Chapter 56
Cradled in Richard’s arms, I exited the courtroom through the main entrance. A carriage was already waiting in front, probably arranged beforehand. Richard helped me into the carriage and sat across from me, immediately setting the carriage in motion.
The rattling of the carriage felt unusually uncomfortable. It seemed that the pressure from Duke Tristan choking me had placed a significant strain on my body.
Leaning back against the seat, I raised my hand to touch my neck. I still felt the lingering sensation of Duke Tristan’s grip around my throat. A shiver ran through me at the chilling memory of that moment, and Richard furrowed his brows.
“I should have never allowed you to get near Duke Tristan in the first place.”
His words felt almost like a reprimand, and I lowered my head.
“I didn’t expect my father to act like that,” I murmured.
“…I’m not blaming you.”
When I spoke with a self-reproachful tone, Richard paused for a moment, then awkwardly continued.
“He’s the kind of man who would send a child to kill you, and then try to kill that child himself. He was about to lose everything, so what would he have cared for anything else? I’m the one at fault for not seeing that earlier. If I’d known he would act that way, I would have been by your side when you went near that little boy.”
In short, Richard wasn’t blaming me, but rather himself for not anticipating the situation and not being there with me.
Regardless, the situation had now evolved into one where both Richard and I were reconciled. Honestly, no one, not even I, the stepdaughter, could have predicted Duke Tristan would suddenly behave this way. His actions had been completely unexpected.
Although it was clear that he had ordered my death earlier, I hadn’t imagined he would choke me in the courtroom like that.
I flinched again at the unsettling sensation in my neck. It was an experience I never wanted to go through again.
“Is it still hurting a lot?” Richard asked with concern.
“I wouldn’t say it’s painful… more like… shocking,” I replied.
It was true that it hurt, but the mental shock was much more overwhelming.
“By the way, what’s happening with the trial? I don’t think there was a final verdict.”
“The verdict has been postponed until tomorrow. Obviously, they couldn’t give a verdict in that situation. Tomorrow, Duke Tristan will be entering the court in custody.”
“That makes sense.”
“With everything that happened today, the outcome of the verdict is pretty much predictable. So, you don’t have to worry about that. In fact, it works out in our favor now, so take care of yourself first.”
“I understand.”
I felt a bit chilly, so I opened the coat Richard had draped over my shoulders.
“We’ve arrived, Count.”
The carriage stopped, and the coachman announced our arrival through the small window. I looked outside to confirm where we were, and it was in front of the physician’s office.
With Richard’s help, I got out of the carriage. The area around the physician’s clinic was much more damaged compared to the morning when I had visited. Without needing an explanation, I could guess what had happened here.
Duke Tristan had likely caused the destruction in an attempt to abduct Sylvia and Dave.
Furrowing my brow, I surveyed the broken remnants before entering.
“Ah, madam, you’ve arrived!”
The physician quickly rushed out as soon as he saw us, looking flustered and unsure how to greet us.
“Actually, there’s something I must inform you of. The children you brought here were… attacked by men sent by Duke Tristan…”
“I know.”
I cut him off, showing him Dave, who had followed us from the carriage. The physician’s eyes widened as he saw him. He then exhaled deeply, relieved.
“Thank goodness. I was so worried something had happened…”
“We’ll go inside now. There’s a patient. As for the damages here, we’ll cover the repair costs, so feel free to send the bill later.”
“Yes, yes, of course.”
Richard wrapped his arm around my back and guided me inside. We entered the examination room prepared inside.
Since Duke Tristan’s targets were Dave and Sylvia, the wards and entrance were in disarray, but the examination room appeared untouched.
“By ‘patient,’ I assume you’re referring to this child?” the physician said as he looked at Dave, who was standing with difficulty. Indeed, he looked like he needed medical attention.
But Richard didn’t seem to think that Dave was the only patient.
“No, that child needs treatment, but I’d like you to check on my wife as well.”
“Madam?” the physician asked, taken aback, looking at me.
It was then that I took off Richard’s coat from my shoulders. As I did so, my neck, which had been choked by Duke Tristan, was exposed. The physician’s face went pale as he saw the marks.
“What… is this?”
“Please check her as well.”
“Y-Yes, of course.”
