My heart pounded as I spoke because if the cake was really poisoned, I was the one who should have eaten it.
But when I thought that Perdes had eaten the poisoned cake instead of me and ended up like that, it hurt like someone was stabbing my heart with a needle.
Because of me.
If only I had been careful.
If only I had had even a little doubt...
“This isn’t your fault, young lady. You don’t have to blame yourself.”
Aldor, who knew that I was blaming myself, took my shoulder with his big hand and comforted me in a soft voice.
It was a little, just a little bit comforting, so I smiled faintly and nodded my thanks to Sir Aldor.
While Aldor and I were talking, the doctor checked on Perdes' condition again and said.
“We’ll have to check the reaction and other things to know for sure, but it doesn’t seem to be poison. His tongue, lips, and skin color haven’t changed at all.”
Oh, thankfully not.
Only then did I let out a deep breath of relief?
Although I had been checking on Perdes' condition while riding in the carriage to the Duke's residence, I had no idea that he had been poisoned for the same reason as the doctor.
Then why did Perdes suddenly collapse?
The doctor continued his explanation as if he had read my curiosity.
“It’s not poison, but it is medicine.”
"Medicine?"
“Yes. Judging from the symptoms of paralysis, it seems to be related to that medicine, but as I said, we need to do a more detailed examination...”
“They said that within a few minutes... consciousness would begin to fade.”
Perdes, who had regained consciousness, spoke in a dull voice.
The words were interrupted like staccato.
“I heard that it dulls your senses... and it’s a medicine.”
Did you hear about the ingredients in the medicine he took?
To whom?
No, more than that, knowing this meant that he ate the cake knowing that it had some kind of strange drug in it.
When I looked at him in bewilderment, Perdes avoided my gaze and said.
“I have something important to discuss with the doctor, so would you all please leave?”
Adele tried to resist going out, but the doctor told her to step aside for a more thorough examination, so she had no choice but to go outside.
But that was it, she didn't go far and continued to loiter around the room where Perdes was.
Perhaps because of that, Aldor did not leave and stayed with her.
How much time has passed like that?
The bedroom door, which had been tightly shut, opened and the doctor and his assistant came out.
Adele approached him in one step and asked.
“What did you talk about with Perdes?”
“We talked about medicine and symptoms.”
Is that really all?
Adele was suspicious but didn't ask any further questions.
Because she didn't think the doctor would answer even if she asked.
“So, did you find out what kind of drugs Mr. Perdes took?”
“Yes. It’s called anaphylaxis. It’s a drug that temporarily paralyzes the body and consciousness when taken. It’s usually used to treat seriously ill patients, to prevent them from feeling pain.”
"Yes?"
It must be true since there's no way a doctor would lie about something like that.
But what made it hard to believe was that it was unclear why the Crown Prince would try to give her such a drug.
“It is usually used for that purpose, but sometimes it is used for crime.”
The reason was completely unexpected.
“When you commit an extremely heinous act, such as kidnapping or sexual assault.”
“...!”
Adele suddenly understood the explanation the doctor added and opened her eyes wide in shock.
If the Crown Prince tried to feed me Anaphylaxis for the same reason the doctor added...
"Miss."
Adele, who was gritting her teeth at the shocking truth, looked down at her hand as Aldor grabbed it.
Then he saw that there was blood soaked into her cleanly trimmed fingernails.
The skin on her palm was dug into the shape of a fingernail.
Adele was so angry that she clenched her fists so hard that she didn't even realize her nails were digging into her skin.
"This."
The doctor also noticed the wound on Adele's palm and received a medical bag from his assistant.
Then, he took out some disinfectant and ointment from his bag and skillfully treated the wound.
“What are you going to do if you end up with a scar on your pretty hand?”
“...”
“Your Highness, don’t worry. Although Anaphylaxis is an addictive drug, it doesn’t cause addiction after taking it once, and it doesn’t last long, so he’ll be fine in no time.”
That wasn't why Adele was angry now.
There was a reason for that, but... More than that, she was filled with anger because she knew the dark intentions of the Crown Prince, no, the Emperor.
But there was nothing new.
The Emperor was like that in her first life too.
The only thing that changed was the target of the action from Chernosser to the Crown Prince.
And... Perdes took the damage instead of me.
