Chapter 80

Chapter 80: Chapter 80

If she were only slightly scratched by rose thorns, everyone from her mansion would be worried. If she asked for any type of fruit, they would pile up a mountain of it in a storehouse, and if she happened to pick an unripe one, everyone from the mansion ranging from a maid to the chief attendant would beg for punishment. If she wanted any particular dress, they would cross the sea and mountain to find the master designer, but even such a dress would often be thrown and collect dust in the corner of her closet by her whim.

This woman, who grew up in such a comfortable environment, was now eating green fruit and laughing in front of his eyes. She wore a dress messed up with fruit juice, making her blush with her scratched cheeks.

Eckart put the apricots he was holding back on her skirt.

“Your Majesty, why don’t you eat? Do you have a bad appetite?” she asked with a worried look.

He twisted his body instead of answering. Sharp pain went over his back. He grabbed a small pottery barrel next to a silver wine glass and presented it to her.

“Oh, can I apply the ointment? Does your forehead hurt?”

She put down the fruit she was eating and opened the lid of the potter’s bowl.

The moment she was about to get some of the ointment inside, he took the barrel back.

“…? ”

She looked at him curiously. Soon, she felt the rich smell of grass on her cheeks.

He carefully applied it on her scratched face with his firm fingertips.

It was a very friendly touch.

She bit her lip tightly and blushed.

“I’m okay, Your Majesty…”

“No, you’re not okay.”

His black eyes got closer to hers. He put the ointment on her cheeks, neck, and then hands little by little.

“I’m really okay, compared to you.”

“Oh, you never say you’re okay unless you compare me with you.”

She chewed the tip of her lips. She tried to pull away her hands, but he gripped her wrists gently.

She was slowly feeling the same sensation she felt on her way to the temple on a horst. It looked like the chain that extended from his body bound her heart, so that she could not run away. It was a scary but sweet feeling.

After all, she had no choice but to wait until he was done putting ointment on her body.

His knuckles much larger than hers were gently entangled with hers and touched. Although he only applied the ointment on her wounds, she blushed yet again.

He carefully rubbed the scratches on her body as if he stroked a brush for the last time to complete a picture. He touched her wounds gently, like petting a newborn puppy.

“… What the heck is this wound?”

He seriously looked between her left ring finger and middle finger. There was a very light scar drawn up to the second knuckle of her middle finger.

“Oh, that’s…I was hurt a bit before.”

She replied as casually as possible. In fact, he noticed the sign of her previous life that even she had forgotten. It was a wound that she could not explain to him anyway. She felt it would be better to give it a pass by lying to him.

“In the past? What happened?”

“Well…I made a mistake while making a flower arrangement. Not a big deal.”

He crumpled her eyes as if he was not satisfied with her answer. Although it was a little scar that didn’t even stand out unless he looked closely, she was obviously cut by a sharp object.

Considering her status and the environment in which she grew up, it must have been a big accident. Most of the noblewomen lived in an environment where they were unfamiliar with such wounds like that on their fingers. Accordingly, she was too humble when she said the scar on her finger was not a big deal.

“A flower arrangement? Did you hold the scissors upside down?”

“Pardon? No, I didn’t…”

She squeezed her fingertips to think of another excuse. His large hand was placed on her trembling fingers. In a normal situation she would have felt warmth in her hands, but she felt nervous at the moment as if a blade were under her chin.

“Marie.”

Right at that moment a very familiar and nostalgic voice broke the silence between them.

“Fool.”

Marianne and Eckart turned their heads at the same time. Poibe was standing at the entrance of the cave where the sun was shining through the shadows.

“Phebe!”

She rushed over to Poibe without hiding her joy. Fruits on her skirt fell down.

Poibe quickly spread its wings and flew into the air. She reached out to catch it in vain.

“Fool.”

Its mischievous voice teased her as usual. Poibe sat down in front of Eckart, flapping its white feathers. Then it began to peck the fruit with its small beak.

If she had been in her mansion in Milan, or the local residence or temple at Roshan, she would have quarrelled with Phebe a lot. But she poured more fruit in front of Poibe without showing any displeasure. At this moment she just appreciated its presence more than God’s grace.

“Phebe, how did you find us here? Are you alone? Who is nearby?”

Poibe raised its head while eating fruit. It tilted its yellow crest quickly and made some loud noise that didn’t befit its small figure. It was a voice that the two could understand.

“He must be alive. We don’t have time. Please, captain.”

Eckart and Marianne frowned at the same time, but their reasons were different.

“Oh my god! Phebe…”

She was astonished by its outstanding ability to imitate language. Poibe had imitated short sentences in its own voice, rather than imitating a human’s voice. With that ability alone, it was much more excellent than other ordinary parrots.

She was surprised that it could imitate such a long sentence, and its voice and tone were very similar to the owner’s!

“It looks like Curtis is nearby.”

But Eckart didn’t like Poibe’s imitated content and tone rather than appreciating its imitation ability.

As a loyal knight, Curtis never knelt to anyone but himself. Although he was the emperor’s proud knight, he would gladly shed blood for the emperor, if necessary. He was a man of few words, but he was out for blood all the time. He didn’t know how to ask others a favor, and neither did he want it.

Poibe’s words were a clear petition. The captain it mentioned was probably Grand Duke Christopher, the leader of the Eluang Knights, and he would have begged like that before Poibe, forgetting his pride. He must have begged the Frei family that he hated the most to save the Romanov family that he felt so sorry for.

“Phebe, why don’t you go and convey my message to Sir Curtis?”

She whispered while patting the tip of Poibe’s wing. Then she pulled out the emperor’s blood-stained coat that she folded well. After agonizing for a moment, she took out a jackknife. Soon the golden tassel on the shoulder part was cut off.

“Let me hang this on you. Go ahead and tell him to come here quickly. The emperor was hurt, so he can’t move. He shed a lot of blood, so he should hurry up. Huh?”

She loosened the thin ribbon holding her hair. She put a ribbon on the ring on the end of the tassel, and then knotted it around Poibe’s neck. At first glance, it looked like Poibe had put on a golden tassel necklace.

Poibe pecked a raspberry and flapped its wings once. With the juice of red berries near its reddish cheek and beak, Poibe rolled its eyes.

“But he will be fine. Do not worry too much.”

This time an unknown voice came out of it. It was the voice of a cheerful little girl.

Before Eckart and Marianne doubted the owner of the voice, Poibe flew out of the cave. Its white feathers disappeared into the green forest across.

* * *

Curtis took a short breath. His black eyes between the disheveled black hair glanced around carefully. His crumpled uniform had blood, sweat, and dust in it. He looked like a beast that had lived in this canyon for a long time.

He was alone. Although Christopher Duke assigned several knights to Curtis’s search team, they could not keep up with his crazy running pace. The emperor’s life was at stake. He had to move separately from his group who were falling behind.

Eventually, just an hour after the search began, Curtis left all of them and began to wander through the tributaries, relying solely on intuition.

He kept searching without letup, not eating or taking a sip of water. He couldn’t waste even one second. He roamed everywhere, staying up all night. He crossed deep or shallow tributaries and even searched through the top of the rocky mountains and the crevices in the dark bottom. In the process he ripped apart many wild animals.

‘His Majesty must be alive. I can’t believe he will die like this.’

He recited it again like a spell.