Attachment Knight - Chapter 16

She was a short-haired waitress.

Dull clothes, a pale impression that wouldn’t linger once you turned away. On her colorless face, only the rouge dusted with crimson pearl glitter shone brightly.

“In fact, this cake is a newly introduced menu item we prepared with great ambition. It’s based on custard cream and almonds, topped with sweet, fresh orange and figs.”

I stared fixedly at the woman’s shimmering, moving lips. Her gentle explanation faltered for a moment. Ignoring her, I tried to speak to Radem again.

“Radem’s family—”

“If it’s alright with you, would you like to sample our other new menu items as well…?”

“I’m not interested. I’ll just eat this.”

With a polite smile, I gripped the dessert knife. Even so, the woman didn’t leave. Instead, she stood straight and looked at me.

“I actually know who you are. Millicent, the acrobat of the Lachilea Circus—”

“So?”

“You’re incredibly beautiful, just like the rumors say. It’s a beauty that can’t be hidden even by a mask. May I ask for your autograph?”

“No.”

At this point, I couldn’t help but feel that something was off. Despite my disregard and refusal, the woman’s expression didn’t falter. As if she expected this, she simply smiled faintly and held her ground.

“Then could you at least tell me which boutique you had those earrings made at? They’re so, so pretty.”

“They don’t suit dark skin.”

At that moment, the woman leaned her upper body toward me, as if trying to take a closer look. Just as I thought she was getting too close, a chilling premonition ran down my spine.

Bang!

The moment I pulled my upper body back and Radem kicked his chair happened almost simultaneously.

Slash!

As my body was shoved aside, a burning pain grazed my earlobe. A hot liquid slid down my neck. The woman, stumbling after being tripped by Radem’s foot, raised the dagger in her hand again.

Shocked customers screamed and scattered.

The assassin disguised as a waitress struck like lightning, as if eliminating me was her only goal, ignoring the surrounding chaos.

I shut my eyes tightly.

No matter how many times I go through something like this, I can’t get used to it.

Until now, the attacks happened inside the castle. I didn’t expect people trying to kill me to roam freely outside as well.

Who is it this time?

A few faces flashed through my mind, people who envied me and tried to drag me down.

Also the faces of women in that strange rivalry over Don Pisano.

Is this one also a pawn of ‘that woman’?

When I slowly opened my eyes, I saw the woman struggling, caught in a firm grip.

“Ah!”

The woman, her arm twisted after being seized by Radem, was flung away with a sharp scream. The blade clattered across the floor. Her wrist was grotesquely bent, as if the bone had been twisted out of place.

Her thrashing face turned pale blue. A cornered rat bites the cat. Whether it was a sense of duty, or because she sensed her own master would take her head if she failed, the woman spat something from her mouth. A small, sharp dart flew straight toward where I stood.

“Millicent!”

I heard a shout, and a stinging pain struck the side of my neck. When I came to, I was lying on the floor with Radem. In my view was a dazzling chandelier. The café had turned into complete chaos.

The assassin disappeared into the crowd in an instant.

Radem laid me flat like a wooden puppet with twisted joints and examined the wound on my neck. As he checked my pupils and felt my pulse, his expression gradually hardened.

I asked, “Am I going to die soon?”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m short of breath right now. My head’s spinning like when I’ve drunk too much. I think there’s poison on it.”

Without hesitation, he slipped an arm under my knees and lifted me up. An unbearable pain spread through the muscles of my neck and the surrounding nerves. In the hazy feeling as my consciousness blurred, I felt the warmth of the body holding me and the cool wind stirring my hair. My limp fingers twitched on their own, and cold sweat ran down me.

“Am I going to die?”

When I asked again, Radem shook his head firmly. He told me not to speak. Urgently, he placed a cold cloth against the back of my neck. It seemed like he was trying to slow the flow of blood to keep the poison from spreading.

Radem had gone deathly pale. Looking at him biting down on his lips, I muttered absentmindedly, “What a shame.”

“What did you say?”

Nausea rose from inside me. The last thing I saw before losing consciousness was Radem’s faintly distorted face. Soon, my awareness sank into pitch-black darkness.

***

“It was an assassin sent by Grisha Odileto.”

The moment I opened my eyes, I was certain. People were gathered above me in a circle. In the worried eyes of the three of them, I struggled and tried to express my discomfort. But my body didn’t move the way I wanted it to.

