaunt cheek against the bars.

Each time she moved, the shackles fastened to suppress her magic rattled and clanked.

She suddenly lifted her head at the approaching presence.

Surprisingly, the person who had descended into this dreadful underground dungeon was a woman—a noblewoman, no less.

"Princess Adelheid."

"...Nadia."

With cracked lips, Adele barely managed to speak the other woman's name.

Nadia gazed at Adele's haggard appearance with complicated eyes, then pulled a pouch of gold coins from her bosom and handed it to the soldier who had escorted her.

When the soldier, glancing around nervously, hastily accepted and pocketed it, Nadia spoke quietly.

"I'd like you to give us some space."

"But—"

"You know magic can't be used here. If you've taken the money, you should earn it."

"...Then keep it brief. I'll be right outside."

The soldier soon closed the iron door and climbed the stairs.

Only then did Nadia crouch down to meet Adele's gaze. It was Adele who spoke first.

"This place forbids even passage. Why have you disobeyed even royal decree to come here? Even now—"

"Why haven't you done anything? About 'him.' You must have learned about him."

Nadia abruptly cut off Adele's words, answering her question with a question.

Adele quietly looked at Nadia's face.

The Nadia of that day, excessively obedient to Mikhail, remained vivid in her memory.

Yet now, this woman who had descended to this filthy dungeon and whose eyes gleamed as if urging some course of action upon her—this was the same person.

'Is she on Mikhail's side? A trap? Or... truly trying to help?'

Nothing could be certain. Adele cautiously tested her.

"You already knew, didn't you? What kind of existence Mikhail is..."

"That's why I warned you. It was you who didn't listen. Though, admittedly, you barely had time to listen."

Though Adele had thought Nadia might deny it or make excuses, she nodded readily and spoke.

"But, Princess. I don't understand why you're being held so helplessly. Aren't you the dragon's lover? If I were you, I would have done everything possible to inform him."

"Inform him?"

"Then naturally he'd come to rescue his lover. Even now, if you give me something to prove yourself—yes, even if you cut off some of that long hair of yours, I could—"

"Nadia."

Adele calmly called her cousin's name. Nadia's eyes widened innocently.

"I never once said the dragon was my lover. Moreover, to summon him here... I don't want that."

"Why not?"

"Because that's exactly what Mikhail wants."

"..."

"If he reveals himself to rescue me and attacks humans, there would be no more threatening spectacle than that. If the Grand Temple spreads rumors about the dragon amid such chaos? A subjugation order would be issued, and humans would point their weapons at him."

"..."

"Wasn't that why Mikhail imprisoned me like this in the first place?"

Adele gestured around her and laughed weakly. It was exactly as she said.

Beyond the shackles fastened to her wrists, devices to block magic were positioned all around.

To break through such a place by force would inevitably cause a tremendous commotion.

Nadia stared at Adele with vacant eyes. Finally, as if coming to her senses, she let out an empty laugh.

"You're far more astute than I imagined, Princess. I never dreamed you'd think that far ahead."

"Is it surprising?"

"A little. I regret not having spoken with you sooner."

A brief, oppressive silence descended.

Nadia looked with unbearably complicated eyes at Adele coughing laboriously, at her thin shoulders, and at the slender body extending below.

Suddenly, a strange light entered Nadia's eyes.

"Princess. Lately... how has your body been?"

"My body?"

"Fatigue, difficulty moving, trouble swallowing food—things like that. Have you experienced such symptoms?"

"These days, always... Why do you ask?"

"I was simply checking if you had any discomfort."

"A prison cell can hardly be comfortable. You ask an obvious thing."

Though Adele answered calmly, enduring the freezing prison floor was becoming increasingly difficult.

Her lower abdomen constantly hardened and clenched, and the pain in her lower back was considerable.

Trying to find a comfortable position on the unforgiving floor, Adele belatedly noticed Nadia's face contorting gravely.

"...Nadia?"

Startled by her call, Nadia hastily composed her expression.

"Ah. The time already... Then I'll be going. I'll come again, so take care of yourself, Princess."

That unnatural and awkward exit was strangely unsettling.

As Adele stared at the iron door through which Nadia had departed, she suddenly realized.

Today marked ten days. Since she had promised Valentin she would return.

Was it because she was confined in a windowless place? After that, even gauging how much time had passed became difficult.

Perhaps she had simply given up counting the days altogether.

Nadia continued to visit occasionally, asking her various questions.

"Is it tomorrow? The day the trial verdict is announced."

"That's correct."

"It's been a full two months, hasn't it? This tedious trial is finally ending. Considering how interminably His Majesty dragged this case out, it's rather moving, even."

"At least it's ending now."

"But Adele, you don't look well... Take this. It's a blanket. Wrap it around yourself."

Now Nadia occasionally called her by name.

Adele gratefully accepted the blanket she offered. Enduring the prison was becoming increasingly difficult.

Whether from weakening health, even her already irregular menstruation had been absent for several weeks now.

"You look so pale. Should I petition His Majesty to send a physician?"

"There's no need. I fear only bringing disfavor upon you as well, Nadia. His Majesty wouldn't help anyway."

"...Then, even now, if you told the dragon—"

"I'm fine. I'll be moved soon anyway, perhaps tomorrow. More importantly, how is Betitha doing?"

"..."

"Nadia?"

"Ah... She's doing well. Of course."

"That's a relief."

When Adele smiled faintly, Nadia's eyes twisted subtly.

"Worry about yourself before concerning yourself with others. Your body is in such a state. Anyway, I'll come once more late tonight. Your complexion is far too poor to simply leave alone..."

That dawn, as Nadia had predicted, chills finally came. Each slight movement felt as though her lower abdomen and back were being torn to shreds.

Adele curled into a ball, unable even to groan. She felt like a lump of meat crushed by a hammer.

"Good God."

When she lost consciousness and then awoke, someone was holding her.

Her skirt was somewhat damp. For some reason it was far more clammy than usual, and there was a fishy smell of blood...

"Stay conscious, Princess."

"Na... dia?"

She barely opened her eyes at the hand weakly slapping her cheek. Her fever-laden eyes kept closing.

"I'm tired... Just let me sleep a moment..."

"If you lose consciousness like this, you could be hurt too. You might even miscarry the child!"

Child. Even amid the pain, Adele let out an empty laugh.

She couldn't understand at all what Nadia was saying. The moment she thought she truly couldn't endure it, her consciousness cut out again.

[Adele. I am.]

A will seemingly struggling to suppress rage seeped into her hazy mind.

Though terribly cold and exhausted, she knew it belonged to someone welcome. She raised her emaciated arm, barely able to move, and wrapped it around his neck.

[I heard you were doing well.]

"Ah, Valen... tin..."

[Why are you in such a state?]