The physician carefully examined my neck. When I turned my head slightly to glance at the mirror set up in the examination room, the state of my neck was laid bare.
I hadn’t realized it until now, but there was a deep, dark bruise on my neck. It seemed to be the mark left by Duke Tristan’s grip when he choked me.
“Please take this for now,” the physician said after inspecting the wound and handed me a vial of medicine. Since it was a liquid, I opened the cap and drank it all at once. Fortunately, it didn’t taste bad.
“Now that you’ve taken the medicine, the bruise should fade in about two days. Do you feel any discomfort or odd sensation in your throat?”
“Mm, no, not really.”
“Good. Then I’ll give you more medicine; take one bottle morning and night.”
“Got it.”
The physician handed a bottle to Olivier, who had come in with us, and then started checking on Dave’s condition.
Earlier, the physician had said that Dave would likely wake up tomorrow, based on his original injuries. However, because Duke Tristan had forced him to wake up and had him moving around in that state, he didn’t seem to be in good shape.
The physician unwrapped the bandages around Dave’s body, applied more ointment to his wounds, and re-bandaged him. He then handed a small vial of medicine to him, just like he had done for me.
Dave hesitated, looking at the medicine bottle and glancing at me and Richard as if he were worried about whether it was okay for him to take it.
I nodded at Dave, reassuring him. Finally, he opened the bottle and drank the medicine in one go.
“Normally, you’d need more rest, so don’t overexert yourself,” the physician said, smiling gently as he looked at Dave, who appeared more at ease now. Dave awkwardly smiled back and nodded.
Then, he started glancing at me hesitantly.
“What’s wrong, Dave?”
Unable to ignore the constant feeling of his gaze on me, I finally asked. Dave hesitated, his lips moving but no words coming out. After a moment, as though he had made up his mind, he looked at me directly and spoke.
“Sylvia was taken by Duke Tristan.”
It was the question that Dave had been trying to ask me all along. And I could already guess the content of his question.
It was about the whereabouts of his younger sister, Sylvia.
Dave only knew that Sylvia had been abducted by Duke Tristan, but he seemed unaware that Richard had sent knights to rescue her. It appeared that he hadn’t heard the details due to his crying earlier.
I reached out and gently patted his head. He flinched when my hand touched him but didn’t pull away.
“If it’s Sylvia, we’re looking for her too. We should be able to bring her back soon,” I reassured him.
“…Okay.”
Dave responded gloomily. I was worried too.
Sylvia had been severely weakened by Darnnella’s disease. We had to find her as quickly as possible, but I couldn’t shake off the worry.
At that moment, a familiar figure entered the physician’s office.
“Count! We’ve found the child!”
It was Knights Jason and Lorenz. As they entered the examination room, I noticed that Jason was holding Sylvia in his arms. He quickly laid her on bed. She seemed to be in a very bad state, her breathing heavy and irregular. The physician hurried over to examine her.
“Ah, ugh… Sylvia…”
Dave’s eyes filled with tears as he watched her, who was unconscious with her eyes tightly shut and breathing heavily. Soon, tears began to fall from his eyes.
I took out a handkerchief from my pocket and gently wiped his tears. Dave then lifted his head and looked at me.
“Sylvia will be okay.”
“Do you really think so?”
“Of course.”
“…Okay.”
I couldn’t help but smile bitterly as I watched him trying to hold back his tears. I wasn’t trying to tell him not to cry.
Seeing Dave, so anxious about his younger sister, I gently patted his head.
After a while, the physician, who had been carefully examining Sylvia, covered her with a blanket and turned toward us.
“How is she? The child?”
“Fortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any major issues. However, as you know, due to the progression of the Darnnella’s disease, she is struggling.”
The physician spoke with regret. Hearing that her suffering was due to Darnnella’s disease made my heart ache.
If the Rosier flowers don’t bloom, I would eventually have to face the same fate.
“Would this alleviating medicine help at all?”
I took out the medicine I always carried with me. The physician examined the medicine for a while, then his face relaxed in relief.
“This will definitely help. It should ease her pain considerably.”
The physician quickly prepared the medicine by dissolving it in water and carefully administered it to Sylvia. Soon, the pain on her face seemed to lessen a little.
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