CH 57

Adenmir closed the open window and relit the extinguished censer.

Elodie watched in disbelief as the smoke quickly filled the bedroom.

She knew it was poison, but it seemed to make her feel uncomfortable that they had no choice but to leave it alone.

She hurriedly led Adenmir outside.

They walked down the soldier-lined corridor for a while, and then there was no one else in sight.

“Your Highness, is there any way we can switch the medicine?”

The poison was only as strong as the combination of the incense and the poison in the medicine.

So if they could get rid of the medicine, they might be able to prevent his health from deteriorating.

Adenmir suddenly stopped walking and looked down at Elodie.

“It is impossible, because the Empress is watching him while he takes his medicine.”

“Ah. Then…….”

Adenmir nodded his head in contempt, knowing what Elodie was thinking.

“Yes.”

The culprit, Adenmir surmised, was none other than the Empress Salvatrice.

The motive for poisoning the Emperor was clear.

Shortly before his death, the Emperor had tried to crown the first prince as his heir.

The empress, who was hell-bent on making the second prince emperor, could not allow this to happen.

She would take matters into her own hands, render him incapacitated, and seize control of Wallentian.

And that’s exactly what happened.

The nobles who had favored Adenmir the First as crown prince were suddenly pushed out of politics, leaving only the Empress Salvatrice’s men in key positions.

It was his betrothal to Elodie Perdia that saved his precarious position.

‘If it wasn’t for the lady, I would have been eliminated by mice and birds alike.’

So much for killing a helpless young prince.

Indeed, there were several visits from assassins to the bedroom and dozens of poisoning attempts.

The assassins were warded off by Adenmir’s powers, and the poison attempts were somewhat defended by the poison resistance he had developed as a child.

It was only the Duke of Perdia’s favor that saved him. In any case, there was no doubt that his betrothal to Elodie had saved his life.

Adenmir glanced at Elodie, who hadn’t looked happy since they’d left the Emperor’s bedchamber.

“I don’t think anything bad is going to happen to him right away,” he said, trying to be reassuring.

“I suppose not.”

Adenmir wasn’t the only one who would be troubled by the Emperor’s death.

The second prince and Empress Salvatrice, who hadn’t been able to push back the first prince’s forces completely, were also in great danger if the emperor died.

You need a scarecrow emperor to sit on the throne until you win, so you won’t be able to get rid of him while he’s useful.

So instead of killing him straight away, they would keep him alive with poison, but in a state of unconsciousness.

‘How cunning.’

Adenmir was also suspicious of the rapid deterioration of the emperor’s health, so he tested his food and medicine several times, but the results were the same.

No problem.

It was a toxic combination of incense and medicine.

‘Perhaps the pharmacist to whom I entrusted my commission was bought off.’

Empress Salvatrice was a woman with enough shame to go around.

“We’ll have to be careful, lest they notice,” Elodie murmured.

“You’d better be. Be careful, Lady.”

***

At the first prince’s words, I remembered the empress I’d met at official functions.

Smiling, but frosty. I’d only spoken to the empress a few times, but I’d noticed an air of agitation about her.

They weren’t exactly on good terms now, but I didn’t know what would happen to me if I looked away.

After a moment’s hesitation, I laughed.

“You know, if we end up breaking up anyway, then she probably won’t care what I do.”

Because by then we’ll be strangers, not betrothed.

“Ah,” I let out an exclamation, then added, just in case. “Don’t worry, though, I’ll still send you the antidote.”

“…… That’s very kind of you.”

“No problem, we should help each other out.”

“…….”

There was sudden silence.

I glanced at Adenmir as the inexplicable silence fell.

‘You seem very worried about the Emperor…….’

I can only imagine what it must be like for a child to learn that his father has fallen ill, only to find out that it was caused by exposure to poison.

And it must be terrible to know that there’s nothing you can do about it, that you can only watch and wait.

