Chapter 33
“Yulia!!”
“My lady!”
Yulia hadn’t run in thinking she could block that heavy wooden pillar with her body. She’d simply meant to push Cayente, who was standing in the pillar’s falling path, out of the way and step back with him. But the problem was the wires tangled around the pillar. As she reached out to push Cayente, the wires, weighed down by the pillar, snagged around her outstretched arm, and Yulia ended up toppling forward.
Thankfully, another wire caught on a different pillar, acting as a makeshift support, and the falling pillar stopped at an awkward angle before it could crush her. Still, Yulia wasn’t able to avoid injury entirely.
“My lady! Are you all right?”
“My lady!”
“Who set up this pillar?! How carelessly was it put up that it just fell over like this?! What are you going to do now?! Look at all this blood! Our young lady is hurt!”
“My lady! Can you stand up? Where does it hurt?”
“Please wait! I’ll fetch the doctor!”
The worst injury seemed to be her knee, which had slammed into the ground, but the bleeding was actually from Yulia’s hand, which she had braced against the ground to catch herself. In the fall, the impact had shattered some light bulbs, and the shards were now embedded in the back of her hand.
The baroness, seeing the blood, shrieked in panic, scolding the carpenters, while Lucy tried desperately to help Yulia stand. But even after Henry ran off to fetch the doctor, Yulia struggled to catch her breath for a long while.
Everything hurt so much—her knee, her hand, everything—that she had to stop breathing for a moment. And when she tried to inhale, the pain only intensified.
“Breathe.”
It was Cayente who firmly pulled Yulia upright. At his words, Yulia drew in a breath, only to let out a deep, pain-filled groan.
“Oh heavens, look at you, a bride-to-be, all battered like this. What are we going to do?”
“I—I’ll go get a clean towel to wipe away the blood!”
“What are we going to do about this?! How could you handle things so poorly?!”
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, madam.”
The baroness still seemed more upset about the incident itself than about Yulia’s injuries. Cayente, on the other hand, was more concerned about Yulia’s bloodied hand than the wrecked garden. Yulia, too, was anxiously moving her fingers, clearly sharing Cayente’s worry.
Would she be able to play the cello again? Would her fingers still function properly?
“Instead of panicking, madam, check Yulia’s hand first.”
“Oh, goodness, you’re right. Yulia, is your hand okay?”
All Yulia wanted at that moment was to get rid of the sharp, piercing pain from the glass shards embedded in her hand. Just looking at it made her eyes sting, and it felt like the pain was spreading to her entire hand.
“My lady! I brought a towel! Let’s wipe your knee first. Sir Henry, about the glass in her hand… should we remove it now?”
“I’ve already sent for the doctor. He should be here any moment. Let’s move her to the drawing room first.”
“Yes! My lady, do you think you can walk?”
“Madam, please stay here and oversee the cleanup.”
“Me?”
As Lucy supported Yulia, helping her walk slowly, Cayente stopped the baroness, who was about to follow them.
“If you started this mess, it’s your responsibility to see it through, isn’t it?”
“Well… all right.”
After briefly watching the baroness direct the carpenters in cleaning up, Cayente turned and followed the path Yulia had taken. The droplets of blood on the grass stood out with each step Yulia had taken, stabbing at Cayente’s eyes with every glance, making him let out a small sigh.
Who exactly was she trying to save, anyway?
Even if the pillar had fallen, Cayente would have just taken the hit to his back, winced, and moved on. But Yulia had stepped in, shedding unnecessary blood. The thought made Cayente inexplicably angry, and he stomped on a bloodstained patch of grass.
How far, and for how long, does she plan to keep acting like a good person…
* * *
“Could you try bending and straightening each finger, one at a time?”
While Yulia sat in the drawing room, Lucy carefully wiped away the blood, avoiding the wounds, and the doctor arrived shortly after. With practiced hands, he removed the shards embedded in the back of Yulia’s hand and assured them that the wounds didn’t appear too deep.
Each time a shard was pulled out, a sharp sting made Yulia flinch and shudder, but she eventually raised her hand in front of her face, bending and straightening her fingers, one by one.
“Now, could you try clenching your hand tightly into a fist, then releasing it?”
“Ah!”
