I’m in Trouble Because The Emperor Thinks My Time is Limited - Chapter 23

As soon as we received word that the carriage was ready, I stood up with Sionel’s support. However, as we were about to leave, the priest blocked our way.

“Miss Lindel needs complete rest right now. I will escort her out myself.”

I couldn’t believe my ears. How could someone barely able to take care of himself say something like that?

I still hadn’t forgotten the baby bird incident.

Just as I was about to give him a puzzled look, two particularly strong-looking knights appeared at the door, carrying long poles with fabric attached between them.

I recognized the item immediately—it was a stretcher, the kind used to carry wounded soldiers in battle. Without needing to ask, I understood what they intended for me.

I wanted to refuse, but instead, I played dumb and asked anyway, “You don’t mean for me to lie down on that, right?”

“That’s exactly right!” answered the priest cheerfully, and the knights holding the stretcher gave a solid nod.

“We will ensure your safety.”

‘No way!’

I imagined myself being carried out on that stretcher—it was a horrifying thought. Anyone who saw me like that would instantly think, Look at me, I’m sick! That was absolutely not happening.

“I’m fine. I can walk to the carriage.”

I firmly refused, but Sionel interrupted, “No, this is better than me carrying you. There will be less jostling, which is better for your body.”

Sionel didn’t seem to notice the desperation in my eyes. Even when I turned to him, filled with betrayal, nothing changed.

The stretcher remained before me, and the others watched with eager eyes, as if they were puppies waiting for praise.

In the end, I had no choice but to lie down on the stretcher.

I couldn’t refuse the emperor’s suggestion, after all.

But to my surprise, once I was on the stretcher, the experience wasn’t as bad as I’d anticipated.

‘Oddly… comfortable.’

I was still self-conscious about the attention I was attracting, but the faces around me were mostly unfamiliar priests, which made it easier to bear.

The feeling of comfort and the lack of jostling made it even more stable than a carriage ride.

‘Well, it’s not like I’ll see any of these people again.’

I finally let myself relax.

Thanks to the knights’ strong arms, the stretcher barely wobbled, and it was surprisingly comfortable.

‘Not bad—’

But the moment we passed through the temple gates, I jolted upright.

‘—Wait, what is all this?!’

“Miss Lindel! Please remain still! Moving like that is dangerous.”

One of the knights tried to stop my flailing, but his words fell on deaf ears.

I was in shock at the sight outside the temple.

Familiar faces were scattered everywhere.

‘Why are they all gathered here?!’

The relief I had felt, thinking no one would see me like this, now seemed laughable.

The maids, attendants, and knights who had been taking care of me, as well as the ministers—including some I had seen before—all stood in clusters, staring at me.

What shocked me the most was the presence of the ministers. These were people you could barely see outside of state meetings—what were they doing here?

As I half-raised myself up, flustered by their stares, I could hear them murmuring.

“Did Miss Lindel just flail about?”

“I saw it too!”

They were talking about my panicked reaction to seeing them.

The fact that they had caught me flailing around only made it worse. As my face flushed with embarrassment, the murmurs grew louder.

“Could it be a seizure?!”

I almost fell off the stretcher at that.

‘A seizure? Really?’

The idea was ridiculous, but apparently, I was the only one who thought so.

“Doesn’t it look like that?”

The fact that they were agreeing with each other made it even more absurd. To make matters worse, the “Lindel seizure rumor” spread like wildfire among them.

I couldn’t believe these were the same people responsible for governing the empire.

Naturally, the knights overheard the murmuring.

“Oh no! Is it because she’s really unwell? We’ll move faster!”

The knight who had been warning me now looked at me with guilty eyes.

Half exhausted, half humiliated, I muttered under my breath, “That’s not it—just hurry up and get me out of here.”

“Understood!”

From past experience, I knew that denying it would only fuel their nonsense further. All I could do was hope that this moment would pass quickly.

I lay stiffly on the stretcher, covering my face with both hands in shame. Sionel, walking beside us, removed his outer coat and used it to shield me from view.

Sionel seemed to understand that I was just embarrassed, but he offered no explanation to anyone else, which frustrated me.

‘Wait.’

Through the small gap in the coat, I glimpsed a figure that I didn’t expect to see here. I quickly pushed the coat away, but when I looked again, no one was there.

‘There’s no way my father would be here.’

I thought I had seen Count Bodebachne and Ascal in the crowd, but it must have been my imagination. There was no reason for them to be here—especially the count.

“Is something wrong, Lindel?”

“No, nothing.”

