The Price of Breaching the Contract - Chapter 75

The sound of the door closing.

One step, two steps. Even the sensation of his feet on the ground felt foreign. The room was silent, and no sound could be heard within it. Even his heart seemed to have stopped for a moment.

On the bed, a pale, slender hand lay still. Light filtering through the window faintly caressed her hair. She was motionless, but clearly alive.

Santiago, speechless, slowly approached and knelt. A fear colder than any weapon pierced his chest. Even this close, he was afraid to reach out to her.

But there was no time to hesitate. With trembling hands, Santiago gently grasped the back of her hand.

It was a small, delicate hand, but he could feel a definite warmth. A quiet pulse, a sign of life, traveled through his fingertips. Only then did Santiago’s breath break. A short, sharp breath echoed through the room like the sound of a tightly sealed dam bursting.

He brought her hand to his lips and carefully pressed it to his forehead. Then, as if collapsing, he sank down beside the bed, placing his hand on the floor. In a low posture, with a voice as small as it could possibly be, he mumbled.

“…Thank you for being alive.”

Suddenly, his vision blurred. Eyes that had remained steady even after seeing so much blood could not bear it now. His eyes burned hotly.

“Joel.”

A firm, short voice cut through the space. Joel, who had been waiting quietly to one side, straightened up.

“Yes, Your Excellency.”

“Save Yuliana before the child. Under no circumstances, she comes first.”

“Yes! Yes, I understand. But the Princess is currently only temporarily unconscious due to exhaustion. There are no external injuries, her fever has subsided, and her pulse is stable. You may be alarmed but really, she’s fine.”

“Are you certain?”

Santiago glared at Joel, his voice trembling slightly. The madness in his eyes allowed no falsehood. Joel took a step back and bowed deeply.

“Yes, yes. There’s absolutely nothing wrong. It’s just that she used too much power. She’ll wake up naturally when her energy recovers during sleep. It’s best not to stimulate her now and let her rest.”

Only then did Santiago nod.

“Everyone, leave.”

At those words, the maids and Joel, who had been filling the room, quietly retreated. As the door closed, silence returned.

Santiago took a deep breath. Without letting go of Yuliana’s hand, he knelt beside her again. Her peacefully sleeping face was before him. She looked serene, but he could only imagine how arduous the battle behind it must have been.

He dropped his chin and quietly murmured.

“If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have been caught up in this.”

His voice gradually seeped into the deep darkness.

“I have different blood than you. Blood from the land of demons. Sharing that blood, the child I created, the fact that that child is growing inside you.”

His breath caught at the end of those words. He feared that this woman, more noble and pure than anything, had collapsed in pain like this because of him. He had laid down his sword sheath, his combat uniform, and his military decorations and became only a husband and a sinner.

“Yuliana, I, I’m afraid I’m ruining you for nothing.”

He rested his forehead on the bed sheets. He pressed the back of her hand to his forehead and trembled quietly, as if apologizing, as if praying.

“Can I even be by your side with these feelings?”

His voice disappeared into the air, but she on the bed was breathing without moving. As if she hadn’t heard anything. But it also seemed as if she was listening. The moment her slender eyelashes fluttered slightly, Santiago knew it was hope.

He then closed his eyes and whispered.

“When you open your eyes, tell me again. Tell me it’s okay for me to be here, as if it’s nothing like always, with that smiling face.”

Clinging to that small hope, he decided to watch over the night. Until this night was over, so that nothing would touch her side. With the determination to block anything that came, he did not close his eyes.

Dawn and morning, and day and night, flowed by meaninglessly. Time continued to pass, but Yuliana’s pale face never once opened her eyes. Joel said she would be fine if she rested, but Santiago couldn’t believe those words. No, he didn’t want to believe them.

For him, who was barely holding on to the fact that she was breathing, the fact that her eyelids hadn’t fluttered even once was destroying everything. For two days, he had simply been collapsing. Holding Yuliana’s hand, kneeling and unable to leave her bedside. Even when Joel said something, even when the maids brought soup, he didn’t lift his head.

“Captain, you must rest for a while. How sad would the Princess be if she woke up and saw you like this?”

At Haron’s words, Santiago briefly raised his eyes. Bloodshot eyes, chapped lips, dark circles under his eyes. He was in a truly haggard state, but he didn’t open his mouth. He simply held her hand tightly again and closed his eyes.

“Please!”

What flowed from his mouth was a constant whisper. As if offering a prayer, as if making a confession. The guilt that she wasn’t waking up was his fault was deep-rooted and persistent. Santiago was now not just a Duke, but a husband and soon-to-be father. That fact was driving him even more insane.

Joel was worried that Santiago continued to eat nothing. But he couldn’t dare to open his mouth. It was a war for Bihan and Haron to take turns coming in several times a day and barely get Santiago to drink a glass of water or a spoonful of soup.

“Lord, you’ll get sick too if you keep this up. The Princess is alive.”

When Bihan mentioned Yuliana, Santiago barely raised his eyes. His face was a mixture of resignation, self-reproach, and desperation. Fear that it wasn’t too late, that she really wouldn’t open her eyes again, covered his eyes.

“If, if it weren’t for me.”

That one word that flowed out quietly made Joel, Bihan, and Haron even stop breathing. Santiago put his lips to the back of Yuliana’s hand and whispered.

“If you hadn’t married me, would this have never happened? If I weren’t from the land of demons, if my dirty blood hadn’t mixed in your body.”

“Stop it, Duke. Please.”

Joel said urgently, but Santiago didn’t hear him. No, it was closer to not hearing him. Trapped in a prison of guilt he had created himself, he now seemed to believe that even self-flagellation was an expression of affection. As if he had vowed never to leave this room until she woke up, not to move even a step, he didn’t budge.

Meanwhile, Makari Castle was regaining stability. The demons had disappeared, and the knights who had reorganized the defense lines were trying to maintain peace day by day. But in the deepest room of the castle, in that quiet bedroom, a storm was still raging. In that space that no one could easily enter, Santiago was collapsing alone.

Yuliana’s hand was still warm. Her pulse could be felt. But the fact that her eyes wouldn’t open seemed to deny the evidence that she was alive.

On the third day, before dawn had fully broken, Santiago finally quietly opened his mouth. His voice was hoarse and cracked.

“I don’t believe in God.”

The words were out of the blue, but there was only Yuliana in the room. He was saying it to her.

“But if you open your eyes, I might believe. Whether it’s a lie, an illusion, if only you live, I can give everything.”

Santiago kissed Yuliana’s hand, put his forehead to it, and quietly closed his eyes.

“So, come back. Please.”

He whispered like that. No, he begged desperately. With a desperate urgency that seemed to draw out his last breath. He held her hand forever, gathering his mind in silence.

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