Aya Ran Away - Chapter 38

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 38
The Temple had maintained its innocence from the start.
The Golden Chalice and the wine had been prepared in ritual purity, in the name of the divine.
The priests entrusted with the task were drawn only from those who had lived within the Temple for more than thirty years—men beyond reproach.
Their protestations of innocence seemed unfeigned.
Nahal’s political foundation was fragile.
For a northern nobleman to claim legitimacy, he had needed above all for the Temple to proclaim him the Prophesied Chosen King.
He could not afford to estrange the Temple.
Wasn’t that why he’d held his coronation ceremony there in the first place?
“Your Majesty, it would be wise to avoid any mention of poison. Everyone knows the princess has long suffered from illness—might we not attribute this incident to a fit of fever instead?”
Not poison.
The princess’s fit of madness had seized her, and she’d snatched the king’s goblet and drunk from it; unfamiliar with strong wine, she had collapsed.
Nahal pressed both palms to his face as he listened to Snua’s explanation.
He felt no anger anymore.
A heavy doubt wound around him like chains.
What am I doing this for? he wondered.
What do I gain by branding as mad the very person who threw herself into danger to save my life?
“How much further must I descend into cowardice? Where does this fall into darkness end?”
The words spilled out between his teeth, bitter and hollow.
“Your Majesty.”
Bardal reached out to him.
He wanted to offer comfort, but could not.
“We have no more time to lose.”
Snua added tersely.
No poison had been detected.
The princess had collapsed in a pool of blood, yet neither the goblet nor the wine could be definitively identified as the cause.
The Temple claimed innocence, and he could not afford to leave any opening for their relationship to sour.
This matter would be attributed to the princess alone—a simple accident, nothing more.
Nahal rose from his seat in silence.
“Your Majesty.”
Bardal called out once more, stopping him as he passed them all and moved toward the door.
Nahal’s hand rested on the doorknob as he answered, his voice hollow and drained.
“If I’m to do as you all suggest, shouldn’t I at least ask the one person involved what she thinks?”
With that, Nahal left the chamber.
Bardal sank heavily into his chair.
He rubbed his face with both hands and exhaled.
“Why does our lord behave that way?”
Snua spoke.
His voice was hollow, as if he genuinely could not fathom his king’s actions.
“Compassion, I suppose.”
Levannan, leaning against the wall, shook his head and muttered.
“Has the princess not endured difficult times? Even before, she collapsed in the king’s presence once.”
Snua’s brow furrowed deeper, still unconvinced.
On the battlefield, he had never once doubted his lord’s judgment.
Nahal had always made decisions with cold precision—choices that were right and accurate, guaranteeing maximum efficiency and minimum loss.
He could not understand why his lord would act this way.
Most of all, it troubled him that Nahal harbored not the slightest suspicion toward the princess.
‘How is it possible to show such faith? How did he know beforehand that poison—or whatever it was—had been placed in the cup?’
The small princess seemed unlikely to harm Nahal even at such cost to herself, yet to exclude her entirely from suspicion seemed strange.
By nature, Nahal was a man prone to doubt and offered little trust to others.
Had he been true to form, he would have suspected the princess before Snua ever raised the question.
‘Can he truly hold such unfounded trust?’
This was the first time Snua had ever seen Nahal place such blind faith in another person.
He had never shown such trust, even to those who had fought beside him all these years.
While not without comparison, if pressed, the only person Nahal had ever regarded with such unconditional belief was his benefactor.
* * *
When Aya regained consciousness, she was lying down and eating rice gruel.
Though weak, her body felt remarkably sound.
In fact, strangely enough, she even felt refreshed.
Her nurse had said that blood had flowed from her eyes, nose, and even ears.
Perhaps something unpleasant that had been pooling inside her body had drained away along with it—a strangely amusing thought.
Aya felt relieved, gazing up at the clear sky beyond the window.
‘The weather’s lovely.’
The breeze blowing in was refreshing, and it lifted her spirits.
She couldn’t remember when she’d returned to the Royal Palace, but stretched out now in a room she’d grown quite accustomed to, a sense of contentment welled up within her.
And in the afternoon, Nahal arrived, his face dark.
After dismissing the attendants, he sat down near her bedside.
‘Why does he look so worn?’
Nahal across from her looked ready to collapse at any moment, his appearance so diminished.
Though she’d seen him fairly often during this time, never had she seen him in such a state.’
Aya studied him carefully, worried that perhaps he’d been touched by the Mist.
But there were no traces of the Mist upon him.
‘Surely no one harmed you while I slept?’
Nahal, seated beside the bed, simply gazed at her in silence for a long moment.
His gaze, falling upon her face, trembled.
To face such a look and claim ignorance would have been foolish.
Aya understood then that Nahal’s condition had deteriorated because of her.
Heavy silence stretched until he finally opened his mouth with a sigh.
“…How is your body?”
Aya raised her hand to indicate she was well enough.
It wasn’t merely an answer offered to comfort him.
She had no energy, but if she ate well and rested properly, she felt she would recover quickly.
Nahal drew a deep breath.
“I’m truly relieved.”
Fatigue clung to his voice, though it emerged as little more than a murmur.
Aya found herself oddly flustered by the fact that he had been so concerned for her.
“Never again—truly never again do I wish for such a thing to happen.”
Whether it was a vow or a plea, she couldn’t say.
But hearing the weight in his voice, Aya nodded slowly.
“Such a thing will never happen twice, but should anything remotely similar occur, you must promise never to step forward.”
Aya blinked.
“Whatever it is, it would have been far better for me to consume it instead. At least I am stronger than you.”
He meant that even poison, he would swallow it himself if it meant sparing her.
Aya, her expression stubborn, nodded slowly.
She had much to say, but his face looked so ready to collapse that she couldn’t bring herself to argue.
His pallor was so poor that she half-wondered if she ought to yield him the bed.
“…I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring this up in blame.”
He bowed his head low.
Aya’s eyes widened as she waited for what would follow.
After a long pause, still bent low, he spoke words of gratitude.
“Because of you, my life was saved. Thank you.”
It wasn’t an action meant to receive thanks.
She had wished for him to live, wished for him not to be hurt.
Because of that, the fact that he was larger and stronger than she was didn’t matter at all.
And yet, hearing his thanks, her heart swelled with a quiet satisfaction.
Feeling suddenly shy, Aya touched her cheek.
“But there is something I would ask.”
Nahal’s gaze grew solemn, his voice steady.
The atmosphere suggested something important was about to be said, and Aya focused on his words.
“I suspected you had consumed poison. Yet no poison was detected in the chalice or the wine.”
Aya nodded slightly.
Of course.
It hadn’t been poison at all.
But she had no idea how to explain this fact to him.
A woman who had consumed an intangible poison in its place.
Even to her own ears, it sounded strange.
He might well suspect her.
That she had orchestrated it all for his attention, or to put him in a difficult position.
Such a suspicion was possible.
There was more than enough reason to believe it.
Yet the words that followed were far from accusatory.
“I do not doubt you. I’m not raising this question to cross-examine you.”
Aya looked up at him.
“I only wonder if you might tell me what you consumed?”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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