Queen of The Scalpel - Chapter 72
Then, Minchester softly spoke.
“But. Aren’t you curious?”
“…?”
“Why I did all this?Even if I didn’t announce it and you lost, nothing would have changed. Isn’t that right?”
Elise quietly listened to him speak. The Emperor closed his mouth, and spoke again.
“It’s because I desperately want you.”
“…?!”
“I want you to be a part of the Imperial Family. Be the princess, fill Linden’s empty spots, and be in a father and daughter relationship with you. That’s why I did it.”
It was a genuine voice. Elise felt confused. ‘Why? Why would he go this far?’ She looked into the Emperor’s eyes. He had been like this in her past life as well.
He looked over her misgivings and always loved her. She didn’t understand why. Was it because she was his friend’s daughter? Or because she had shown a mature attitude before?
No. That wasn’t enough to explain it. She thought there was something else, but she didn’t know what. ‘I have no idea.’ The Emperor spoke.
“So I have a preposition for you.”
“What is it?’
“How about giving up on this bet?”
“…?!”
“You might not know…but I really cherish you. So I don’t want to see you suffer in a hospital. If I knew you would be these tired, I wouldn’t have started the bet in the first place. I thought you would give up soon.”
He looked at her with kind eyes. He seemed sincerely concerned about her. Since he considered her his future family, he didn’t want her to live a difficult life.
“Your Majesty…”
Elise spoke in a sad voice. She understood him. She didn’t know the reason why, but the Emperor really wanted to accept her as his family member but…that wasn’t possible.
For everyone. Eventually, everyone would be unhappy. And more than anything else…it was the path she desperately wanted. It was hard for her to even think about straying from this path.
“I…”
She was trying to speak her thoughts. But it was then! A scream rang out in the ballroom.
“Ack!!”
“Anyone there!? The Duchess!”
The Emperor and Elise headed toward the balcony in surprise. And they became shocked at what they saw happening in the ballroom.
“…!”
Lady Harver had collapsed on the floor with a ghostly white face.
***
“…!”
The Emperor quickly gave his orders.
“Someone quickly bring a doctor! Quick!”
And then. The only doctor next to the Emperor quickly ran. It was Elise. ‘Quick! There’s not much time!’ She bit her lips.
‘It’s Asphyxia! She needs to be saved within 2 minutes!’
Asphyxia. The condition of food completely blocking one’s airway. From what she saw, the Duchess was definitely in this state.
‘I had a bad feeling for some reason! And like this!’ She quickly ran down the stairs. Her long dress kept on getting twisted up, so she just lifted it up. It was something a noble lady shouldn’t have done, but she didn’t care. No, even her conversation with the Emperor was long gone.
There was only one thought in her head. It was that she needed to save the Duchess. ‘Quickly! Just a bit more! Quickly! Even a second matters.’
She was regretful of the fact that she was on the second floor. The stairs were short, but they felt like the distance between heaven and hell. And when about a minute passed, she was able to arrive next to the Duchess.
“Gasp! Gasp!”
People looked surprised seeing her Elise panting so hard.
“Lady Clarence?”
“Please move!”
“…?!”
“Please quickly get out of the way! Quickly! There’s not enough time!”
It was a force that couldn’t be imagined from her usual soft self. People subconsciously moved back. Elise quickly approached the Duchess and checked her condition.
“Maam! Please wake up!”
She shook her hard, but there wasn’t any reaction from her. She was in a coma state. ‘Oh no!’ Her face was blue. It wasn’t just her face. Her entire body from her fingers to her toes were blue. It was cyanosis, from lack of oxygen.
‘Just what got caught in her throat?’ She frantically looked around and saw different kinds of meats and countless desserts on the table before her. She moved the Duchess forward and wrapped her arms around her stomach. ‘As tight as I can!’
She tightened her grip and tried the Heimlich maneuver. But even after multiple attempts, it didn’t work. She was laid there motionless.
‘It doesn’t work! The Heimlich maneuver!’
She didn’t know what was caught, but no matter how hard she tried, it didn’t work. ‘What should I do?’ There were only 30 seconds left. No, it was possible there was less than that. If her airway wasn’t cleared, the Duchess would pass away.
Then, something entered her vision. ‘With that?’
Yes, with that! Her airways could be cleared. But Elise hesitated for a moment, no more than a second. It was because she thought of what would happen after she used that tool on the Duchess. But she went ahead with it.
‘Later things later! It’ll work out. Saving her is first.’ She grabbed the ‘tool’ that was on the table. Everyone screamed seeing her do that.
“Lady, what?!”
“Let go of that!”