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A villainess locked away in a desolate tower—I had possessed her body.
Chapter 48
'It's entirely plausible.'
His green eyes darkened with concern.
'It doesn't ‌seem to be the lethal variety.'
At least there ‌‌‌‌was one consolation: unless someone carried poison outside their body, the Imperial Palace would never employ a fatal dose—such a thing was unthinkable.
After all, there were no shortage of those branded traitors for merely bringing suspicious objects ‌‌into the palace.
Ian's expression ‌‌‌hardened as he pressed his lips together. That left only one possibility.
'A substance that induces psychological disturbance.'
If so, it was actually quite a clever method.
Making ‌‌‌a mistake ‌‌‌before the Imperial Family was tantamount to death.
Having reached his conclusion in mere moments, Ian forcibly ignored the increasingly distracting sensation on one ‌‌‌side of his thigh and opened his mouth instead.
"April Pepper. A distant branch of the Blaire Grand Duke House."
April's hand immediately stilled.
So she did need help after all?
Caught in an ever-deepening misunderstanding, ‌the ‌Grand Duke began doing his utmost to shield ‌‌‌her from making any careless slips of the tongue.
Of course, in the process, he inadvertently portrayed the perfectly sound April as though she were mad....
At ‌some point, the ‌‌‌‌strange sensation he'd been feeling on his thigh gradually subsided.
"Tedious."
Fortunately, the Crown Prince also appeared to have lost interest.
Watching Lyden, his expression utterly indifferent, reach for tea that had long since ‌‌‌‌gone cold, Ian finally relaxed and turned his head toward April.
But then.
'Hmm...?'
Something was wrong with April's state.
Her eyes were fixed intently on the empty ‌‌‌‌table ‌‌before her, and from her slightly parted lips, saliva seemed on the verge of dripping.
She looked exactly like someone whose mind had completely departed.
'Narcotics?'
Simultaneously, the ‌‌name of a poison that produced similar symptoms surfaced in his mind.
Extract of Loypenum flowers? Parnax? Datina concentrate?
If that were the case, this was no time for composure.
Ian's heart quickened, but he feigned calm as he rose to his feet.
"I am grateful for your generosity, but thanks to the Empress's assistance, the artisans within the palace have been able to dedicate themselves to their work... We shall ‌‌‌‌take our leave now."
As Ian's eyes met the Crown Prince's, he lowered his gaze without apparent concern. ‌‌
"...Yes, see that you do."
Fortunately, interest had completely waned, and as Ian turned to leave with the permission granted, his eyes darkened.
* * *
'Thank goodness.'
Thanks to the Grand Duke's brilliant performance, the tea time that had been nothing but uncomfortable ended surprisingly quickly.
Now my task was to figure ‌out how to materialize the enormous idea that had just occurred to me! ‌‌
I exerted all my effort to suppress the corners of my mouth, which trembled as though laughter might burst forth at any moment.
'Maybe I should get some sleep ‌‌‌first.'
But the moment I stepped out of the Crown Prince's Residence, my mind conjuring images of that spacious, plush bed—
Whoosh.
Without warning, my wrist was seized.
"Huh?"
"The rest of you, leave first."
The owner of that hot, firm grip was the Blaire Grand Duke.
I stared blankly at my captured arm as a chilling command ‌‌flowed from him.
"I have something to discuss with April alone."
What on earth was happening right now?
It ‌‌‌‌was disconcerting how casually he'd dismissed everyone else, but one word had lodged itself unmistakably in my ears.
'April.'
Given the Imperial Palace's nature—where walls had ears—he'd ‌‌likely used my name instead of the usual "Princess" title to avoid eavesdropping, but...
'This feels strange.'
But what was he trying to say?
I was watching the retreating figures when I was about to ask the Blaire Grand Duke a question.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa?"
Drag, drag, drag.
Before I could react, I was being pulled somewhere.
"Your Grace, the Grand Duke?"
The Blaire Grand Duke strode ‌‌‌forward with long, purposeful steps, ignoring my calls entirely.
He ‌‌‌then began ‌leading me toward increasingly deserted areas.
'There's ‌a place like this in the ‌‌‌‌Imperial Palace?'
Dragged to a remote corner of the palace where even servants rarely ventured, I couldn't hide my bewilderment.
Normally, scenarios like this appeared in one of two genres.
