Chapter 16
“Hestia! What on earth is going on? What’s happened to you?”
He looked at me in shock and quickly gave orders to summon my physician.
In the meantime, many people came and went from my room.
The King wandered aimlessly, unsure of what to do.
But after glancing at me a few times, he eventually turned his head and left the room first.
I didn’t understand why at first, but after hearing the physician speak, I began to get an idea.
“Your Highness. When did these symptoms begin?”
He spoke with visible tension in his voice.
As I explained, he shook his head with a look of disbelief.
“Your face is swelling, and reddish spots are appearing. It could be a contagious disease.”
I glanced at Beatrice, who gave a nearly imperceptible nod.
“Where does it hurt the most, Your Highness?”
I told him it was my abdomen.
There was no actual pain, but I couldn’t say that.
He tried to treat me, and I worried that his treatment might interfere with Erkan’s magic.
Even though I was perfectly healthy, I feared adding medicine might cause harm.
But he wasn’t in a position to consider that now.
He likely believed that even if he had to treat my body like a test subject, he had to find some way to save me.
I spoke to him quietly.
“I’m already a dead woman. I know that. I can feel it. So if you get the chance, you should run away. If you stay by my side, you’ll end up the target of the King’s wrath, accused of letting me die. Just go.”
“Your Highness… how can you say such a thing?”
He shook his head in denial, but he too must have known that it would likely come to that.
I told him again, more seriously, but he stayed silently at my side as if he hadn’t heard a word.
Beatrice came over and told him to let her know if there was anything she could do. He gave her a few tasks.
They weren’t anything major, but it seemed he didn’t like physically touching me, so he handed those responsibilities off to Beatrice.
From then on, he began keeping a little distance.
“What’s wrong?”
“The spots are spreading, and now there are blisters on your face. Even someone who truly loves Your Highness would find it hard to look you in the eye now.”
Beatrice whispered softly.
I saw a faint smile form at the corners of her lips.
There were others in the room, so she couldn’t speak freely, but she seemed satisfied, thinking everything was going as planned.
The physician finished his prescription and left the room.
I didn’t know if he would come back.
Honestly, I hoped he wouldn’t.
I had to get a divorce and leave this place. I didn’t want anyone else getting hurt or involved because of me.
If the price for involvement was death, that would be truly tragic.
Even if it wasn’t my intention, I wouldn’t be able to deny that people died because of me.
I had no choice but to end this quickly.
If not, more people would get dragged in, and more would fall victim to the King’s rage.
“Beatrice, can you go find the physician and make sure he doesn’t return? Give him enough money to start a new life somewhere else. I don’t want him to die because of me.”
Beatrice looked stunned that I was even worrying about such things.
“Your Highness…”
“Please. Just do it. I’ll feel better knowing he’s safe.”
“…”
“Hurry, before we lose the chance. I’ll try to sleep a little in the meantime.”
“Yes, Your Highness. I’ll be back soon.”
Beatrice quickly disappeared.
I drifted into sleep for a while, and quite some time must have passed.
But Beatrice hadn’t returned yet.
Instead, the King’s maids entered and stared at my face.
“What is it?”
I asked, and one of them replied,
“His Majesty ordered us to come check on you.”
“I see. And what do you think?”
They didn’t respond—just exchanged glances.
It seemed my face had become even more grotesque.
“By the way, where is the physician?”
They wouldn’t have asked on their own. Most likely, the King had instructed them to find that out as well.
“He left to investigate, since the symptoms were so unusual. He’s very skilled, so he’ll figure it out. He probably needs to look through books and gather herbs, so please inform His Majesty not to interfere. He’s the only one I can rely on right now.”
“Yes, Your Highness. We will do so.”
The maids left as if they couldn’t bear to look at me anymore.
Their disgusted expressions were clear, and once they were gone, I got up and went to stand in front of the mirror.
“Gasp!”
Seeing my reflection, I covered my mouth.
“Uh…”
It was my face, but I couldn’t bring myself to say anything.
I stared for a moment longer, hand still over my mouth, before turning away.
Even though it was my own face, it was hard to keep looking at it—so it must have been even harder for others.
It looked like someone had placed my photo under glass and then dripped water all over it—warped and distorted.
Red blotches appeared here and there, making it look even more disturbing and grotesque.
Even though I knew it was caused by magic, I couldn’t help feeling frightened.
I crawled back under the covers and waited for Beatrice.
She returned almost an hour later.
Her clothes carried the chill of the cold wind, and her face was flushed and glistening with sweat, as if she hadn’t stopped running.
Only after entering the room and seeing me did she finally look relieved.
“Your Highness, your face looks even worse now.”
Then she smiled brightly.
There was no one else in the room, which made things easier.
It had been hard work clearing out everyone, but they had looked so revolted by my face that they left reluctantly, almost as if I had done them a favor.
It worked out perfectly for me.
“You’re back? Did everything go well?”
“Yes, Your Highness. I gave him plenty of money and told him to leave today no matter what.”
“Do you think he’ll listen?”
“He probably wanted to leave even before I said it. Who doesn’t value their own life?”
She sat next to me with a chair.
“Sir Erkan is truly incredible. I never imagined something like this would be possible. I don’t think a divorce will be difficult now. If His Majesty can still embrace you after seeing you like this, I’ll completely change my opinion of him.”
“Is it that bad? Well, I did look in the mirror earlier. It really was awful.”
“Yes. It’s… very hard to look at.”
Even so, Beatrice looked at me without flinching.
“Doesn’t it gross you out?”
“I know it’ll go away soon.”
But that wasn’t the only reason.
I also knew it was temporary, but it still horrified me.
“Your Highness, aren’t you hungry? You haven’t eaten anything in a while.”
“I’m not that hungry.”
“Still, you should eat something, even just a little. I don’t think you’ll need to fake being sick anymore. People won’t even want to approach.”
She had a point, and once she mentioned it, I realized I was a little hungry, so I nodded.
She had food brought in quickly. The people I had dismissed earlier hadn’t gone far and were still waiting in the hallway, so her instructions were carried out immediately.
Not long after I finished eating, the King’s maids came again.
They didn’t say anything—just looked at my face and left.
Their faces scrunched up the moment they saw me, giving me an idea of how terrible I must look.
“It must really be that bad.”
“Yes, Your Highness. It’s unspeakable.”
Only Beatrice seemed pleased.
“Beatrice, you should rest now. I’ll sleep some more too. We don’t know how long this will last, and we shouldn’t wear ourselves out.”
“It’s okay, Your Highness. I’m not uncomfortable at all. I’m fine, really.”
I nodded at her response.
Still, I figured if I slept, it might give her a chance to relax a bit, so I closed my eyes and pretended to sleep.
When I woke up, morning had already arrived.
Beatrice had just finished replacing the flowers in the room and came to me when she heard me call.
“Your face is all red, Your Highness. The spots are gone, but the blisters remain, and you look like you’re burning up with fever. I’ve been placing wet towels on you. It seemed harmless enough, and I thought using medicine carelessly might be more dangerous. We should’ve asked Sir Erkan what to do in cases like this.”
“Yes. We really should have.”
I had been thinking the same thing. After that, every time a new prescription was given, Beatrice would pretend to give me the medicine but actually discard it.
