CH 115

“What are you talking about, father?”

Evan seriously interrupted.

“What do you mean Laria must live? Didn’t you say it wasn’t a fatal disease?”

“That’s…”

I quickly stopped Duke Icard.

“That-that, that must be because you don’t trust Serena…! Father, what are you talking about! Even if I’m really dying, you shouldn’t say that here!”

Even though emotions intensified, perhaps Duke Icard’s rationality had not died at all and he kept his mouth shut. Evan couldn’t ask any more as Elanie interrupted and made more fuss.

“What are you saying that the attending physician assigned by Duchy Icard is not good? You should have said it earlier. The best medical staff in the Imperial Palace—”

“Are you ignoring Duchy Icard right now? We also have the power to mobilize at least the medical staff of the Imperial Palace!”

Lady Olivia interrupted and screamed again.

“Besides, why is someone from the Imperial Family meddling in the affairs of Duchy Icard? This is our family business!”

“If you put it like that, your last name is Livienne, right?”

“I am the godmother! Godmother!”

I couldn’t think at all. It was literally chaos, catastrophe, and despair. Still, one thing was certain… If a doctor other than Serena diagnosed me, my seven years of pretending to be ill would crumble.

“Come here! Duke Icard, why are you there? One more drink!”

At a table far away, the Emperor shouted at Duke Icard.

“It’s a historic day when the Duke finally drank with me!”

As he went on, the Emperor looked very happy. Maybe because drinking with Duke Icard was quite good.

“Yes, father. Go to it. We, young people, will organize this.”

I pushed Duke Icard’s back.

“Hng.”

Scoffed, he seemed rather annoyed. All of a sudden, he abruptly burst out with bombshell remarks.

“What good thing to say to that narrow-minded jerk who was making a fuss about digging my wife’s grave to check my loyalty for no justification?”

Again, silence fell in the banquet hall. It was because everyone froze after listening to the Duke’s words.

I, too, was so shocked that I couldn’t breathe.

Even if Elanie was a member of the Imperial Family, she was a common-sense person who would let it go as long as she didn’t get hurt. So, even if she threw things around and fought with Lady Olivia, there would not be any big problems, except that their relationship was extremely bad.

In particular, Lady Olivia was from Livienne and had little to do with politics. However, the case of Duke Icard and the Emperor was different. He was now the head of a noble family, while the Emperor was the ‘narrow-minded jerk.’

‘…I’m sure this wouldn’t go unnoticed.’

It was only at that moment did I finally realized what Medor had done earlier. Even if Duke Icard’s emotions were aggravated by the fairy’s breath, he was not so stupid as to curse at the Emperor.

The bottle he opened must have contained the damn [ Truth Drug ] that Evan and I had seen in the Magic Tower.

Originally, it was mixed with black magic, so it shouldn’t escape from the Magic Tower… Nonetheless, when I thought about the wizard who said, ‘Support is available, customer,’ it seemed like he would have sold it for money unconditionally.

“Is the opponent random?”

“Well… It’s a drug based on black magic, so it’s 100% for people who are compatible with black magic, but there are very few people like that.”

After Evan inhaled the fumes, he had the side effect of telling the truth at random. However, when I thought about it, the opponent was certainly me.

Besides, I was connected in some way to black magic—whether it was because I didn’t try to find out about it in earnest in the meantime—there was a lot of evidence of whether the blessing for Neo reacted or not.

‘I see… Anyway, you just need to inhale the smoke.’

I thought that if it were a drug in the form of smoke, the person who prepared it would also inhale it, so it would not be very effective in making the opponent uncomfortable. Since the opponent and the timing were also random, I thought it wouldn’t be commercialized.

‘Still, I don’t care how much Medor tells the truth. We just need to leave.’

The puzzle was put together right away, and my mouth went dry.

Duke Orlando… Of course, I didn’t know if the drug reacted 100 percent to me, but it didn’t matter anyway.

‘It doesn’t matter if the opponent is random or the timing is random. It’s worth trying. Besides, even the fairy’s breath is working, so…’

Fortunately, the Emperor did not hear Duke Icard’s words and fell down on the table right away, snoring.

‘Nevertheless, when the emperor comes to his senses again, it will go straight into his ears…’

I quickly grabbed Evan’s arm.

“Evan, your father must have been very drunk. Go to the balcony and get some fresh air.”

Duke Icard also looked dumbfounded. Perhaps he was surprised by the words he had uttered.

“…Laria, what about you?”

