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Chapter 123

"Nice to see you again, Duchess."

"Ah."

At the familiar calm tenor she'd heard at the ball, Emilia let out a small gasp.

"Cardinal."

She quickly rose and greeted him.

So this was the man Kayden had called.

But they had agreed to avoid contact as much as possible, since they needed to send Ivan away secretly...

Then Emilia shook her head.

No—whatever the reason, Ivan's recovery came first.

She stepped aside so Dominic could examine him.

"Then, if you'll excuse me."

Dominic began to examine the child.

Emilia watched, her hands clenched tight with tension.

"Hmm."

After carefully examining Ivan, Dominic suddenly asked her a question.

"Has he ever shown sudden loss of strength or similar symptoms before?"

"Pardon?"

At the question, Emilia remembered Ivan's fall in the training yard.

"I-I just suddenly lost strength in my legs and fell."

Could that not have been from overtraining after all?

He hadn't shown any further symptoms after that, so she'd dismissed it...

Seeing her expression harden, Dominic let out a short sigh.

"So it has happened."

"...Yes. It did."

Dominic sighed.

At his reaction, Emilia looked at him with trembling eyes.

She absolutely didn't want to hear any dire predictions that Ivan might never wake up.

Just then, Dominic turned fully and looked at both Kayden and Emilia.

"We'll need to move up the schedule for the Holy Kingdom."

"...Pardon?"

The Cardinal's next words made her heart drop for a different reason.

---

Inside the reception room.

Steam rose warmly from the tea.

Emilia held the cup with cold hands and looked at Dominic.

"By 'moving up the schedule,' do you mean Ivan will wake up once he's in the Holy Kingdom?"

At her cautious question, Dominic smiled gently.

"Yes, that's right."

"...Th-that's such a relief."

At his confident words, Emilia felt all the tension leave her body.

"What's the cause?"

Kayden, seated beside her, asked, and Dominic turned his gaze to him.

"Kayden, you probably don't know this, but Lady Adeline had the same symptoms."

"Lady Adeline?"

Kayden frowned.

Dominic nodded with a grave expression.

"It's a rare hereditary condition that only appears in Hyprians... The probability is so low that I never imagined it would appear in this child, following Lady Adeline. And to show symptoms at such a young age."

Dominic sighed.

"Can it be treated?"

"Yes. But because this illness could be a weakness for the Holy Kingdom, the treatment is only passed down to a select few priests."

His expression turned bitter.

"That's why Lady Adeline, who couldn't return to the Holy Kingdom, passed away young."

Then, noticing Emilia's anxious eyes, Dominic spoke gently.

"As long as we go to the Holy Kingdom right away, there will be no problem. Don't worry, Duchess."

"...Yes."

At his reassuring words, Emilia forced herself to nod.

---

Despite the maids' protests, Emilia packed Ivan's belongings herself.

This is the outfit he wore to the park that time, and this is what he usually wears for swordsmanship training, and this is his favorite outfit...

Each piece held memories.

Her hands moved slowly as she filled the bag.

Then they stopped.

Drop, drop.

Soon, tears welled up and fell onto Ivan's clothes, soaking them.

"Emilia."

Just then, the door opened, and Kayden's low voice came from behind her.

Her shoulders flinched. She cleared her throat and spoke without turning around.

"Ah, I'm just packing Ivan's things. I'll be done soon..."

But Kayden walked around to sit in front of her.

Emilia kept her head bowed, her gaze fixed on the floor. Kayden cupped her face and lifted it.

"What's wrong all of a sudden..."

"What do you mean, all of a sudden?"

He frowned.

Did she even know what her face looked like right now?

Kayden gently wiped her tears with his thumb, but they soon welled up again.

Emilia clenched her hands to hold back the sobs.

The neatly folded clothes crumpled in her grip.

"Hngh..."

But no matter what she did, she couldn't stop the tears.

"Stop crying."

Through her blurred vision, she saw Kayden.

His voice sounded like he was trying to soothe her.

Emilia's trembling lips parted.

"What if Ivan... even after going to the Holy Kingdom, he doesn't get better... what then..."

The Cardinal had assured her he'd be fine.

But what if Ivan never woke up, lying there with his eyes closed?

Only a few days ago, he'd been calling her name in that bright, lively voice.

Emilia remembered Ivan sobbing and clinging to her when she'd been poisoned.

Now she understood how he'd felt.

I shouldn't have just smiled and brushed it off...

How scared and anxious must Ivan have been, seeing her unconscious?

Watching Ivan lie there as if dead, dark thoughts kept creeping into her mind.

"And it's just... too... too sudden..."

She'd always imagined parting with Ivan.

But she'd never imagined sending him off while he was unconscious.

The words Ivan had said with tear-streaked face on the day the Empress tried to take him kept echoing in her mind.

"I d-don't want to leave without s-saying goodbye."

Ivan had clearly said that.

If he left for the Holy Kingdom without regaining consciousness—

If he woke up alone in a strange place, how would he feel?

Just thinking about it broke her heart.

Tears streamed endlessly from her tightly shut eyes.

"Hic... sob..."

As tears soaked into the hand cupping her cheek, Kayden clenched his jaw.

Come to think of it, she'd never once cried in front of him before.

Not when assassins were closing in.

Not even when she nearly suffered something terrible at the hands of that inhuman wretch.

Seeing her who had been so strong, now sobbing like a child, Kayden didn't know what to do.

He would have done anything to stop her tears.

Watching her struggle to breathe, he slowly leaned in.

Soon, he pressed his lips to the tears that clung to her eyes.

"..."

At the unfamiliar sensation on her eyelids, Emilia's eyes flew open. At the same time, she met Kayden's blue gaze.

His face was very close.

"Wh-what...! Hic!"

Startled, Emilia hiccuped.

Kayden let out a low laugh.

Flustered, her clear light-green eyes no longer held tears.

"Let's go to the Holy Kingdom together."

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