“Grisha, that bitch is definitely insane. Causing a scene in the middle of a crowd. There’s probably no brain in her head. Anyway, it was definitely Grisha Odileto! Yerenika, go drag that bitch here by the hair.”

“Please calm down, Millie. You’ve only just regained consciousness after four days.”

“Four days?”

Good heavens. It felt like I’d only slept for a few hours, but I’d been unconscious for four days. The last time I’d been out that long was when I was ten, after being pushed off an aerial stage by a fellow trainee I thought was my friend. Faced with that shocking fact, I quieted down. Radem gently touched my forehead as I lingered in the aftermath.

“It seems you’ve regained your strength, fortunately.”

“It’s truly fortunate it turned out this way. If it had pierced just a little deeper, it would’ve been difficult to treat. Even a minute amount is a deadly poison.”

The physician wiped the cold sweat from my forehead. His expression held a mix of relief and pride, as if his job was done.

My eyes met Yerenika’s as she sat quietly on a stool with her hands folded. With a single nod, she dismissed the physician. She seemed to want to send Radem out as well, but I didn’t allow it.

“Miss.”

At last, Yerenika’s voice broke the silence, heavy.

“Yeah.”

“Why did you do that?”

“What?”

“Why did you go outside without Don Pisano’s permission? That’s why this happened….”

Seeing the gauze on my neck, Yerenika lost her words for a moment, as if the pain were her own.

“That’s why you came back injured. This is exactly what he was worried about. That something like this would happen, so he tried to keep you inside the castle. Why can’t you understand his intentions?”

“I’m at my limit.”

“….”

Somewhere, I heard the faint cry of a bird. The cage covered with cloth trembled. I couldn’t remember when I’d last fed it. Even though I’d always taken such care of wild birds.

I turned my gaze away from the canary’s cage indifferently.

“People aren’t birds you can keep locked up. I’m suffocating to death.”

“If something like today happened and he lost you, Don would be devastated.”

“He doesn’t even punish them, even when he knows who the culprit is.”

I let out a mocking laugh.

“Grisha Odileto. It’s not like this is the first time that woman has tried something on me. She’s targeted my life multiple times.”

I added an explanation for Radem, who looked puzzled, “I took Don from her. It’s just a common lovers’ quarrel.”

“….”

“‘Took’ isn’t quite accurate, but that’s how she sees it, so let’s go with that. It’ll make it more miserable for her.”

I said that and burst into laughter. It felt like the hollowness inside me eased a little.

“Doesn’t Don Pisano protect you from threats like this?”

“Grisha is someone that man absolutely needs. Knowing that is why she acts even more wildly. I was a bit surprised today too. That timid, gloomy woman, what kind of nerve made her try to kill me outside the castle? Then again, when that type snaps, you never know what they’ll do.”

I grabbed Yerenika’s wrist tightly and spoke firmly, “Try telling Don Pisano that I went out. I’ll pile every accusation on you and have you driven out in the most painful way possible.”

“….”

Yerenika looked down at me quietly. It was the gaze of someone looking at an immature child.

“You think I can’t do it?”

“You absolutely can.”

Her voice, sometimes too calm in situations where it shouldn’t be, grated on my nerves. That characteristic detached gaze, those eyes that showed no emotional agitation unlike mine.

When I let go as if shaking her off, Yerenika covered her reddened wrist with her sleeve and said, “I won’t tell.”

I chewed and swallowed the medicine Radem gave me without water. Then, out of habit, I reached for the box of chocolates.

“You can’t have chocolate.”

“….”

Avoiding Radem, I reached for a glass of alcohol this time.

“Alcohol is absolutely not allowed either.”

“….”

“And no smoking. Not until your body recovers.”

“….”

Everything was stopped.

“Then what’s the point of living?”

As I snapped, Radem placed a puzzle on my lap.

“Finish it.”

The moment I saw the scattered, complicated pieces, my head throbbed.

Meanwhile, Yerenika, unaware of how I felt, agreed. “That’s right, rest well in your bedroom today. Fortunately, there was a problem during the banquet preparations, so it was postponed.”

“Then today is….”

“It’s the second day of the birthday banquet. I’ll inform them that you can’t attend today as well.”

“No. I’ll go. I have to go.”

I was startled. It was a birthday banquet Don had prepared for me over several days. He might misunderstand and think I wasn’t attending because I was sulking over the postponement. I couldn’t disappoint him. I always had to be the source of his happiness.

Then, a strange thought suddenly came to me, and I asked Yerenika, “While I was unconscious, did Don come to see me?”