You are at the End of the Downfall

The doctor who made an accurate diagnosis at first glance was allowed to continue treating the Grand Duchess. However, she shook her head, saying the Grand Duchess was in critical condition.

“Ferenco is a dish where tour berry sauce is poured over. Even a small amount can be dangerous, but she consumed too much. Was this the Grand Duchess’s first time encountering tour berries?”

How could that be? Peon, having learned that Kaela had clearly said several times that it made her itchy and hard to breathe, that it ‘hurt’, shook his head heavily. Kaela knew. She knew and still ate it.

“Are you saying she ate it voluntarily?”

The doctor looked at Peon in shock. Peon, his face dark as death, had nothing to say.

Why did Kaela do it? Did she eat a bite or two under pressure from the nobles and end up like this? No, her plate was completely empty. She had chewed and swallowed everything thoroughly.

Then perhaps, did she try to die out of despair for marrying him, a bastard?

The doctor, looking around fearfully and confirming once again that no one else was listening, carefully said,

“I’ve done all I can, but I can’t guarantee anything. She can barely breathe properly…”

The nobles wouldn’t even look at her, calling her a lowly ‘female’ apothecary, but following the Grand Duke’s order to bring anyone skilled regardless of status, the stable keeper had recommended her as a famous doctor.

She said she had been on her way home after caring for a new mother late into the night when she met the Grand Duke’s knights and came here. Having never dealt with such high-ranking individuals before, the doctor trembled before the Grand Duke with his piercing gaze.

“Speak plainly, without holding back.”

“I’m sorry, Your Highness, but right now, whether the Grand Duchess has the will to live or not is most important.”

At these words, spoken in one breath, the man who had been sitting like a rock by his newly wedded wife’s bedside froze.

Nothing had visibly changed, but the doctor noticed that the Grand Duke had momentarily forgotten to breathe. Above all, the atmosphere revolving around him, which was already grim, had now reached the brink of explosion.

“Usually, we consider that ‘will’ when there’s nothing more we can do.”

The doctor bowed her head deeply.

“Yes, Your Highness. She consumed an amount that even a strong man would struggle to endure.”

Moreover, the patient lying there in such a miserable state was not a strong man, but a young princess prone to illness and sensitive to cold.

They had performed treatments usually reserved for wounded soldiers on the battlefield on Kaela. With her face swollen and discolored, covered in medicinal herbs, they could only pray for the swelling to subside. Yet the doctor was already speaking of the worst-case scenario.

“I’ve done my best.”

Peon closed his eyes tightly. Kaela, her mouth forcibly held open and her tongue pressed down to secure her airway, was hovering between life and death, emitting rough breathing sounds.

“It will be difficult for her to make it through the night.”

The doctor risked her life to speak the truth. And that truth shattered the Grand Duke once more. An indelible, pitch-black sin was creeping up to his feet.

“…Is there no way? No way to save her somehow?”

They said the Grand Duke from Crania, unlike the cunning and cowardly Cranians, was fair and unwavering.

It’s a story even the children playing on the streets of Lusenford know. The doctor witnessed this supposedly unshakeable man being utterly shaken.

“We can use any means necessary. Is there really no way to save her?”

He couldn’t lose her so meaninglessly. His desperate voice trembled as he asked. The doctor bowed her head.

“…We can only rely on legends, Your Highness. Like the panacea said to be in the Emperor’s treasure vault…”

Even the people of Lusenford knew that was close to a mere legend. Seeing the look in his eyes demanding something more realistic, the doctor’s rationality began to fade slightly.

“There is a medicine called Retilin that can instantly alleviate these symptoms, but… according to my master, it’s in the dragon’s territory. I’m sorry, Your Highness.”

Everyone in Lusenford knew that if the Grand Duke, who protects Lusenford, went to find medicine beyond the border in the evil dragon Gusalante’s territory, it would immediately lead to another battle – too great a loss.

They must not provoke the dragon. They cannot allow the hellish flames of the dragon to turn their hard-earned crops to ash, or the fearsome forest dwellers and underground beings, said to be the dragon’s minions, to appear again beyond the castle walls.

How painful was last autumn? Strangely, there had been no more friction as winter turned to spring, but no one knew when something might happen again.

The people of Lusenford were always on high alert. In such circumstances, it was nonsensical for people to enter the dragon’s territory.

“You say it’s not a herb, but medicine?”

“Yes. I’ve heard it’s a medicine created by the spirits controlled by the dragon. It’s a very old story.”

In Lusenford, where people would have a fit at the mere mention of the dragon Gusalante, it’s best to stay as far away from the dragon as possible. So the doctor drew a line, saying it was an old story.

“…Keep that information to yourself. Don’t tell anyone.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Take care of my wife. If you can keep her breathing until sunrise, I’ll reward you greatly.”

Peon said decisively, finally rising and leaving the bedroom.

“Wilberk, Renard. Guard the bedroom. Let no one in except the doctor and the Grand Duchess’s maids. Don’t follow me, protect the Grand Duchess. Trust no one.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

The few knights the Grand Duke trusted bowed their heads. The Grand Duke, donning a black cloak and pulling the hood low, quietly mounted a black horse and left the castle. He quickly passed through the castle gates, increasing his speed as he left.

While the nobles were confined to the banquet hall, the powerful warhorse that had left Lusenford galloped on and on until white foam formed at its mouth.

The horse entered increasingly rugged mountains. The snow had yet to melt, and a chilly wind blew along the path. Though it was a very wide road, no one dared to come near this area.

It seemed as if ominous presences were whispering among the black branches. The sensitive horse, feeling fearful gazes watching it, occasionally tried to veer off the path. If not for its master’s reassuring hand, it would have long since bolted.

After galloping far and deep, deeper still, the horse finally reared up in fright. In the darkness, darkness gathered to form a shape.

“Calm down.”

The Grand Duke, tightly gripping the reins, soothed the horse while staring directly at the shape.

“I need Retilin.”

The one who dared to intrude into the dragon’s domain spoke with great boldness.