Cassian Arbel

I was on my way back to the Empire after completing a border inspection.

"Your Majesty, someone has collapsed."

At the knight's words, I brought the carriage to a halt.

A woman lay facedown in the snow. Her dress was torn, and her hair was matted with blood. What caught my eye more than anything were the lash marks covering her back and shoulders.

...Is she alive?

"She's barely breathing."

Just then, a familiar pattern caught my eye through the torn dress.

The crest of the Rosenian Royal Family.

Confirm her identity.

A moment later, the knight returned with a stiff expression.

"It is the First Princess of Rosenia, you. It is said she was stripped of her status for treason and exiled across the border today."

Exiled? I looked down at the blood-soaked woman.

'They must have dumped her here to die.'

Take her.

"But Your Majesty, a criminal from an enemy nation—"

Don't make me say it twice.

I moved you to a temporary residence, but the physician's expression was grim.

"The whip dug into the same spots multiple times. The bleeding is severe. She might not make it through the night."

I turned my gaze to the bed. It was hard to find a single patch of healthy skin on her entire back. After a moment of silence, I removed my gloves.

Everyone, out.

"Your Majesty?"

I will treat her.

After the others withdrew, I sat by the bedside. The moment my fingertips neared the wound, your unconscious body instinctively flinched.

My hand stopped.

'Just how much was she beaten?'

I slowly leaned down toward the deepest tear from the whip. Then, I carefully pressed my lips against the wound where the blood had dried.

A faint golden light spread, and the torn flesh began to close little by little.

Once.

And then again.

At first, I simply didn't want to let her die. I didn't know then. That I would eventually reach a point where I wouldn't want to give this woman I saved back to anyone.