The Villainess Wants To Retire-Chapter 395: Silence of grief

He turned immediately to help Eris down, his hands lingering on her waist for an extra second to ensure she was steady on her feet.

"Clear a path to the royal chambers!" Soren barked, his voice booming across the courtyard, instantly taking command.

"Get the healers ready for the wounded. Ryse, oversee the distribution of the meat and dismiss the men to the barracks. Someone tell me what happened while we were gone! Why is the city on high alert?"

Aldric approached, his boots clicking rapidly against the cobblestones. He bowed quickly, too quickly, and didn’t wait for the formal greeting. His gaze flickered to Eris, then back to Soren, his eyes shadowed with a profound, grim weight.

"Your Majesty," Aldric began, his voice thin and strained. "The gods be praised you are back. I was starting to worry if a search party would be sent out."

Soren’s eyes narrowed. "What incident, Aldric? Speak plainly. Have the borders been breached? Is it the South?"

"No, Sire," Aldric whispered, stepping closer so his words wouldn’t carry to the lingering servants. "It is not the borders. It is King Caelen. He collapsed three days ago," Aldric whispered, the words spilling out in a rush. "Fell into a state of unconsciousness. He hasn’t woken since."

The announcement of King Caelen’s collapse acted as a flash-freeze, locking both Soren and Eris in place. The frantic movement of the courtyard seemed to halt, the air thickening with a sudden, localized dread.

Shock registered on Soren’s face first, a rare crack in the glacial mask of the Emperor. Beside him, Eris’s hand went instinctively to her mouth, her fingers pressing hard against her lips as if to physically hold back a gasp. The world felt unstable beneath her boots, the ground shifting in a way that had nothing to do with the avalanche they had just escaped.

Aldric didn’t wait for them to ask for the specifics; he spilled them as they moved into the palace, his voice a frantic staccato.

"He was found in his chambers Your Majesty. No signs of a struggle. No visible injuries. No blood, no bruising, no marks of magic or blade. He simply... fell. The healers have been through every tome in the library, every diagnostic spell in their arsenal. They can’t determine the cause. It is as if his soul simply went to sleep while his body remained behind."

"And Ophelia?" Soren asked, his voice a low, jagged rasp.

"At his side," Aldric replied, his eyes downcast. "She has not left the room since he was moved to the bed. She is... inconsolable."

Eris heard the name and felt a flicker of the old life’s ghost, but it was immediately drowned out by a sharper, more primal terror. The politics of the palace and the mystery of the collapse faded into the background as a single image burned into her mind: a small boy with Caelen’s face.

"What about Rael?" Eris asked. Her voice was tight, the mother’s instinct overriding the exhaustion, the cracked seal, and the soot still clinging to her skin.

Aldric’s expression softened into something even more tragic. "The young prince... he hasn’t stopped crying, Empress. He was there when it happened. He saw the King fall."

Eris felt her stomach drop. "Is he alone?"

"He is with his caretaker in the nursery wing, but..." Aldric hesitated, looking at her weary state. "He needs his mother, Empress. He has been calling for you since the sun went down on the first night."

Eris didn’t wait for another word. Despite the nine days of hard riding, despite the fact that her chest felt like it was being held together by frayed twine, and despite the soot-stained traveling leathers she was still wearing, she turned.

"Where is he?"

"In the nursery wing, Empress," Aldric said, pointing toward the eastern corridor.

Eris moved. She didn’t hesitate, her boots striking the stone floor with a frantic, rhythmic finality. She was already halfway down the hall before Soren realized she was truly leaving.

"Eris... wait..." Soren’s voice called after her, echoing off the high vaulted ceilings.

He caught up to her in a few long strides, his hand reaching out to grab her arm gently, forcing her to a halt. His eyes were dark with worry, scanning the pale cast of her face.

"Eris, look at you. You’re trembling. You need to rest, even if just for an hour. Let the healers look at the seal before you, "

Eris turned to face him, her eyes burning with a determination that brooked no argument. "I don’t want to rest, Soren."

"You pushed your limits today," he reminded her, his grip firm but careful. "The seal is unstable. If you collapse in front of him, "

"Rael is close to Caelen," Eris interrupted, her voice trembling but certain. "He adores him. If something happened to his father, he’s feeling it. He’s a child, Soren. He’s alone and terrified and he doesn’t understand why the man who plays with him won’t wake up. I can’t let my son deal with this alone. Not for another minute."

Soren looked at her, searching for any sign of weakness, but he found only the iron-willed resolve of a woman who would burn the world down for her child. He knew that face. He knew she wouldn’t back down, and more than that, he knew she was right.

He let out a long, weary sigh, his shoulders dropping just a fraction. "Fine."

Eris started to turn, but he didn’t let go of her arm. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

"But I’m coming with you," he added.

They walked toward the nursery wing together. Soren kept a hand on the small of her back, a supportive, protective weight that served two purposes. He was bracing her in case her strength failed, but he was also grounding her. They were worried about different things; Soren was worried for Eris, while Eris was focused entirely on the state of Rael’s heart.

The nursery wing was usually a place of light and soft sounds, but today it felt heavy. As they pushed open the heavy oak doors, the silence was what struck Eris first. It wasn’t the silence of sleep; it was the silence of grief.