The Evil Empress Adores Me - Chapter 122

I hung the clean laundry on the clothesline, sterilized the medical instruments in hot water, checked the patients’ conditions, and provided them with their meals. 

As I wandered around afterward, I straightened my back and pumped my fist.

“Ahh…”

It was fortunate that the patients seemed to be breathing a little easier.

But were there any other problems?

Just as I was observing the patients with a hawk’s eyes, Mrs. Mayna came up to me. 

“Aren’t you exhausted?”

She asked such a question with her characteristically calm face.

I smiled brightly.

“Thank you for your concern, but I can bear it.”

“I see.”

I proudly raised my shoulders.

What, did you think I would throw in the towel and scurry away?

It’s been so long since I’ve been a maid!

Mrs. Mayna examined the complexions of the sick people lying in a row, and her countenance became slightly puzzled.

“Strange.” 

“What is it?”

“Since Lady Charlize’s arrival, it seems that the patients’ recoveries have sped up slightly.”

Huh? No way.

I answered with a tilt of my head.

“Isn’t it because Mrs. Mayna’s treatment was efficient?”

“Well, the scariest thing about water-borne diseases is that they cause a rapid loss of moisture.” 

Mrs. Mayna narrowed her eyes.

“I would have to constantly replenish moisture with water to maintain their condition but the recovery process with that method is slow…”

BANG!

But then. 

Cutting off our conversation, a man tumbled into the clinic.

Mrs. Mayna frowned and addressed the man. 

“Are there more patients? If you make a fuss…” 

“Oh, we’re in trouble!!”

The man gasped for breath and stood up, shouting in a frantic voice. 

“The dam, the dam!”

“Dam?”

Mrs. Mayna’s face hardened.

“What about the dam!”

“It’s about to overflow!”

In an instant, people began stirring a commotion. 

“The dam’s going to overflow?!”

“That’s a lie!”

“Then shouldn’t we be evacuating right now?!”

Fear spread among the people.

The South was home to vast farmlands, thanks to mild weather and fertile land. 

There were numerous reservoirs and dams to irrigate said farmlands. 

As for the city of Lebane, I recall hearing about a large dam nearby that irrigated the nearby towns. 

‘If that was the case-‘

Damian?!

I lifted my head.

“Wait a minute, what of His Highness, the Crown Prince!”

“He said he would somehow manage the flow of the dam, so he went there!” 

In an instant, my mind went blank.

Oh, no!

“Lady, Lady Charlize!”

Someone urgently called me but I shook my head and ran outside. 

Right now, there’s only one thought running through my head. 

‘I have to get to Damian right now!’

In the downpouring rain, I ran like crazy. 

 

***

 

The rainfall was so immense that it was like a hole had been punched in the sky. 

Hazy water mist rose up, blurring my vision. 

I could see Damian’s back in the distance. 

Beneath the darkened sky, three pairs of brilliant silver wings were fluttering back and forth from his back. 

The trembling wings were a testament to the amount of pressure Damian was enduring right now.

And.

“You’re lying…”

I blankly raised my head.

There were visible cracks at the top of the dam, seemingly threatening to collapse at any instant. 

Damian poured all his strength into it, and it seemed he was holding back the overflowing water from bursting out. 

It was incredible that one human being could perform such a miracle. 

But… … .

‘Damian is going to die if he continues!’

No matter how much he could channel the power of the divine beast, it was next to impossible to overcome this situation alone. 

Pale face, bleeding lips. 

His whole body twitched. 

This was….everything told me that he was at his very limit. 

‘You told me not to do anything dangerous!’

And yet you did. 

You angrily told me I should leave for safety right away.

And now you…

“Your Highness!”

I called out to Damian and frantically ran to him.

His scarlet eyes widened upon seeing me 

“No, no!”

Damian yelled in a suffocating voice. 

“Why are you here!”

“Your Highness is here too!”

After shouting back at Damian, I immediately embraced him. 

Damian’s body, which had been continuously pelted by rain, was chilled to the bone. 

