The Evil Empress Adores Me - Chapter 35

His hoarse voice sounded strangely painful.

My voice trembled as I replied to him.

“It’s me… Charlize…”

“…Lize?”

Light gradually returned to the hazy eyes that were staring at me.

Damian was startled at the same time and immediately relaxed his grip.

“I’m so sorry!”

“No, it’s fine.”

I gently shook my head.

To be honest, I was taken aback, but there were no major problems with my body.

I was just grabbed by the neck.

Furthermore, Damian has been plagued by assassins in the past, so it’s understandable that he’s sensitive while sleeping.

Rather… 

I glanced at Damian.

I felt that something was off.

“But… how long have you been asleep?”

That’s strange, Damian doesn’t usually sleep in right?

Damian smiled awkwardly.

“Yeah, I overslept today after a long time.”

“What’s wrong? Don’t you usually wake up early?”

“Just… I had some nightmares.”

Damian’s eyes grew dark as he said it.

He looked really tired, so I got a little worried.

“A nightmare? What kind of nightmare was it?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

Damian dismissed my question.

Hmmm.

I narrowed my eyes.

I’m not sure what nightmare it was, but it must be terrifying.

When you’re feeling down, basking in the sun  can do wonders for your mood.

“May I draw the curtains?”

“Do whatever you want.”

Damian agreed with a nod.

I moved closer to the window.

The drapes were drawn back, revealing the dark room throughout.

And I was shocked because the first thing I saw was Damian’s ghastly pale face.

“Crown prince, your face… !”

“What’s wrong with my face?”

“You look so pale!”

I was so taken aback that I immediately dashed to Damian.

Even blank paper isn’t as pale as he is right now!

Furthermore, his skin was flaky.

Damian grinned bitterly as he raised his hand to feel his cheek.

“Well, that happens sometimes.”

“There are times like this?!”

“It’s just when I have nightmares and remembering all of that…… I feel tired.”

“..Really?”

I looked at him with suspicion. 

Damian stood up and waved his hand.

“Yes, it’s true. So don’t worry about it.”

“How could I ignore it!?”

I became frustrated and raised my voice.

Damian’s eyes were filled with mixed feelings as he looked at me.

He was grateful for my concern for his health, but he seemed rather perplexed.

He opened his mouth after a while.

“Thank you for your concern, but I’m fine.”

No, you don’t look fine at all!

I was worried about him but I couldn’t keep insisting when he himself said he was fine.

I gave in and spoke to him after a deep sigh.

“I see. Then, eat first.”

“It’s fine, I don’t have an appetite.”

“You still have to eat. Right now, crown prince, you look like you’re on the verge of collapsing.”

“… Yes, alright.”

Damian, unable to deny my remark, nodded slightly.

“I’ll bring dinner back here.”

“No, let’s go to the dining room together.”

“But…”

“I said it’s okay, I didn’t want to worry you.”

Damian rose to his feet after saying that.

Just as I was about to stand up, Damian’s body shook furiously as he swayed.

I quickly moved to his side and supported him.

Hey, I think we’re going to fall together!

“Crown prince!”

I shouted urgently.

Perhaps thinking about the difference in our size, Damian attempted to regain his balance after stumbling and succeeded.

Oh my god, Damian. Why is he like this? And why does it look like he had a hard time breathing?

Damian gritted his teeth and asked me.

“…I’m sorry. Are you hurt?”

Huh, is he worrying about me now?

I looked up at Damian with a bewildered look.

The heat emanating from Damian’s skinny arms through his thin pajamas was scorching.

“Yo-your body is burning up…”

I stuttered and opened my mouth.

Is it possible for a person’s body temperature to rise this high?

Huh?

Doctor, I need to call a doctor.

But will the Emperor, His Majesty, send a physician to the Crown Prince’s Palace?

The fact that Damian was sick bothered me to the point that the issue was like a tangled thread in my head.

At that time, Damian looked at me.

“Please, Lize.”

The hand on my shoulder was unbelievably hot as if it was a ball of fire.

He spoke in a voice that was exceedingly earnest.

“I know I’m sick… just please don’t tell anyone else.”

It was a whisper that sounded almost like a plea.

With those words, Damian’s body dropped to the floor.

