It was three more days later that Lucas regained consciousness.
By a stroke of luck, his vocal cords did not suffer permanent damage, so he seemed to have no trouble speaking; however, the aftermath of the injury manifested in unexpected places.
Lucas could not remember at all how he had been injured. Fortunately, not all his memories were lost, but there seemed to be a significant gap in the trajectory of his life since he was sixteen.
"Considering that the cervical spine was practically crushed, it is close to a miracle that the aftereffects were limited to this extent."
The High Priest, who had been carefully examining Lucas's condition through the interview, let out a sigh of relief and said.
"In the worst-case scenario, the entire body may become paralyzed or intellectual abilities may degenerate, making it impossible to even distinguish right from wrong. However, in Young Master Lucas's case, it seems there are no aftereffects other than partial memory loss."
A sigh of relief flowed from the mouths of those surrounding the bed. However, Lucas himself seemed unable to accept the High Priest's words.
Lucas, lying diagonally on the bed, looking gaunt, grumbled softly while frowning.
"My mind is a complete mess, as if someone had butchered it. How can you call this a miracle?"
His voice had become lower and rougher than before. Lucas furrowed his brow, as if he did not like it.
"Even my voice is in this state."
"I thought you were going to die right then and there."
Raina, who had been sitting next to the pole and crying the whole time, blew her nose into a handkerchief and said.
"I was so scared that you wouldn't be normal even when you woke up. It's a huge relief that it ended up just being a little dumber than usual."
Lucas glared at his younger sister with narrowed eyes.
"Are you calling that comfort?"
Even as he clicked his tongue in disbelief, he gently stroked the head of his younger sibling, who could not stop crying.
As he stood by the door watching the scene, Barcas approached the bed and asked a question.
"Do you really not remember anything about how you got hurt?"
Lucas looked up at him with a confused expression. His eyes, usually bright yellowish-brown, were tinged with dark brown.
"I am..."
Lucas, who was struggling to retrace his memories, suddenly clutched his temples and let out a low groan.
Seeing that, Raina jumped up and hugged Lucas's head tightly.
"No need to think of it!"
Then, looking straight up at Barcas, she shot a sharp retort.
"Lucas has just regained consciousness after being unconscious for nearly fifteen days. Is there any reason to bring back the memory of nearly losing his life right now?"
Lucas tugged at his younger sibling's clothes with a flustered look to stop jer, but Raina remained unmoved.
Barcas stepped back from the bed with a low sigh as he looked down at the figure with his arms crossed in front of his chest.
"Take a rest until you fully recover. Baredon has decided to take full charge of all tasks assigned to you for the time being."
Lucas's brow furrowed once again. He looked as though he could barely remember what task he had been assigned.
Barcas, who had been carefully observing his younger brother's face as beads of sweat formed on his forehead, likely due to a severe headache, soon left the room without hesitation.
The retainers had gathered in the hallway after hearing the news that Lucas had regained consciousness.
Barcas walked past them indifferently and went down the stairs. Just then, the head maid urgently called out to stop him.
"Your Excellency!"
Barcas turned his head as he was about to step on the last step.
Having been tormented for the past few days by the retainers' insistence that the punishment handed down to the Grand Duchess was excessively lenient, a sharp reply naturally flowed out.
"Since when did the Head Maid rise to a position where she can meddle in the Grand Duchess's disposition?"
The head maid's sturdy shoulders stiffened at the high-handed reprimand.
Barcas, who had been looking down at the pale face with a cold gaze, turned around again and went down the stairs. Just as he was about to cross the hall and leave the fortress, the head maid chased after him once more.
"I, I am well aware that this is overstepping my bounds. But..."
The head maid, who dared to block his path, stammered with a nervous expression.
Barcas looked down at her with an annoyed gaze.
As if she lacked the courage to meet his eyes, the woman kept her gaze fixed on the floor and rapidly poured out her words.
"It would be a terrible disaster if Her Highness the Grand Duchess were left as she is. Could you please reconsider her treatment now?"
At the unexpected plea, Barcas's eyebrows rose.
Everyone in the castle was grateful to Thalia, who was practically the cause of the series of accidents. The head maid was no exception.
