STP 06

Chapter 6

It felt as though time surrounding her had slowed to a crawl.

Within that sluggish flow of time, Theodora’s eyes moved slowly. The first thing she saw was Raud’s face as he held her in his arms.

There was a slight crease between his brows, and strangely, the beads of cold sweat running down beside his eyebrows seemed to reveal how desperately he was trying to protect her.

Theodora was almost bewildered by the sight of Raud making such an expression just to protect her.

‘Your Majesty……?’

Then it happened.

Theodora’s gaze, which had moved away from him, met the eyes of the horse charging straight toward her.

The horse was so agitated that even its eyes had lost their focus.

In that fleeting moment, the horse’s head collided violently with the Emperor’s body.

Raud and Theodora, still held in his arms, tumbled over and over across the dirt ground.

The Imperial Guard knights rushed toward the horse a moment too late.

“Kill the horse!”

“Your Majesty!”

“Where is the Imperial Physician!”

Faced with a situation no one had anticipated, everyone was thrown into chaos, running about in confusion.

The shocked Empress and the consorts hurried toward the fallen Emperor.

“Ugh…….”

A groan escaped between his lips.

“Bring the Imperial Physician, quickly!”

Seeing Raud’s condition, Secrita shouted in a commanding voice.

‘How…… how did this happen?’

In the pitch-black darkness, she could hear people murmuring. Her head throbbed, and her entire body ached as though she were covered in bruises.

The person most confused by the sudden turn of events was actually Theodora herself.

‘Why did the horse suddenly……?’

Still puzzled, she finally opened her tightly shut eyes.

“Your Majesty……?”

The first thing she saw upon opening her eyes was Raud, unconscious and bleeding.

“Y-Your Majesty……!”

Theodora’s face went deathly pale as she abruptly sat up.

The arm that had been wrapped around her waist fell limply to the ground.

“Your Majesty, Your Majesty……!”

Tears instantly filled Theodora’s eyes.

Why had he saved someone like her?

The question crossed her mind, but for now, concern for Raud came before such foolish thoughts.

“W-what should I do……?”

“Don’t just stand there! Move aside!”

The women of the harem who had approached from a distance pushed Theodora aside as she stood there helplessly, unable to do anything.

“Ah……!”

Theodora was pushed aside and collapsed helplessly onto the ground.

Even though the Emperor had protected her, her own body was covered in cuts and bruises from rolling across the dirt with him.

The only person who might have protected Theodora, Secrita, was too preoccupied with checking on the injured Raud.

In the end, she was completely alone here as well.

“Move His Majesty to the Imperial Palace!”

“What on earth happened?”

“It must be the price of bringing the wrong woman into the palace!”

Taking advantage of the Empress’s distraction, the women each threw in a remark. Then they followed the Emperor as he was carried away on a stretcher.

The murmuring nobles also left the banquet hall under the guidance of the knights.

Before long, Theodora was alone. She slowly rose from the ground.

The pretty dress Gentle had put her in was not only dirty, but torn in several places.

Finding her own situation almost ridiculous, she let out a hollow little laugh.

Tears were already streaming down her cheeks.

She was worried about Raud, who had been injured while shielding her, but she was also overwhelmed by self-loathing for having caused trouble once again.

‘Why…… why does this always happen only to me……?’

Theodora’s head drooped.

“Your Majesty! Are you all right!”

Gentle finally appeared and hurried over to her.

“Where are you hurt?”

“I, I…… His Majesty protected me, so…….”

She didn’t want to cry like a fool, but despite herself, sobs kept escaping between her lips.

“Come quickly. I’ll treat your injuries.”

“Mhm…….”

Supported by Gentle as she walked, Theodora looked toward the Imperial Palace.

‘He has to be all right…….’

Her ankle throbbed, apparently injured when the consorts pushed her down, but her mind was filled only with thoughts of Raud, who had held her and protected her.

Theodora entered the Imperial Palace holding something tightly against her chest.

Three days had passed since the Emperor collapsed.

She let out a deep sigh as she remembered her conversation with Gentle.

“I heard His Majesty hit his head quite badly.”

