Chapter 175

With a worried expression on his face, Theon got up from his seat and strode towards the sofa where she was sitting.

“I don’t think you have a fever.”

Theon, who crouched in front of the sofa to make eye level with Ayla, put a hand on her round forehead and murmured.

“I’m fine, but…”

“?”

“Ugh, it’s nothing. I have to do what I have to do.”

At Ayla’s hesitant words, Theon tilted his head and raised his gaze.

“Tell me what you were doing outside the palace. Were you doing something related to Baron Noir?”

Contrary to her calm words, Ayla’s gaze was somehow filled with anxiety.

She couldn’t concentrate at all the whole time she was reviewing the documents as she recalled Eden, who was lying in a cot.

All she was worried about was whether something serious had happened during the night or whether he had regained his consciousness, which had been foggy since the day before.

“What’s going on?”

Theon, who could not miss that, directly asked Ayla, who was trying to hide her anxious gaze.

“I think… I should go to the medical squadron.”

“The medical squadron? Are you referring to the Knights’ medical squadron? Why? If you’re not feeling well, I’ll summon the royal physician.”

“Eden… is very hurt. I think Grand Duke Ermedi did something to him.”

Ayla looked at Theon’s expression and spoke cautiously.

“Eden? Was Eden the name of that foreigner guy that is always next to Kyle?”

“…”

Ayla quietly nodded at Theon’s words, who showed signs of displeasure when Eden’s name came out.

Seeing Ayla’s anxious look, Theon put down his arm and briefly said, ‘Alright. You can go.’

“I’ll be back soon.”

With her last words, she left the office.

Theon’s eyes, looking at Ayla’s back, were shaking slightly.

‘Don’t get mistaken.’

‘Ayla just fell for my delusion.’

‘You’re not mistaking it for sincerity towards you, right?’

Theon’s expression hardened as Owen’s words brushed his ear.

***

Ayla’s steps towards the medical squadron were hurried.

Theon’s expression, which had hardened before she left the office, was weighing on her mind, but checking whether Eden was alive or dead came first.

Whatever the reason, it was Eden who helped Ayla whenever she was in trouble, so she couldn’t help but think about him.

‘Yes, people’s lives matter.’

Deciding to first make sure he is safe, and then explain everything to Theon, Ayla hurried her steps. The hurrying footsteps came to a halt in front of the medical squadron.

“It’s quiet…”

Getting nervous in the serious atmosphere, Ayla rolled her eyes and looked around.

The medical officer, who had an inappropriate attitude the whole time, as well as the guards guarding the area, were absent.

The heavy silence continued. The empty interior didn’t even have the slightest indication of a human presence.

Trudge, trudge.

Ayla’s face filled with concern as she turned towards where Eden was last night with low footsteps. Ayla swallowed dry, trying to calm her pounding heart. She raised her trembling hands into the air.

Swoosh.

Ayla’s expression distorted in an instant as she removed the white cloth covering the bed.

In front of her was only an empty bed, and Eden was nowhere to be seen.

Ayla, who had been looking for traces of him all over the place, started tearing up.

“Did he… really die?”

She felt her legs losing strength.

There were no traces of Eden anywhere in the quiet interior.

The red bandages that were scattered around and Eden’s scent that had filled the room disappeared as if they had never existed in the first place.

Ayla, who had already collapsed to her knees, touched the cold marble floor with both hands.

Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and suppressed the rushing emotions.

Trudge, trudge.

Ayla, who raised her eyes at the sound of footsteps coming from afar, looked at the door with a blank expression.

Soon after, as two men dressed in the Knights’ attire entered the room, she could hear the conversation between them.

“But why did he do that? Wasn’t he the Commander’s cherished subject?”

“Rumor has it that he asked him to find someone, but things went wrong. He was a pain in the neck, but he was good.”

“Ah, that Princess Zenia or what’s her name?”

“It’s Zenia! She’s the Princess of Ruit. Watch your words. You could end up like that too.”

Ayla’s blue eyes fluttered incessantly at the knights’ secret conversation.

“In the end… It was because of me again.”

The men, who found Ayla muttering with a blank expression on her face, exchanged glances and kept silent as if they had been caught telling a secret.

“Who is that woman?”

“Who knows. Let’s just go. Let’s not get involved in anything.”

“Doesn’t it seem like she’s not in her right mind?”

The two men, who were looking at Ayla with suspicious eyes, whispered among themselves and left.

‘The Knights of the Kingdom are cowardly and irresponsible until the end.’

Ayla pursed her lips and smiled bitterly at the thought that ran through her head.

She did think that it couldn’t be.

Yes… She wanted to believe that wasn’t the case.

She hoped it wasn’t related to Zenia, but again, her ominous premonition wasn’t wrong.

What on earth did she do?