CHAPTER #17

EPIPHANY.

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“Fear of losing someone is love.”

It might be the truth or might be not, after all, you will only fear losing someone if you have great regard for them – be it your family, friends or beloved – it is love, but at the same time that’s not all what love entails; it may be a fraction, but not the whole of it.  Had it been any other occasion, Sehun would have thought about it more, but he didn’t have enough presence of mind to dwell on it at the moment. No, really, his intellect didn’t agree with him; especially not when he was waiting for the royal physician to open the closed doors of the infirmary and tell them something- anything that may quell the worry and fear that was ploddingly rising up the throats of the individuals presently waiting in the eerily silent hallway of the medical wing.

It was, in fact, torturous, to a great degree, the wait (almost 3 hours) they have to suffer through filled with uncertainty before Yixing finally stepped out with a grim look on his face.

“You shouldn’t be here, Sehun.” It was the first thing that left the doctor’s lips before he turned his gaze towards Baekhyun and Sooyoung.

“Neither should you guys be.” He continued before heaving a loud sigh.

“It’s past the curfew time. What kind of example are you guys setting?” He chastised the Lord and the head maid before facing Sehun again.

“You out of all people should have been careful. I’m sure, half the castle right now is buzzing – gossiping about you standing outside the infirmary for Miss Bora. They’re going to question the nature of your regard for her after everything passes by,” He warned before throwing a cursory glance over his shoulder towards the infirmary.

“Even though I know you don’t care about it, but still, you can’t be sure enough about what she would feel. This won’t affect you alone.” The tone in which Yixing delivered those words conveyed his disbelief as if Sehun should have known better than this. He really should have, but right now was hardly the time to discuss that.

“How is she?” Sooyoung all but ignored the scolding and went straight to the point; impatience evident in her query. There was a look of anxiousness on her face (which he knew he mirrored) as if she had already prepared herself to hear the worst of the news.

“Stable.” The physician answered instantly not showing a single sign of being offended with the way Sooyoung has put him off.

“The poison has indeed diffused inside her body through the skin of her hands which means the perfume was poisoned. Her palms have bristled too which further proves me right.” That damned bottle of perfume that Sehun has so carelessly left on the bed.

He had returned back to the castle a little around 8 at night with Baekhyun. They may have left the office immediately to confront Bora, but the King was sure that his friend didn’t have any idea regarding how to breach the topic; he knew that Baekhyun had his doubts just like he did. There were just so many questions to be answered.

Why would Bora want to work at the castle as a maid when she was entitled to a life so much better than that? Why they were not contacted after she was found when they have left her relatives with the means to do so? Why won’t she tell them herself that she was the daughter of the former Army General? That makes her a noble- warranted to so many privileges. Why won’t she want to avail them? Was it possible that she didn’t realize what she actually had the right to? How was that even possible? It didn’t make any sense! Was it that she was trying to hide something? It didn’t seem like it, but what other explanation was there? Did she want to somehow avoid them? Why would she work at the castle right under their watch if that was the case?

“Sehun,” Baekhyun has broken his chain of thoughts with a speculating expression on his face while they were walking down the hallway which comprised his room.

“Hmm…” He had hummed back while wondering whether the Lord has decided to not question Bora about the whole matter and investigate it a little on his own, just like him. They could have possibly asked her about the whole matter if a few links from the chain were missing, but thinking about it more thoroughly made him realize that it were not the links that were missing, but the whole chain. There was something that they didn’t know – not even the girl herself.

“Mr. Shin was given many important estates and properties to keep under his name as a reward of his service; not to mention his handsome wages while he was still alive and serving. He ought to have saved them,” His friend had started in a pensive manner before halting in his steps and facing him fully.

“Who attained all his wealth after the death of the whole family?” Sehun had gone still in his place too. Surely, Bora wouldn’t be working as a maid at their castle if she had claimed what was rightful hers.

“I…” The King had started but trailed off in the end. He didn’t know. His official representatives in Ceya has handled all the case after it had been made clear that Mr. Shin’s daughter was indeed not coming back.

“It should be in the-”

“My King!” He had been rudely cut off by Chanyeol; running in his direction with a panicked Jongin trailing behind him. What surprised him though was the middle-aged woman that accompanied them.

“Chanyeol,” The King had calmly acknowledged his general, despite his surprise, before pointedly staring at the hysterical maid who fell on to her knees as soon as she reached him.

