Chapter 45: My Wounded Queen
Catching up with Lianza in the hallway, five meters past the exit. Her steps grew slower and slower. Her back, however, remained hunched.
She leaned against the wall. Her breathing broke.
"Lianza."
"No," she said without turning to me. Her voice was a gasp. "Don't you dare touch me."
"Look at yourself, Lianza."
"I've had worse days. You know that well, Dariel Elcronne."
"Your rib..."
"It's my side," she said between gasps. "And it's just a scratch."
Scratches didn't bleed like that.
"Let me see."
"Three gods, I told you no!" She looked at me. Her eyes were red. "Go back where you came from, Dariel. The Empero Council is waiting for you."
"That Council can wait."
"Waiting will only increase your sentence. You know that."
"I care little for noble affairs right now."
Lianza slid down the wall. She sat on the floor. A line of her blood marked the wall.
Her knees bent. Her forehead fell against them.
Damn it. Why did I let her get hurt so badly? What the fuck is happening to me? Why did I let this happen to the girl I love?
Kneeling in front of her, my bandaged hand reached for her shoulder.
"What happened in the arena?" I whispered, my voice broken.
"I couldn't... I couldn't create ice, Dariel."
She looked up at me, her eyes full of tears.
"I'm completely useless. My Empero doesn't even obey m—"
"I know."
She tilted her head.
"What exactly did you know?"
Swallowing hard, telling her about the Harem System was impossible. She would never believe me.
By the way, where are you? I asked the System. No answer. I was starting to worry about its silence.
"I suspected it," I answered.
"How?" Lianza narrowed her wet eyes. "How could you even know? Did you...?"
"You know I would never do something like that."
It was a half-truth, since, although I wasn't the direct cause, it was for refusing that she ended up like this.
"How?"
Lianza studied me. The Garnet Ice Queen was back, but behind her eyes, the girl who cried alone in her room begged me to tell her the truth.
And I couldn't tell her.
Kneeling before her, I bowed, exactly as she had taught me.
"Later," I said with all the sincerity in my heart. "I'll explain everything later. Now we need to get you to the infirmary. Please, Lianza, let me..."
Lianza pushed my hands away.
"I don't need a liar to take me any—!"
She tried to stand. Her leg gave out. She fell forward. I caught her before she hit the ground. Her weight against my chest. Her hair brushing my chin. Her intense scent of hazelnuts and powdery flowers.
"Idiot," she whispered against my uniform.
"I am, Lianza D'Tariel. I'm your idiot... and your liar too."
"Let me go."
"No. You'll fall. I can't afford to be the one who hurts you. Never again."
"I don't care."
"Well, I do."
Lifting her up, Lianza ceased her protest. Her arm wrapped around my neck. Her head rested on my shoulder. The cold of her garnet Empero returning was palpable.
I smiled.
To me, feeling Lianza's cold on my skin was the warmest and most comforting sensation in the world.
We walked down the hallway. Since it was class time, there were hardly any nobles. However, the few roaming the halls looked at me with disdain.
'The Dog at Her Heels carrying his wounded mistress.'
And what they might say about me mattered less than nothing.
⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽ ☆ ☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅
Mayorka's infirmary was full of balms and herbs of all kinds. It had three stretchers, each perfectly arranged with its own white canopy.
A nurse with quick hands and a whip-like tongue threw me out into the hallway three seconds after laying Lianza on one of those stretchers.
Before the door closed, Lianza gave me a furrowed brow. A pout she tried to hide by looking down.
'You're welcome,' I told her with my smile.
That was how she thanked people, especially when she was upset. She refrained from yelling or resorting to blows, instead showing expressions that spoke more than a simple 'thank you.'
That pout was one of them.
And coming from her, that was worth more than a 'thank you.' It was enough for me.
⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽ ☆ ☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅
Garchi was waiting for me in the room. He had half his head buried in the food bowl and the other half looking at the door.
"Hey, champ."
He meowed. He rubbed against my boots. Picking him up with my good hand, he curled up against my chest. Though his touch was lukewarm, he was still a bit trembling.
Dayne must have been a very good owner for his pet to be left this distressed.
With time and my help, he will heal from his loss.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, Garchi on my knees. Eyes on the ceiling.
Lianza had bled. She had bled because I said no to an unknown entity with delusions of grandeur, who also enjoyed my suffering.
Was it worth it?
I had barely made it out of that. My heart raced just remembering that match.
But taking that aside, every damn second had been worth it. Seeing that that entity had no control over my decisions made me feel better.
I had no reason to keep obeying its orders. It wasn't Lianza.
[Looking at the ceiling, Romeo? 💤]
Finally you bother to show up.
[I'm always here. Like a good boyfriend.]
You're not my boyfriend. And Lianza is in the infirmary because of you.
[Your fault, Romeo. I just set the rules. You decided to break them. I was very clear about that. 😊]
What do you want? You never show up without a reason.
The emoji disappeared. Nothing replaced it. Just text. White letters on a black background, without color.
[I need to talk to you seriously, Dariel.]
Sitting up, Garchi lifted his head.
An entity like him speaking seriously? Besides what it mentioned to me last time during the Empero test I had with Professor Vauxol (where, by the way, the Harem System refused to help me)... That could only mean one thing.
There's another like you in this novel, isn't there?
[...]
[... How do you know?]
I didn't know. But your tone changed. You went from a satirical buffoon to this.
The System fell silent for a few seconds. When it wrote again, the letters appeared slowly. One by one.
[There is another System hidden among the students of Mayorka. I don't know who has it. I don't know what it's called. But it's there.]
Great... Another problem.