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Their eyes met, and in that shared moment of understanding, they exchanged a knowing smile.
Following this meeting, the storm of rumors outside quickly died down.
But while the whispers in social circles faded, tension within the court only escalated.
Since coughing up blood, Salvador had neither held court nor handled state affairs in the royal study. Instead, nearly all authority had been entrusted to Jeremiah.
The court officials didn’t know what had happened.
Aside from the six department heads and Irvin, no one was privy to Salvador’s true condition.
With the court in disarray, the minds of officials were scattered.
That evening, after returning home, Irvin fell into a high fever. Physicians were summoned, but the fever broke only to rise again. In desperation, Meredith sent for Sebastian.
The moment Irvin saw him, tears welled up in his eyes. Without hesitation, he dismissed everyone else from the room, leaving only Sebastian behind.
Sebastian had come to treat him, but upon seeing Irvin’s state, he hesitated. Just as he was about to check his vitals, Irvin suddenly grabbed his hands in a desperate grip.
His voice thick with emotion, Irvin choked out, “Mr. Dalton, tell me the truth-is there a way to cure His Majesty’s illness?”
Jeremiah had told them that on the night Salvador left the palace, hez had secretly gone to see Sebastian. It was the Hell Monarch’s household was that had arranged the physician’s visit.
Yet Jeremiah had never mentioned this to Sebastian himself-perhaps because he never expected anyone to ask the physician directly.
So, Sebastian was caught off guard by Irvin’s words.
Was the king ill?
Sebastian hadn’t the faintest idea what ailed Salvador. But since it concerned the king, he couldn’t simply admit his ignorance. Instead, he said evenly, “Let me check on your condition first.”
Irvin obediently fell silent and allowed Sebastian to examine him.
Sebastian took a few minutes to conduct his examination, his expression unreadable. After a long moment, he finally spoke.
“The cold has settled into your lungs, and the fever is burning through your body. You’ll have to take some strong medication.”
At his words, Irvin seized the sleeve of his robe and said, “Tell me the truth, Mr. Dalton. Is His Majesty’s condition truly as dire as the royal physicians’ claim?”
Sebastian let out a weary sigh. “Lord Wright, focus on recovering your health. Don’t trouble yourself with anything else.
What was Salvador’s condition? Why wouldn’t Irvin just come right out and say what it was?! Irvin’s tears did not stop. His nose was already so blocked he could barely breathe through it.
“How could I not worry? Lung disease is notoriously difficult to cure! The royal physicians have no solutions left. My only hope is that you, Mr. Dalton, will have a remedy to spare His Majesty from this fate.”
Sebastian’s gaze lowered, his heart sinking. Lung disease?
Sebastian’s quill glided across the paper as he wrote a prescription, his expression betraying nothing. “Focus on your recovery,” he said. “There are others who understand medicine-leave it to them to worry about the rest.”
That night, before leaving the Arcane Sanctum with Rowan and his medicine chest in tow, Sebastian informed the night physician on duty that he was heading out to treat Sophie’s leg injury.
The carriage rolled to a stop outside Hell Monarch Estate. Sebastian stormed inside, his expression thunderous. When the others emerged, he cast a glance at Sophie but held back his anger. Instead, he directed it at Jacob.
“If you’re going to use me as a cover, at least have the decency to warn me first,” he snapped. “I nearly let something slip in front of Lord Wright.”
With Sebastian’s temper exploding, the others finally recall what had happened.
Jacob hastily apologized. “Did Lord Wright question you?”
“He’s fallen ill, and High Princess Meredith summoned me to treat him. He wept like a child and kept asking if there was a way to cure the king. At first, he didn’t even say what the illness was left me grasping in the dark,” Sebastian replied curtly.
He let out a sharp huff after he finished speaking.
“You didn’t give anything away, did you?” Sophie asked quickly.
Irvin’s resolve to make an Oathbound Plea had alarmed them all. He was the kind of person who couldn’t tolerate even the slightest flaw. But now, he thought he had misunderstood the king and pushed him to the point of vomiting blood. From here on, he would likely live with endless guilt.
It was a delicate balance. Telling him the truth was out of the question. Yet, leaving him in the dark was just as dangerous.
Sebastian scoffed. “Do you take me for a fool? How could I give anything away? This concerns His Majesty’s health-I hardly need to spell it out for him. I told him to stop asking, and that was that.” He brushed off his cloak with an air of finality.
“My apologies for putting you in a difficult position,” Sophie said.
Sebastian glanced at her. How could he bear to blame her?
After returning from Irvin’s residence, Sebastian had taken the time to understand the full scope of the recent events. Only then did he realize how grave the situation had become.
“So it truly is lung disease?” he asked.
“We only have Mr. Walker’s word for it,” Sophie said, her expression heavy. “The exact details remain unknown.”
Sebastian exhaled slowly. “I came tonight to ask-what do you all plan to do next?”
Sophie knew Sebastian was concerned about the Hell Monarch’s household getting entangled in the political storm. She said calmly, “Since I’m still recovering, I’ll focus on that for now and leave everything else alone.”
But that wasn’t what Sebastian meant.
He looked at her steadily. “Do you intend to stay uninvolved forever, or just for the time being?”
Sophie considered this. “I’ll handle what needs to be handled.”
Sebastian nodded, his expression serious.
“Then do your part. Don’t make a habit of avoiding things. You’re a member of the royal family, and your husband commands the military. The only way to truly stay out of this is to leave the capital. If you have no plans to leave, then instead of waiting to be dragged in, you’d do better to claim your place now. That way, you can see the situation for what it is and act accordingly.”
His words were a wake-up call for both Jacob and Sophie.
Sebastian was right. There was no avoiding this trying to stay out of it now would only seem insincere. Salvador was gravely ill. She was the commander of the Mystic Army ? while Rafael was the marshal of the Southern Frontier and the Chief Judge. If the court descended into chaos, there was no way they could stand idly by.
Acting detached now really seemed hypocritical.
Sebastian tapped Sophie’s foot lightly with a small hammer. “You’re fine. Limp your way back to the Capital Guard headquarters. At the very least, if anything happens at court, you’ll hear about it diately instead of having to chase down news.”