The bleeding stopped on the fourth day. After expelling all the byproducts, she truly felt that it was over.
At Heiner’s request, the doctor reviewed all the medications Annette had been taking. The doctor’s expression as he examined the drugs was not particularly good.
“Hmm… Sinazel is a drug prohibited for pregnant women in the early stages. Usually, when prescribing it, one would definitely confirm whether the patient is pregnant. Did your attending physician never mention the possibility of pregnancy? The symptoms you described are ones that commonly appear in pregnant women… and your menstruation had stopped as well.”
“Not particularly…”
“Hmm, I see. First, I will prescribe this along with another sedative. The effects will be mild and long-lasting.”
Annette nodded once. The doctor, having written something on the documents, handed her the prescription.
“Also, if you take too much medication, you may instead develop medication-overuse headaches. The same goes for headache medicine. Do not exceed the duration and dosage written here.”
“Yes.”
Despite knowing she had taken a drug forbidden to pregnant women, she felt no emotion whatsoever, which was surprising. To be precise, her mind wasn’t working properly, as if something inside her had broken.
Even until the doctor, having finished explaining the medications to take, left the hospital room, Annette could not pull herself out of her dazed state.
“…The doctor.”
Heiner’s cracked voice broke the silence.
“Let’s change doctors.”
Annette slowly turned her head to look at Heiner.
Two eyes of different temperatures met. Heiner stared at her without moving, like a person not even breathing.
Soon, Annette slowly shook her head.
“There is no need for that.”
“How many times have you been examined, yet they failed to notice a single pregnancy…”
“It’s all right.”
“What is all right?”
Heiner asked back in a rather sharp tone. Beneath his neat face, faint anger flickered. It was an unfamiliar expression.
Annette thought he was overreacting a bit. Whatever it was, she truly didn’t care. She didn’t need a doctor anymore, anyway.
“It’s just, I don’t really care…”
“So what is it that you don’t care about, exactly.”
Annette swallowed the sigh that was about to escape.
She truly didn’t want to fight with Heiner anymore. Not because she was worried about their relationship, but simply because exhausting her mental energy on meaningless bickering was tiring.
“Why do you care?”
Annette pressed her throbbing temple and turned her head.
“…Change it if you want. You’ll do as you please anyway.”
It was a voice full of exhaustion. Heiner pressed his lips tight and said nothing. An inscrutable gaze settled upon Annette’s face.
The second hand of a pocket watch ticked rhythmically. A silence like inertia hovered between them. After a long while, he spoke.
“Dr. Arnold examines not only you but also me and the servants of the manor. I do not wish to employ someone incompetent or insincere. …Regardless of you.”
His voice had softened compared to before. Annette set her eyes on the edge of the bed and nodded perfunctorily.
The prickly atmosphere gradually subsided.
“…Annette.”
Heiner, who had hesitated for a moment, called out to her softly.
“That you had to go through such a thing… I regret it. Sincerely. Those responsible for this matter will be held accountable. Legally or morally.”
*Regret…*
The word sounded incredibly strange. Heiner spoke as if consoling her over a stranger’s affairs that had nothing to do with him.
Annette let out a derisive laugh before she knew it. It might have been better if he had said nothing at all.
At the very least, she could have taken the foolish comfort that he was treating this as his own matter.
How much hope, and how much disappointment, must she endure? She had been endlessly disappointed in him for the past three years, so she had thought there was nothing left to expect—
Regret.
He said regret.
Annette couldn’t even grasp how she should accept such cheap sympathy. She wanted to despise him, then wanted to be angry, but in the end, everything felt hollow.
He was the kind of man who would say “How regrettable” with an unchanged face even if she died. Or perhaps he would even feel relieved.
Instead of pressing him on it, Annette chose to change the subject.
“…When can I be discharged?”
“Whenever you wish.”
“I want to do it as soon as possible.”
“You still need more rest. The psychological counseling has not yet ended either…”
“I said I don’t need counseling. And call the doctor to the manor.”
Annette spoke stiffly. It was a colder voice than when she had spoken of divorce.
For the past three years, Annette had never issued anything remotely like an order to Heiner. She had merely been fretting anxiously, careful not to offend his mood in the slightest.
Despite a past of having lived as the wealthiest in the capital—Annette had not been able to comfortably command even a single servant.
Therefore, telling him to call them to the manor was something the old her would never have said.
“…”
“Why, is that not allowed?”
