Thalia watched the scene, holding her breath. As Barcas frowned, seemingly displeased with the taste of the wine, he took a few more sips and placed the glass on the table.
Thalia examined his complexion with anxious eyes. No noticeable change could be found.
Does it take a little more time for the medicine to take effect?
She discreetly checked the amount of wine remaining. It had decreased by about half. This should be enough to feel the effect of the medicine.
Thalia cautiously opened her mouth, suppressing her anticipation.
“What do you think?”
"...It's alright."
Barcas replied half-heartedly, picked up a piece of the preserved apple prepared for dessert, and put it in his mouth. Thalia could not hide her disappointment and pouted.
“Is that all?”
Barcas looked at her with a puzzled expression. Only then did she realize that she was acting too hastily, and she wore a smile that seemed to gloss over the situation.
Perhaps she had to wait a little longer. As she tried to calm her anxiety and nibbled at the food on her plate, Barcas suddenly leaned forward.
Thalia flinched and stiffened her shoulders. Barcas glared at her with menacing eyes while breathing heavily and gripping the edge of the table tightly with one hand.
"...Did you put something in the alcohol?"
"Ah. I didn't put anything in."
Flustered, his voice trembled slightly. Perhaps finding this quite suspicious, Barcas furrowed his brows deeply, breathed heavily, and slowly rose from his seat and walked toward the bed.
Thalia quickly chased after him. Stumbling like someone drunk on strong liquor, Barcas soon flopped down onto the sheets. Watching him with anxious eyes, Thalia quietly sat on the edge of the bed and peered into his face.
“How do you feel?”
Barcas, who had been pressing the back of his hand against his eyelids, removed his hand and looked up at her. Her heart pounded violently at the sight of his unfocused gaze.
Had the medicine finally started to take effect? She carefully stroked his cheek with a trembling hand. At that, Barcas's lips parted. Thalia leaned toward him, expecting a passionate declaration of love to pour out.
At that moment, Barcas spasmodically turned to the side and vomited up dark red blood.
She looked down at the bed sheets, which were instantly turning red, with frozen eyes.
She couldn't understand what had happened even after seeing it with her own eyes.
Thalia, who had been lost in thought for a while, gently shook his shoulder with trembling hands.
"... Barcas?"
His body, which had been trembling slightly, suddenly stopped moving and slowly fell to the side. Thalia stared blankly down at the corners of his mouth, which were completely stained with blood.
She wondered if she was having another strange nightmare.
That's right. It's a dream. There's no way something this strange could happen in reality.
"Ba, Barcas... Barcas! Barcas!"
She hurriedly shook his body, but no answer came back.
Looking down at him with a bewildered expression as he remained motionless, as if in a deep sleep, Thalia felt his chest. She could feel no pulse.
The moment she realized that fact, her vision shattered into pieces as if she had been struck on the head with a blunt object, and a strange sound echoed in her ears.
"Ah, no... no! No!"
She shook her head like a madwoman and clutched the hem of his clothes desperately.
"No! That can't be..."
She desperately hugged his upper body, which slumped limply as she repeated the same words without even knowing what she was denying. However, his heavily drooping eyelids did not move a muscle.
Thalia, who had been repeatedly rubbing his face—which was as cold as ice—with her palms, soon lifted her head and shouted at the top of her lungs.
"Help! Help! Please, someone...!"
At that urgent shout, hurried footsteps were heard from the hallway. Soon after, the door burst open, and someone rushed into the bedroom.
"W-what on earth is this..."
Someone let out a scream of astonishment. Thalia lifted her head. However, because her vision was blurred, she could not recognize the faces of those who had burst into the room at all. Holding Barcas tightly in her arms, she cried out pleadingly.
"Ba, Barcas isn't breathing. Please, please do something!"
Someone let out a loud shout upon hearing those words. However, it was impossible to clearly understand what was being said.
Driven to madness, she grabbed Barcas's upper body and shook him repeatedly. "Please open your eyes, open your eyes," she muttered in a half-crazed state when someone grabbed her violently from behind.
She felt no pain despite the grip that felt like it would crush her shoulder blades. She simply reached out desperately toward the receding Barcas when she saw priests in pitch-black robes surrounding him.
Thalia barely stopped struggling when she realized they were trying to treat Barcas.
Soon, a bright light filled the room and gradually faded away around him. Thalia watched the scene without blinking once.
He would be fine now. It was certain that he would soon open his eyes with a nonchalant expression. Just as she was repeating this to herself as if hypnotizing herself, the men who had been whispering amongst themselves shouted something incomprehensible at the soldiers standing by the door.
Almost simultaneously, two soldiers burst into the room and roughly grabbed her wrist. Talia turned around in surprise.
"W-what are you doing?"
The soldiers who had grabbed her did not answer the perplexing question. Grabbing her forearms from both sides, they walked toward the door.
Thalia instinctively twisted her body. However, there was no way she could withstand the brute strength of the two men. Helplessly driven out of the bedroom, Thalia began to scream.
"Hey, let go! What on earth are you doing!"
She thrashed her arms and legs desperately, but the soldiers didn't even blink.
She stared at the bedroom door receding into the distance with eyes filled with fear and confusion. She had absolutely no idea what on earth was happening.
Just moments ago, she was sitting across from Barcas, enjoying a dinner banquet. But why was she going through this now?
"Do not leave this room until further notice."
The soldier who had pushed her into the bedroom downstairs warned in a harsh voice. Thalia urgently grabbed the men who were turning around to leave.
"Wait, wait! What about Barcas? What happened to Barcas? Is he okay now?"
The soldiers kept their mouths tightly shut and did not say a word. Thalia pulled the man's sleeve even tighter.
"Please, just tell me what happened to that person!"
Even though she spat out words of pleading, they maintained their cold attitude. The soldiers ruthlessly pulled her away and slammed the door shut before she could even catch them. Thalia frantically clutched the doorknob and shook it violently, but it did not budge, as if it had been bolted from the outside.
She soon started banging on the door with her fist.
"Open this! I said open it right now!"
She screamed at the top of her lungs, but no one answered from outside.
Thalia, who had been pounding the door until her fists were raw, soon slumped weakly onto the floor.
How long did she stay staring at the floor with a dazed look on her face? With a rattling sound, the door opened, and a pitch-black shadow rushed into the room.
She urgently clutched the hem of the person standing at the door, without even having the presence of mind to check their face.
"W-what about Barcas? What happened to him?"
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