Chapter 30
Sunlight pressed deeper through the gap in the tent.
Before long, the day was fading.
She wanted to hide Dmitri away in the pitch-black dark, but no matter how she tried, there was no stopping the light from pushing its way inside.
Ariella’s heart tilted, like the setting sun.
***
“You do it. I won’t accept treatment from anyone else.”
What kind of tyrant’s seed of a statement was that?
Ariella glared at Dmitri, more venomously than usual.
Now that the situation had calmed, she couldn’t stop hating him for acting so recklessly.
Her teeth clenched hard.
“Just let them do it already.”
The match had already been delayed far too long.
Though there was talk of postponing the fight until the next day, Dmitri had refused.
And now he claimed he wouldn’t accept treatment?
If this went on until nightfall, they’d be forced to fight the finals by torchlight.
“No. Not now. I don’t want anyone touching me.”
“What are you even saying? And what am I, a healer? You know better than anyone that I can’t even wrap a bandage properly.”
His lips sealed shut.
That stubborn fool.
Ariella closed her eyes, opened them again, and forced a smile.
“I’ll stay by your side the entire time.”
“Still no.”
“Then I’ll do everything I can. The physician just needs to come in. All right?”
Like soothing a child, she coaxed him over and over until he finally gave in.
When Ariella ordered the physician outside to be let in, Erik let out a deep sigh of relief.
The waiting physician swiftly located his wounds.
The blood on his face came from a gash above his right ear where shrapnel had torn the skin.
“You weren’t wearing your helmet?”
Ariella demanded, and Dmitri answered flatly.
“Took it off.”
“Why?”
“Too suffocating.”
The physician leaned toward Ariella.
“It seems His Highness even removed the chestplate.”
Ariella snapped her eyes toward Dmitri, who avoided her gaze.
The physician looked between them and added carefully.
“The armour His Highness wore was built for offence, not defence, which made the injuries much worse. And then, without even the chestplate…”
Sensing Dmitri’s dangerous aura, the physician swallowed the rest of his words.
A deep wound split across his waist, and shards had cut into him so badly that blood seeped up toward his chest.
Seeing the injuries made anger surge in her throat.
“Why on earth would you do this!”
Dmitri stared at her raised voice, then turned his eyes aside.
“Don’t know.”
“Don’t know? Do you actually want to see me die of frustration?”
“Suddenly everything just felt pointless.”
“How could it be pointless!”
Her voice came out sharp, fueled by fear and fury.
His brazen indifference only fanned the fire inside her.
Wasn’t the whole reason for going after Gerald so they could all survive together?
And now he’d turned it into this mess.
She swallowed down her words, but his reply made her gape.
“It wasn’t fun.”
“That damned ‘fun’—one more time and the whole world will collapse because of it.”
She bit her tongue before harsher words could escape.
“Oh, so you lost your will to fight because you didn’t see any amusing faces in the crowd?”
Her sarcasm was sharp, but Dmitri only tilted his head, as if genuinely mulling it over.
“That’s not it… Anyway, you just have to be where I can see you.”
What absurd nonsense was this?
Was he saying he wanted to tie a string to her?
“You’re about to go to war. That’s not something you should be saying.”
“It’s different.”
“What’s different?”
“You’re right there where I can see you, but you’re not looking at me. Then what’s the point of me fighting?”
“What in the world…!”
Her mouth shut tight, and Ariella bit her lip hard.
Did he even realise how strange his words were?
Didn’t it sound like he was saying she was the very reason he lived?
Her throat prickled.
She cleared it awkwardly.
“Then I’d just wipe out everything alive.”
Why did the conversation jump there?
She shot him another glare.
“Do you actually think that’s a proper thing to say?”
“It’s just an expression.”
“Don’t even joke like that. You scared me.”
She blew softly on his wound after applying disinfectant, still muttering.
While they bickered, the physician’s hands moved faster.
The bite wound from the wolf was still wrapped in old bandages.
“The bandage is soiled. I’ll replace it.”
He ordered his assistant to fetch a fresh one.
“I’ll do it.”
Ariella stepped forward, and the physician stepped back.
Slowly, she unwrapped the bandage.
The cloth, stiff with dust and blood, peeled away silently to reveal the wound.
Her gaze lingered on the not-yet-healed flesh.
Seeing her grave expression, the physician offered reassurance.
“It may look severe now, but once it heals, even the scar won’t remain too prominent.”
She cleaned the wound again, applied fresh ointment, and avoided looking at Dmitri’s face.
By then, the assistant returned with new bandages.
Ariella stood, ready to give the physician space.
But Dmitri snatched her wrist with a sharp slap.
“Where are you going?”
“Nowhere. You know I can’t wrap bandages.”
The physician, caught awkwardly between them, hesitated until Dmitri let go of her.
Only then did he resume his work.
“What were you talking about earlier?”
Another question, out of nowhere.
“What do you mean?”
“With Austin. What did you talk about? I thought you left because that bastard said something strange.”
“No. He didn’t. He only said he wouldn’t fight anymore.”
Just then, the physician dropped a roll of bandages from the table.
It rolled to Ariella’s feet.
“Then why did you think that? Did you do something terrible to Prince Austin?”
She picked up the bandage.
“Like… steal his beloved?”
She brushed it clean and handed it back to the assistant, speaking casually.
But silence followed.
Too strange a silence.
She spun around.
“You did?”
“…No.”
Her eyes narrowed in suspicion.
“You answered too slowly.”
Dmitri turned his head away, feigning shamelessness.
“Even if I did, you want me to say it here? If word spread that the Crown Princess is jealous, what then?”
Ariella cleared her throat and glanced around.
He wasn’t wrong.
This wasn’t the place to gossip about the empire’s most intimate matters.
Even if he had stolen the woman Austin loved, what did that have to do with her?
Straightening her back, Ariella addressed the physician with authority.
“Do you believe His Highness can fight again in this condition?”
Dmitri chuckled under his breath.
It was not the face of a man who moments ago had threatened to tear apart the arena.
The physician blinked, torn between them.
“Answer properly.”
Her stern voice pushed him.
“O-of course, in this state it would be impossible…”
Dmitri’s eyes flashed dark.
Flustered, the physician hastily corrected himself.
“But His Highness is exceptionally robust. He’ll be fine.”
Dmitri shot Ariella a triumphant grin.
The match that followed ended so easily that it was almost anticlimactic.
Under Ariella’s gaze, he swept his opponents aside one by one until he stood as the champion.
By the time the blazing sunset yielded to night, his victory was secured.
At that moment, he tore off his helmet and lifted his spear toward her.
The smile on his face was so innocent that no trace of the ruthless tyrant remained.
***
That evening, Ariella’s swallow knight came to her as promised.
“Welcome.”
Gerald trembled violently, as though setting foot in the palace for the first time.
Unable to sit, he lingered near the door until Ariella rose and personally led him to the table.
Once he finally sat, Reina herself served him tea.
His face looked on the verge of tears.
“Is this the knight Your Highness mentioned?”
Benjamin, the chief chamberlain, was also present.
Never before had she been so grateful for his loyalty.
In the palace, staffing was his jurisdiction.
He did not normally decide on the retainers of royals, but for a personal guard, that changed.
Through the recent chain of events, Ariella’s standing in the palace had shifted completely.
Benjamin, who
had always been cordial, now treated her with even greater deference.
Looking back, Gerald had once mentioned Benjamin’s name even after Dmitri became emperor.
The chamberlain had remained in his post at the imperial palace.
Now, he seemed utterly convinced that Ariella would be the next empress.
