Chapter 102 : By Your Side

It was the moment when Fabian felt his heart stopped beating. Evelyn collapsed over him. From her hands to her feet, her whole body was trembling with fear.

“Who, who’s there!” Fabian quickly laid Evelyn down on the sofa and squeezed her trembling hand tightly.

“Evelyn! Evelyn, wake up!”

The peaceful situation a while ago changed suddenly in the blink of an eye. After hearing Fabian’s scream, Nora, who ran into the room, looked panicked as she saw Evelyn fainted.

“Princess…!”

“Now, go to my room by the secret staircase. Go and tell Serus to get Sir Philip right now!” Fabian ordered.

But Nora still didn’t move, and her hands were shaking, too.

“Hurry!”

Nora came to her senses after Fabian shouted to her again, and she quickly rushed to run.

Fabian tried to tap Evelyn on the cheek, forcing her to open her eyes, but he failed. Evelyn broke out in a cold sweat like someone who had a heavy nightmare and gritted her teeth so badly that blood flowed from her lips.

“Evelyn.”

Her condition was like someone with a burning stomach. Fabian instinctively placed his finger between Evelyn’s lips. The pain that pierced his finger didn’t even get into his mind at this point. There was only fear that Fabian sensed when he saw Evelyn’s complexion getting paler.

“… … Ha.” Evelyn’s faint voice rang between Fabian’s fingers.

“Ugh…….ha…….”

“Evelyn? I am here.”

But Evelyn’s consciousness had not returned. The darkness still fell upon her. Evelyn’s body cramped, and she bit Fabian’s hand again.

“I am by your side,” Fabian firmly grasped Evelyn’s cold hand. As if to tell her that he was here. He eagerly wished Evelyn to hear this voice too. “I won’t leave. As it is… I’ll be by your side.”

The pain Fabian felt when Evelyn bit him with her teeth was nothing. What made Fabian feel dead was precisely his failure to do something and his nervousness.

“Your Majesty, Sir Philip…….”

Luckily, Nora rushed in before it was too late. Philip arrived without being told what had happened. However, as soon as he approached Evelyn and saw her condition, he immediately began examining her. Fabian reluctantly stepped back and stood beside Evelyn.

“Let me see.”

After seeing some changes, as a doctor, Philip quickly looked at Fabian and nodded. This means there was nothing to worry about and that her life wasn’t in severe condition. It was only then that Fabian felt relieved, and his legs were falling.

“Wait a minute.” Philip took the syrup bottle out of his bag, “It’s a simple stabilizer.”

After Philip poured the syrup through her lips sometime later, the seizures ended. Evelyn found stability as if she had just fallen asleep. Only then did everyone breathe a sigh of relief

“Something. What the hell is going on? Nothing happened. Everything was calm…….” Fabian gibbered, not like his normal self.

“I don’t know the cause, but I think it’s a nerve attack,” said Philip, giving a frustrating diagnosis. “It don’t affect her health. But it might be due to the stress and fatigue that has accumulated too much …….”

“Are you sure?!” shouted him. However, another diagnosis wouldn’t come out just because of Fabian’s anger.

“The stabilizers have stopped the seizure, and she’ll wake up soon. We can do a detailed examination then,” explained Philip. Fabian closed his mouth tight at the words, then nodded because there was no other alternative.

“Move Evelyn to the bedroom……no wait, Nora, take Adrian to the private room and take care of him.”

“……Yes, Your Majesty, and the Princess…..?”

Fabian ignored Nora’s question and hugged Evelyn, who fell asleep himself. “I’ll watch her.” He put Evelyn in his arms as carefully and gently as he could and then laid her in bed slowly. Then he sat by the bedside, grabbing Evelyn’s hand.

Philip said she was fine, but Fabian was afraid Evelyn would go away anytime soon if he didn’t hold her tight.

“Evelyn, I’m with you…” Fabian said the same thing over and over again.

“I’m……here.”

It was a low, sincere voice.