“…I will make the arrangements.”
Heiner answered belatedly. His gaze rested on Annette’s fingers. Following his eyes, Annette lowered her head. A desolate voice descended from above.
“Where did the ring go?”
Annette could not understand his words for a moment.
“…What?”
“The ring.”
Heiner gestured with his eyes toward her ring finger. Annette belatedly let out an *Ah.* Her left ring finger was bare.
*Should I make the excuse that I took it off because it was uncomfortable?*
But in a situation where she had already demanded a divorce, there was no reason to bother making excuses. After a brief moment of thought, Annette answered calmly.
“I just took it off.”
“Just?”
“It’s meaningless now.”
Annette thought Heiner would question her further. Lately, he had been reacting quite sensitively to her every action.
However, contrary to her expectations, Heiner said nothing more. Having stared blankly at her empty ring finger, he soon turned his head.
“…Rest.”
***
The doctor said there would be no problem with immediate discharge. It was not a serious gunshot wound, and she had now almost fully recovered.
The discharge procedures progressed quickly. The fact of her miscarriage had not leaked outside, but the circumstances of the incident at the time and the hospital where she was staying were reported in detail in the newspapers.
Heiner had said, as if making excuses, that they could not stop the reporting of the incident itself. But Annette thought he would not have bothered trying for her sake in the first place.
*Is being torn apart by the public a different matter from having one’s actual health threatened?*
Annette thought numbly as she put on a black-brimmed hat. With her dress and shoes also black, she looked like a woman going to a funeral.
Annette slightly lifted the edge of the curtain. Light stained in spots by the shadows of raindrops clinging to the windowpane shone upon the back of her hand.
Outside, rain was falling steadily. Round umbrellas lingered at the hospital entrance. They were reporters who had come for her.
Eyes devoid of warmth swept over the crowd. The sound of knocking on the hospital room door came from behind her. Still keeping her gaze outside the window, Annette answered.
“Yes.”
The door slid open with a creak. A voice without inflection rang out from behind her.
“The luggage has all been moved to the car. Let’s go.”
Only then did Annette remove her hand, which had been holding up the edge of the curtain. The curtain hem covered the window, cutting off the pale streak of light.
She turned around, picked up the bag on the bed, and left the room. Immediately, four attendants followed her, front and back.
“Even if the reporters swarm in, do not say a word.”
Heiner, walking beside her, suddenly whispered softly. Annette raised her head to look up at him.
“They are desperate to latch onto something. Do not give even a simple answer.”
Due to the difference in height, Annette could only see his jawline and firm lips in her field of vision. Under the bluish corridor lights, he looked like a giant specter.
“Do you understand?”
“…I understand.”
Annette answered again in a murmur, lowering her head.
A chilly silence lingered the entire way down in the VIP elevator. Annette lowered the black veil attached to her hat. Her fingertips trembled slightly.
The elevator arriving at the first floor chimed. Passing through the corridor and entering the lobby, the eyes of everyone in the building swarmed toward her.
The lobby, which had become eerily quiet, felt alien. Annette fixed her eyes on the tips of her own shoes, focusing solely on the act of walking straight. The sound of her heels echoed desolately.
The attendant walking ahead reached for the entrance door. Annette’s shoulders, stiff with tension and fear, hardened rigidly.
The moment the door opened, the sound of rain and chaotic clamor crashed in together. Camera flash bulbs popped amidst the rain streaks.
“She’s out!”
“Lights on!”
“Please look this way just once!”
“Is the medical record sealed at the Madame’s request?”
“They say this shooting incident was due to a grudge; do you have any idea why?”
“Do you have any intention of giving an interview at all?”
Questions thrown like shouts bored into her ears. The attendants blocked the swarming reporters. The veins on the back of Annette’s hand, which gripped the bag strap like a lifeline, stood out thin and sharp.
Heiner stood guarding Annette, almost embracing her. His familiar scent brushed heavily past the tip of her nose. Yet Annette could feel no sense of safety whatsoever.
Once, she had expected this large embrace to protect her. But thinking back now, it had been impossible from the start for him to ever “protect” her.
Unless, perhaps, he covered her eyes so she could see nothing.
Broken light bulb fragments crunched beneath her heels. Each bursting camera flash made a popping sound.
“…Is it someone you are acquainted with?”
“…During the statement process…”
“…Madame!”
Amidst the commotion, a sharp voice suddenly pierced her ear.
“Madame Valdemar!”