“The blood would rush throughout your body and burst from your mouth. It was often given to prisoners facing execution in the Eastern Empire.”

“Your Highness… why?”

“Because the water is quickly absorbed by the body and the effects appear fast. It’s also a way to quickly execute a prisoner. All before you manage to escape the palace.”

I approached the window and looked down as I spoke.

“The Duke is arriving just in time. If you drink moderately, you won’t die, you’ll just wander in a daze for a few days. You can blame it on the blood coming out when the water for washing goes down your throat. What will you do? You could be tortured to death while I am incapacitated.”

In fact, no one was coming from outside the window.

It may sound cruel, but if you can’t overcome such a minor crisis, who knows what obstacles will appear before meeting the Emperor. I stood tall and continued to intimidate her.

“I was wrong, Your Highness. Please don’t. I beg you.”

The maid couldn’t hold it in any longer and fell to her knees.

“Who told you to bring me this? Who is behind this?”

“…”

Her previously pleading mouth clamped shut.

“You want me to drink this to open your mouth, huh? Fine. I’ll ask the Duke who’s about to arrive.”

The maid thought I wouldn’t drink the water in the cup. She didn’t open her mouth until I lifted the cup to my lips. But the moment I took a big sip and was about to take a second…

“I’ll speak!”

Finally, her mouth opened.

“I’ll speak… Please quickly get an antidote for Your Highness.”

I wiped my mouth.

“Better answer quickly.”

For me, this kind of poison is nothing. I’ve had it dozens of times. But I pretended to stagger in front of the hesitant maid. My face must have looked sick to her due to my existing illness.

“It’s…”

I thought the answer was obvious.

Certainly, it must be Serdis…

“It was the Empress Dowager.”

An unexpected person appeared.

“The Empress Dowager sent this, not the Crown Prince?”

“Yes, yes. The Empress Dowager said to send it with the morning washing water and report if Your Highness showed signs of pain…”

No.

It wasn’t an unrelated person. The Empress Dowager, who actively supports Serdis. And if their goal involves Hertian participating in the war, why wouldn’t they go as far as poisoning?

To the Empress Dowager, the moment I married Hertian, I became an enemy too. There’s no guarantee her merciless nature would spare me.

‘Not just the Empress Dowager. Everyone in the palace is an enemy.’

Even the palace maid standing in front of me.

“You may go.”

The maid, her face instantly brightening, quickly rose from her seat.
“Tell the Empress Dowager that my skin reacted badly to the well water. That’s your role. And come find me again in the afternoon.”

“Yes?”

“If you don’t leave soon, I might collapse.”

“Ah, understood, Your Grace.”

As soon as she pretended to stagger, the maid vanished like a shot arrow. The tension eased once she left.

“Heh. Playing the role of a stern lady isn’t for just anyone.”

I didn’t show it, but my palms were sweaty at the thought of what I’d do if the maid confronted me aggressively. I wiped the sweat on my nightgown and gathered my thoughts. You’re in trouble if you let your guard down even for a moment here.

I chuckled at the thought of the playful Empress, picked up a piece of paper from the cluttered desk, and blew off the dust.

“If you’re so interested in us, it would be proper to invite you.”

I made an invitation for the person who had invited me here.

“Now, when is Hertian coming?”

(This is a time marker.)

A few hours earlier.

Hertian, who had left the abandoned palace at dawn, was truly in the midst of training.

Under the pale full moonlight, sweat glistened on his tightly knit muscles.

Unlike the cold north, the capital was warm, so he, who easily got hot, was sweaty with little movement.

He couldn’t bear to stay by Anette’s side due to shame.

The sensation he felt at his back was still vivid.

Every time he thought about it, he swung his sword forcefully.

“Like gigantic wings crossing the blue sky.”

And he softly sang the empire’s anthem. It seemed to help him forget, bit by bit.

But not long after, that sensation became vivid again, driving him mad. Since coming out of the closet, he hadn’t been able to look Anette in the face. His entire body tensed. Even though he knew that made her uncomfortable.

It required immense patience to hold her in his arms every night. He had to run twenty laps around the training ground in the morning to calm down. An unexpected event rendered Hertian immobile.

“I have to get a grip, just like Anette said.”

He repeated this hundreds of times.

He couldn’t ruin Anette’s plans due to his own bodily dysfunction.

He had to be extra careful.

Around the time he had swung through the air 1,993 times.

“Are you that upset?”

Osen, who had been delayed due to royal matters, arrived at the palace. At the sound of his voice, Hertian halted his sword and looked back.

It was Osen who appeared to be more upset. He stared at Hertian with a chokedup expression, as if about to cry.

“Even the Empress Dowager seems to dislike you setting foot in the palace. You’re still in this castle…!”

Unable to continue, Osen choked on his words. Seeing him, Hertian, who had been flustered by the sudden serious mood, quickly clarified.

“That’s not it.”

“Don’t pretend it’s not! I was with the Dowager Empress till her end too. So you can be honest for once!”

Osen, whose glasses had misted over, burst out. He had become friends with the oncelonely Hertian by visiting the palace. Although he was doing so at the behest of the former Duke Calix, he liked Hertian.

That’s why he couldn’t pass by the palace, still carrying those old memories, left to ruin. Osen’s teeth gritted.

“The only one fitting to rule this empire is you.”

His anger sometimes turned into dangerous thoughts.

“Osen. Watch your mouth. This isn’t Duke Castle. Words spoken in jest might come back as a spear.”

Hertian warned him straight away. It wasn’t a warning but a concern. Once before, a woman who had said such things to Hertian met her end in death.
Fortunately, Osen quickly closed his mouth, realizing Hertian’s intent. Seeing this, Hertian relaxed his stern expression and patted Osen’s shoulder a few times. Osen reluctantly softened his face as well.

“Osen. Let me ask you something.”

“……Go ahead.”

Osen responded a beat late to the unexpected question. While putting on his shirt that hung from a tree branch, Hertian posed a significant question.

“Where is the patisserie with the most delicious dessert in this capital?”

“Is this sudden?”

“Isn’t it always?”

New memories with Anette already dominated his thoughts more than the old ones. Recognizing the intent of the question, Osen chuckled in resignation.

“There is a dessert shop that my sister always talks about. I’ll guide you there.”

Just as he was about to take a step, Hertian lunged at Osen and grabbed him by the nape of his neck.

“What the—suddenly, what…!”

However, before Osen could even finish his sentence, an arrowhead flew right in front of his nose.