Adele, who realized that fact anew, stared blankly at the wound on her palm where she had applied ointment and spoke to Aldor.
“Would you please escort the doctor for me, Sir Aldor?”
“Yes, Miss.”
After Aldor and the doctor left, Adele went into the room where Perdes was.
Following the doctor's advice that he should force himself to move to relieve the paralysis quickly, Perdes was moving his hands and feet.
“...”
Then, when he saw Adele coming in, he quickly closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep.
“I know you’re awake.”
But this was after Adele had already caught him awake.
But he tried to keep his face straight and pretend to be asleep.
Shoooot.
“?!”
Adele suddenly blew breath into his ear, startling him and making him open his eyes wide.
“Hey, what are you doing!”
“I can tell from the way you stutter that the paralysis hasn’t gone away yet.”
Unlike the startled Perdes, Adele answered calmly.
At this, Perdes looked at her with eyes that seemed utterly bewildered, but Adele paid no attention.
“You knew that, right?”
Instead, she crossed her arms and looked down at Perdes.
“You knew that the cake I was about to eat contained anaphylaxis, didn’t you?”
“...”
Perdes did not answer, but the silence soon became an affirmation.
She thought so, but she never thought it would be true.
"Ha."
Adele laughed and rubbed her forehead.
It felt like someone was hitting her head repeatedly with a hammer or something.
“Why did you eat it?”
“...”
“Why did you act so foolishly when you knew everything! Why didn’t you just tell me the truth? Why...!”
“...How can I tell the truth in that situation?”
Perdes answered in a dull but calm voice.
“I only knew that the Crown Prince had taken some strange medicine, but I didn’t know it was in the cake.”
“...”
“That’s why it was more ambiguous to say. If I did say that, but it wasn’t true, things would get more complicated. Even if it was true, it would tie our ankles.”
It was frustrating, but it was all true.
If there had been no anaphylaxis in the cake, Perdes would have been accused of framing the Crown Prince.
Even if it was proven that he had anaphylaxis, the Crown Prince would have denied it and denied the charges.
Then, Adele and Perdes had no choice but to stay in the palace until the culprit was caught.
So, objectively speaking, Perdes' response was excellent.
She knows that, but... She's still so angry.
It broke her heart to know that Perdes had taken strange medicine and collapsed not once but twice because of me.
"It's okay."
As Adele lowered her head in silence, Perdes gently took her hand.
He wanted to hug her, but the paralysis hadn't gone away yet, so this was all he could do.
He couldn't even hold her hand tightly.
“I’m sure you’ve heard the explanation from the doctor, but anaphylaxis is non-toxic and has a short duration so it wears off quickly, so there’s no need to worry.”
Perdes thought it was fortunate that his tongue had recovered from its paralysis and did his best to comfort Adele.
Still, Adele's gloomy expression did not improve at all.
"Sorry."
Instead, she took Perdes' hand and began to apologize in a tearful voice.
“Because of me...I’m truly sorry, Lord Perdes.”
“I told you not to apologize.”
“How can I not apologize? It’s because of me that you ended up like this..."
Before he knew it, her eyes were filled with tears and a sense of guilt filled them.
Perdes don't want to see it.
In fact, no man in this world wants to see the woman he likes cry and suffer from guilt.
He wanted to wipe away the tears that were welling up in Adele's eyes, but he was very disappointed that he couldn't.
He felt annoyed at himself for being like that.
"Don't cry."
"But..."
“But no matter what, I told you not to cry.”
Even though he tried to hide it and not express it outwardly, it didn't work out as he wanted.
Perdes, who had poured out his emotions at that moment, was startled and watched Adele's reaction.
He was worried that she might have been hurt, but fortunately, she didn't show any signs of being hurt.
No, in the first place, she didn't seem to care at all whether Perdes was annoyed or not.
'Why?'
He's so sensitive to her crying and laughing, so why don't she care?
It was a given.
Because her heart and his are not the same.
But he likes her as a woman.
Because she only thinks of Perdes as a contractor or a colleague.
So, even though he thought in his head that there was no need to feel upset, his heart was upset and resentful.
The desire for her to see him with the same mind as himself kept raising its head.
His head whipped him harshly, telling him to come to his senses and not do this.
“You know.”
A mind that for some reason has gone beyond the realm of reason.
“I think I like you.”
