55
Monet threw Candice into the air. Candice's
body had no strength, and just as she thought she would simply fall downwards, Valentin
caught her in the nick of time. Strong arms enveloped Candice's small
body.
「……Let's get out of here quickly!」
「I know!」
It
seemed that upon being found by Valentin, the two chose to abandon Candice
on the spot and flee. Valentin's low voice echoed.
「Capture them.」
「Yes, sir……!」
Coming
out from who-knows-where, multiple people leaped out from behind and chased
after the two with tremendous speed.
Although
Candice tried to call out his name, she couldn't breathe properly and
broke into a cough. Her vision was blurred and she couldn't see. Perhaps from a
sense of relief or because of the drug, large drops of tears overflowed and
fell. Drool trailed down from the corner of her mouth. Because she couldn't
raise her hands, she couldn't even wipe away her tears. Then, Hugo
gently touched Candice and waved his hand in front of her eyes,
seemingly checking the movement of her eyeballs.
「She is conscious, but it seems she
was made to drink something. It might be a paralyzing drug.」
「……This is a blunder, Hugo.」
「I am terribly sorry. I will receive
my punishment later. First, the Imperial Princess-sama.」
Hugo was being scolded, but Candice
remained unable to say anything. Saliva clogged her airway, causing her to
cough. Even seeing Candice suffering and coughing cough cough, Valentin's
expression did not change. Rather, it was when she had even begun to feel
terror at being stared at intently as if being observed.
「──Let go! Let me go!」
「No! We didn't do anything wrong!」
It
seemed the two who tried to abduct Candice had been caught easily. Their
arms were being grabbed, but they were desperately twisting their bodies and
resisting. While holding Candice with one hand, Valentin held a
sword in his right hand.
「……Atone with your deaths.」
Along
with that voice, one person's head soundlessly fell to the floor. Before a
piercing scream could echo, the other person's head also fell. Seeing the
bright red pools of blood forming, memories flashed back in Candice's
brain. Overlapping with the figure of herself being executed by having her head
cut off, she widened her eyes.
（The same as…… me.）
Seeing
the blood splattering with a wet smack against the wall, she wanted to scream
with all her might, but because her lips were numb, no voice came out. With a
swift flick to shake off the blood, he sheathed his sword, and Valentin
re-adjusted his hold on Candice with both hands. Looking at the same
cold eyes laden with anger as that time, a chill ran straight down her spine,
and Candice couldn't stop trembling. Due to the unending nausea, Candice
felt suffocated.
As
soon as Hugo gave instructions, multiple people appeared, covered them
with something like cloth, and cleared away the corpses. She had never thought
it was a good thing that her vision was blurred with tears as much as she did
at this time.
「Please do not kill them before we
make them spit out information. Well, since there is a suspicious carriage
parked outside, we'll just torture them and make them spit it out, so it's
fine, though.」
「Gather doctors from every palace
right now.」
「Yes, sir!」
While
still being held by Valentin, she set foot into the Violet Palace.
For the time being, it seemed she managed to avoid being kidnapped at the very
last second. Candice was laid down on a bed even larger than the one in
her own room. Through her blurred vision, she stared at how she was going to
receive treatment, presumably by the doctors gathered from all over the palace.
Valentin sat on a chair and watched the
entire situation. Due to his expression being sterner than usual, large beads
of sweat oozed on the doctors' foreheads.
What
Candice had been made to drink seemed to be a fast-acting paralyzing
drug, and fortunately without any lingering aftereffects, the drug quickly wore
off and she became able to move.
However, Candice was not immediately released, nor was she returned to the White Palace.
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