WHCP 40

Chapter 40.

“I’m curious about you, not the young duke.”

Saying that, Aletheia turned Mio around again. Mio felt Aletheia’s hands slowly tying the ribbons. Having ended up facing away from him, Mio tilted her head slightly and spoke.

“I don’t like people who treat me carelessly.”

“…That’s good to hear. I’ll tie the other ribbons one more time too. So they won’t come loose.”

“Thank you.”

A brief silence followed as he retied the ribbon knots from just below her neck down to her waist. Perhaps because Aletheia had asked an unnecessary question, Mio felt a strangely anxious tension in that silence. The topic had shifted to ribbons so abruptly that it felt awkward to add anything.

“All done. Even if you pull on the ends now, they won’t come undone.”

At Aletheia’s words, Mio moved her body this way and that. The clothes definitely felt more snug against her than before.

“Thank you so much. Now I don’t have to worry about my clothes coming undone on the way home. I feel relieved.”

Satisfied, Mio spread her arms and spun around once. Aletheia, who had been watching her with his arms crossed, let out a small laugh.

“I chose the outfit, so think of it as me taking responsibility. You said you were going to take care of something earlier, right? I’ll wait here.”

“You’re not going to the lounge?”

“This place should be fine too.”

Saying that, Aletheia headed for the chair where he and Mio had been sitting earlier. While he sat down leisurely and rested his chin on his hand, Mio bustled toward the door. Holding the door that connected to the inside of the banquet hall, Mio added softly,

“I’ll be right back. Please wait just a little.”

With a small creaking sound, the silver hair disappeared. Aletheia stared for a long time at the doorway where the glow had vanished.

Where on earth is Caleb?

By her reckoning, quite a long time had passed since she had left Aletheia on the terrace and gone alone into the banquet hall.

Yet instead of Caleb coming out, all that came were people bombarding Mio with questions about wedding preparations.

“Mio! Where have you decided to hold the wedding?”

“The imperial palace, of course, right?”

“Oh, not Rosebell Cathedral?”

“More importantly, has the exact date been set? I hope it doesn’t overlap with my travel plans.”

With no excuses left to make, Mio backed away and fled. Only after checking the guest list at the entrance did she realize that Caleb and Wyden had already left the banquet hall.

That’s strange. Caleb left before I did?

The villainess pattern hadn’t triggered even once today… Had he suddenly fallen ill? In any case, without Caleb, expecting today’s villainess pattern was pointless.

It can’t be helped. I should get Lethe and go back quickly.

Just in case, I should check tomorrow whether the final stage is intact. With that resolve, Mio headed toward the terrace where Lethe would be.

How tedious. And noisy.

Aletheia was sitting on the terrace much as he had been when Mio left.

「What on earth is this man even saying? If it weren’t for his status, I wouldn’t even bother dealing with him.」

「Ah, I really have to marry one of these men? Horrible. I’d rather run away……」

「If Madam Dawson’s husband would just go to heaven from a heart attack, how wonderful that would be. Then I’d confess my feelings right away!」

Though the door connecting to the banquet hall was closed, the commotion inside was being conveyed to him in another way. If he had moved to the lounge as Mio suggested, it would certainly have been quieter, but…

Being too far away makes me uneasy.

It was all because of those damned ribbons. Even though he had tied them firmly, dangerous scenes tend to linger in the mind.

There’s no guarantee that a knot that came undone once won’t come undone again.

He couldn’t help focusing on it. He had heard talk about marriage from the northwest earlier, but since he couldn’t hear Mio’s actual thoughts, it was nothing more than speculation. Where she was now remained unknown.

Maybe I should have just followed her.

Chasing a woman into the powder room had seemed inappropriate even to himself, which was why he hadn’t, but regret came belatedly. In any case, to Mio he was already a strange man; what did a few more oddities matter now?

Moreover, concentrating amid the murmuring noise to extract necessary information was making his head throb. Just then, someone passing by the terrace thought,

「Hmph, don’t be ridiculous. You’re saying Mio Northam forgot the man she was so obsessed with overnight? I’d sooner believe that Wyden and Caleb broke up!」

It seemed gossip about Mio’s unrequited love was growing louder inside the banquet hall. Aletheia slowly stroked his chin and recalled a belated memory—the contents of the letter the duchess had sent when he visited the Celt ducal house.

She said she wanted to discuss the complicated relationship among the three, didn’t she.

It certainly was a delicate relationship. One side was filled with bizarre malice, and the other side’s memories were strangely hazy.

Hazy…?

Aletheia faintly furrowed his brow. Perhaps his memories from the last banquet hadn’t fully returned; the more he tried to recall them, the more his headache worsened. Then, amid the crackling noise, one voice boomed against his eardrums.

「…to the Grand Duke… 반드시 to the Grand Duke… or else…」

Aletheia turned his head toward the entrance. Someone was walking this way. Not Mio, but someone else.

“E-excuse me. Your Grace….”

The door opened, revealing a servant who worked at the banquet. He was holding a single drink on a tray. Aletheia silently swept his gaze over the servant. Under that stare, the servant was trembling so hard it almost made a sound.

“M-Mio sent this….”

“……”

When Aletheia neither moved nor took the offered drink, the servant hurriedly bowed. To anyone else, it would have looked like he was retreating after understanding the refusal.

But then Aletheia suddenly took the drink.

Holding the glass, Aletheia said,

“Mio Northam sent this.”

“Yes! Th-that’s right….”

Aletheia’s eyes carefully scanned the servant, who was sweating as if in a downpour. Without averting his gaze, he murmured,

“What remains is….”

Nothing.

Having finished his judgment, Aletheia poured the drink in the glass straight into his mouth. When he immediately held out the empty glass, the servant, with startled eyes, hurriedly took it and placed it back on the tray.

Clack!

At that moment, the terrace door opened again. This time, the person he had been waiting for appeared.

“Lethe?”

“I-I’ll be going now!”

Mio, who had just come out onto the terrace, glanced at the servant who fled like the wind and walked up to Aletheia.

“Let’s go back now.”

“Let’s.”

“On the way, I met the host and said hello in advance. We probably don’t need to go find them separately. That’s good, right?”

As she spoke, Mio checked to see if Aletheia’s condition had worsened while she was gone.

Luckily, he doesn’t look pale.

If they just went back like this, today’s crisis should pass safely. Sighing in relief inwardly, Mio took Aletheia’s hand. When they entered the banquet hall, the laughter of people in high spirits poured out loudly.

Cutting straight through them, Mio said,

“Come on, let’s go. When we get back, I’ll pat you and—”

“Cough….”

With a small coughing sound, she felt Aletheia, who was following behind her, stop. Turning around, she saw him covering his mouth with his hand.

“Lethe…?”

At the same moment Mio called his name, a thin red line of blood trickled down Aletheia’s chin. Before she could even grasp the situation, screams erupted around them.

“Aaah! The Grand Duke is coughing up blood!”

“He must have been poisoned! Everyone, put that down! Spit out everything in your mouths!”

“I-I’m going to die now… I’m going to die…!”

The banquet hall, which had been full of laughter, turned into chaos in an instant. Aletheia, the only one with a calm expression, murmured softly,

“…The effect is faster than I expected.”