Sion simply stared at Laila until she stood up straight.
His expression remained stern, if not more menacing.
‘Why is his expression like that?’
Laila, out of habit, scanned Sion’s face, trying to gauge his mood.
‘Did I do something to annoy him?’
It didn’t seem like she had done anything to warrant his anger.
Laila thought about this and then realized that she hadn’t answered Sion’s question about her injuries.
“Oh, Sion. I’m not hurt; I’m fine. But what about you…”
Laila stiffened, unable to finish her question, “Are you injured?”
Sion did have injuries.
It was all too visible.
Laila stiffened, then raised her voice.
“Your wrist!”
“My wrist? What about it?”
“It’s broken!”
“It’s nothing.”
Sion nonchalantly glanced down at his limp right wrist and dismissed it with a casual reply.
“Tsk. It’s just a scratch.”
Seemingly satisfied with his assessment, Sion then completely shifted his focus away from his wrist. That was it.
He began to move away from the spot.
“Let’s get moving for now. We need to find the carriage. If it’s gone, we’ll have to move to a place where we can get one.”
“Wait, wait! Let’s treat your wrist first.”
Laila’s gaze fixed on Sion’s right wrist, which he had disregarded.
The wrist was swelling up. Even at a glance, it didn’t look good.
‘What should I do? I’ll find a branch nearby and use it as a splint, then use my skirt for the bandage…….’
“Forget it.”
Sion interrupted Laila’s busy thoughts.
“The bone will heal if left alone.”
“What……!”
“Or we can treat it later. For now, we need to move. What if another wolf shows up?”
Sion nonchalantly shook his broken right wrist. It was a gesture that looked painful to everyone watching, but he remained expressionless.
“I can’t fight much longer in this condition. You don’t want us to die together, do you?”
Of course not.
Laila swallowed hard. She knew she had to listen to Sion’s advice, but she couldn’t help but worry about his severely swollen wrist.
Without waiting for Laila, Sion gave her a strange look before walking away briskly.
“Don’t pick up branches and don’t rip your skirt. Just follow me.”
“…did you read my mind?”
“The method to treat a broken bone is obvious.”
Without waiting for Laila, Sion walked away briskly. Unable to stay still any longer, Laila let go of the torn fabric she had been holding onto and followed Sion.
She let go of the hem of her skirt, which she had been holding on to the whole time, debating whether or not to tear it, and followed after him.
✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧
The carriage was hidden close by. Indeed, the term ‘hidden’ suited it perfectly.
As Laila spotted the carriage among the dense trees, she bit her lip.
“Oh dear, Miss Laila!”
The knight standing near the carriage approached Laila and Sion with an exaggeratedly surprised expression.
“I’m so sorry. Were you looking for me? I was just about to return to you with the picnic supplies when suddenly I felt my stomach turn…”
“The carriage.”
“Yes?”
“Why did you move the carriage here?”
“Well, you see… I can’t do my business in a place that’s open on all sides, can I? So I thought I’d take the carriage for a while…….”
Laila silently looked at the knight, who shamelessly poured out his excuses before lowering her gaze.
‘There’s no point in questioning him here.’
He wouldn’t readily admit his mistake, and even if he did, this wasn’t the place to punish him immediately.
Laila took a deep breath to suppress her anger. Regaining her composure, she opened her mouth.
“Open the carriage door. We’re going back to the manor.”
“You’re going back already? Without having a picnic?”
“How can I have a picnic when there’s someone who is about to die?”
“About to die…”
The knight’s gaze finally landed on Sion. After a brief moment of realization, he nodded.
“Understood. Please get on the carriage.”
They escorted Laila to the carriage, where she quietly climbed in.
She didn’t voice the fact that the “someone about to die” wasn’t Sion.
With everyone, including Sion and the knight, on board, the carriage departed from the lakeside.
✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧
Upon arrival at the manor, Laila immediately sent Sion to Elvin.
Then, on her own, she made her way to Marquis Hildegarde’s office.
Dealing with the Marquis directly was something Laila usually tried to avoid, but…
Given the seriousness of the situation, she had no choice.
With the Marquis’s permission, Laila found herself alone with him and immediately kneeled before him.
“What is it?”
“I want you to punish the men who tried to murder me.”
“Murder?”
The Marquis responded as expected to the carefully chosen words.
Laila lowered her posture to a more respectful one.
“Three individuals conspired to kill me.”
Their names slowly rolled out of her mouth.
After lodging her complaint, Laila awaited the Marquis’s decision.
In truth, Laila’s accusations were purely speculative.
There was no circumstantial evidence, just suspicions.
But Laila wasn’t worried about that.
Gathering evidence wasn’t her responsibility from the start.
Her task was simply to garner the Marquis’s attention to the matter.
As long as she did that, the evidence would practically present itself before the Marquis.
“Hmm…….”
Laila anxiously clenched her fists, and the Marquis directed his gaze toward a soldier standing decoratively in one corner of the office.
“Bring them in.”
One should not take the weak lightly. Laila knew this well.
But this wasn’t a matter of rash provocation.
Thomis had crossed the line; Laila couldn’t just stand by and do nothing.
“…….”
Upon being summoned to the office, Thomis hesitated as soon as he entered.
His trembling gaze fell upon the two individuals lying on the floor, blood dripping from their heads.
“What happened, Thomis Hildegarde?”
“…what do you mean, Father?”
“They say you tried to kill Laila.”
“Me?”
“Your name was mentioned by these individuals.”
It was clear who he was referring to when he said ‘these people’.
Laila lowered her gaze. The Marquis of Hildegarde confronted the coachman and the knight, who had arrived at the office long before Thomis, and they immediately confessed their crimes.
But that wasn’t all.
The knight even produced evidence.
They had secretly planted wolf-attracting spices on Laila’s shoes as soon as they arrived at the lake.
“I, I, we were just doing what we were told. Master Thomis told us to…”
Those were the last words the coachman and the knight spoke in their conscious state.
With a simple gesture, Marquis Hildegarde crushed their heads, then proceeded to summon Thomis.
And now, here he was.
“They say they tried to murder Laila on your orders.”
“That’s…….”
As Thomis hesitated with a pale face, a woman standing beside him spoke up.
“Pardon me, Marquis. I’m Angela, one of Master Thomis’s closest servants.”
She was his personal maid. Laila remembered that sometime ago, Thomis had begun to keep a maid, especially close to him.
“Though I’m just a lowly servant, may I dare to speak on behalf of Young Master Thomis?”
“Speak.”
“Thank you. First of all, it’s a misunderstanding that Young Master Thomis intended to harm Miss Laila.”
The maid, who gave her name as Angela, spoke calmly, with no sign of nervousness.
“The Master merely… did not like Miss Laila’s slave, so he asked these two, who have collapsed here, to slightly harm her slave.”
The maid, Angela, turned to Thomis, who stood close to her.
“Isn’t that right, Young Master?”
“Y-yes. That’s correct, father. That’s exactly what happened.”
