The blood that had pooled on her palm fell vertically down the back of her hand. As a drop of blood came into contact with the black ink, it quickly spread across the paper in an ugly shape.
Anastasia looked down at her hand, which had been dyed red, with a blank expression for a moment.
Reason did not come back easily due to the sudden occurrence. It felt like there was no sense of reality.
“… What is this?”
If she bled, it meant that her body was seriously injured.
But Anastasia thought she was fine. There was not a single place where she felt discomfort or pain.
But then, why was she vomiting blood like this? …
‘… First.’
Anastasia calmly concluded.
‘Let’s get a checkup.’
Maybe she had a problem in her body that she was not aware of.
She had no idea what it was, but… … Seeing that she even had blood clots, it didn’t seem like a trivial problem.
‘Am I sure I won’t die?’
Anastasia was terrified. Her head was throbbing because she had encountered a sudden situation.
‘Come to think of it, it seems that my head has been hurting for the past few days… was that not it? Do I feel this way because I vomited blood?’
Anastasia, who was seriously thinking about it, at some point saw the papers that gradually turned dark red which woke her up.
‘Before anyone sees it and misunderstands, I need to get rid of this first.’
Anastasia hurriedly wiped the blood stain on her hand with a handkerchief, picked up the blood-stained document, and burned it with a candle.
After a while, the desk became clean as if nothing had happened.
Anastasia looked in the mirror, wiped her bloody mouth thoroughly, put on a shawl, and went outside.
Selene asked Anastasia with a big smile.
“Your Majesty, where shall I take you?”
“No, you don’t have to follow me.”
“What? Where are you going?….”
“Just for a moment, I’m going to go for a walk by myself.”
Anastasia also made eye contact with other maids and asked.
“So there is no need for anyone to follow. Got it?”
“Oh, yes, I see.”
It was not night but day, and it was not the first time Anastasia took a walk alone, so everyone nodded.
Anastasia, who left the Empress’ Palace with a sigh of relief, quickly looked around and checked if anyone was following her.
‘Fortunately, I don’t see Mrs. Rochester…’
Anastasia headed that way to the lab of the doctor, Dr. Faulkner.
“Your Majesty!”
Dr. Faulkner was stunned by Anastasia’s sudden visit.
It was because it was never common for the Empress to walk there without calling for him.
In addition, Anastasia’s appearance without even a maid accompanying her made Dr. Faulkner guess what had happened.
“Your Majesty, what are you doing here?”
“Dr. Faulkner.”
Anastasia opened her mouth calmly.
“I need your help.”
“What do you mean…”
“I want you to check my health. With the utmost precision and detail.”
“What?”
Dr. Faulkner was perplexed by the out-of-the-ordinary instructions, but then nodded calmly.
Then the examination was carried out. Having drawn enough blood to fill one of his little teacups, Anastasia asked Dr. Faulkner, who was dripping her own blood into his kit for examination, in her nervous voice.
“When will the results come out? Will it take long?”
“No, Your Majesty. It will be out in an hour.”
The imperial family conducted regular checkups once a year with special checkup kits made with divine power at the temple.
Therefore, with the exception of some diseases, even if there was a problem in the body, it was often detected at an early stage.
However, if any disease was serious enough to cause bleeding, the kit could not be fooled.
Anastasia struggled to hide her trembling expression and waited for her result.
And soon the results came out.
“It’s normal.”
It was an absurd result. Oh, it may be inappropriate to say, but it really was.
‘I vomited blood out of nowhere, and there’s nothing wrong with me?’
Anastasia asked with her questioning face.
“Is there anything wrong with my body?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. You are very healthy. Oh no. I’ll have to correct myself. You have accumulated some fatigue. You should get more sleep.”
Faulkner concluded with a soft voice.
“Other than that, there is nothing particularly wrong.”
Anastasia’s expression grew serious when she heard that, and Dr. Faulkner asked cautiously.
“Are there any problems that bother you?”
“No, no.”
Anastasia hastily interrupted Dr. Faulkner.
“It’s just that I’m a little tired these days, so I just came for a checkup. I’m glad there are no problems.”
“Ah yes. There is no problem, so don’t worry.”
“… okay. I’m really happy.”
But with an expression that didn’t look too bright, Anastasia got up from her seat and came out of Dr. Faulkner’s lab.
‘There is no medical problem…’
Then again, there was only one answer.
“Is it a divine punishment?”
She already experienced a similar situation before.
On the day of the first Goddess’ memorial service after the High Priest woke up, she kissed Wilhelm and her sign disappeared.
‘Is it a warning to disappear quickly?’
Anastasia accelerated her steps to the Empress’ Palace in a premonitory mood.
She had to hurry. She didn’t have time to leave the palace tonight after completing the handover.