Damian suddenly raised his head.

The first thing he noticed was a thick herbal scent that brushed the tip of his nose.

However, not even the strong smell could mask the distinctive body odor of a dying person.

Damian clenched his teeth.

A censer for burning herbs, as well as a dimly lit room with drawn curtains.

And a slender figure lying before him on a large bed.

This entire scenery was familiar.

…… I was so used to it that I felt like throwing up.

“Father.”

The young Damian was in tears as he opened his mouth.

Damian took a step back and looked at himself from five years ago with a fed-up look.

At that call, the emperor’s eyelids trembled.

After a while, the emperor struggled to keep his eyes open. 

Damian was the focus of his turbid sight.

“… Dian.”

Dian.

It was Damian’s nickname, which no one ever called him anymore and could only be heard in his nightmares.

My son… 

The emperor stretched out his hand towards his son.

Damian, who was still young, cried as he held his father’s hand.

Looking at his back, Damian quietly grabbed his hand.

At that time, what was the feeling he felt?

What was the feeling he felt as he held his father’s hand at the time?

Those icy hands that were as dry as straw and as tough as tree trunks.

Oh, I see.

That hand was like…… It was like a dead body.

The emperor cried out to Damian in a fading voice.

“I’m leaving you alone when you’re still young… … I’m so sorry.”

It was a complicated voice.

Three years old.

It was the age when Damian would lose his father and be left alone.

The empress lost her life early while giving birth to Damian, so his only relative is his father, the emperor.

“It will be very difficult in the future. “

“But don’t forget. You inherited the power of the divine beast and the name of the founding emperor, Carpel…”

The emperor‘s hands were folded with only a sliver of strength left.

He gave all of his strength in continuing his speech one syllable after the other.

The only crown prince of the Winsor empire.

Damian, who was pondering those words, lowered his head with a weary face.

If I hadn’t inherited that name, would I not have to suffer this painful existence?

“……And, be wary of your uncle, Marquis Mod. Cough, cough!”

After the deafening voice, a sharp coughing sound erupted.

Even though he reflexively covered his mouth, blood dripped down.

The bloodstains on the pajama’s front and the blanket were all black.

The three-year-old Damian, who had been clinging to the emperor’s side, was dismayed and grabbed his father.

“Father, father!”

Hearing the cry of his young self, Damian smirked.

It doesn’t matter how young you are, how can you so blind to reality? The emperor is dead.

After the death of his father, the emperor, the peaceful world Damian had lived in until now was completely destroyed.

The death of his father, the emperor, completely shattered the peaceful world Damian had come to know. 

The fact that the crown prince will be treated as air was obvious.

“Ah, let it go! I mean it, let go!”

The young Damian was now being dragged by the nape of his neck by Vincent’s wretched hand, his uncle, the man who was Damian’s only family left.

“Do you still think you’re the crown prince?”

Thwack!

Damian’s tiny body was slammed against the floor.

Ugh!

In a throbbing pain that racked his entire body, Damian crouched down.

A cold voice lodged in Damian’s ears as he groaned and crawled on the floor.

“Just be thankful that you’re a prince.”

Abandoned? Am I an abandoned prince?

Damian abruptly raised his head, unsure what would become of him.)

Vincent proudly looked down at Damian.

“Uncle…”

“Oh my, Damian.”

Uncle Vincent squatted down, flipping Damian over and gripped his chin forcefully.

His menacing gray eyes shined with sick joy, accompanied by a sinister smile.

“You should call me ‘Your Majesty,’ not your uncle.”

That, what… ….

“In this empire, a new sun has already risen.”

Vincent snickered and burst out laughing.

The scorn for a man who was once an uncle was vividly inscribed inside the scarlet eyes consumed with terror.

Vincent stood up, leaving Damian all by himself.

Bang!

The door is closed.

That’s how five years of imprisonment began.

However, there was no time to be bored.

It was just a constant ordeal to survive and live to see the next day.

Damian witnessed multiple occurrences.

Without much thought, Damian handed food to a bird that flew past his window and as a result, the bird vomited blood and died.

He saw someone enter his bedroom armed with a sword, only to leave and place the sword on the bed.

If Damian had not accidentally gone out that day, it would have been himself who was killed by the sword.