Even If You Tear Me Apart - Chapter 27
The chapters are split like this so that the TL can update more consistently over time (✿ ＞◡❛)
Ezekiel, having been worried for days about the horses left outside, went out early in the morning—and ran into the knights across the river. The knights looked on the verge of tears as they greeted him.
“YOUR HIGHNESS!!!”
They had dark circles under their eyes from three days of searching. After much trial and error, the knights had cut down a large tree from the nearby woods and laid it over the collapsed bridge.
With several strong men, the crossing was quickly restored. The first to rush over was Sir Raugar, the knight who served closest to Ezekiel.
“Where is His Highness Étienne? Is he alright?”
“I’m fine. My brother… isn’t doing too well.”
The knights’ faces turned pale.
Ezekiel calmly explained everything that had happened. Fortunately, hearing that they had remained at the Quilluxia manor the entire time brought a sigh of relief to the knights.
“That’s a relief, at least.”
“And Ducal Lady Felicia Arbois?”
“Well…”
The knights hesitated. The situation was simple.
“…Ducal Lady Felicia Arbois was injured?”
“We’re terribly sorry…”
When they lost track of the princes in the heavy rain, Felicia had thrown a fit. Even so, she insisted they find the princes quickly, sending the knights scrambling in every direction.
The problem occurred when she tried to return to a nearby village to rest. As she was getting out of the carriage, Felicia Arbois slipped in the mud.
She tumbled together with the knight escorting her, and unfortunately, her arm was pinned beneath his armor.
Now Ezekiel’s face turned ashen. A noble lady injured while on an inspection trip with the Crown Prince—this was a serious issue.
“And the Duke?”
“He doesn’t know yet. The thing is…”
Felicia Arbois, at least, had a sense of discretion. She understood there would be no benefit in making an issue of her injury.
The Duke doted on Felicia deeply and had long been displeased by Étienne’s obvious reluctance to proceed with their engagement.
So this incident was unlikely to be overlooked. At the very least, the Duke would demand an apology.
But such a demand would inevitably strain the relationship between the imperial family and the ducal house.
Felicia, however, loved Étienne, who would become Crown Prince. She didn’t want to cause even a ripple of trouble. It was, in a way, a truly heart-wrenching love.
“She wishes to hide the injury from the Duke for the time being.”
Naturally, this meant she couldn’t return to the ducal estate for a while either. Ezekiel rubbed his forehead. The real issue was that Étienne’s fever still hadn’t gone down.
As a result, Felicia Arbois was now coming to Quilluxia.
For Ezekiel, it was practically a disaster.
“What is this wretched excuse for a bridge? Are you saying I have to cross that?!”
There was, however, one small blessing: as soon as Felicia saw the ruined bridge, she shrieked from the far side.
She was utterly appalled at the wooden beam the knights had laid across the river.
“This is ridiculous! Are you sure Prince Étienne is really over there?”
She insisted she couldn’t possibly cross such a thing with an injured arm. When one knight offered, “Shall I carry you across?”, she slapped him. There was no way she’d accept something so undignified.
In the end, what came to the rescue was Felicia Arbois’s wealth. Even in the drizzle, she summoned laborers from the village she’d been staying in and had them rebuild the bridge. In half a day, no less.
Thanks to her efforts, Felicia Arbois’s four-horse carriage was able to cross the river successfully. Ezekiel, waiting on the other side, let out a sigh. No matter how many times he saw her, she was always an incredible lady.
“You’ve arrived, Ducal Lady Arbois.”
“Prince Ezekiel! Really, I just—!”
Felicia Arbois started to scold him as soon as she saw him—but then stopped. It was because of Ezekiel’s appearance.
He was still wearing the old clothes of Baron Quilluxia, and upon seeing him, Felicia wobbled like she might faint.
“Heavens above, what in the world is this?! Don’t tell me the princes were out begging on the streets while I wasn’t looking?!”
