Taya was so hungry that it felt like she might collapse. The carriage had not stopped for more than six hours, and she had finished every last bit of food inside, leaving only cranberries, which she couldn't eat. Her severe allergy to cranberries made them dangerous for her, and she couldn't risk consuming them. The memory of her first life, when her overindulgence in food had led her to unknowingly eat the very fruit that caused her to abort her child, haunted her. The realization made her uneasy, but the hunger gnawed at her relentlessly.
She couldn't help but wonder how things could have been so different had she known better then, and how much she had lost because of that one mistake. But this was a new life, a chance at redemption. She couldn't afford to make the same mistakes again.
At that moment, her gaze fell on a food box prepared by the palace maids, sitting conveniently within reach. A bad feeling tugged at her gut, warning her not to eat from it, but hunger overcame her better judgment. She tore into the candy boxes, unable to resist. "It tastes strange," she muttered under her breath, "but I'm starving." Her heartbeat quickened as she chewed, a sense of dread filling her chest. A few moments later, the unease transformed into a sharp pain that left her gasping for air. The effects were swift.
Panicked, she stumbled toward the door of the carriage, banging on it with all her strength, coughing violently. Blood splattered her lips as her body convulsed. "Taya!" she thought, her mind spinning in a fog of panic and horror.
"Did you hear that noise?" The carriage driver spoke to a man walking beside the carriage, while Prince Orig was still leading ahead.
"No," the man replied, looking confused. "What noise? Has Prince Orig lost his mind since marrying that girl? What's her name again?"
The driver shook his head, clearly frustrated by the gossip. "I don't know, but there must be something about her. Wasn't it the great-grandfish's wish to see his grandson married off?"
The two men gossiped, oblivious to the life-or-death situation unfolding inside the carriage. Taya had already lost consciousness, and they hadn't even noticed.
At that moment, Orig, leading his men in front, stopped when he felt an unfamiliar pang in his chest. His eyes darted toward the carriage, and his gut tightened. There was something wrong. He rushed toward the cart, his heart hammering in his chest. As he reached her, the sight of Taya lying on the ground, blood staining her beautiful dress, made his stomach lurch.
"Taya!" he shouted, his voice filled with desperation as he knelt beside her. He grabbed her, pulling her from the carriage, his face filled with panic. His men had never seen him so upset—so completely unhinged.
"Where's the damn healer?!" Orig barked at his men, his voice strained with frustration. "What happened to her? What were you waiting for, you fools?!"
Her pulse was faint, barely there, and Orig could feel his own heartbeat quicken with each second that passed without help. His men, responsible for watching over Taya, stood frozen, unable to respond. They had always been fiercely protective of the Tulip bloodline, refusing to accept any outsiders, and Taya's marriage to Prince Orig had stirred resentment among them. They had no love for her, but this neglect was something even they could not explain.
"I want her alive, no matter the cost," Orig growled, his fists clenching at his sides. Memories of the first time he met Taya and every moment they had shared rushed to his mind. A strange feeling twisted in his chest as he realized—he feared losing her, more than he wanted to admit. He had not thought it possible to care for someone so deeply, so quickly.
The healer arrived in a flurry of motion, quickly assessing the situation. "She's been poisoned," the healer explained. "She ingested something harmful. I need to make her throw it up and give her this antidote, or..."
Orig didn't wait for the healer to finish. Without thinking, he grabbed the antidote from the healer's hands and poured the contents into Taya's mouth. His heart pounded in his chest as he forced the liquid down her throat. Every second felt like an eternity. His mind raced with thoughts of what would happen if it was too late.
The men who had been watching from a distance exchanged glances, murmuring among themselves. "Did you see that? He made her drink it like he was kissing her in public," one of them sneered.
Another man scoffed. "Stupid. He's not in love with her. She's just a toy to him, a means to an end. He'll tire of her soon enough."
Orig shot them a look of pure destruction, his anger barely contained. He barely heard their words as he focused on Taya's limp body.
"Why isn't she waking up?" Orig demanded, his voice thick with frustration. "Wasn't the medicine supposed to work?"
The healer nodded grimly. "Her body is weak. It'll take time for the medicine to take effect. She needs warmth. The night is cold, and darkness is already falling."
With no other option, Orig ordered his men to set up a tent. He would not let her die in the cold. He carried her gently, his heart aching as he watched her pale face. She looked so fragile, so vulnerable. How could anyone want to harm her?
As they set up camp in the cold night air, the healer spoke again. "This is a night dose. She may experience some symptoms, like a sudden rise in temperature, but she should survive this if we keep her warm."
Orig nodded, the weight of his responsibility pressing down on him. He leaned against the tent pole, staring at her as she lay there, still unconscious. Her face was so pale, so lifeless. His chest tightened with fear.
"You can't die, Taya. Not like this," he whispered, as though she could hear him. "And before you tell me who you are and how you know so much about me, I need to know... I need to understand why you're so important to me."
His mind raced back to the moments they shared, the way she had disrupted his life in ways he never expected. She had carved her name deep into his memory, and he realized, perhaps too late, that he had allowed her into his heart.
'Only three days with her, and this is how I feel? Commander Orig, you're a fool,' he thought bitterly. But despite his inner turmoil, he couldn't shake the feeling that Taya had become something more than just a part of his plan. She was someone he could not afford to lose.
As the night wore on, he paced nervously. "I can't fail," he muttered to himself, clenching his fists. "I have to focus. I have a duty. I can't let my feelings interfere with my task."
But despite his resolve, his thoughts kept returning to Taya, and the nagging fear that he was already too late to protect her.
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