---

The Empress, Monica’s eyes widened in a circle while biting a long hookah pipe. It was unusual for her, who wasn’t interested in everything in the world.

“……Sir Philip?” she asked, doubting her ears.

“Yes.” The knight answered carefully and knelt in front of Empress Monica. He was a competent knight from Sagan, Duke of Metis, his brother.

Monica used to live in the Imperial Palace when she was still the Emperor’s wife. So she memorized and knew very well where and what kind of surveillance to install. And it seemed it worked this time.

“It’s not strange that Sir Philip is coming. He was His Majesty’s doctor, and His Majesty called him back again……but from the reports I’ve heard, it seems it’s a different case this time.”

“That’s right. Sir Philip came to the inner palace.”

Monica’s eyebrows slightly frowned. Right now, Inner Palace didn’t have an owner. There were only guests, Empress Dowager and Stella. But they didn’t call Philip, so his visit didn’t make sense.

“As you know, in the Inner Palace, if you follow it too closely, it’s easy to get caught.” The knight added as an excuse. The Inner Palace was originally the place where the Emperor’s family lived. It was a high-guarded place, a difficult area for spies to move around.

“……hold on.” Monica concentrated on her thoughts with long smoke. Suddenly, there’s something coming up in her mind. “The direction…..?”

“Yes?”

“You must know the direction that Sir Philip went.”

“Oh, he went to the south towards the glass corridor.”

At that moment, all the puzzle pieces were put together in Monica’s head. Her enthralling lips corner went up slightly. Her laughter came out shortly after that.

“Why you’re laughing?” asked the knight, looking confused.

“Because it’s funny.” However, her laugh was more sounded like a teasing tone.

“Yes … There was something like that in this Imperial family. It’s been a long time. I even forgot its existence.”

“Yes?”

Despite the knight’s counter-question, in the backs of her heart, Monica was lost in her thoughts.

One thing that Fabian overlooked was the fact that his mother was once an Empress. In other words, right after her marriage, Monica already realized that the secret room existed.

“No way, my son uses that.”

She smiled; an unbearable laugh came out once more. Even as his biological mother, she regarded Fabian as a cold person. He was the heir to this Imperial family, who seemed unlikely to bleed a drop of blood even if he was stabbed. It was surprising that even such a person had something precious that he wanted to hide secretly.

“Hmm… …where.”

After scribbling something on the paper note on the table, Monica folded it so the contents were out of sight and handed it to the knight. “Give it to my brother. You have to deliver it.”

“Yes.” the knight gave an example, and he disappeared quietly.

Monica’s mouth was still smiling, “I still don’t know my son.”

It was always like that, Fabian was her son that she gave birth to, but she couldn’t figure out what he thought since he was young.

When he first insisted on marrying the Felice Kingdom Princess, Monica still couldn’t know her son’s heart.

---

 

***

Evelyn’s darkness transformed into a white mist. Little by little, her realistic sense seemed to come back. But her eyelids were still too heavy. Evelyn tried to move her hand, but it didn’t work out as if she was locked in something hard.

“Evelyn.”

She could hear his voice even if her vision were still vague.

“I’m here.”

It was Fabian.

“I’m by your side.”

It was Fabian, whom Evelyn didn’t know.

“I won’t leave you…… don’t be afraid.”

Slowly, Evelyn noticed that someone warmly wrapped her motionless hand. Fabian’s hand that she always missed was holding her hand tightly. Only then did Evelyn, who came to her senses, barely lifted her heavy eyelids.

“Evelyn?”

As soon as Evelyn opened her eyes, she saw Fabian’s face before her. His eyes, which drew his face close to Evelyn’s nose, were filled with incalculable relief and anxiety.

Evelyn saw her figure transparently within his dark pupils, and it wasn’t an illusion.

“Evelyn, are you awake? I just……No Sir Philip.” Fabian said in confusion, a little digressed. Evelyn exerted her remaining strength and grabbed Fabian’s hand. For now, she didn’t want to let him go further away from her side.

