Chapter 14
Give and Take
Sienna knew he would not kill her.
It was not her time to die yet, and he was not the kind of man who would kill her in front of everyone. Pierre cared about dignity and reputation almost obsessively. He treated them as more precious than his own life.
So he would never do something that stained his name.
She knew all of that.
But knowing did not make it any less frightening.
It did not make the pain disappear.
As her consciousness faded, memories from only a few weeks ago flashed before her eyes.
Blinding headlights.
The terrifying screech of tires.
Sticky, congealed blood.
A moment she never wanted to remember again replayed itself.
After everything she had survived.
After barely getting her life back.
She could not die like this.
Ironically, the moment she woke up again was the most painful.
“Cough—! Ugh!”
She sucked in air all at once, and violent coughing burst out.
“Princess!”
“Are you awake?!”
Sienna kept coughing until her face turned as red as her hair. Her heart pounded harder than it ever had during the last lap of a long-distance run. The taste of blood in her throat made her gag.
“I’m sorry… I couldn’t do anything. I’m so sorry.”
Anna stood beside her, tears filling her eyes.
“I didn’t die. I’m fine.”
“But I should have stepped in.”
Looking at Anna’s bloodshot eyes, Sienna spoke calmly.
“I don’t want anyone dying a pointless death. Not me. Not anyone.”
Pierre could not kill Sienna, but Anna—or anyone else—was a different story. That was the power he held.
“Anna, stay alive. Live a long life.”
“Princess…”
“You will, right?”
Anna nodded weakly, unable to speak through her tears.
“Still… that was really close.”
It felt like she had just high-fived the door of the afterlife and come back. She never wanted to experience that again, no matter how much money she was offered.
Everyone in the palace looked just as pale, like they had all barely survived.
“Where’s Arthur?”
“I’m not sure. He was here earlier…”
So annoying when he follows me everywhere, yet now he’s gone.
Sienna sat up in bed, holding a cup of warm tea Benny handed her, and looked around.
“This place is a mess.”
Of course it was.
That noble crown prince would never clean up after himself.
One person makes the mess, another cleans it up.
An old saying echoed in her head.
Anna, now calmer, immediately returned to work mode.
“I’ll tell them to clean everything up right away.”
“Slowly is fine. Everyone must be shaken. Let them rest.”
“And you, Princess? Are you really okay?”
“Yeah. I’m okay. I have to be.”
Sienna repeated it to herself.
I’m okay. I really am.
While everyone cleaned, she applied medicine to her wounds. The tips of her nails were red with dried blood—hers and Pierre’s mixed together. She had clawed at his wrist while struggling, scratched her own neck trying to escape his grip.
“My goodness…”
But what shocked Anna more than anything were the red marks around Sienna’s neck.
They looked like bruises and showed no sign of fading.
“That bastard.”
Was he really trying to kill her? Even if they shared blood?
She had known he was trash, but even that word felt too kind. He was toxic waste.
This was beyond something she could ignore.
“Pierre, you bastard!”
Sienna finally screamed as the anger rushed up.
“Cough! Cough!”
She started coughing again, but the rage burned stronger than the pain.
She could never endure injustice quietly.
“I will never let this go.”
She would get revenge.
He had touched the sleeping princess’s last nerve.
“Harley.”
At Pierre’s call, his escort knight Harley stepped forward.
Pierre tossed him his sword and threw his outer coat onto the floor.
As Harley bent to pick it up, he discreetly checked the blade.
At least there’s no blood.
Pierre had been in a terrible mood for days. Ever since hearing about the princess yesterday, even speaking to him had felt dangerous.
