The previous king's three concubines hurried to see their husband where they were received by the Head Royal Physician who assured them that their husband was not in any mortal danger. Other than Lady Saira, no other concubine was normally allowed to visit the Obsidian Palace, but on such occasions like this, none of the knights stopped family members from arriving.
The Great Lady hurried to the Obsidian Palace as fast as she could to see her son, and it was Seren who received her at the entrance.
Seeing the Great Lady come bearing a concerned look on her aged face, the young queen bowed to her. "Greetings, Grandmother. The others are waiting inside and looked so restless that I offered to receive you."
The old lady's smile bore no real warmth. "Is my son in a terrible state?"
"The physicians assured us they're doing their best..." Seren said as she escorted the old lady inside, "...but Grandmother, is it fine for me to come without my husband?"
"I knew Dray would not bring you here, and neither would he ask you to go on your own, so I thought it's better if you visit this palace with my authority. That way, Dray won't stop you," the old lady informed her their hurried steps echoed within the hallway. "Dare he say anything if I want you to accompany me?"
"Thank you so much, Grandmother." Seren wished to visit her father-in-law but didn't know how to make it happen when Drayce clearly showed he didn't wish to send her to the Obsidian Palace.
Seren could somewhat understand Drayce's line of thinking. On her first visit to her father-in-law, the older man didn't welcome them, and Drayce and him even got into a verbal fight. Her husband must not want her to go there to face something similar again. But Seren didn't mind if her father-in-law showed bitterness toward her after knowing he was a good man wearing a mask.
The three concubines could be seen waiting outside the King's bed-chamber, all looking pale and worried. The moment they saw the Great Lady, they bowed to her and as well as to the Queen.
The Great Lady had no patience for their greetings and immediately gestured for them to stay put.
"Has the physician allowed guests to enter?" she asked the knights stationed outside.
"Yes, Great Lady. The treatment is over. However, His Excellency remains unconscious."
The knight guarding the door opened the door for his liege's mother. As the old lady entered, Seren contemplated over whether she should follow the Great Lady or stay outside with her mothers-in-law.
The old lady turned to look at the hesitating young woman. "Aren't you coming to assist this old lady, dear?"
Seren nodded immediately and followed the Great Lady. As Seren was not familiar with her father-in-law, she was hesitant to intrude when even his wives were waiting outside.
Inside the chamber, the Head Royal Physician was wiping blood off his hands, having finished treating the previous king. There were three other younger physicians with him, and they bowed to the Great Lady as soon as they saw her.
"How is he?" She walked towards her son's bed and let out a worried sigh at the sight of her unconscious son.
"His Excellency King Theron's life is not in danger. Fortunately, although the injury in his torso is deep, none of his internal organs were damaged. It has been taken care of and all he needs is to be nursed back to health.
The two women felt relieved hearing those remarks. However, with her worries allayed came the old lady's anger.
"How can he be so careless? A boar? In his youth, he could even handle three tigers or three bears, let alone a single boar. Is age getting to him? Don't tell me he's on his own without a weapon? So unlikely of him to commit a mistake not even a knight's squire would make," the Great Lady complained as she was sure about her son's capabilities and found it difficult to believe a boar could hurt him.
The Head Royal Physician left after instructing his apprentices to stay to observe and nurse the unconscious royal.
"I want to be alone with my son." Ordering the physicians and the servants to leave the chamber, the Great Lady stopped the only knight permitted to be present in the chamber. "Galien, you stay!"
The middle-aged knight flinched but immediately responded, "Yes, Your Excellency?"
"Explain to me. How did this happen?" she demanded.
The knight fell on his knees as he shouted, "Your Excellency, I failed to protect my liege! Please punish me!"
The old lady shook her head with a sigh. "I am asking you what happened. If you seek to be punished, wait for your liege to wake up as only he has the right to punish his knights.So tell me. Even though he's been wallowing in liquor day in and day out, those muscles on his body are telltale signs he still trains his swordsmanship. No ordinary wild animal could have hurt him. I want the truth."
Seren's eyes brightened as she realized that this middle-aged knight was one of the important people in her grandmother's story. Sir Galien Kenelm, King Theron's guardian knight and his most loyal person. He was to his father-in-law what Slayer was to Drayce.
Sir Galien decided to tell his liege's mother the truth.
Late in the night, the guardian knight realized that his liege was not in his tent and he had even left his sword behind. Aware that Theron had been drinking even before nightfall, the knight left camp to search for him in that forest. After some time, he eventually found his master but then saw something unusual.
Theron was standing at a distance, seemingly absent-minded--or that was what the knight initially thought, until he heard the sound of snorting coming not far from where his liege was. A large wild boar was preparing to charge over, seemingly targeting Theron.
The knight would have left the man and animal alone, aware that Theron could easily kill a boar even with his bare hands, but the more he looked at Theron, Galien realised he had no intentions of dodging the attack of the wild animal and even ignored the venomous snake closer to him, ready to attack.
Not thinking twice, Sir Galien hurried and pushed his liege aside to slaughter the venomous snake. No one would have expected that the wild boar would choose that opportunity to attack the man who had lost his balance.
Though Galien eventually killed the boar, Theron did not even attempt to dodge the sharp tusks of the wild boar's initial assault, leaving his torso badly injured and heavily bleeding by the time Galien got rid of the animal.
"It was my fault that His Excellency got hurt so please exact punishment in his stead, Your Excellency. At least, let me stay in prison until my liege wakes up," the knight pleaded.
Hearing the entire incident from the knight, the old lady knew it was not the knight's fault but her son being reckless. She excused the knight and sat at the edge of the bed, staring at her son who seemed restless even in his sleep.
As the person who raised him, how could she not guess his intentions?
"When will you stop being stubborn, Theron? She won't come back to you. Why do you keep pulling stunts that harm you this way? Will you only understand it when you are on your dying breath that she won't come to save you?" Great Lady Theodora was speaking in a calm manner, but the sorrow in her voice could not be hidden. "Didn't you say you hated her? That you had given up on her? Then why do you keep on searching for her every year?
"My son, why can't you just give up?"
Though no tears fell from the old lady's eyes, her eyes were red-rimmed. Seren could only offer her a handkerchief. Witnessing this, she could not help but feel sorry for this pair of mother and son.
'Queen Esther, will you truly never return to see your husband and your son ever?' Seren wondered.
After a while, Seren went out of the previous king's chamber with the composed Great Lady. She looked at her daughters-in-law who were eager to have their chance to check on their husband.
"Only Saira will stay here. You two can return to your residences," she referred to Lady Clarisa and Lady Yavia.
Lady Clarisa tried to oppose, "But Mother..."
"You are aware that Theron did not permit any of his wives to enter the premises of the Obsidian Palace aside from his third concubine. When he wakes up, it's better for you to see him with his permission, " the Great Lady declared. "
The two concubines could not disobey their mother-in-law and quietly left. In their hearts, they could not help but feel envious of Lady Saira. Though Theron considered Lady Saira as nothing but a servant, she was fortunate enough to be able to be around their husband.
Once the two concubines left, the Great Lady softened her expression and turned towards Lady Saira. "I will leave him to you."
Lady Saira promised to give the Crystal Palace constant updates of the previous king's health, and only then did the Great Lady and the young queen leave.
On the way out, Seren could not help but ask, "Grandmother, can I ask something?"
The old lady smiled lightly and already predicted what the young queen was going to ask, "Why is Saira still allowed in the Obsidian Palace?"
"Yes, Grandmother."
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