Loving The Mad King

There Are Too Many Wounds In Rion's Heart

"This is Erythroxylum coca. Was this mixed into Rion's medicine?" Odette was now in Doctor Alex's room. He was the doctor who had been treating and prescribing medicine for Rion. From now on, they would work together. 

"This is the medicine the king has always taken," said Doctor Alex, a man who was around sixty years of age. The hair on the front and temples of his head seemed to have turned white.

He took out a tablet and the size of it took Odette by surprise. The tablet's diameter was about five centimeters and its thickness was up to one centimeter.

Odette grabbed it and took a close look and sniffed it. Odette could smell the honey on the tablet. It seemed like there was a mixture of honey in the tablet. In addition to its content, the honey seemed to be used as an adhesive.

"The tablet dissolves easily in water," Doctor Alex explained.

"Does Rion drink it every day?" Odette asked as she broke the tablet, then took a small piece and tried it.

Ugh. It tasted very bitter even though it smelled quite sweet.

"Well. If he doesn't drink it, he won't be able to sleep."

Rion was already addicted to the d**g. If he didn't drink it, he would feel anxious and end up unable to sleep. If that was the case, then other problems such as headaches would arise.

Odette knew that Rion's personality split when he was six years old, but this was not known because his alters appeared very rarely. Only after Rose's death did these alters appear more often, because at that time, Rion must have had the worst times that made him depressed.

While leaving Doctor Alex's room and walking down the corridor, she ran into Rion. The man appeared to be wearing a winter scarf, even though it was summer and the sun was shining very hot outside.

Rion used that to cover up the mark of the rope around his neck. He really didn't want to bother answering people's questions if they saw his neck.

"Rion, aren't you hot in that?" Odette asked.

"It's none of your business!" Rion answered curtly, while walking past Odette.

"Does it still hurt?" Odette followed Rion, who was going nowhere.

Rion didn't answer. He continued to walk through several turns, and then up the stairs until they finally arrived at a terrace in one of the palace towers.

"Whoa!" Odette was mesmerized by the sight below. She could see the majestic buildings of the capital from where she was currently standing, while Rion was seen taking off his scarf and sighing. It was a relief when the wind blew against the skin of his neck. Since then, he had felt stuffy and wanted to open the scarf but his pride forbade him.

While in the meeting room, he told the higher-ups that he was wearing a scarf because he wasn't feeling well and was feeling cold.

"Why don't you wear a shirt with a high collar? It can cover the mark," commented Odette.

"It's none of your business," said Rion, scratching his neck.

"I'm just giving you a suggestion."

"I don't need it," he said, which irritated Odette, but the girl immediately focused on the mark on Rion's neck. It looked very red.

"Let me see it." Odette stepped closer and tried to get a closer look at Rion's mark.

"Rion, stop. Don't scratch it." Odette held Rion's hand and saw many small rashes on the man's neck.

"The heat. Rion, stop wearing the scarf and don't scratch it, or the rash will widen and your neck will rot," said Odette. She wanted to joke around, but the man absolutely could not take a joke.

Rion was silent while looking cynically. If that was the case, Odette could only sigh and correct her words.

"I…" Her words were cut short when she realized the distance between her face and Rion's face was quite close. This made her face suddenly turn red. "I-I wasn't serious about your neck rotting, but I am serious about not scratching it, cause the rash will s-spread. I'll make some medicine."

Odette became nervous, so she backed away and distanced herself. For some reason, when she was close to Rion, she was always nervous. Was she unconsciously traumatized by having been strangled by Lucifer? It seemed so.

From below, several people who saw the two of them together started to gossip about their closeness. Three days had passed and since then, there were two things that had become a hot topic of discussion. The first was about Rion and Anwen's improving relationship and the second was about Rion and Odette's closeness.

"I saw them together often. Do you think they have a relationship? Will the king finally be able to forget Queen Rose?" One knight asked another knight.

"I don't know, I'm not sure."

"What do you think about that girl, do you know which family she comes from?"

"Gosh, Edric, since when did you get so much into gossip? Don't get into things that are none of your business."

"But I'm very curious." Edric followed his friend, who was not interested in discussing the king's latest gossip.

The sun shone so hot that it stung the skin, and because of that, no one could last long outside.

Back to the terrace.

Rion walked to the edge of the terrace and sat there, and Odette followed him. There was silence for a while until Rion suddenly spoke up.

"Do you think I can be cured?" he asked. He felt that he was so messep up that he didn't know and didn't understand how to organize himself. 

He tried to always accept that what he was going through was a punishment that he had to accept for his wrongdoing toward Rose, but when he started hurting other people without realizing it, he felt very tormented.

If it was him who was at fault, then the only person who should be punished would be him. Only him. If only at that time he had been more competent and could find the real traitor, then today Rose and Lucas would still be by his side.

Odette looked at Rion. She quickly understood that Rion was currently worried about his situation. "We need the help of others during bad times, but the greatest help comes from within ourselves."

Rion turned to look at Odette.

"Rion, I never wanted to pick at your wound but if you don't tell me the pain you feel, how can I understand the pain you are in?"

A gust of wind gently moved their strands of hair.

Rion was silent. He seemed to be lost in his own thoughts. He then looked away from Odette and towards the view of the city that spread out below.

"I …" He closed his eyes for a moment. "It's not that I don't want to tell you, it's just that I don't know where to start. There are too many wounds in my heart. There are so many that I'm confused about which one to treat, and because I'm confused, I often just let it go. I think over time they will heal on their own."

"Are they healed?"

"No."

Odette also looked at the expanse of the city below and said, "There are wounds that will heal on their own over time, but there are also wounds that require treatment. These wounds cannot be ignored, because if left unchecked they will only get worse."