With that inference in mind, I turned to Adenmir, both to comfort and to watch.

“I’ll send you the antidote as soon as I can.”

“What?”

“And don’t worry about keeping a secret. I’m very trustworthy.”

It was the best I could do, since I couldn’t reveal that I was the one making the antidote.

Looking back at me, Adenmir replied in a blunt tone, “I trust you.”

“You do?”

“I do. Not as the daughter of a duke, not the pharmacist of Perdia. You are the one who vouches for it.”

I was inwardly surprised. I hadn’t expected Adenmir to say he believed in me.

Still, it was good to know he believed me.

“Very well.”

With a small nod, I raised my head to meet Adenmir’s eyes. Then I spoke in a firm tone.

“I’ll take care of the antidote, but your Highness must find proof of the poison.”

“Yes.”

***

Adenmir suddenly found the situation odd.

Elodie was just a means to borrow the name of Duke Perdia. Now suddenly, he was being helped by her.

‘It’s poison!’

Something else came to mind now.

The moment he realized the smoke was poison, he remembered Elodie unhesitatingly protecting Adenmir, not herself.

The selfish Elodie he had known was no more.

Adenmir walked on in silence, feeling a fever rise in his throat for some reason.

He was not far from the doorway when Elodie called out to him.

“By the way, Your Highness. Have you told your father about the break-up?”

“Not yet.”

“Shall I tell mine?”

“…… Do as you please,” Adenmir responded woodenly.

“Then I’ll tell him.”

“…….”

“Well, go ahead and go in. I will contact you.”

***

I stepped lightly past the unresponsive Adenmir. I’d already been put on probation once, so she was afraid to speak up, but this time I had a valid argument.

‘The Emperor has agreed, the first prince has agreed, so the Duke of Perdia cannot do anything about it.’

As I cheerfully walked to where Raeyan was waiting, Greed spoke up.

[You don’t want to marry him?]

‘Mhh, no.’

Elodie replied firmly.

He would want to break up our marriage more than me. Because he knows me as a selfish, stupid, and troublesome woman.

That’s how I was portrayed in the original.

It’s just that he’s reluctant to break off the engagement now because of Perdia’s utility value.

‘If Estelle appeared right now, he’d probably break it off immediately, wouldn’t he?’

At that thought, I shrugged with a smirk.

“Of course he would.”

*** 

“Well, go ahead and go in. I will contact you.”

With that, Elodie turned and walked away.

Adenmir watched her retreating backside.

He could see Elodie smiling broadly as she met up with her escort, the mercenary Ian, who was waiting outside the castle.

‘She has a nice smile.’

Of course, it wasn’t like she didn’t smile in front of him, but the feeling was different.

A smile that seemed like a wall in front of him, but a smile that seemed to be at ease with him– 

Adenmir swept a hand across his face in derision.

“Me too, I have a lot to think about……” 

As Elodie said, they were about to break up their engagement. With the time approaching, he had a lot on his mind.

But there was something more important that had to take priority.

Adenmir turned and walked back into the castle.

Now was the time to do what must be done.

*** 

A fox suddenly appearing in the room might raise suspicions, so I summoned Greed and took him into my arms.

Greed seemed to be in a good mood, probably due to the fact that he had been in the sealing stone while I was in the imperial castle.

[It’s good to be outside after all.]

“If you want to stay outside, don’t cause any accidents.”

[What are you talking about? I haven’t had any accidents.]

I walked into the outbuilding, seeing Greed blatantly lying with a cute face.

Then, as if waiting for me, Martha approached the door.

“Young miss. The duchess is waiting for you. Please go to the drawing room.”

“What, the Ma-ma-ma- madam?” 

I stuttered in confusion, and Martha replied with a wry smile.

“Yes. Ma, ma, ma, ma, madam.”

“…….”

“Come on, come on, the madam has been waiting for a long time.”

I left Martha, who was serious about teasing me again today, and headed for the drawing room.

