Unable To Escape - Chapter 59

Alicia woke up from sleep with a terrible headache.

The bed seemed more uncomfortable than usual…

Stumbling as she got up, Alicia pressed her hands against her eyes that wouldn’t open easily and called Amy’s name as always.

“Amy, my head hurts.”

If she said this, Amy would rush over and say, ‘Your Highness, are you alright? Please have a sip of water first, and I’ll quickly go fetch the physician.’

“I’ll examine you for a moment.”

However, the voice that reached Alicia’s ears was not Amy’s.

Startled by the unfamiliar voice, Alicia raised her head, but the pain that felt like her head was splitting made her groan and cover her face with both hands again.

“There doesn’t seem to be any other major problem. I’ll prepare some headache medicine, so please wait a moment. Marisa, bring some lukewarm water for the Imperial Princess. Be careful not to let her drink it all at once.”

“Yes, physician.”

Groaning in pain, Alicia tried to assess the situation while slowly sipping the lukewarm water with Marisa’s help.

She had boarded the carriage to go to the Sage’s Tower, seen Killian’s splendid appearance, admired an incredibly large lake, and enjoyed learning the name of a wildflower she had never seen before.

When she was about to carelessly touch that flower, Killian…

‘This is driving me crazy, why do I keep thinking of Killian’s face?’

Is it because of the headache?

Unable to continue her thoughts, Alicia groaned while clutching her head. She soon received headache medicine from Tilly, who had quickly returned, and swallowed it with the lukewarm water.

Perhaps because she was Dalton’s disciple and skilled?

Not long after taking the medicine, the headache subsided, and Alicia finally realized she was lying in an unfamiliar place.

“When did I fall asleep? Did Kasa move me here?”

She asked while handing over the water glass she had been holding, but no answer came.

“Marisa?”

“Your Highness, do you… not remember what happened last night?”

Marisa’s face looked serious as she held the empty water glass Alicia had handed her.

“Your Highness, please try to recall.”

“Last night…”

It had been a night no different from others, with her thoughts complicated by Killian.

No, it was special since it was the first time she had looked up at the night sky from outside the Imperial Palace.

‘The moon and stars in the night sky were so beautiful. I was looking at them for a while, and then I ate the stew Marisa brought…’

At that moment, she remembered the yellow eyes that had examined her in the darkness.

The fear and disgust she had momentarily forgotten flooded back, intertwined.

Alicia closed her eyes tightly and curled up, frightened and disgusted by the terrible sensation it gave her.

Surprised by Alicia’s sudden trembling, Marisa embraced her and called out urgently for Tilly, who was waiting outside the tent.

“Physician! Alicia, Her Highness!”

The first to rush into the tent at Marisa’s voice was Killian.

Moving faster than ever, he approached Alicia, kneeled on one knee in front of her, and looked up at her face, which was trembling with fear.

“Alicia.”

Sensing his voice so close and the warm temperature touching both her cheeks, Alicia carefully opened her eyes.

“Are you alright?”

It was a voice so gentle it could bring tears to her eyes.

As she blinked, leaning her face against Killian’s hands cupping her cheeks, tears that had gathered without her knowing fell in drops.

Were these tears shed out of fear from last night’s memory? Or were they tears shed for Killian’s gentleness that she had once desperately wished for?

Even Alicia herself didn’t know.

Tilly, who had entered the tent a step behind, carefully examined Alicia, who had quickly calmed down with Killian’s help, and then left the tent again, saying he would prepare medicine needed to calm her mind.

“I-I’m fine now.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, I’m sorry for showing such an unsightly appearance.”

Alicia gently pushed away Killian’s hands and leaned back, avoiding his gaze.

Somehow, she couldn’t look him straight in the face.

Killian, who had been persistently following Alicia’s face with his eyes, stood up.

Just as Alicia noticed that his knees had become dirty with soil and was about to start blaming herself again, the voices of Kasa and Reilly were heard from outside the tent.

“We heard that Your Highness had woken up and came.”

“Are you alright, Your Highness?”

“Both of you, come in. I’m fine now.”

Alicia called the two into the tent as she wiped away the tear stains with a wet cloth handed to her by Marisa.

Kasa, who had entered the tent relieved after hearing her voice, frowned again seriously upon seeing Alicia’s reddened eyes.

“I apologize, Your Highness.”

“Is there a reason why Sir White should apologize to me?”

“It happened because I, who was in charge of Your Highness’s escort, failed to fulfill my duty. Please punish me.”

