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chapter 18
Even if Tislin felt a little depressed, the light conversation at the table continued without stopping. Usually, Tislin and Adelinde talked the most, while Damian listened and added a few comments here and there.
After chatting for a while, the food was served. It was a fresh Viera-style meal, perfect for the season when flowers were just starting to bloom. However, for Adelinde, who was from Ruksen, the seasoning was a bit strong.
“It couldn’t be helped since we came here in a hurry.”
The head chef was on vacation and couldn’t return in time for Adelinde’s visit. The meal had been prepared by the sous-chef instead. Unlike the head chef, he had little experience cooking to suit Ruksen tastes.
On the other hand, for Tislin—who came from the Hermes territory near the old border between Casedi and Manorca—the seasoning was acceptable.
“Tis, you always added extra salt anyway, didn’t you? Even our cook adds more seasoning whenever you visit.”
“Just sprinkling more salt doesn’t automatically make it tasty. Sometimes I can actually bite into chunks of salt.”
If a Ruksen cook had heard that, he would have fainted. Still, Adelinde tried desperately to defend her household’s cook.
“But our family’s food is still the best, right?”
Honestly, it wasn’t. As mentioned, Ruksen food tasted bland to Tislin. She had grown used to it and thought of it as healthy, but she couldn’t immediately say it was “the best.”
Moreover, there was another reason why the Grand Duke of Ruksen’s cook seasoned the food so lightly.
“Just how amazing is the cook at your house, Tis—ack, cough!”
Adelinde suddenly began coughing violently before she could even finish chewing her food. Before Tislin could fully understand what was happening, Damian jumped up from his seat.
“Adelinde, spit it out.”
“What?”
As soon as she tried to speak, she coughed again. Her face turned red. Damian held his hand under her chin and ordered firmly:
“Spit it out.”
“N-no, I don’t want to!”
Damian grabbed her chin and forced her mouth open. Only then did Tislin realize what he was thinking.
Adelinde came here secretly.
But there was no such thing as a perfect secret. Someone might see this as an opportunity. This mansion was nowhere near as secure as the Grand Duke’s residence in Kalchev. Trouble could easily happen.
“Adel, just spit it out. It could be dangerous.”
When Tislin joined in, Adelinde finally spat out what was in her mouth, tears welling in her eyes. Damian handed her a glass of water brought by a servant and told her to rinse her mouth thoroughly.
“I really, really hate this!”
Ignoring her protest, Damian examined the half-chewed food in his hand. Adelinde’s face turned dark red with humiliation.
Still, Damian remained firm. Without looking away, he spoke.
“Tis. There’s medicine in my coat pocket. Bring it.”
“What?”
“Hurry!”
Feeling the urgency in his sharp tone, Tislin rushed over and brought his coat. There really was medicine inside.
“This is an emetic!”
Adelinde began struggling like someone about to die. Even then, Damian didn’t take his eyes off her and held out his hand toward Tislin. It looked like he would force Adelinde to take it.
This isn’t right.
Tislin gripped the medicine box tightly and shook her head.
“Wait. Let’s not handle this ourselves—let’s call a doctor. Sir Yozel came with us, didn’t he?”
Only when the name of Sir Yozel—the doctor—was mentioned did Damian’s tense arm finally relax.
* * *
“I hate this! I’m going back to school!”
Lunch was completely ruined. The carefully prepared dessert was left in pieces, and Adelinde ran into the drawing room crying and slammed the door shut.
Sir Yozel was urgently called but couldn’t enter because she had locked the door from inside.
“We’ll just break it down,” Damian said dryly.
“Adel, we’re breaking the door.”
“If you break it, I’ll jump out the window!”
This would never end at this rate.
This kind of thing wasn’t entirely new. Even her cavity treatment had been similar…
Anyway, Tislin already knew how to handle this.
“Since you’ve been fine until now, it’s probably not poison. Go wash your hands. I’ll talk to her.”
After practically pushing Damian away, he reluctantly left.
“Damian’s gone. Adel, it’s just me. Let’s at least check to make sure you’re not poisoned. We all ate the same thing. I’ll get checked too.”
“…You too?”
“Yes. If you die from that food, then I’ll die too.”
Adelinde’s shaky breathing could be heard clearly from behind the door. Sir Yozel gave Tislin a thumbs-up to keep going. Tislin gently coaxed her.
After a moment, the door clicked open. Adelinde peeked out with a timid face. She seemed fine at first glance.
“There’s really nothing, right?”
“There isn’t. See?”
After confirming that Damian was no longer in the hallway, Adelinde opened the door fully and allowed herself to be examined.
Sir Yozel inspected her throat and the spat-out food carefully before saying, “She just choked,” and left.
“See!” Tislin said.
Damian only returned after cleaning his hands and confirming the results with Sir Yozel personally.
“Don’t come in!”
At Adelinde’s tearful shout, Damian frowned. Shortly after, Tislin stepped out and closed the door behind her.
“You went too far this time. How could you make her spit into your hand?”
Leaning against the door, exhausted from comforting Adelinde, Tislin muttered. Damian sighed. His face was no longer as frighteningly stiff as before.
“I panicked. And if it had truly been urgent…”
Where she spat wouldn’t have mattered. That was true.
Fortunately, there was no poison. Everything ended as a big commotion. Adelinde was upset, but she likely understood Damian’s intentions.
Still, something felt strange. Adelinde had coughed during meals before. That was normal. But this was the first time in years that Damian had reacted like this.
“Has something like this been happening repeatedly? I mean, after that time, I thought—”
“There hasn’t been poison. But we don’t know when it might start again.”
Adelinde’s life had always been under threat. Sometimes it was poison. Sometimes assassins at night. Sometimes cruel bullying in broad daylight.
Poison had mostly stopped after that incident.
Tislin had been thirteen, Damian fifteen, and Adelinde only eight. Tislin had swallowed poison meant for Adelinde and nearly died. The Marquis and Marchioness of Selbote were executed because of that incident.
After a blade had nearly reached the young princess’s neck, food at the Grand Duke’s residence was strictly inspected. Even servants with different constitutions tasted it before Adelinde did.
There were likely other precautions Tislin didn’t even know about. So inside the Grand Duke’s residence, there was little reason to worry about poison.
But this place was different. No matter how many guards there were, it was nothing compared to the tight security in Ruksen. If Tislin were Adelinde’s enemy, she would target this moment.
“Even if news of Adel coming to Viera leaked, no one could bribe a servant and add poison so quickly. Unless they bribed the cook beforehand—but that’s unlikely…”
“There are forces outside Ruksen who want to harm Adel. Some of them could reach this estate in Viera.”
“That’s dangerous talk.”
There was no need to ask whom he meant.
Tislin grabbed Damian’s arm nervously and looked around.
“Fine. I won’t say it,” Damian replied calmly.
Only then did Tislin relax.
“I understand why you acted that way…”
Was he too hasty? Not really. When it came to Adelinde’s safety, being overly cautious was better than not enough. But Adelinde’s feelings were understandable too.
“You didn’t have to make her spit into your hand. She’s fourteen—she’s sensitive.”
Damian looked genuinely confused.
“Tis. You don’t have to indulge her every whim.”
As if Tislin were the one being unreasonable.
“I’m not indulging her. I just understand how she feels.”
“You understand?”
Cornered by his sharp question, Tislin blurted out:
“If it were me, I’d rather swallow it and die than spit what I was eating into your hand.”
Like most things said under pressure, it would have been better left unsaid.