Once inside, I was greeted by duchess Perdia, who was drinking tea and smiling graciously. It was as if she, not I, owned the annex.

“Welcome. Have you seen the emperor and returned well?”

“Yes. Is there any work to be done?”

“No work, I don’t need work to visit you. I just wanted to see how you were doing. By the way, Elodie?”

I stiffened as the Duchess suddenly addressed me.

“You don’t look well. Have you been doing anything behind my back?”

Yikes.

I suppressed the stabbing feeling and smiled naturally as I sat down across from her.

“Maybe it’s because I haven’t been sleeping much lately.”

Please don’t find out I’ve been gleefully inhaling poison in the emperor’s bedroom.

I wonder if it was through my desperation to get away with it, but thankfully her attention was diverted elsewhere.

“What is that fox?”

“I felt sorry for him, so I brought him in. His name is Black.”

I quickly put Greed on the floor.

After spending a few days with Greed, I and Greed got to know each other better. In my heart, I spit out just one word to Greed.

‘Raeyan.’

It was a name with many meanings.

At that word, Greed shuddered and began to actively pretend to be a fox.

“Kiyong!”

Greed took full advantage of his cuteness and rubbed his head against the Duchess’s leg.

The Duchess reached out her hand, but for some reason withdrew it just before her fingertips touched Greed’s head.

“It must be shedding a lot of hair.”

“Not as much as I thought.”

“Take good care of him. If you brought him, you’re responsible for him.”

I was a little surprised at the sudden admission, because I didn’t think she would care if I brought in a pet or not.

“Yes. I’ll take care of him.”

Just as I was answering, there was a knock on the door.

Knock, knock.

“Lady. His Excellency wishes to see you.”

The voice of the mansion’s butler from the other side of the door made the duchess smirk.

“I see your father doesn’t even give us time to talk privately.”

Apparently, since I had an audience with the emperor, he seemed to have summoned me to hear my report.

“I saw your face, so it’s okay. Let’s go to the mansion together.”

“Oh, yes.”

I followed the duchess out of the drawing room, wondering.

‘Did she really just want to see my face?’

Why? There was nothing to be gained.

I could only wonder.

*** 

The Duke of Perdia cut to the point as I entered the office.

“What did the Emperor say to you?”

“That–”

I didn’t know where to begin, and under the Duke’s fierce gaze, I recounted my conversation with the Emperor.

From the Temple of Ishtar and the Emperor, who wanted me to be the savior, to the outbreaks of strange beasts everywhere, and the Cult of Irkala, who were supposedly behind them.

I left out, of course, that the Emperor’s illness was caused by poison.

When the Duke had listened to the end of my tale, he gave me a slight smile of satisfaction.

“Well done. The temple bastards have a good cause, but they’re really just trying to use you.”

“I suspected that.”

“You must deal with them as such in the future.”

“Yes.”

The documents on the Duke’s desk were about the Cult of Irkala.

It was true that they had been on the rise lately.

When the business was done, the Duke closed his mouth, as usual. But I still had business to attend to.

I took a step forward and opened my mouth.

“Father, there is something I wish to tell you.”

“Yes. Speak.”

My hands trembled slightly with nervousness. Clenching my fists to stifle my agitation, I slowly blurted out the question.

“If I told you that I still wanted to break up the engagement, would that be a problem?”

I asked cautiously, afraid that the Duke would say yes, and when I froze, the answer came.

“Elodie, do you not like the first prince?”

The Duke of Perdia, not wanting to offend anyone, asked the same question that Jansi had asked not long before.

“Not anymore.”

“I thought you had lost your temper and asked for a breakup out of frustration.”

I could see the kind of person the Duke thought I was.

“I have no feelings for His Highness.”

I waited patiently for the Duke’s response. Hopefully, this time he would grant me permission to break up the engagement.

Finally, the Duke looked straight at me and parted his lips.

“Break off your marriage.”

“……!”

Finally.