“I have to show my ankle to Serena. If there is any problem, I will go to the Duke’s residence first. Don’t worry, I’ll go with Lady Olivia.”

As he was guessing the repercussions of this incident, Evan’s head was spinning in a hurry.

It was not a good choice for everyone in the Duchy to leave this place as rumors would spread out of control, making it even more difficult to deal with. It was a superior strategy to make the work small after somehow holding it out so that it could not be talked about openly later.

And, I…

In the midst of the confusion, my heart finally calmed down. It was really fleeting though all kinds of emotions and thoughts passed by. Even though I would run away in a week anyway, when Medor approached Duke Icard, I instinctively screamed.

‘Ah…’

And even now, when Duke Icard was in a very embarrassing situation…

‘I want to save him.’

My heart sank.

‘I see.’

Although I felt like I was going to cry, I held it back.

‘No matter how much I said no, even if I said I would only think of myself—’

These people who are making a fuss about my ankle, which doesn’t hurt much, I…

‘—I already thought of these people as family.’

All this time, I tried not to think too deeply. In particular, with Duke Icard, I thought that he could directly kill me, so I was vigilant until the end. No matter how much I was loved, I never forgot that it was a cow that would end up in a slaughterhouse.

‘Nevertheless, I…’

When I found out that Duke Icard was in trouble because of the iron ore mine, I immediately went into iron ore mining even though it didn’t really benefit me much.

Not only that, I didn’t just like Evan… I had already valued the people of Duchy Icard. It was only when my emotions were intensified by the fairy’s breath that I overcame reason in an extreme situation and accepted it.

‘I don’t know when it started.’

There were too many things to remember. I didn’t know if it was because I received many things. I was grateful for the sincerity of those people who frantically asked about my safety, even during the attack.

But, in the meantime, I was just trying hard not to be conscious of it. I thought that no matter how much I was loved, I would eventually be abandoned.

While I was loved, I kept making comparisons.

In that comparison, I always lose because, to Duke Icard, reviving Matilda was more important than my own life.

Also, no matter how much Evan cherished me, he would eventually listen to his father. So, as a defense mechanism, I kept thinking, ‘I’m going to leave, so I’m going to leave everything behind.’ However, it was only now that I’d reached a dead end that I realized that when you really like someone, you shouldn’t do those calculations.

Even if I wasn’t number one for them, I could put them in number one.

‘…Let’s protect them.’

After making up my mind once, I felt rather relieved.

‘My family, I will protect you… Then, I’ll leave.’

At least I would make sure they wouldn’t get into trouble with this.

“Evan, hold on.”

Approaching Evan’s side as I tiptoed over, I whispered in his ear.

“Anyway, I think father took the truth drug. You know who was in charge at the Magic Tower, right?”

“What? No, how do you…”

“It seems that there is a phenomenon of telling the truth… Hold on for thirty minutes and let him have a drink with His Majesty again. I will somehow make him feel better.”

“Still, this is not a problem that can be solved by making him feel better. No matter what you do today, if the excitement of tomorrow’s banquet is ruined…”

“I just need to get it on today. Trust me. Anyway, it’s important to stay in place until the end of the banquet. Understand?”

As I finished whispering, I stepped away from Evan. With a slight smile, I went on softly.

“I will figure it out myself after that. Don’t worry too much.”

“Laria…”

Evan gazed at me as if he was seeing a very different person. I guess so. It would be the first time he had seen me unilaterally grasping and directing the situation.

‘No. It’s not the first time you’ve seen it, you couldn’t have imagined it even.’

Despite that, I knew instinctively because Evan was someone who believed in me and did what I said. Of course, he would ask all about it later, but…

“Father.”

I stood in front of Evan and Duke Icard. The Duke looked drunk, and his face was confused. Looking into his eyes, I opened my mouth soothingly.

“It’s okay.”

I smiled slightly before grabbing my skirt and giving him a greeting.

“Everything will be fine. Everything is according to father’s will… I will make it so.”

Evan’s eyes met mine. His bewildered red eyes looked lost.

“Evan.”

I quietly called his name.

Even though it was a little late, I was glad I realized it later. Emotions that have been precious for a long time and had been something I pushed away from the beginning, so I had not been able to look closely.

I put all those emotions into it and said with a smile.

“Thank you for all this time.”

The moment our eyes met seemed like an eternity.

“Take care.”

It was my farewell message that I handed over in the beautiful banquet hall under the spotlight. Feeling something strange, Evan tried to talk to me, but I immediately turned around with Lady Olivia.