Chapter 144

Cura looked at Elena with a puzzled expression, clearly unsure what she meant.

“You and Sir Serin aren’t the type to disobey His Grace’s orders,” Elena said quietly.

“Well… that’s true,” Cura admitted, her voice trailing off as she lowered her gaze.

“You two, wait there,” Elena instructed, turning to the maids. “Then follow me.”

Keeping them close at hand, Elena began to dress with Cura’s help.

***

Inside the rattling carriage, Elena braced herself against the seat with her palm, trying to steady her swaying body.

Cura grasped her arm, gently pulling her closer so she could lean against her, but even sitting upright seemed to take effort.

The road had been ravaged by days of relentless rain. Deep ruts and stretches of mud caused the carriage wheels to sink as though into a swamp.

Even the coachman’s voice, constantly soothing the horses, betrayed how tense he was.

Elena drew back the curtain covering the small window and looked outside.

The rain, which had poured as though the sky itself had split open, had finally stopped, but heavy clouds still loomed overhead. The damp air pressed down, thick and suffocating.

She lifted a hand to the cloth covering her nose and mouth. Even such a thin layer made it difficult to breathe.

Still, they were heading into a region plagued by disease. She had no choice but to keep her face covered.

“I truly feel as though I’m aging by the day because of you, my lady,” Serin muttered from across the carriage.

He sat with his elbow propped against the window frame, his chin resting on his hand. Like Elena and Cura, the lower half of his face was concealed beneath cloth.

Elena glanced at him briefly, catching the unmistakable irritation in his eyes, then turned away.

Convincing him to depart for the capital without Kennard’s direct order had been nothing short of a miracle.

“You do realize that if His Grace finds out, my life is forfeit?” he added, finally turning his gaze fully on her.

She could no longer pretend not to notice.

“I’ve wondered this since the first time we met,” he went on, shifting his body to face her. “Are you fearless… or simply reckless?”

It seemed that the frustration he had been suppressing throughout their journey had finally reached its limit.

“…Reckless, perhaps,” Elena replied, biting lightly on her lower lip before offering a faint smile.

Serin’s brows drew together even more tightly, and he shot her a resentful look.

“At least you’re aware of it. Then shouldn’t you show some restraint? His Grace deliberately sent you away for your safety, and yet you insist on returning to the capital of your own accord. You’ve only just recovered from the brink of death.”

“How could I stay away when people are dying from the plague?” Elena asked softly.

“And what exactly do you intend to do when you get there? Don’t tell me you plan to tend to the infected yourself in your condition.”

“I may not be able to care for them directly, but perhaps I can assess the situation and suggest appropriate treatments.”

“Hah!”

Serin let out an open scoff.

Elena forced a small, awkward smile and met Cura’s eyes.

“Brother, that’s enough,” Cura cut in, glaring at him.

“If you were going to complain this much, you should have stopped her before we left. Why start now?”

“If I could have stopped her, I would have,” he shot back. “She refused even a sip of water and simply endured. What was I supposed to do?”

“Honestly…” Cura muttered, clicking her tongue as she pulled the fur draped over Elena’s lap higher.

“You were worried about her before we left,” she added, leaning slightly toward him with a teasing edge. “But now that we’ve set out, you’re just scared for your own life, aren’t you?”

Elena watched the two of them quietly. A pang of guilt stirred in her chest, wondering if she had caused their quarrel.

“Wouldn’t you be?” Serin retorted, pressing his fingers to his temple as if nursing a headache. “Disobeying His Grace is dangerous enough, but escorting his lady to the capital? I must have lost my mind to agree to this.”

“I’ll explain everything to His Grace myself,” Elena said gently. “I’ll tell him it was entirely my insistence.”

“You’d better,” he replied. “Though that hardly guarantees his anger won’t fall on me as well.”

“Oh, honestly, must you grumble so much?” Cura said, pretending to cover her ears.

Serin shot her a glare, clearly about to retort, but the moment his eyes met Elena’s, he fell silent.

Cura caught the look and pressed her lips together, suppressing a smile.

Elena couldn’t help but smile faintly herself, despite the heaviness in her chest. Their bickering was oddly comforting, and she was grateful that Serin spoke to her so candidly.

After Hazel had been cast out of Terra Demorte and Elena had become Kennard’s woman, Serin’s attitude toward her had changed completely. He had grown careful, restrained, always mindful of his lord.

It was only natural, but Elena found that she missed the way he used to scold her without hesitation when she erred.

So even now, as he grumbled and complained, she felt a quiet sense of relief.

“When we reach the capital, you must keep your hair and face well hidden,” Serin said at last, his gaze fixed on the passing landscape outside.

“I will.”

She had already prepared a hat with a long veil that would conceal her completely. Even so, she knew she could not move freely once they arrived.

Her vivid red hair alone made her too conspicuous. For that reason, she had braided it tightly and pinned it up, leaving not a single strand loose.

Still, the exposed nape of her neck felt strangely unfamiliar, and she brushed it absently with her hand.

“Are you cold?” Cura asked, pulling the shawl tighter around her shoulders.

“No, I’m fine.”

“If anything feels wrong, you must tell me immediately.”

Elena nodded at Cura’s worried gaze.

Silence settled over the carriage for a long while before Serin spoke again, his tone noticeably softened.

“Do you at least have a plan?”

Elena looked down at her hands clasped in her lap and answered slowly.

“I have a suspicion. But I won’t know for certain until we arrive.”

A quiet sigh slipped through Serin’s teeth.

“No plan at all… and I couldn’t even stop you,” he muttered under his breath, leaning back against the seat and closing his eyes.

***

As the carriage passed through a village near the imperial palace, Elena could not suppress her shock.

She had never seen it before, but she could easily imagine how lively it must have once been.

Now, however, death hung over it as heavily as the darkened sky.

Most of the shops and homes were shuttered, lifeless. Woven baskets rolled across the ground with the wind, mingling with fallen leaves.

Between them lay people sprawled across the streets, unmoving as though already dead.

Some still raised weak arms, pleading for help, but even that seemed to cost them, their bodies wracked with painful groans.

Flies swarmed everywhere, clustering around both people and objects alike.

“They’re not… dead, are they?” Cura asked, her face pale as she covered her nose.

Even through the cloth pressed to her face, Elena could smell it. The stench of decay, mixed with something else she could not identify, made her head spin.

But it was a smell she knew. A sight she had seen before.

She had witnessed the same devastation when war broke out in Terra Demorte.

She wanted to leap from the carriage at once, to check on the people, but she knew Serin would never allow it.

Pressing her face close to the window, she scanned the surroundings.

Then she noticed it. A faint light flickering from within a house, and the shadow of someone moving near the window.

They were watching. Watching the carriage, the armed knights passing through.

Elena quickly withdrew and placed the prepared hat upon her head, lowering the black veil over her face. After drawing the curtain closed, she left only a small gap to continue observing outside.

“Is there a communal well in this village?” she asked, turning slightly toward Serin.

“There should be. Since the late Emperor’s reign, every village has had one.”

“Take me there.”

One of Serin’s brows lifted.

“And what do you intend to do?”

“Even with prolonged rains and flooding,” Elena said quietly, “an outbreak doesn’t happen without a cause.”