Perdes ended up spitting out his true feelings without thinking.
But when I thought that Perdes had eaten the poisoned cake instead of me and ended up like that, it hurt like someone was stabbing my heart with a needle.
Because of me.
If only I had been careful.
If only I had had even a little doubt...
“This isn’t your fault, young lady. You don’t have to blame yourself.”
Aldor, who knew that I was blaming myself, took my shoulder with his big hand and comforted me in a soft voice.
It was a little, just a little bit comforting, so I smiled faintly and nodded my thanks to Sir Aldor.
While Aldor and I were talking, the doctor checked on Perdes' condition again and said.
“We’ll have to check the reaction and other things to know for sure, but it doesn’t seem to be poison. His tongue, lips, and skin color haven’t changed at all.”
Oh, thankfully not.
Only then did I let out a deep breath of relief?
Although I had been checking on Perdes' condition while riding in the carriage to the Duke's residence, I had no idea that he had been poisoned for the same reason as the doctor.
Then why did Perdes suddenly collapse?
The doctor continued his explanation as if he had read my curiosity.
“It’s not poison, but it is medicine.”
"Medicine?"
“Yes. Judging from the symptoms of paralysis, it seems to be related to that medicine, but as I said, we need to do a more detailed examination...”
“They said that within a few minutes... consciousness would begin to fade.”
Perdes, who had regained consciousness, spoke in a dull voice.
The words were interrupted like staccato.
“I heard that it dulls your senses... and it’s a medicine.”
Did you hear about the ingredients in the medicine he took?
To whom?
No, more than that, knowing this meant that he ate the cake knowing that it had some kind of strange drug in it.
When I looked at him in bewilderment, Perdes avoided my gaze and said.
“I have something important to discuss with the doctor, so would you all please leave?”
***
Adele tried to resist going out, but the doctor told her to step aside for a more thorough examination, so she had no choice but to go outside.
But that was it, she didn't go far and continued to loiter around the room where Perdes was.
Perhaps because of that, Aldor did not leave and stayed with her.
How much time has passed like that?
The bedroom door, which had been tightly shut, opened and the doctor and his assistant came out.
Adele approached him in one step and asked.
“What did you talk about with Perdes?”
“We talked about medicine and symptoms.”
Is that really all?
Adele was suspicious but didn't ask any further questions.
Because she didn't think the doctor would answer even if she asked.
“So, did you find out what kind of drugs Mr. Perdes took?”
“Yes. It’s called anaphylaxis. It’s a drug that temporarily paralyzes the body and consciousness when taken. It’s usually used to treat seriously ill patients, to prevent them from feeling pain.”
"Yes?"
It must be true since there's no way a doctor would lie about something like that.
But what made it hard to believe was that it was unclear why the Crown Prince would try to give her such a drug.
“It is usually used for that purpose, but sometimes it is used for crime.”
The reason was completely unexpected.
“When you commit an extremely heinous act, such as kidnapping or sexual assault.”
“...!”
Adele suddenly understood the explanation the doctor added and opened her eyes wide in shock.
If the Crown Prince tried to feed me Anaphylaxis for the same reason the doctor added...
"Miss."
Adele, who was gritting her teeth at the shocking truth, looked down at her hand as Aldor grabbed it.
Then he saw that there was blood soaked into her cleanly trimmed fingernails.
The skin on her palm was dug into the shape of a fingernail.
Adele was so angry that she clenched her fists so hard that she didn't even realize her nails were digging into her skin.
"This."
The doctor also noticed the wound on Adele's palm and received a medical bag from his assistant.
Then, he took out some disinfectant and ointment from his bag and skillfully treated the wound.
“What are you going to do if you end up with a scar on your pretty hand?”
“...”
“Your Highness, don’t worry. Although Anaphylaxis is an addictive drug, it doesn’t cause addiction after taking it once, and it doesn’t last long, so he’ll be fine in no time.”
That wasn't why Adele was angry now.
There was a reason for that, but... More than that, she was filled with anger because she knew the dark intentions of the Crown Prince, no, the Emperor.
But there was nothing new.
The Emperor was like that in her first life too.
The only thing that changed was the target of the action from Chernosser to the Crown Prince.
And... Perdes took the damage instead of me.
Adele, who realized that fact anew, stared blankly at the wound on her palm where she had applied ointment and spoke to Aldor.