“Y-You’re alright,” Jongin had stuttered out while panting and raked his eyes up and down his body just to make sure – it was comical, the way he appeared so surprised by that notion.

“Is that a bad thing?” He inquired with a raised brow, finally shifting his gaze away from the woman (probably a senior maid if he was not mistaken) kneeling in front him to his Generals.

“Please, forgive me, My King!” The woman cried out before either of them can respond to him.

“What for?” He asked in an irate manner; already having a feeling what it was for.

“I didn’t want to do it, but I had no other choice,” She continued her apology, with tears running down her face, rather than answering his question.

“They held my son captive. I couldn’t have done anything otherwise they would kill him.”  Sehun had stared down at the woman for a silent second before turning towards Chanyeol fan or explanation.

“From what she has told us there are some people who have held her son captive and as a ransom, they have demanded for her to replace the bottle of your perfume with the one they provided; we suspect that it is poisoned.” The King had instantly felt dread mounting inside his body.

“According to her, there is little hope that her son would come back alive so she came running to us to confess her deed. Did you not use the perfume? It should have affected you by now.”

“I didn’t,” He had numbly given an answer to Jongin’s query before turning towards Baekhyun; seeking some kind of assurance from his friend that he couldn’t give.

“It broke. Bora was the one who cleaned it.” The Lord’s features had morphed into one of alarm from relief before he had released a loud curse. There had been a dreadful moment of stillness before Chanyeol has urged them to go look for the girl while he took care of the culprit. That was all the prompting that they have needed because Sehun has bolted out of that hallway along with Baekhyun and Jongin to search for Bora. It was a task easier said than done because the castle was huge and she could be anywhere at that moment.

Eventually, they have stumbled across Sooyoung who has related to them that her friend was suffering from a fever so she had retired to her room early about two hours ago. Of course, they had known where that fever was suddenly coming from and have instantly made their way towards her chambers only to find her unconscious there.

Sehun honestly couldn’t even describe in words the fear that has consumed his body at that moment while he had wordlessly crouched down to pick her up from the cold floor and had made his way towards the infirmary; ordering Jongin to go ahead and fetch Yixing from his quarters.

Things have been in chaos ever since.

Sehun wasn’t surprised by another attempt at his life. He had expected it (to some extent), if he was to be honest with himself. He knew that they won’t just give up after one failed attempt. It was, in any case, really difficult to do it once, but they have succeeded in doing it twice. It scared him a little. Who would have thought that they will manipulate the things of his daily use, more so his bottle of perfume? He hadn’t even thought about it, but perhaps, it was now time for him to finally take an action; things were getting worst by each passing day and it was not only affecting his person, but those around him too.

“The good thing is,” Yixing has continued his explanation; effectively snapping the King out of his trance.

“She washed her hands a short while after they came in contact with the poison. If you would have used the perfume- it would have stayed on your skin the whole day; giving it plenty of time to contaminate your body. But, the bad thing is that you would have only sprayed a small amount while she came in direct contact with ten times as much as you would have used.” Sehun felt his deflating figure going rigid again. The relief that came from the doctor’s earlier words eradicating in the blink of an eye.

“Is she…is she going to be okay?” Sooyoung once again proved to be the braver one amongst them as she voiced her query out loud in the otherwise depressing silence of the hallway. He knew that all of them dreaded the answer to that question; the way the tension in the sphere around them increased drastically as they waited for the doctor to answer was the proof of it.

“I hope so,” Yixing’s response was anything, but welcome and assuring.

“Yixing,” The King couldn’t stop himself from calling out his friend’s name in warning. This was no time for jokes or beating around the bush. They all were hanging by a thin string of patience which was ready to snap into pieces any moment now.

“What?” His friend retaliated with a frown.

“I’m telling the truth. Honestly, the only reason she’s even alive right now is because she was lucky enough to wash her hands right away- but that does not change the fact that the poison has entered her body and stayed there for hours.” He paused there with a tired sigh which made Sehun feel guilty a little. It was time for Yixing to rest after serving in the infirmary all the day, but here he was because the King has refused to let anyone treat her, but the head himself.

“We have pumped it out and the antidote that we have given her should do its job properly, but I can’t be certain when she will gain consciousness again. It can take her as short as a day and as long as a week. Let’s hope it’s the former on