One: passionate romantic drama.
Two: blood-soaked psychological thriller.
The Blaire Grand Duke wouldn't try to kill me, so that left the former, didn't it?
Ever since I'd become acutely aware of how devastatingly handsome his face was, such ‌‌pointless fantasies kept surfacing.
'Pinning me against the wall, a kiss...'
Of course, if such a handsome man harbored dark intentions toward me, I wouldn't entirely mind—but it was rather sudden.
When had he started ‌‌acting this way? Did he realize his possessive nature the moment the Crown Prince called me talented and coveted me?
Lost in rosy fantasies without understanding the situation, a strained voice reached my ears.
"Princess."
"...Yes?"
The atmosphere shifted in an instant.
Backed against the wall just as I'd imagined, I gazed up at his face in a daze.
Thump-thump.
My heart thundered through my body, and I felt my ‌‌‌face growing warm when the Blaire Grand Duke finally spoke.
"What did you eat that was bad?"
"Pardon?"
I couldn't help but offer a foolish response.
What on earth was she suddenly asking about?
'What did I eat today...?'
I seemed to have eaten something with garlic this morning...
Since I was ‌meeting the Crown Prince, I had brushed my teeth thoroughly beforehand.
"I believe I ate the same menu as the Grand Duke... bread, soup, and there was garlic in the sauce. Do I smell bad?"
I cast a desperate gaze toward ‌‌Blaire Grand Duke, silently pleading for him to deny it.
If I had reeked in front of the Crown Prince, that would be a source of mortification for the next three thousand years.
But Blaire Grand Duke simply stared at me without any particular reaction.
'Then ‌what did I spill?' ‌‌‌
I reflexively scanned my clothing.
But not a single blemish could be found on my pale beige dress.
Come to think of it, Bonita had recently hinted that I seemed to spill things often when eating.
Just to be safe, after carefully checking even my sleeves, I couldn't contain my ‌‌increasingly flushed cheeks and hung my head low.
Truth be told, from the latter part of tea time onward, preoccupied with the tumbler, I hadn't properly heard what Blaire Grand Duke and the Crown Prince were discussing.
Had I made some mistake without ‌‌realizing it?
"Does it seem like ‌‌I'm ‌‌asking because of a smell?"
"Then what is it for?"
This wasn't twenty questions, and faced with these riddle-like ‌‌‌‌questions in ‌‌succession, I pouted my lips.
Then I suddenly recalled the attitude he had displayed when answering on my behalf.
...Could it be?
"...Is it asking if I've gone mad?"
"That doesn't seem to be the meaning of the question."
Somehow, he kept trying to paint me as a ‌‌mad woman in front ‌‍‌‌‌‌of the Crown ‌‌Prince.
As self-loathing washed over ‌‌me, my brow furrowed involuntarily, and I heard a deflating sound from above my head.
"Ha."
Looking up without thinking, Blaire Grand Duke wore an indescribable expression.
Was it my imagination that a hint of relief seemed to emanate from that face?
While entertaining such frivolous ‌‌‌thoughts, I suddenly realized my wrist was still being held by the Grand Duke.
The moment ‌‌‌‌I felt the warmth of contact, my face burned as if ignited.
"Um, but..."
"Hmm?"
"Could you let go of this...?"
"Ah, yes."
His trailing words sounded almost like a mumble, but he seemed to understand nonetheless and released my wrist.
And an awkward silence fell.
"Anyway."
Ahem.
Having stepped ‌out from beneath ‌‌‌‌Blaire Grand Duke's shadow, I offered a belated explanation.
"It's not as though I've eaten ‌‌‌something disagreeable or anything of that sort. I may have been distracted midway through and lost my focus, but...."
Uncertain what misunderstanding ‌‌‌had arisen, I deemed that I had sufficiently demonstrated my sound mental state and fell silent.
Blaire Grand Duke regarded me with a peculiar gaze.
Like someone brimming with unspoken words.
'Is there ‌‌‌‌still more he wishes to say?'
And just as I ‌‌‌began to sense the increasingly delicate atmosphere and feel the first stirrings of discomfort, he posed his question with a grave expression. ‌‌‌
"Then why were you ‌‌‌touching my thigh so insistently?"

---------------
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly ‌‌‌‌on ‌our official site: valirscans.org
---------------