CHAPTER 162……………………………………………..
“Ugh……”
In the darkness, Chloe clenched her teeth as she wrapped a bandage tightly around her arm. The moment she tied the clean white cloth, dark blood seeped through, and a groan escaped her without her meaning to.
“Ar-are you all right?!”
“What kind of stupid question is that?!”
Chloe shoved away Pyrel, who looked utterly terrified.
Could he really not tell, even seeing her like this?
She wanted to gouge out his useless eyes, but even someone like him was necessary if she was going to move around at all.
“I’m sorry, but there are no doctors left we can bring. Maybe in the capital, but here… we’ve only been able to find those who secretly treat patients at night. If too many people keep coming and going, suspicion will rise. We might get caught.”
“Ugh…”
“At this rate… I don’t think this arm can be saved.”
Pyrel clicked his tongue as he stared at the wound, which was turning blacker by the day. No matter how he looked at it, it wasn’t a normal injury.
…Could it really be some kind of curse?
Swallowing the words he couldn’t bring himself to say, Pyrel stepped back from her. His obvious fear that it might spread to him made Chloe’s eyes widen sharply.
“You’d better not think about running away. If you do, I’ll tell Father everything—about how you tried to sneak into the storage and escape.”
“M-my lady, of course not! How could I ever think such a thing?”
Damn it. What rotten luck.
Pyrel twisted his face in frustration where she couldn’t see.
He had rushed back as soon as the ducal house showed signs of collapse, hoping to secretly grab some severance pay before it was too late… only to run straight into her, hiding inside the warehouse.
“I wondered where you disappeared to without a word… crawling in like a rat.”
“Gah! My lady!”
He didn’t know how long she’d been there, but the bright, elegant noblewoman he once knew was nowhere to be found.
Clutching her bleeding arm, Chloe was filled with vicious fury.
“Be quiet. If we’re discovered, it won’t just be me who dies.”
Even if she snarled like that, she was still a fugitive with nothing left.
He’d never been told exactly who she was running from or why, but seeing the once-proud duke’s daughter unable to show her face in daylight meant she must have caused something serious.
“…My lady, if we don’t treat your arm soon, we may have to… amputate—”
“Shut up! Who’s cutting anything off?!”
In the pitch-black darkness, the eerie green gleam in her eyes was terrifying.
When they first reunited, it hadn’t been this bad… but day by day, it was growing worse.
“Just continue what you were saying! That woman really left, didn’t she?”
“Ah… yes. I looked into it. She departed from the Sergio estate yesterday afternoon. They said it was so extravagant it looked like a wedding procession.”
“How vulgar!”
Even while suffering in pain, Chloe’s temperament hadn’t changed.
Startled by her twisted smile, Pyrel hurriedly kept talking.
“More than one person saw the procession. It’s certain. The count even hired a mercenary troop, so the escort will be thorough.”
“Where was the villa again?”
“The Lennox region. Very far from here.”
“…Finally.”
For the first time in days, Chloe smiled in satisfaction, her breathing growing uneven.
The rumor that the woman had collapsed from shock must have been true.
Please… just die like that.
It enraged her that she couldn’t strangle that woman with her own hands. But first, her arm had to recover.
“And the Crown Prince going to the imperial palace… that’s confirmed?”
“Of course. The rumors are everywhere. His Majesty the Emperor is keeping him there. He’s definitely still inside the palace.”
“Good.”
With a triumphant smile, Chloe pulled a small pouch from inside her coat and tossed it.
Clink!
The metallic sound hitting the floor made Pyrel’s eyes light up.
“M-my lady, this is…!”
“This is truly the last of it. Now go and get a carriage.”
“A carriage?”
“Mercenaries who’ll protect me, people who’ll do anything for money… they’re everywhere, aren’t they?!”
It was time to prepare for the worst.
Chloe struggled to put her coat back on, then narrowed her eyes.
What is that idiot doing now?
Pyrel stood there, entranced, staring greedily at the hidden money. Chloe threw the coat at him.
Whoosh.
Startled, Pyrel scrambled to his feet, pretending to hurry.
“I-I’ll return quickly. With this much, I should be able to hire at least a small escort.”
“…Wait.”
“Huh? Why—ugh!”
Even in such urgency, Pyrel had been blinded by a few gold coins.
In an instant, his arm was stained red.
His arm had been slashed open so fast he almost screamed—but the real reason to scream was what came next.
“…Doesn’t it look like an ordinary wound to you?”
“M-my lady!”
“Now you’re truly in the same boat as me. You know even doctors can’t cure this. If you want to live, don’t get any foolish ideas. Just come back on time.”
Chloe hissed cruelly as she leaned close, then stopped rubbing her own dragon-bitten arm against his wound.
Whether the curse spread or not, a weak man like him would have no choice but to believe her.
“H-huh…”
Of course he would, after seeing how her arm rotted day by day.
Pyrel’s face twisted in horror—panic and terror mixing together as though his arm might begin decaying at any moment. He looked pitiful, sniffing at his blood-soaked sleeve.
“Didn’t you hear me? Hurry up! We need to find the medicine!”
“…I-is there really medicine?”
“Can’t you see your arm starting to rot? It’ll spread through your whole body soon!”
Chloe forced the trembling Pyrel out the door.
Yes… she should’ve done this from the beginning.
A sharp smile flashed across her gaunt cheeks.
“…Of course, I’ll be healed soon enough.”