“Would you please escort the doctor for me, Sir Aldor?”
“Yes, Miss.”
After Aldor and the doctor left, Adele went into the room where Perdes was.
Following the doctor's advice that he should force himself to move to relieve the paralysis quickly, Perdes was moving his hands and feet.
“...”
Then, when he saw Adele coming in, he quickly closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep.
“I know you’re awake.”
But this was after Adele had already caught him awake.
But he tried to keep his face straight and pretend to be asleep.
Shoooot.
“?!”
Adele suddenly blew breath into his ear, startling him and making him open his eyes wide.
“Hey, what are you doing!”
“I can tell from the way you stutter that the paralysis hasn’t gone away yet.”
Unlike the startled Perdes, Adele answered calmly.
At this, Perdes looked at her with eyes that seemed utterly bewildered, but Adele paid no attention.
“You knew that, right?”
Instead, she crossed her arms and looked down at Perdes.
“You knew that the cake I was about to eat contained anaphylaxis, didn’t you?”
“...”
Perdes did not answer, but the silence soon became an affirmation.
She thought so, but she never thought it would be true.
"Ha."
Adele laughed and rubbed her forehead.
It felt like someone was hitting her head repeatedly with a hammer or something.
“Why did you eat it?”
“...”
“Why did you act so foolishly when you knew everything! Why didn’t you just tell me the truth? Why...!”
“...How can I tell the truth in that situation?”
Perdes answered in a dull but calm voice.
“I only knew that the Crown Prince had taken some strange medicine, but I didn’t know it was in the cake.”
“...”
“That’s why it was more ambiguous to say. If I did say that, but it wasn’t true, things would get more complicated. Even if it was true, it would tie our ankles.”
It was frustrating, but it was all true.
If there had been no anaphylaxis in the cake, Perdes would have been accused of framing the Crown Prince.
Even if it was proven that he had anaphylaxis, the Crown Prince would have denied it and denied the charges.
Then, Adele and Perdes had no choice but to stay in the palace until the culprit was caught.
So, objectively speaking, Perdes' response was excellent.
She knows that, but... She's still so angry.
It broke her heart to know that Perdes had taken strange medicine and collapsed not once but twice because of me.
"It's okay."
As Adele lowered her head in silence, Perdes gently took her hand.
He wanted to hug her, but the paralysis hadn't gone away yet, so this was all he could do.
He couldn't even hold her hand tightly.
“I’m sure you’ve heard the explanation from the doctor, but anaphylaxis is non-toxic and has a short duration so it wears off quickly, so there’s no need to worry.”
Perdes thought it was fortunate that his tongue had recovered from its paralysis and did his best to comfort Adele.
Still, Adele's gloomy expression did not improve at all.
"Sorry."
Instead, she took Perdes' hand and began to apologize in a tearful voice.
“Because of me...I’m truly sorry, Lord Perdes.”
“I told you not to apologize.”
“How can I not apologize? It’s because of me that you ended up like this..."
Before he knew it, her eyes were filled with tears and a sense of guilt filled them.
Perdes don't want to see it.
In fact, no man in this world wants to see the woman he likes cry and suffer from guilt.
He wanted to wipe away the tears that were welling up in Adele's eyes, but he was very disappointed that he couldn't.
He felt annoyed at himself for being like that.
"Don't cry."
"But..."
“But no matter what, I told you not to cry.”
Even though he tried to hide it and not express it outwardly, it didn't work out as he wanted.
Perdes, who had poured out his emotions at that moment, was startled and watched Adele's reaction.
He was worried that she might have been hurt, but fortunately, she didn't show any signs of being hurt.
No, in the first place, she didn't seem to care at all whether Perdes was annoyed or not.
'Why?'
He's so sensitive to her crying and laughing, so why don't she care?
It was a given.
Because her heart and his are not the same.
But he likes her as a woman.
Because she only thinks of Perdes as a contractor or a colleague.
So, even though he thought in his head that there was no need to feel upset, his heart was upset and resentful.
The desire for her to see him with the same mind as himself kept raising its head.
His head whipped him harshly, telling him to come to his senses and not do this.
“You know.”
A mind that for some reason has gone beyond the realm of reason.
“I think I like you.”
Perdes ended up spitting out his true feelings without thinking.
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