The following morning...
The morning light slipped faintly through the edges of the tent curtains, yet the inside remained almost completely shrouded in darkness, in accordance with the doctor's instructions.
"Your Highness... Irene."
Irene slowly awoke to the sound of her maid, Sali.
"Mmmh..."
A medical bandage had been wrapped around Irene's eyes on the doctor's orders. The tent had also been kept almost completely dark because her eyes were not yet able to adjust to the light, all to protect her vision.
Sali carefully approached her.
"Good morning... I'll help you sit up."
Sali helped her up, and Irene slowly sat on her bed.
Her body was covered in bruises from the mountain fall, and almost every movement caused her pain. Fortunately, however, she had not suffered any critically dangerous injuries.
Sali and several other maids helped her wash and change her clothes. The nurses then carefully changed her bandages and made sure that none of her wounds had worsened during the night.
A little while later, the maids brought her some food.
Sali placed the food in front of Irene, then sat across from her.
"I'll help you eat now."
Irene replied in her hoarse voice,
"I'm fine... I'm not hungry."
Sali looked at her worriedly.
"You've barely eaten anything over the past few days, and you hardly ate anything yesterday either... But you need to eat now so you can take your medicine."
Irene's appetite was at its worst. Even the mere mention of food made her feel nauseous. On top of that, she hated anything related to doctors or medicine. Following Sali's request felt almost impossible, so she replied quickly and firmly,
"I don't need medicine... My body is just tired. I only need to rest for a while."
The nurse standing nearby intervened.
"Your Highness Irene, forgive me, but your body is extremely weak right now. You don't just need rest; you need nourishment and treatment as well."
Impatience began to creep into Irene's voice.
"How many times do I have to say that I'm fine? Please, leave. I want to go back to sleep."
Silence fell for a moment.
Sali knew Irene better than anyone else in the kingdom. She knew that Irene was never stubborn for a trivial reason or simply because of a passing fit of anger. It was because...
Ever since she was little, Irene had often been physically bullied by her siblings.
And when she was taken to the main palace, the First Queen, Alvira, was tasked with teaching her etiquette, just as she had taught her other sisters.
Irene had no choice but to comply.
But Alvira herself had been forced to do so despite her opposition to the matter. No one could disobey King Arxon's orders. To Alvira, however, teaching Irene was not merely an act of obedience to the king.
She found in the young girl an outlet for her pent-up anger. She would punish Irene cruelly and inhumanely, whipping her for even the slightest mistake.
"Hold the spoon properly."
Whack.
"Straighten your back."
Whack.
"You struck the plate with your fork."
Whack... whack... whack.
Every mistake that anyone else would have overlooked came at a price that her small body had to endure.
Those wounds were not the only ones Irene had known.
All the wounds inflicted upon her as a result of the queens' vengeance, as well as those caused by her sisters, would be treated afterward.
And for Irene, there was nothing worse than the whipping itself—except the treatment.
Medicine would be applied directly to her open wounds, leaving her suffering for hours from a burning sensation and unbearable pain.
As her injuries occurred almost every day, the nurses gradually became careless, no longer paying much attention to how they applied the treatment.
This left Irene suffering through torment on a daily basis, while some of the marks of the abuse remained on various parts of her body, such as her back and legs.
Sali knew all of this.
That was why she could not simply ignore Irene's refusal to receive treatment, even though she knew Irene would not accept her insistence easily.
She reached out toward Irene and said tiredly,
"Please... just this once, for me, Your Highness."
Irene sighed. She was simply too exhausted to argue, so she replied,
"Hah... Fine... but not now. I'll take the medicine tonight."
Sali replied sadly,
"But the doctor said you have to—"
Before she could finish, a voice came from the entrance of the tent.
"My Lord, Lucas."
All the maids bowed.
Sali stood as well and bowed.
Lucas entered the tent, then stopped.
His eyes were fixed directly on Irene, and beside her sat the untouched food.
He remained silent for several seconds before finally saying,
"Everyone, leave now."
"Yes, my lord."
The maids quickly moved toward the exit, but Sali remained standing where she was.
Lucas glanced at her from the corner of his eye.
That maid again... Didn't you hear what I said?
Then he repeated himself in a firmer tone.
"Everyone... without exception."
Sali raised her head.
She looked at him coldly, her gaze filled with hatred and resentment, then began walking.
She passed right beside him without replying with even a single word.
Lucas raised an eyebrow in surprise.
Of all times... You're very lucky that you're her personal maid at this particular moment.
Sali knew very well that what she had just done was extremely rude and could not be taken lightly.
But she could not stop herself.
It was the only way she could express her pent-up anger.
Before leaving, she cast one last glance at Lucas, then thought to herself,
It was because of you... She nearly died because of you. And now you're pretending in front of everyone that you care about her so you won't have to face any punishment for what you did... Disgusting.
Then she left and closed the curtain behind her.
Lucas approached Irene afterward and sat in front of her.
He looked at her for a few moments before asking,
"How is your body today? Does it still hurt?"
Silence.
Irene did not answer immediately. After a few moments, she said coldly,
"I'm fine... So leave. You don't have to come here again."
Lucas raised an eyebrow slightly again
"Are you still angry with me?"
Irene felt a hint of anger rising inside her, but this time, she did not try to hide it.
She answered honestly,
"...Believe me, whether I'm angry with you or not is the least of my concerns right now... I'm just tired and I want to rest so I can return to the palace as soon as possible... So leave now."
Lucas was surprised by how direct she was.
Then he said with a hint of sarcasm,
"Would you speak to me like that if you didn't have that bandage over your eyes?"
Irene's cheeks reddened at his teasing.
"You really are... Please leave now."
A small smile appeared on Lucas's face when he saw her expression.
'Really, what...? This is amusing'
Then he said,
"Fine, I'll leave... but on one condition."
Irene furrowed her brows.
"That you eat your food and take your medicine now."
Irene's eyes widened beneath the bandage, and agitation appeared in her hoarse voice.
"What?! Why would you, of all people, care whether I take my medicine or not?!"
' i do more than anyone else here..more then you can imagine'
Lucas calmly replied:
" We'll have to travel again to return to the palace. Your condition could worsen if you don't take your medicine."
He paused for a moment, then added,
"Didn't you say you wanted to return to the palace as soon as possible? If you become even sicker, we'll have to stop in one of the cities so you can receive proper treatment at a hospital."
Irene clenched the blanket in her hand.
'Is that all you care about? Being bothered by me because I'm an inconvenient obstacle to you?'
She replied angrily,
"Don't worry. Even if I become sick, I won't cause that kind of inconvenience. So don't concern yourself too much... and leave now."
Silence settled between them for a moment.
Then Lucas calmly said, as though he had already made up his mind,
"If you refuse to take the medicine, then I refuse to leave."
Irene raised a hand to her head because of her headache.
"Ah... seriously."
Lucas replied without backing down,
"I'm really, really serious."
Then he turned his gaze toward the food.
"The food will get cold, and it'll only make things harder for you. So hurry up and make your decision."
Irene pressed her forehead harder.
All she wanted was for this morning to end.
I'm tired... I just want this to be over now.
She sighed in surrender.
"Fine, whatever... Hand me the plate."
To be continued...
(Don't forget to leave a comment ♥️ I'll post another chapter after one hour)