Chapter 47
----------------------------------------------------------------- Translator: Diva Chapter: 47 Chapter Title: Agonizing Treatment -----------------------------------------------------------------
Edric shouted loudly toward them.
“Her Highness has been injured! She needs healing magic right away!”
Sir Hart, hearing that, ordered a knight following behind to fetch a mage.
A short while later, a young mage affiliated with the Imperial household came running.
While he examined the princess's condition, Edric joined the knights in clearing away the rocks.
As they lifted the boulder pinning her knee, her completely crushed knee and calf came into view beneath the torn hem of her dress.
Edric swallowed a groan upon seeing several bone fragments piercing through her skin. In this state, even with healing magic, she might never use her leg again.
“If we let the wound heal like this, her leg will twist out of shape completely. We need to move her to the campsite first and set the bones.”
The mage, who had been gravely inspecting the princess's state, spoke in a heavy, sunken voice.
Edric looked at him with a dark expression.
“Can she hold out until then?”
“I've cast a recovery spell, so she'll be fine for now.”
The mage replied with a sigh, rubbing the back of his neck.
“Still, it would be best to splint the leg to keep the wound from opening further. Do we have something suitable?”
“Will this do?”
Sir Hart unfastened the scabbard from his waist and held it out.
The mage took the scabbard, gave it a light shake to gauge its weight, then slowly nodded.
“I'll bind the leg, so hold the bottom steady.”
Edric immediately followed the mage's instructions, carefully supporting her swollen calf.
At that moment, a pained scream burst from the woman's limp lips.
Startled, Edric let go. Her leg with protruding bones thudded to the ground, spurting dark red blood. As he floundered in horror at the gruesome sight, Barkas, who had been watching from a short distance, wrapped his arms around the princess's upper body and held her firmly.
“Stop the bleeding, quick!”
Snapping back to his senses, Edric hurriedly grabbed her leg.
In the meantime, the mage tore his cloak and pressed it against the long gash from her thigh to her knee. Burying her face in Sir Sheerkhan's chest, the princess let out beast-like groans, clawing at his nape with blackened nails.
“It's done! Now tie the splint!”
At the mage's urgent cry, the knights bent down and secured her leg to the long scabbard.
With the emergency treatment finally complete, Sir Sheerkhan scooped her up in his arms.
Edric reached out toward him desperately.
“I'll carry her. Commander, your wound...”
Just as his hand was about to touch, the man pulled her body tighter against himself. Edric froze at the defensive gesture.
Barkas narrowed his eyes in annoyance and jerked his chin.
“Enough. Lead the way. We can't waste time.”
“S-sorry...”
Mumbling an apology without thinking, Edric grabbed a torch and hurried ahead to light the path. They couldn't climb the steep slope with the princess in this condition, so they'd have to go around the cliff face to reach the campsite.
As he stepped along the pitch-black forest path, he glanced back at Barkas.
The knights' torchlight faintly illuminated one side of the man's face. Edric stared piercingly at that face, which seemed not just cold but bored, then quickly straightened his head. Now wasn't the time to wonder about this man's inner thoughts.
Shoving aside the swirling distractions in his mind, Edric quickened his pace and exited the densely wooded forest.
* * *
Her leg felt like it was on fire.
Talia, groaning from the pain as if her flesh were boiling, barely lifted her heavy eyelids, which stuck like they'd been glued with starch.
A flickering ceiling with firelight swam into her hazy vision. For a moment, she wore a confused expression, but then a bone-piercing agony made her twist her body and let out a sharp scream.
“Hold her still so she can't move!”
Drawn by the unfamiliar voice, she looked down to see a stocky, middle-aged man hunched deeply over her leg.
With one hand pressing her thigh, he rummaged through her blood-soaked knee with what looked like small forceps.
Talia watched the scene with terror-filled eyes, then twisted her body to flee from the man. At once, someone standing by her head roughly pinned her shoulders.
“Your Highness! Calm down!”
Panting harshly, Talia looked up at the dark shadow looming over her.
The haggard face etched with deep fatigue looked familiar. Only after a few seconds did she realize it was one of the maids Senevia had assigned her. But she felt no relief whatsoever.
Her dilated pupils darted between the maid's rigid face and the man prodding her knee as she reached out and clawed at the woman's face.
The maid, who had been pressing her down with sun-tanned, sturdy arms, screamed and yanked her hands away. Seizing the gap, Talia tried to crawl away across the bed, but a strong hand shot out from somewhere and pinned her wrist to the mattress.
Like a beast caught in a trap, Talia thrashed violently.
“Let go! I said let go!”
“Calm down! We're treating your wound right now. You can't move like this!”
The man shouted desperately, pressing down her upper body with his armored chest.
Talia struggled even harder. The excruciating pain felt like it was shredding her entire body. But the terror that she had to escape right now overwhelmed every sensation.
“No! Don't touch my body!”
“Get the sedative, now!”
The man bellowed.
Talia looked up at his rough face, shadowed heavily, with frightened eyes. Her guard knight, who always acted like a dimwit, now glared at her with a hardened, fierce expression as he restrained her.
A familiar fear and helplessness tightened her throat.
She reached out to claw his face.
“G-get away! Leave me alone!”
Her scream tore through her ragged sobs, drawing a curt curse from the man.
Talia twisted her body even more desperately. He gathered both her wrists in one hand and brought a cold glass vial to her lips.
“Drink it. When you wake up, it'll all be over.”
Talia clamped her mouth shut.
But he didn't give up easily. Pressing the vial's rim against her lower lip, he pleaded.
“It's not poison! It's medicine to help you not feel the pain during treatment. Please...”
Despite the knight's desperate plea, Talia gritted her teeth and held out.
She couldn't trust anyone.
They're all just waiting for me to go limp so they can do something horrible.
Knocking the vial away with her elbow, Talia stubbornly pushed herself upright. She flailed her bloodied leg to escape the beasts holding her, when a slender shadow suddenly entered the tent.
Recognizing his face, Talia went rigid.
The man, carrying the thick scent of rain, seized her upper body in his snare-like arms.
She had no chance to flee. Barkas, positioned behind her back, gripped her torso firmly with one arm and nodded to the knight.
“Bring the medicine.”
The knight obeyed the order at once.
Taking the new vial, Barkas yanked out the cork with his teeth and pressed the opening to her lips.
Talia stared at it with trembling eyes, then shifted her gaze to his expressionless face.
Barkas urged her in a low voice.
“Drink.”