Then, Fabian returned to his seat and held back Evelyn’s hand tightly, as if he had read the meaning in Evelyn’s eyes. Now Evelyn could be sure of it. It was his warmth that Evelyn felt when she lost consciousness.

“Evelyn, I… … .” Even before Fabian finished his words, a sense of relief raided her. Her memory was faint, but Evelyn felt something more frightening than death had swallowed her. The warmth of his hand that pulled Evelyn back to this reality was hotter than usual.

“Your Majesty… ..ha.”

“Yes, I’ve been by your side all the time.” Fabian’s heartfelt voice wrapped around Evelyn’s heart, which still had traces of fear.

“Your Majesty… …Your Majesty……ha…….”

At this moment, while crying, her fear and regret burst out at once. Even Evelyn herself didn’t know the exact reason for her tidal wave of emotion. But it was enough to make her feel grateful that Fabian was by her side.

“Your Majesty…I was so terrified … .” Evelyn’s face turned white, and her tears streamed through her cheeks.

Fabian unwittingly hugged her as it was the only thing he could do for now.

“Suddenly… …everything……too scary… … .” Evelyn wrapped her arms around Fabian’s neck, hugging him back. She wasn’t able to speak anymore and could only cry, relying on Fabian for everything.

“Evelyn, if you see anything scary, it’s an illusion. It’s not real.”

Evelyn shuddered. She shook her chin on his shoulder. Then Fabian raised her, sat her down on the bed, and laid her in his arms. Meanwhile, Evelyn’s hand firmly grasped Fabian’s hem.

Fabian even held her tightly on the bed, gazing at her pitiful condition. And Evelyn buried her head in his chest, inhaling the scent of his body.

“I’m here. All the time I’ve been by your side.” Fabian said, patting Evelyn’s sobbing head silently. “Sssh…Nothing happened. Your nightmare wasn’t real. Evelyn, you’re not alone.”

“Really… …? How long has it passed?” Evelyn asked in a weak voice.

“You just fell asleep overnight.”

It was dawning outside. So Evelyn couldn’t believe that Fabian, the Emperor, had been here from night till daybreak.

“Do you remember that I lay on your lap?”

Evelyn nodded.

“I haven’t left your side for a moment since then.”

Thump…..She could hear Fabian’s heartbeat at the place where Evelyn had buried her head.

“Why…..why?” Evelyn asked, even though she knew. However, this was a question that was meaningful only when she heard his answer.

“I won’t leave you alone. I won’t let you go anymore.”

Here was the answer she had wished for so long.

“I promise….”

At that moment, the chain that had been choking Evelyn’s heart was struck and fell, losing its binding strength.

“I’ll always be next to you.” Fabian lifted Evelyn’s head gently and wiped the tears off her cheek.

When their eyes met, and Fabian whispered to her, “Whatever comes, whether it is a nightmare or a demon, I will protect you.”

Evelyn realized one thing when she looked at Fabian’s vivid black eyes.

“So don’t be afraid of anything. I will… …because I will be by your side.”

Deep remorse, grievous resentment melted away magically. It was because she was unhappy that Evelyn regretted it. The reason she resented him was that she loved him. The truth was, Evelyn just wanted to be loved. Right now, by this person.

“Never…Now, never leave me alone again.” Evelyn cried, and they looked into each other’s eyes.

“Always… … Please stay by my side.”

“I will, and don’t leave me either.” He also pleaded in hushed tones. The stiff scars and thick walls that covered each other’s hearts had collapsed.

“We… … let’s not break up anymore.”

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Those words contained countless solitude and regrets. Evelyn knew that feeling well.

She was staring into his eyes, nodded slowly, “Yes…..Fabian.”

Tightly, warmer than ever, they embraced each other without saying who started it first. Their remaining love feelings had broken the chain of hatred that had shackled the two hearts.

It thawed out the regrets, pain, anger, and sorrow that had gone beyond death. It was like a spell. And that magical spell was love.