“It’s dangerous. Just stay lying down.” Sionel gently pushed me back onto the stretcher with a soft hand on my shoulder.

But human nature is a fickle thing, and despite knowing better, I still couldn’t shake the thought of what if.

As we entered the carriage and the coat was removed, I glanced one last time at the crowd. But the count was nowhere to be seen.

‘Of course. He wouldn’t be here.’

The bitterness in my dry mouth faded quickly, though, as something else soon caught my attention.

“Miss Lindel had a seizure?!”

“No, I didn’t!”

The priest waiting near the carriage had, once again, stolen all my attention. His unnecessarily loud voice echoed through the area.

Hearing the priest’s words, the crowd around the carriage grew even more restless. I glared at him, thinking he was more trouble than help.

“Knights, explain exactly what symptoms—”

“I said no!”

With that, thoughts of the count—or my father—were erased from my mind.

***

After returning from the temple of Lute, Sionel became busier than ever. With the founding festival just around the corner, he had already spent too much time on me, and now he had no time to breathe. As a result, I found myself spending more and more time alone.

‘Something really has changed.’

The heat that had allowed me to use Aura on that day now visited me several times a day, without warning. What was amazing was that each time I felt the heat, I also felt my body recovering.

There were no visible changes, but every time the heat surged, I could regain my previous strength. The fatigue and lethargy that had been plaguing me disappeared as if they had been washed away, and my ability to control Aura returned to how it had been before.

Considering how much I had struggled with the aftereffects of the contract, I was thrilled by this new development. Even though I hadn’t been sick, constantly feeling tired had been inconvenient.

Today, once again, I pressed a hand to my chest, feeling the heartbeat beneath my skin. My pulse was a bit fast, the heat hidden deep within.

“Success!”

As a test, I channeled Aura into the wooden stand I was holding, and I succeeded without any trouble. But the moment I celebrated, the Aura vanished from the stand as quickly as it had appeared.

‘It only lasts for about three seconds.’

I could only stare at the stand with a hint of regret.

Just like the first time I had felt the heat, I could use Aura, but it was fleeting. No matter how much I practiced, that part never changed.

And there was one other thing that hadn’t changed—what happened after I used Aura. Each time I used it, all the strength drained from my body, and I would cough up blood.

Just like now, I collapsed to the floor like a puppet with its strings cut, thick blood trickling down my chin. For a while, I was completely helpless, sitting on the floor, grumbling to myself.

‘I wish this would stop.’

I had been caught like this by the maids several times, so of course, I wasn’t happy about it. No matter how much better I felt, my appearance screamed I’m dying, so no one believed me when I said I was fine.

Even though my heartbeat was strong and my complexion had improved, the blood and limp limbs overshadowed everything. As a result, I had adopted a whatever attitude and kept practicing with Aura.

‘Sionel would probably drop everything and rush to me again if I got caught.’

I still felt bad about bothering someone so busy, but the more I practiced with Aura, the more comfortable I felt, so I had no intention of stopping.

‘What excuse should I come up with next?’

As I absentmindedly searched for excuses, my gaze landed on the bookshelf lining the wall.

‘Oh.’

My eyes focused on the gap between the shelves. Though I couldn’t see it, I knew that tucked away there was the glass vial of red powder that Laroche had given me.

‘Should I try taking it now?’

Ever since returning to the palace, I had been debating whether to take the Estelle. But each time, I hesitated because of the side effects Laroche had mentioned.

Of course, my heart stopping wasn’t a trivial problem, and neither was my current situation. But something else was bothering me.

‘Why does it smell like that?’

The issue was the smell of the powder.

When I had first opened the vial in the palace, I had been horrified. As soon as I removed the lid, the stench hit me so hard I thought my nose would rot. It had been so bad that I nearly gagged, so I was scared to try it again.

“Wouldn’t I just die right then and there?”

The thought had crossed my mind, given how awful Estelle smelled. As I pondered the red powder once more, I saw the door, which had been firmly closed, open.

The person entering was none other than Luna. Since I was sitting facing the door, I immediately made eye contact with her as she stepped inside. As she stared at me with wide eyes, I greeted her with an exaggeratedly cheerful voice.

“You’re here?”

My overly bright tone made Luna drop the clothes she had been holding onto the floor. Even after seeing that, I smiled shamelessly.

After all, no one ever believed me when I said I was fine. At this point, I had given up.

Even the sound of my name being screamed wouldn’t shake me anymore. It felt like I, along with everything around me, was going mad. But that must have been my imagination.

“Miss Lindeeeeel!”

Luna’s scream echoed through the room once again today.