The act of clenching wasn’t the problem, but the pain from the wounds on the back of her hand made it unbearable when she applied pressure. As Yulia let out a pained cry, the doctor checked the bandages once more and continued.
“For now, it doesn’t seem like there’s any major issue with your hand. However, whether your grip strength is fully intact… we’ll need to confirm that again once the wounds have healed.”
“Our young lady will be all right, won’t she?”
“She should be fine. I’m only mentioning potential issues as a precaution, so there’s no need to worry too much.”
“What exactly do you mean by ‘potential issues’?”
“Well, if there are any tiny shards that we missed, too small to see, and they move deeper into the wound, it could potentially cause damage… Depending on where it happens, it might affect your ability to use certain fingers freely.”
Even though Yulia had resigned herself to giving up on the cello, hearing that she might truly never play again made her feel suffocated with fear.
“This doctor is second only to His Majesty the Emperor’s personal physician in the Empire. He’s only mentioning the worst-case scenario out of professional diligence, so you really don’t need to worry, my lady.”
Sensing Yulia’s anxiety, Henry tried to reassure her, emphasizing the doctor’s credibility. Lucy added that everything would be fine, promising to change her bandages daily with clean ones, but the anxiety in Yulia’s chest didn’t fully ease.
“Well, even if it comes to that, we’ll just find another solution.”
Amid the treatment, Cayente suddenly spoke up, his comment so unexpected that all eyes in the drawing room turned to him.
“If a problem arises, we’ll fix it, one way or another. Isn’t that right?”
“Yes, Count. In this day and age, medical technology is far beyond what it used to be.”
“Exactly. So there’s nothing for you to worry about, my lady.”
Even if there was a problem, it could be fixed. Strangely, those words from Cayente brought Yulia a sense of relief. She didn’t know why, but it felt like if Cayente truly set his mind to solving something, it would be resolved, no matter what.
“Thank you.”
“I didn’t say it to hear a thank you. I just hate seeing you act like it’s the end of the world over something so minor, underestimating what I can do.”
“Still, thank you.”
She could see in Cayente’s slightly narrowed eyes the unspoken words, “So stubborn…” Yulia was grateful that he didn’t say them aloud. Even though she felt relieved, her hand still didn’t feel natural, and she was already feeling down. If he had scolded her, it would have made her feel even worse.
“By the way, Count, you owe the young lady a thank you.”
“What?”
After Lucy left to see the doctor out, Henry seized the moment, speaking to Cayente now that only the three of them remained.
“The young lady got hurt while trying to protect you, didn’t she? It’s only proper to thank her.”
Despite his usually warm demeanor, Henry’s tone was firm, carrying the nuance of an adult teaching a child. This visibly flustered Cayente, his pupils shaking for a moment before he glanced between Henry and Yulia repeatedly.
“You never know. If you hadn’t been lucky, you might have ended up bedridden for a long time from a hit to the back of your head.”
“That wouldn’t have happened.”
At Cayente’s muttered excuse, Yulia let out a soft, involuntary laugh.
“What are you laughing at?”
“It’s nothing, just…”
“I see you must be feeling better now.”
Though Cayente quickly returned to his expressionless face, scolding her lightly, Yulia didn’t feel hurt this time. For just a moment, she felt like she saw a glimpse of the younger Cayente, who used to shrink back in front of adults.
“Don’t ever do something like that again.”
“Count, you still owe her a thank you.”
“Who were you trying to save anyway, when you’d get twice as hurt under that pillar than I would?”
To Yulia, Cayente’s gruff words sounded like a thank you. They also felt like a worry that he would rather be the one hurt than her. Of course, she knew Cayente didn’t mean it that way, but she found herself hoping that someday, he would be able to say such words sincerely, free from the deep-seated fear that still consumed him.
“I promise.”
With that thought, Yulia smiled brightly, for once free of worry, and Cayente closed his mouth, squinting one eye slightly.
Even after everything, after all she had been through, she still found herself hoping. It was foolish, even she knew that, but…
If you watch over him with love, he will surely return to his true self one day.
Yulia had never been the type to give up on something easily. If she were, she would never have dared to dream of becoming a cellist.
So, she wished with all her heart that this marriage would become a happy one. Once more, Yulia allowed herself to dream—of the day when Cayente would find himself again and smile at her.
