Conquering His Cold Heart
Chapter 449 - 449: Concerns

Around half an hour had passed.

Cillian's crying and wailing and pleading hadn't stopped yet.

Everard was sitting close by, covering both of his ears with his hands as the boy's screams became more and more unbearable for him.

"Your Majesty," Jerome looked at Everard with pity and asked once more, "Why don't you go back to your chamber? The doctors won't let anything happen to him."

However, Everard didn't respond to Jerome's voice of concern. He simply kept on covering his ears and pretended not to hear Jerome at all.

Jerome sighed in defeat and focused his attention on Cillian once again.

The doctors had successfully pulled the bone back to its place and were currently cleaning Cillian's blood from his punctured organs.

After about another fifteen minutes, the doctors finally looked at Jerome and informed him, "He is out of danger. But since he lost a lot of blood in the process, he will still be weak even after healing. I suggest that you allow the boy to take bed rest for at least a few days."

Although the doctors had never met Cillian before, from the way how both Everard and Jerome were worried about his health, they had assumed that Cillian was someone close to both of them.

Jerome thanked the doctors for taking care of Cillian. "I will do as you suggested," he replied to the doctors and turned around to see Everard.

Everard had finally gotten up from his chair and was now approaching the boy who was still lying on the floor, barely clinging to his consciousness.

He let out a subtle sigh of relief once he saw Cillian's surgical wounds that were already starting to close up on their own.

Everard then looked up at his guards and ordered them, "Prepare a guest room for the boy and let his family know of the incident. Tell them that–"

"About that…" Jerome stepped to the front and painfully informed Everard, "The boy is an orphan. I was bringing him to you so that he could get a job in the castle. But… things didn't go as planned."

Everard's heart clenched even more when he heard the bitter truth. He hated that the boy had suffered that fate because of his clumsy attempt at running away from the castle.

He swallowed the sour feeling in his throat and then gave another order to his guards, "Prepare the guest room and make sure that he is well attended to."

After watching his guards carefully pick up the boy and take him away, Everard finally headed back towards his own chamber. Considering all the things that happened tonight, he was demotivated to pursue his original plan for the night.

---

In the Warmane mansion, things weren't that pretty either.

Tilla was impatiently waiting for Vincent to return. She was sitting by the door of her chamber with the door ajar so that she wouldn't miss Vincent's arrival.

After the argument the two of them had during the day when Vincent unintentionally found out about Anastasia's deteriorating health, Tilla was feeling anxious.

This was their first fight after the two of them began living together in the mansion. It was only right for her to feel that way since Vincent had disappeared ever since then.

"Mistress, your back pain will bother you again." Penelope showed her concern toward Tilla. "I will inform you the moment our Lord comes back. So, why don't you lie down on your bed? Mrs. Abney will reprimand me tomorrow if she learns that I allowed you to stay up this late."

Tilla was, however, uninterested in lying down.

Thus, she shook her head and said, "I will just wait here for some more time. If he doesn't return soon, I will go back to sleep once I start feeling drowsy."

Penelope had never seen Tilla being that stubborn. Although she was sad to see Tilla like that, she was also happy about it because it showed how much Tilla cared about Vincent.

As Tilla was being too stubborn, she decided not to bother Tilla anymore. "Alright then. I will head back to my own room. If you need anything, the maids will be at your service. Don't hesitate to ring the bell."

Tilla gave a nod that was accompanied by a weak smile.

Penelope left soon after.

And Tilla was left with her own thoughts. Her thoughts began to drift from Vincent's whereabouts to Anastasia's degrading condition. She began to wish for her speedy recovery so that she would get to return to her friend's side and stay by her side during her difficult time.

'I just hope that the King won't be mad at Anna when he finds out…'

Little did she know that the King had already gone through several stages of grief after her friend made a confession about her condition.

Time kept on passing at a very slow pace for Tilla. Her eyes were growing tired. Her blinks started to get longer and longer and soon, she was dozing off.

She didn't know how much time passed since she shut her eyes, but she got startled from her dream when she suddenly felt a cold hand on her cheek.

She inhaled sharply and looked in front of her. And she instantly felt greatly relieved to see Vincent with a haggard expression on his face.

"Vince!" Tilla immediately tried to get up on her feet but she instantly sat back after feeling a sharp pain in her lower back.

"Are you alright?" Vincent felt his heart drop when he saw Tilla wincing as if she was in great pain.

Tilla gently patted Vincent's arm which was now holding one of her hands. She gave a reassuring smile and answered, "I am fine. Don't worry about me."

The expression on her face instantly changed to show deep worry for Vincent when she asked, "What about you? Where did you disappear for the whole day? Do you know how worried I was?"

Vincent let out a deep sigh of relief as that was not what he expected to hear from Tilla. He had imagined Tilla scolding him again for eavesdropping on her conversation with the Queen. He had thought that their argument from the day would continue.

However, upon hearing the words of concern from her, he was deeply relieved as well as moved.

"I apologize for making you worry," he said while gently caressing Tilla's hair.

He completely dodged Tilla's question and then asked her, "Why are you sitting by the door in this cold? Shouldn't you be sleeping on your bed?"

"I was waiting for you," Tilla answered while giving an accusing gaze to Vincent.

Vincent smiled softly although he felt a sudden pain in his heart.

He felt guilty for making Tilla wait for him for so many hours. It was almost morning by now. He could only imagine how cold Tilla must have been throughout the night and how uncomfortable it must have been for her to sit on the wooden chair with her bad back.

"I am here," he said while feebly smiling at Tilla.

And without any warning, he carried Tilla in his arms.

Tilla widened her eyes, her drowsiness had completely vanished by now. "W-What are you doing?" she exclaimed shyly.

"Of course taking you to your bed," came the nonchalant reply from Vincent.