“It’s not your fault, so don’t say such things.”

“But…”

“Even the other knights guarding the carriage didn’t notice. If you were to be punished for that incident, they should be punished as well.”

“Your Highness…”

“I don’t want to punish Father’s precious knights for something that wasn’t their fault. So please don’t apologize.”

Turning her eyes away from Kasa, who stood there with a face that seemed not to know what to say, Alicia looked at Reilly, who was gazing at her with eyes full of worry.

Had he not slept well? The area under his eyes was dark.

“The Viscount’s complexion looks bad.”

“How could it be good after such a commotion at night?”

Reilly, who glared at Killian sitting on a chair that Marisa had brought and placed at the bedside, taking in Alicia’s appearance, continued speaking.

“So I have something to propose to Your Highness.”

“What is it?”

“I would like us to return to the capital.”

Surprised by Reilly’s words, Alicia unconsciously turned her head towards Killian.

Did she need an explanation of the current situation? Or was it a remnant of past habits?

The exact reason was unclear, but seeing him open his mouth after making eye contact with Alicia, while maintaining a relaxed expression alone, it seemed not to have been a bad choice.

“Last night, we discovered a beast’s lair not far from the campsite.”

“A beast’s lair?”

“It refers to traces where a beast has stayed, often found in the Beast Forest.”

Following suspicious traces, they discovered a beast’s lair in the inner part of the forest, the kind usually found only in the Beast Forest.

After hearing Killian’s brief explanation, Alicia asked about the one part she didn’t understand.

“You say you followed human traces, but beast traces appeared?”

“Yes. The strange thing is that the traces completely disappeared there.”

“Neither person nor beast could be found?”

“That’s right.”

Does this make sense?

Alicia tilted her head, seeming not to understand.

Watching her, Killian opened his mouth.

“By the way, Your Highness. There’s something I need to confirm with you.”

“What is it?”

“Last evening. What did Your Highness see?”

It was Kasa and Reilly who tensed up, holding their breath at Killian’s question.

They recalled the question Derek had asked Killian the night before.

Belatedly, Kasa had asked Killian what that meant, but he had avoided answering, saying that hearing Alicia’s response came first.

‘Will we be able to understand the meaning of that question once we hear Alicia’s answer?’

Thinking this, Kasa waited for Alicia’s response.

“What I saw… last evening?”

Just recalling it makes her body tremble again.

If she could, she would want to bury it completely in the far reaches of her memory.

But… Killian is asking.

It must be a question related to the beast traces he discovered.

If so, her fear doesn’t matter.

Moreover, for the sake of Eregron, she had to answer honestly about matters related to beasts.

The impact that this incident could bring was still impossible to calculate accurately, so she couldn’t bury it deep inside just because recalling it was frightening. Therefore, she spilled out everything she had witnessed without hiding anything.

“Yellow… eyes.”

Alicia said, clenching her interlocked hands to hide her trembling fingertips.

“I couldn’t see the face properly. It was dark. But I clearly remember those… yellow eyes.”

Fear and disgust.

Recalling emotions that were too intense to have felt upon seeing human eyes, Alicia lowered her head and squeezed her eyes shut.

“I thought it was a person, but it was too strange to be human. It was unusually dark, scary… and disgusting.”

Saying that at first she couldn’t even scream, Alicia let out a hollow laugh and said that it had been ‘smiling’ at her.

“You said you couldn’t see the face, didn’t you?”

“That’s right. I couldn’t see it. But I’m sure it was smiling.”

Silence fell after Alicia finished speaking.

Slowly sipping the warm water Marisa had brought, barely calming her trembling body, she looked down at her feet and thought about what relationship there might be between that thing from last night and the beast traces Killian had discovered.

Could it have been a beast?

But the mutants she had seen had appearances no different from ordinary beasts.

Alicia, who knew through the report handed over by Reilly that the only difference was the black crystals protruding from their backs, was certain that the thing from last night was not a beast.

However, to see it as human… those yellow eyes were too bizarre.

‘What on earth could it have been?’

After pondering for a long time, Alicia came to her senses at the sound of Reilly’s long sigh and raised her head.

“Let’s go back for now.”

At Reilly’s resolute words, Alicia’s gaze naturally fell on Killian.

After all, he was the one in overall charge of this journey.

However, the answer that flowed from his lips was not what Alicia had expected.

“I will follow Your Highness’s wishes.”