“Charlize, please. Don’t do this, will you?”

Damian beckoned me. 

“You and everyone need to evacuate immediately. How long till you-”

But I frantically shook my head.

“ACK!”

Damian, who was trying to convince me, couldn’t hold back and vomited blood.

Bright red blood soaked his forearm.

The moment I saw the stream of blood, rational judgment disappeared from my thoughts. 

“…Damian.”

“I’m fine, please…”

Damian shook his head and attempted to speak but he couldn’t hear properly. 

The only thought that dominated my mind right now was…

‘I have to stay by Damian’s side.’

Pounding. Heart pounding. 

My heart was beating wildly.

‘I have to help Damian somehow.’

Pounding, more pounding.

I blankly raised my gaze.

Damian, who looked like he could collapse on the spot at any moment, captured my attention. 

I bit my lip.

‘If this goes on…’

I will lose Damian.

“Ugh!”

“W-What is that?!”

At the same time, cries of astonishment erupted from people’s lips.

A power emanating from within was slowly being pushed outwards, the power radiated a silver color.

And.

“….Charlize?”

Damian froze in place and fixed his eyes on me. 

“Damian.”

I’m losing myself. It’s odd. 

A strange yet familiar, warm yet cool energy coursed through my body.

I knew it instinctively.

If I use this power, I can protect Damian.

Yes, it’s enough.

I strained my eyes and looked at him.

To the shocked Damian, I continued to speak as clearly as I could. 

“I will never…”

The next words were firmly said, reflecting her resolve. 

“I won’t leave you alone.” 

At the same time, three pairs of majestic silvery wings emerged from her back.

 

* * *

 

Because of the torrential downpour, the precarious dam was on the verge of finally collapsing.

The prince had used the power of the divine beast to prevent it, but only managed to stall it.

Of course, it was a miracle in itself, however…

“Evacuate the people immediately! There’s a limit to what I can endure!!”

The prince, who had been shouting so, eventually vomited blood, and the people fell into confusion.

Obviously, the worst should have come to pass, but it didn’t. 

“This can’t be…”

“What is this…”

People watched the scene unfolding before them, full of astonishment. 

Some could not believe what they were seeing at all and rubbed their eyes roughly with their hands.

That would be the case because something unbelievable was occurring right before their very eyes. 

“…Lady Charlize, power of the divine beast?”

Someone muttered in a shaky voice.

Three pairs of silvery white wings made of light spread outwards from Charlize’s back.

Having awoken the power of the divine beast, the wings were akin to the Crown Prince’s. 

No, it’s much more than that…

“…it’s overwhelming.”

Her wings were so enormous that Charlize herself seemed tiny in comparison. 

The beating wings fluttered loudly.

Silvery-white flecks of light-like feathers trailed behind her, breaking away as she soared into the skies.

They thought the raindrops were getting thinner, but it had actually ceased.

“The rain….it’s not raining.” 

“Oh my God, oh my God…”

But the oddities weren’t over yet.

The dam, which could overflow at any moment, came to a standstill as if frozen. 

It was as if time had stopped. 

And.

“I…I’m seeing this correctly, aren’t I?”

The water from the dam, which was at the point of bursting forth, began rising into the skies, drop by drop. 

It was like the water in the dam was evaporating. 

It continued until more than half of the water that had filled the dam was gone.

“Has the dam stopped overflowing now?”

“I-I think so?”

The dam was tranquil.

People exchanged wary looks with each other. 

They didn’t clap or cheer right away but held their breaths instead. 

It was because Damian was looking at Charlize who seemed on the verge of passing out.

“…Charlize.”

The wings that had emerged so spontaneously from her back, dissipated without even a trace.

Charlize quietly raised her gaze and looked at Damian.

Her lilac-colored pupils peered at him, beginning to water. 

“Oka-”

Without being able to finish a single word, she collapsed into Damian’s arms. 

Damian, who hugged her tightly, raised his voice desperately.

“Charlize!!”