“His, his head……?”

“He wouldn’t have been injured if he had used his demonic power. But because he was holding Your Majesty in his arms…….”

The Imperial Family of the Rasol Empire had passed down a Demon Sword from generation to generation.

If Raud had used the power of the Demon Sword, he would not have been injured.

But fearing that Theodora, who was held in his arms, might be caught in its power, he had collided head-on with the horse running at full speed without using it.

Naturally, the impact had been severe.

“U-um…….”

“Ah…… you’ve come again.”

Marquis Eors, the commander of the Imperial Guard who was standing watch outside Raud’s bedroom, let out a deep sigh.

Even though his sole duty was to guard the bedroom door, he was fully dressed in armor, as though his appearance alone demonstrated how rigid and disciplined a man he was.

“Didn’t I tell you that you can’t? When His Majesty the Emperor is in critical condition, no one except Her Majesty the Empress may enter his bedroom. That is the law, Your Majesty.”

Marquis Eors frowned tiredly and shook his head.

Even the Empress visited only every few days, yet the secondary consort standing before him came every single day, begging to be allowed to see the Emperor.

“C-could you at least give him this……?”

Theodora fidgeted with her hands before holding something out to him.

“What is that?”

“It’s medicine. It’s good for treating wounds.”

While living in the tower of the Kingdom of Selene, Theodora had discovered an old herbalism book there.

As a result, although she had almost no basic knowledge in other areas, the one field she knew relatively well was herbs and medicinal plants.

“I made it myself…… using things I gathered from the garden His Majesty made for me…….”

Though she trembled before the large man, Theodora continued speaking haltingly.

“I just…… wanted to help him…… somehow…….”

Marquis Eors’s eyes narrowed. Suspicion filled his golden irises.

“……No.”

Although she looked as harmless as a little rabbit, she was a descendant of the royal family that Raud himself had destroyed.

Wasn’t the Imperial Palace a place where nothing could be judged by appearances alone?

Theodora lowered her head dejectedly.

“It’s not anything strange…….”

The hand holding the medicine bottle fidgeted nervously, and it was covered in wounds.

In order to make the medicine most effective for treating wounds, Theodora had painstakingly prepared thorny herbs one by one, crushing them and extracting their juice.

Then she had stayed up all night boiling it to completely remove the impurities.

It was medicine she had made with the utmost care.

“No, Your Majesty. We cannot casually present His Majesty with medicine made by someone other than the Imperial Physician.”

But Marquis Eors shook his head with utmost firmness.

“Now that you have also become a member of the Rasol Imperial Family, you should know at least that much of the law.”

“……Yes.”

Even though he had been injured because of her, she could not even get the chance to help him.

She stared blankly at the tightly closed door.

‘Are you all right, Your Majesty?’

Then, with tears welling up, she silently spoke the words she dared not utter aloud.

‘Why did you save someone like me? You should have just left me alone…… Why……?’

She simply could not understand what Raud was thinking.

Even if he had lost his life after colliding with the horse, it wasn’t as though anyone would have cared about a life like hers.

The value of her life and his were simply not the same.

“Then…… please take care today as well…….”

Theodora hurriedly wiped away the tears in her eyes and bowed deeply toward Marquis Eors.

She was just about to return to her own palace when—

Bang!

The sound of the door suddenly opening rang out.

“Your Majesty!”

Eors stared at Raud as he emerged from the room, his eyes widening in surprise.

“……Theodora.”

Hearing the familiar voice that had somehow already become so accustomed to calling her name, Theodora quickly turned around.

“I’m glad.”

And in that instant, he grabbed Theodora by the wrist and pulled her firmly into his arms.

“……I’m glad you’re safe, Theodora.”

His voice, strangely tinged with moisture, brushed lazily against her ear. Her eyes widened as she looked at Raud.

‘Just a little…….’

Another tear rolled down her cheek.

She was relieved that he had awakened, but Raud’s embrace was simply too warm for Theodora.

Had she ever been held this tightly by anyone, even once?

‘I want to stay like this…… just a little longer.’

The fluttering feelings she had for him were gradually staining her heart like a poison.