The Eldest Daughter Walks the Flower Path 003
It wasn't until Radis was alone that she furrowed her brow and groaned in pain.
"Ugh..."
When she forced herself to sit up, she saw the bandages the maid was wrapping around her body. Blood was already spreading over the freshly wrapped bandages and the barely applied medicine.
The person known as David, the eldest son of the Tilrod family, who now no longer needed to disguise himself as a Willingham knight, parted his pale lips.
"It hurts..."
It hurt. It
really, really hurt.
The maid did her best to treat her wounds, but it was only a temporary fix.
Her body was already beyond saving, with older injuries mingled with the fatal wounds she received during the monster's subjugation.
"This time it was a failure. I shouldn't have gone. It was a trap."
Radis's troops fought the monsters for three days and three nights just to survive. She was able to return alive that way, but many of her comrades lost their lives.
Those who survived were mortally wounded, just like her.
Wounds like these would still have been manageable, but the problem was the miasma that permeated the air when the mighty monsters had been vanquished, which soon seeped into their bodies.
That's why, in the end, this was her realization.
"I was a fool to fall into that trap."
Lying on her bed, a mess, Radis laughed self-deprecatingly.
But strangely, it didn't occur to her that all of this was unfair.
Because her whole life had been a long, thorny road.
One step would be empty, another a pit of fire.
She couldn't imagine a straight and easy path.
All her life, she had lived constantly struggling to navigate through such traps, shattering her body and mind countless times, but now that she had finally fallen into one, she was angry.
But mostly, she was exhausted.
"Cough, cough!"
She couldn't even raise a hand to cover her mouth.
Radis coughed, her body spasming like a fish out of water. It felt as if her lungs were being torn apart.
Then she could feel something coming out of her mouth. She must have vomited blood.
The door opened again.
"Now, your favorite rabbit soup..."
Margaret, holding the bowl, was startled to see Radis drenched in blood.
"Oh, oh, my God! Someone come! Maggie, Maggie, clean it up!"
The maid, who had gone to the washing area, returned once more at Margaret's shout.
The maid gently wiped Radis's face with a sad expression. After Maggie left, Margaret placed the bowl of soup on the table next to Radis.
"Eat this and rest for a while. You'll feel better after sleeping."
Margaret still didn't dare look Radis in the eye.
Radis, who was silently looking at Margaret, picked up the bloodstained coat jacket from the floor and pulled something out.
In an instant, the room was filled with a radiant light of five colors.
"W-what?!"
Margaret took a step back, her frightened face looking as if she might faint at any moment.
"H-hey, what—!"
What Radis pulled out was a fist-sized jewel that radiated five colors.
"This is a magic stone I brought back from the last subjugation."
Margaret's eyes widened at the mention of "magic stone."
Unrefined magic stones sometimes commanded a higher price than diamonds of the same size, depending on the quality of the miasma energy they contained.
This magic stone shone so extraordinarily brightly, with a brilliance that even the naked eye could see.
And look at its size!
"No, this... How much is this? You did a great job!"
Radis replied to the excited Margaret.
"I was told there was a priest who fell from grace and was expelled from the temple. They're trying to cover it up with money. If this is it, you can secretly summon that priest."
The weight of the stone left Radis's hand as she handed it to Margaret, and the elderly woman's jaw dropped open.
Her mouth watered.
Margaret left the room wordlessly, as if mesmerized by the magic stone's brilliance.
Radis lay down on the bed and gazed out the window at the sky.
"All right. I'll be better after the priest's purification."
Many thoughts swirled in Radis's mind, but one in particular consumed her.
That... once she awoke from her sleep, she would still be alone.
She simply let the sad thoughts fade away.
* * *
A few days later.
"Mother, what about the priest?"
"I've sent a messenger to the temple. He'll be here soon."
A few more days passed.
"Mother... Has the priest arrived yet?"
"Didn't I just say I sent someone?!"
Margaret clicked her tongue.
"Did you hear a false rumor? Perhaps the priest you're talking about isn't there."
Now, Radis didn't even have the strength to sit down.
Lying on a small bed that barely fit her, Radis looked at Margaret, who squirmed defensively. Margaret crossed her arms to cover her chest as she tried to control her expression.
And Radis realized that the priest was never coming.