After Lianne expressed her feelings, she walked away, wanting to be as far away from the prince as possible, but with only just a few steps, the unthinkable happened.
Ruen stretched his arms and speedily pushed her out of path.
She hit the ground with a heavy crash, lying flat on the moist soil with her face almost kissing the ground.
Though astonished as to his actions, Lianne quickly jumped to her feet and hissed in anger. She turned to face the prince, ready to start a battle of words. He must have been crazy to push her like that, but even so, he certainly deserved a good bashing from her.
It was only a split of a second before she could react, however. When she realized what had happened, it was already too late.
Ruen plummeted down from her very front as she stood shocked.
His left hand looked numb and unusually flexed, while his other hand clutched a long thin piece of arrow struck deep in his left shoulder. There was blood oozing profusely from it and it made her wide-eyed in panic.
“Lianne…” Ruen uttered, the softest voice he could muster up. He looked at her, expression full of relief despite the intense pain he was feeling.
Receiving the prince from his fall, Lianne knew she couldn’t hold her balance anymore. They both drop heavily to the ground in the end.
She was half sprawled on the earth after the impact, instantly feeling sore on her back, but she felt a much heavier weight atop her as Ruen lay down, eyes tightly shut with his face contorted now in pain.
Her mint green dress was grotesquely stained with his blood, and she saw that with every breath he took, it would move the arrow an inch deeper into his flesh.
At once, she realized how grave his injury was.
“He… help…” she hoarsely spoke, looking from side to side for any sign of a soul.
She slowly lifted his weight from her and positioned him down the grass-desolate land.
Her hands frantically trembled. The sight of his blood-soaked shirt was the only thing that proved to her that time wasn’t on their side.
“Help!”
“HELP!!!”
***
Ruen was rushed to his bed chamber after he was brought by a wagon Lord Jared had quickly spotted just near the spot where he saw both of them.
The royal doctor of the family who just finished checking on the ill-laden king immediately turned his attention to the prince.
At first, he thought that the arrow was from the attack of their enemy, but upon closer inspection, the doctor, in aghast expression, identified the arrow as from the Regaleria Kingdom itself, most specifically from the arrow traps the King had ordered to be planted around the mansion.
Quickly, he ordered his assistant to open his valise in preparation for the extraction of the arrow.
Servants hastily ran in and out of the chamber as the doctor ordered too many equipments not readily found in his room.
Lady Faye stayed to observe the whole process while Jared, determined to keep the event a secret, roamed all over the hallways to catch each and every servant working in the mansion to swore a nondisclosure contract.
Lianne sat near the fireplace of the prince’s chamber staring at the blue flame, staying silent, but stream of tears river down from her eyes.
She clasped her hands together and laid it close to her abdomen as if she was saying a prayer.
She was only hearing the hasty voices of the servants and Lady Faye’s own bureaucratic tone as she faced herself away from the bedroom door. She couldn’t bear to look at the whole ordeal inside the bedroom, but she was genuinely worried as to the prince’s well-being.
This was the first time she had set foot on the prince’s chamber. She had not expected ever to come to this place, but the horrific accident proved to be the sole reason to change her mind.
Minutes later, Erza approached the troubled princess from her seat, looking anxious.
“Your Highness,” she said in a nervous voice.
Lianne turned to face her, but not before wiping her tears dry. She gave out a flat smile and then said, “Yes, Erza?”
“Lady Faye told me to escort you to your room, princess.”
Lianne was puzzled as to what the maidservant meant. “What do you mean? I don’t intend on leaving any time soon.”
“Well, uhm, you needed a change of clothes, princess,” Erza elaborated further, trying to ease the manner of her speech so as not to offend the soiled princess.
Lianne surveyed herself in effect and fell into realization. Her own dress was soaked in dried blood and in the edges, there was a mixture of soil and mud.
Alas, she nodded and stood up, no embarrassment seen on her face; only pure struggle between her guilt and sadness.
She glanced at the half-open door of the bedroom before she left and instantly, there was a pang of pain on her heart as she saw the paleness of Ruen’s body. He was lying weakly on his master bed with blood-soaked bandages around his chest.
At the bedside, she saw Lady Faye leaning over the mattress pressing her hands together near her forehead, her eyes shut and her lips stiff.
***
The night passed by without promising the princess a good rest.
She sought almost the solace of sitting at the receiving room of the prince’s chamber just in order to keep her mind at peace and eventually send her to slumber, but Lord Jared insisted that she stay in her own room to sleep off her worries.
Worry and guilt did hover over her the whole night. Flashback of the events kept haunting her every time she closed her eyes and the memory loomed on the part where Ruen’s face showed relief on the fact that she was safe from the shooting arrow.
‘It was supposed to hit me!’ Lianne reconciled to herself. ‘He shouldn’t have… damn it! Why?’
The next day passed by without any progress of the prince’s health, and the doctor was beginning to worry that there wouldn’t be enough fluids to assist him from halting into complications.
As opposed to yesterday, Lianne hesitated to enter his chamber. feeling even more guilty.
Though the servants were confused by her decision, Lady Faye however understood her plight.
The news had already reached Garlow’s ear, but he was preoccupied with his own illness to even show worry for his son.
The main servants of the King were bewildered, however, for he seemed to continuously entertain the hooded man in his private chamber. It seemed that the mysterious man had the liberty to get in and out of the mansion, most specifically the throne room.
On the second day, the prince did have a sign of awakening, but then fever came down on him and the Head Servant needed to sponge bathe the man from time to time.
That was when Lianne offered herself to help.
Almost instantly, Lady Faye accepted her request and was pleased by her genuine concern.
After that, the princess began to help with the needed treatments. She also helped the doctor on changing the bandage, upon which Lianne saw the extent of his wound.
It was surely deep.
The doctor mentioned that the arrow almost exited through his back.
It was a relief to know though that he didn’t acquire any head injuries from the fall considering she was the cushion that provided him safety.
Lady Faye was happy to see the princess’s eagerness to care for him, but gossips had badly leaked that Lianne was to blame for the prince’s current state, especially considering the warnings the princess received about the traps.
Although Lady Faye would have agreed on that fact, she knew that it was hopelessness that drove the poor princess to flight. It would be unfair to blame it all on her.
On the third day of his bedridden state, the prince was still feverish.
He awakened in mid-day scathing in pain, his teeth clenched, and with confusion. He was unable to recognize the woman beside him holding a damp cloth or any other person present in the room to everyone’s dismay.
Lord Jared had appointed a new doctor for the prince to monitor his progress as the King seemed to become worse and worse with every passing day, and the royal doctor was much needed for him.
It was in the late evening when Lianne heard him moan while asleep.
She took the damp cloth out from his forehead when she heard him call out her name. She was shocked to hear it and it froze her for a moment.
The new doctor who was oblivious of the princess’s identity commented, “He must be having some delirium, even a woman’s name he can easily call out.”
Lianne’s heart pounded heavily as she went inside the bathroom to fetch a new bowl of water.
She would have wanted to leave the mansion knowing it would be easy now to escape, but in her life, she couldn’t just leave the prince suffering knowing it was her, the very reason why he was in this state.