As she had promised, Elona arranged for her to have dinner with the Grand Duke.
Elona herself was a little reluctant not to be present, but Albrecht didn't suspect it.
If she came out, she would have had to drink poison with him, so it was understandable that Elona didn't attend.
So he went to the banquet with wine and met the Grand Duke.
"See the sun of the north."
As he greeted him, Albrecht chewed the flesh in his mouth.
He didn't like the current situation where he had to call him 'the sun'.
But if he wants to poison him, he will have to let his guard down, and he bowed his head to him, trying to hide his contempt for the Grand Duke.
The Grand Duke, who had come to the dinner table first, tilted his head with an arrogant look.
"I heard from the Grand Duchess that you have some business for me."
"It seems that I have not been able to properly apologize for my mistakes in the past, so I have asked to see you."
"Apologize..."
Albrecht bowed his head again.
"The first day I saw Her Highness the Grand Duchess at the Grand Duke Palace, I couldn't control my sad emotions and made an excuse. It was not enough to apologize with my life."
"You were sad?"
I could feel Kishian's energy sharpening.
After swallowing dryly, Albrecht replied quickly.
"I had seen Her Highness since I was a child, so it was very sad to see her become the hostess of the North after the wedding. I was worried about her living in a strange land..."
"That's why the hand went out first. Well, I understand."
Albrecht's eyes wrinkled at the sarcastic tone.
He knew that he wouldn't be able to see him because he kept his head down anyway, so he distorted his face to his heart's content.
"Let's sit down for now. Did you bring that wine as a gift?"
Following Kishian's words, Albrecht sat down and placed the wine he had brought on the table.
"Yes, Your Highness. It is not enough, but I brought it with the hope that it will be a small comfort to Your Highness, who must have been hurt by my mistake."
With a grim face, Kishian checked the label of the wine.
"Not bad."
"Would you like to try it here?"
As he asked, the Kishian's golden eye plunged over Albrecht's face.
He stared at Albrecht without saying anything.
It was a blatant gaze as if he was trying to find out his true intentions, which he had painstakingly hidden with a smile.
After staring at it for a long time, Kishian spoke up.
"Let's drink together."
"Yes, Your Highness."
As expected, Kishian didn't seem to want to drink wine alone.
He called his servant and handed him the wine, and soon he began to pour the wine into the glass with a polite hand.
Kishian's cup was filled, and then Albrecht's goblet.
When their glasses were filled, Kishian lifted them up and savored them.
Worried that he might notice that he was poisoned, Albrecht watched his reaction.
"You brought some pretty good stuff."
"...Thank you, Your Highness."
Fortunately, Kishian didn't seem to notice.
He raised his glass a little as if to toast, and then stared at Albrecht.
As if to prove his safety by drinking first, Albrecht finally put the glass to his mouth.
One sip, two sips, and the poisoned wine passed through Albrecht's esophagus.
He waited anxiously for the Kishian to follow him and drink the wine.
However.
"Do you remember the Grand Duchess when she was a child? If you feel sad, you must have been watching her for quite a long time since you were a child, right?"
Kishian did not drink wine.
He put the glass he was about to take to his mouth on the table and asked a question out of the blue.
Albrecht's nerves sharpened for a moment.
Why don't you drink it? Did you notice something?
The smile on his face almost cracked, but he managed to regain his composure.
"...I have seen her for about ten years. Her Highness took me into the palace about ten years ago."
"Have you been in the palace since then? I was in the palace at the time, but I don't
remember seeing your face."
"The palace is very large, and I usually stayed by His Majesty's side, so I wouldn't have encountered Your Highness."
"Yes, I see. Then you must have been watching the Grand Duchess for almost ten years. It's closer than I am."
Albrecht felt like throwing the glass away.
He swallowed the poisoned wine first to reassure himself, but for some reason, he didn't even bother to say it.
At this rate, all plans would be in vain.
However, if he asked him why he didn't drink wine, he might arouse suspicion, so he couldn't come forward quickly.
"Unpleasant."
"...Yes?"
"You saw my wife's childhood. Much more than I thought... It's unbearably unpleasant."
The moment he saw the golden eyes that flashed ferociously like a beast with their teeth exposed, Albrecht had a hunch.
Something was going wrong.
But before he could respond, Kishian muttered.
"It's so unpleasant that I want to kill you right now."
"Your Highness."
Albrecht put down his glass and slowly stood up.
If he sat still, he had an ominous premonition that he might be killed by the hands of a Kishian.
The moment he threw away his face, and tried to run towards the doorway.
"But that's already in the past."
Kishian, who had just shown clear anger, suddenly smiled.
Finally, he picked up his wine glass.
"You won't be able to touch the Grand Duchess anyway. No, I'm going to a distant place soon, and you won't dare to look at her anymore. Isn't it?"
"...Yes. Your Highness."
After hearing Albrecht's answer, Kishian drank his wine.
Forgetting that he should behave as usual, Albrecht stared at the back of Kishian's neck.
As if he had swallowed the wine properly, his throat shook softly twice.
'He swallowed it.'
The poison that was going to slowly kill the Kishian finally passed into his esophagus.
As if he didn't feel anything strange after drinking the poison, he casually sliced the meat in front of him and ate it.
Albrecht's shoulders, which were stiff with tension, slowly relaxed.
As the moment of nervousness passed, he began to feel pathetic and ridiculous.
You idiot, and you don't even know what the Grand Duchess thinks of you.
Kishian seemed to be quite obsessed with the Grand Duchess, but the Grand Duchess did not.
Albrecht remembered exactly what the Grand Duchess had said when she came early in the morning.
"I became a substitute for my sister and was sacrificed to a monster, so who would want to live like this?"
That disgusting expression she showed when she called her husband a monster...
Watching him fall for the Grand Duchess without knowing that he was so hated made Albrecht laugh pathetically.
'If that vicious monster dies, Her Highness might really fall on my hands.'
After the Grand Duke's death, the Grand Duchess will also pretend to be dead and leave the area.
In that case, Elona would no longer be able to live as a Grand Duchess or as a Princess.
The Emperor also did not seem to have much affection for his eldest daughter, so it was not difficult for him to get his hands on Elona, who was alone.
'If you can't have Letie, Elona isn't a bad replacement.'
After all, their faces are exactly the same.
It wouldn't be too bad to flirt with Elona on behalf of Letie, whom she didn't dare to touch.
While Albrecht was lost in his own thoughts. Kishian, who had been looking at him with a relaxed gaze, urged him.
"Don't you feel like eating? But it will cost you a little more. If you want to go a long way, you have to eat well."
"Yes. Your Highness."
Laughing at Kishian once again for offering him a meal without knowing anything. Albrecht moved the tableware.
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