A woman with a sturdy build approached with a face clearly showing signs of nervousness and cautiously opened her mouth.
"Now that Young Master Lucas has safely woken up, will Her Highness Grand Duchess's confinement be lifted as well?"
Barcas frowned.
Although she did not openly display her hostility like the other retainers, he was aware that this woman disapproved of the Grand Duchess. He had simply let her be because she had not neglected her duties as the head maid.
From the start, few people would willingly serve Thalia, who pricked everyone around her with her quills raised like a hedgehog.
For this reason, he had positioned her around people who were patient and strictly separated work and personal life.
This head maid was also one of the people selected in that manner. If a woman like her was stepping forward so desperately, it meant that something serious was happening.
Barcas, whose expression changed in an instant, asked in a serious tone.
"What do you mean by her condition?"
"She has been... refusing to eat since moving to the annex."
Barcas's face contorted slightly at the hesitant answer.
He clenched his fists tightly and gazed beyond the frost-covered garden. His subordinates were lined up near the castle gate, awaiting his departure. He was scheduled to head to the assembly hall with them sometime in the morning. There was a mountain of political affairs to resolve, including the issue of electing new lords to govern the northeastern region. He could no longer tolerate her infidelity.
He opened his mouth harshly.
"It’s not like the Grand Duchess’s hunger strikes were a one-day or two-day affair."
The head maid's mouth stiffened.
Stepping out of the castle as if turning a blind eye to it, he added.
"Leave it alone. She'll get tired of it sooner or later."
Then, as he was about to go down the stairs, an urgent voice rang out from behind him.
"It is not at that level. The situation is so serious that it stings like this, even though I know it is rude."
Barcas's footsteps stopped abruptly.
The woman approached him again and continued speaking with a stern face.
"According to Her Highness the Grand Duchess's personal maids, it seems she isn't touching a single drop of water, let alone a meal. Previously, she used to occasionally have things like mead or dried fruit, but now she is truly consuming nothing at all. I feel that if left unchecked like this, something terrible will happen..."
The woman closed her mouth before she could finish speaking.
She stood frozen like prey caught in a snare, staring only at the floor.
He wondered how long she had been doing that. Eventually, he turned around, muttering a curse under his breath.
"Tell the retainers that the meeting is being postponed."
Then, he walked straight past the main castle toward the annex building located on the north side of the fortress wall.
As he passed the annex buildings surrounding the fortress, a three-story building located in one of the rear gardens came into view.
The knights standing guard in front seemed surprised to see the Grand Duke suddenly appear. They quickly straightened their bodies from where they were leaning against the wall.
Barcas walked past them and through the building's entrance. Near the vestibule, young maids were gathered, preparing ingredients.
"Where is Her Highness the Grand Duchess?"
When he asked them a question, the maids who were busily trimming vegetables sprang to their feet like horses struck by a whip.
"I... I greet His Excellency the Grand Duke."
The maid, hurriedly bowing her head, stammered and added.
"Her Highness is in the bedroom on the second floor."
Barcas climbed the wooden stairs straight up. Then, at the end of the narrow corridor, he saw a bedroom door made of red mahogany.
Barcas approached and pulled the doorknob.
With a creaking sound, the dim scenery of the room was faintly revealed through the gap that had opened.
He walked straight to the window and pulled back the blackout curtains. The winter sunlight streaming through the glass illuminated the bed. As Barcas shifted his gaze to it, he involuntarily took a deep breath.
Over the course of a few days, the woman had become even more emaciated.
Barcas, scanning the pale face as if all vitality had drained away, the gaunt nape of the neck with visible veins, and the thin body revealed between the disheveled hem of the dress, let out a muffled voice.
"What are you trying to do?"
The woman, who had been slumped over like a broken doll, slowly lifted her eyelids. At that moment, a strange chill swept through his entire body.
The woman, who had been staring at him for a moment with eyes as desolate as a tomb, lowered her eyelids again. Then, turning her body to face him, she muttered in a voice that sounded as if it might crumble.
"...Leave me alone."
At that sight, the anger he had been suppressing all along exploded.
He grabbed her shoulder and roughly turned her toward him.
"I asked what you were doing right now."
The woman showed no reaction. She merely gave him a blank look, as if she couldn't understand why he was angry.
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